2022
Anuradhapura meet up was announced to be held on the 30th of September. More than all, I was excited about my train journey after seven long years in Sri Lanka. I started the journey from Colombo around 6.30 am and the train was scheduled to arrive in Anuradhapura at 10.30 am. Even though the meet up was initially planned to start at 9.30, I had to announce on the previous evening, that there will be a delay of an hour as I got my tickets confirmed only in the previous evening. However, there was a signal delay on the way and I was delayed by another hour. So I had to make another announcement on the meet up thread stating that I will be late, and asked whoever has arrived to carry on with the meet up. However, the train reached Anuradhapura station around 11.15 am. I reached the destination filled with the excitement about the train journey after long years, the wind and the mind blowing sceneries through the windows.
While checking out of the railway station, a group of Russian tourists noticed my t-shirt stating Sri Lanka Local Guides and came to me. They queried about the potential for tourism in Sri Lanka, travel suggestions and left their way.
Another important thing I had to mention is the booking mechanism. Now there are possibilities in Sri Lanka to book the train tickets through mobile. The fees will be added to the mobile bill, this reduced my hassle of waiting in queues and traffic delays while traveling to fort station for early seat bookings as we did earlier.
After all the excitements, the fresh air in Anuradhapura welcomed me with enthusiasm so that I didn't feel the tiresome of traveling. My first destination to visit was the Jetavanaramaya temple which is located in an ancient monastery. The surrounding was so relaxing, with trees around and monks chanting under the trees. These made me feel ever fresher.
Being charmed by the nature and its pureness, I later realized that there were no attendees at the meet up. Suddenly something clicked in to my mind and looked at the street view of the place where I was standing. Unfortunately or fortunately it wasn't there. Being excited, I took my 360 on and started capturing the periphery of the temple. I after completing few hundreds of 360's I uploaded them all. Feeling accomplished,
I walked in to the museum, where no photography allowed. Looking at these places and the monuments made me feel the life of our ancestors and I started dreaming about their lifestyle. Walking through the grassy paths, a monkey family grabbed my concentration. It reminded me of my little family, it was a little family of a dad mom and a new born. They were relaxing on a wall under a tree. Staring at them for several minutes, I took some nice photos and started my way towards Abayagiri viharaya. On the way to Abayagiri, I had my lunch at a local restaurant, which was really delicious. I have to mention the hospitality of a local tuk driver who picked me from Jetavanaramaya. He treated me in a very friendly manner.
After my visit to the Abayagiri viharaya, I visited the museum too. Having a heart filled with tranquility, I ended up the journey and came back to the Railway station around 4 O’clock p.m. and reached home by 8.30 p.m.
This journey was an entirely different one among the journeys I have ever had. I really didn’t expect a meet up with no participants at all when I left from Colombo to Anuradhapura. Conversely, I didn’t feel dissatisfied at any moment. It was a journey filled with peace and tranquility.
More photos please Check this album
