TISSAMAHARANA

I am starting this entry because we have just arrived at Tissa and settled into our room at 4pm. I am unlikely to write anything before tomorrow evening because we have booked on the early morning Safari to the National Park and Pick Up is 5am. This is because it is most likely to see a leopard while they are just getting out of their tree at this time. This morning we went to the temple on the mountain which we didn't get to yesterday due to the rain. We left just after 10am and arrived at the beginning of the access road about 15 minutes later. Then it took us 50 minutes to creep up the mountainside sitting in neutral most of the time. The early bird tour buses were just coming down and they have difficulty manoeuvring around the hairpin bends because they a mostly big old British Leylands. Then if the traffic had closed in too tightly to the corner or were sitting too far towards the centre of the narrow road it was stalemate. Bob and I were just about to call it quits but really there was no way to turn around due to the bumper to bumper traffic. Saji then informed us that quite apart from this being Sunday, the only day everyone has off but it is also the beginning of a three day National holiday. We finally reached the top and I must say that the temple is beautiful. It is quite new and reflecting on the difficult access I suggested to Saji that it must have been difficult to get all the construction equipment up to the top of the mountain. He agreed and said it took 13 years to build. I will attach some photos which can't do it justice because it is too big at close range to show it's complete fascade. Also we were not allowed to take photos inside of the ten golden Buddas and other ornamentation. The two little girls were just so beautiful that I asked their mother if I could photograph them. She agreed but of course they then posed and I lost some of the spontaneity that had first attracted me. Still they are quite beautiful and mum was happy when I said so.