I've been to visit the old capital of Sri Lanka, called Anuradhapura. Sri Lanka has changed capitals a few times and today the main city is Colombo. Anuradhapura was the capital for over a thousand years though!
The remains of Anuradhapura are mostly in ruins as they are so old. I wonder if Adam, Robin and Grace have learned about the Romans in their lessons at school? (If not, I expect they will learn about them soon.) Well, the ruins at Anuradhapura are as old as Roman ruins. It was very exciting to visit them and think about the kings and monks who used to live here so far back in history.
I was a London Olympic mascot before I became a stuffed traveller, so I'm only two years old. I find it hard to imagine a thousand years!
There are lots of Buddhist temples in Anuradhapura, called 'dagobas' or 'stupas'. To show respect, you have to take off your shoes and your sunhat before walking around the dagobas. This was quite difficult for Auntie Susan and Uncle Guy as it's so sunny here that the ground was very hot under their feet. It was OK for me though as I've got fur on my toes!
Some of the stupas are white (like the one in the photo above) and some are made of bricks.
There are lots of elephants in Sri Lanka so a lot of the stupas were decorated with elephant carvings. I wonder when Adam, Robin and Grace last saw an elephant at the zoo?
Tomorrow I'm going to see the ruins of another old capital of Sri Lanka, called Polonnaruwa, so I'm feeling quite excited!
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