June 13,

Up and about, having light breakfast of coffee/hot chocolate and cookies. Then I worked on yesterday's blog, finally completing it around 1400!🤯! Whew! It required a lot of research and still not sure if it was completely accurate🤔.

Anyway, we then went out to Mr. Karapincha Restaurant for a late lunch. We had a small French fry and a Thai Chicken Rice. I had a Mango Juice (so thick more like a mango smoothie) and Jeff had his Lime Juice. So good. We did rate them on Google 👍!  Finished we went back to our place and put on pants, so we could go to Mihintale.

Mihintale is another monastery area. It is just a short drive there and then lots of stairs – 1800 of them. The complex is on a rocky mountain peak. It is believed a Buddhist monk, Mahinda, had an encounter meeting with the then King of Sri Lanka… It was the inauguration of Buddhism in Sri Lanka when the King converted to Buddhism. Now it is a pilgrimage site and was getting “decorated” for the up coming holyday on the 22nd.

We bought our tickets and started at Kantaka Cetiya. It is a large stupa, that is in ruins. The base is still intact with the large four pieces at north, south, east and west – and their carvings representations lion, bull, elephant and horse. But the height of the stupa is the most destroyed, having many bricks gone. So no idea how tall it was and I couldn't find that information. There are caves near here where monks have lived from then to now. They are enclosed caves now.

Next and up some stairs to the main buildings area. 1st- the Refectory or Alms Hall (or Mess Hall). Where food was donated and set up in troughs for the monks breakfasts and lunches. 2nd- the next building foundation housed the – Slab Inscriptions of Mahinda. These two big stone slabs were basically administrative rules and regulations for the monks daily lives. 3rd- was the Assembly Hall. This is the basic governing place for the monasteries.

Now, we climbed quite a flight of stairs up to another landing/plain area and the main upkept area. This whole area is where most of the activity is and decorations are being done.1st place- a stupa, Ambasthala Dagaba, with pillars that no longer support a structure around the stupa. This is supposedly the traditional site where Mahinda and the King met. 2nd- a very large sitting Buddha statue. It was up on a rock cropping. We climbed up the steps to it. Great views of the surrounding area from here! 3rd- Maha Stupa, built by the King. We climbed up different steps to reach it. Once up, there is another, not as large, stupa right next to it, but it is so new(?) I have no information on it! Questions?? We walked around the stupas, taking in the great views and breezes here. We caught a cheeky monkey was 'stealing/eating' some offertory flowers. The 4th place- a high summit to overlook the Buddha statue and the “twin” stupas- we did not go up it as it was getting late; very cloudy-rain-like; and the way up seemed sketchy to me. As we climbed back to the landing/plain area, some dancers and drummers came out. We watched them with many locals. I don't know what it was about, but was nice to see. We skipped out before they finished.

We went to the store for some ice; back at our place; and had a light supper and some Arrack. It has been an amazing two days of exploring ruins Anuradhapura!