Polonnaruwa
Sri Lanka’s second ancient capital, its ruins considerably more compact and better preserved than Anuradhapura’s, spread across a site genuinely suited to exploring by bicycle. The Gal Vihara, four monumental Buddha figures carved directly from a single granite face, is the site’s clear highlight and among the most striking pieces of Buddhist rock sculpture anywhere […]
Mihintale
The hill where Buddhism is said to have first been introduced to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC, its worn stone stairway climbing past shrines and meditation caves to a stupa-topped summit with wide views across the surrounding dry-zone plains. It’s a quieter, more contemplative counterpart to Anuradhapura’s grander scale, usually visited as an […]
Anuradhapura
Sri Lanka’s ancient sacred capital, founded in the 4th century BC and continuously inhabited for over a thousand years, home to the Sri Maha Bodhi, a direct cutting of the original Bodhi Tree and the oldest documented living tree on earth, alongside the vast Ruwanwelisaya Dagoba and Jetavanaramaya stupa. The scale of the site rewards […]
Dambulla
A cave temple complex carved from a single granite outcrop in the 1st century BC, its largest chamber holding over 150 Buddha images beneath ceilings painted and repainted across two thousand years of continuous religious use. The cool, dim interiors make for a natural, atmospheric counterpoint to Sigiriya’s exposed climb and the two sites are […]
Sigiriya
The fifth-century rock fortress at the heart of every Breeze of Asia collection, a royal citadel rising 200 metres above the surrounding jungle, with hydraulic water gardens still partially functional at its base, celestial-maiden frescoes painted directly onto the rock face and a mirror wall inscribed with a thousand years of visitor poetry. The climb […]