Mike Yardley: World Heritage and Wildlife in Sri Lanka

"After savouring Sri Lanka’s western coast, the nation’s famed cultural triangle serves up a bevy of World Heritage ancient treasures in the heart of the island. Travelling with On the Go Tours, we farewelled the city buzz of Colombo and drove east for several hours to Dambulla, home to the spectacular Dambulla Rock Temple. Sri Lanka has a long history of the presence and practice of Buddhism and this sprawling cave complex is quite the treasure-chest. The Dambulla temple is not only one of the oldest sites for Buddhist monasticism, but it has served as a pilgrimage site for twenty-two centuries. The massive cave temple complex is unique in Southeast Asia because monks carved the caves out from rock, towering 160 metres above the surrounding plains. There’s more than 80 caves across the site, but the major attractions are spread over five caves which contain statues and paintings of Buddha and his life."

Read Mike's full article here.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks at b A.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Travel correspondent, Mike Yardley has been having a few issues,
which is very unlike him given and it's remarkable really,
given he travels the world constantly that he's usually able
to connect to us. He's here, we got have we
got my gap?

Speaker 3 (00:25):
There?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
He is?

Speaker 4 (00:26):
Good morning, Jack.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Oh sorry, don't apologize. Yeah, no, I you go.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
I was just going to say, I know we're talking
to Sri Lanka. I'm actually in Disneyland and I did
a very stupid thing and I misplaced my phone an
hour ago, which is in the process of apparently being
dispatched to Lost and Found.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Mike, that is the worst feeling a losing your phone.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
I know.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Suddenly you realize how woefully dependent we are.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
On these things. Well, I'm glad.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm glad that we've found a technical workaround with you
in yes, but fear to say that, at least for today,
it's not the happiest place on.

Speaker 4 (01:02):
Earth for you, exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah. Okay, Well, look, we are talking Sri Lanka this morning,
and we loved your tips for Gaul last week, but
we're looking at some of the World Heritage sites and
wildlife in Sri Lanka. So let's start off with some
of the World Heritage bits tell us about darm Buller.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
This is the most amazing place. Jackets the start of
what they call the Cultural Triangle, and this is an
area that encompasses all of Sri Lanka's greatest World Heritage treasures.
So the dumb Baller Rock Temple. It has been a
Buddhist pilgrimage site for over two thousand years and it's
considered Sri Lanka's best preserved ancient edifice. It's this massive

(01:43):
cave temple complex which was carved by monks, and these
caves huddle under this vast, overhanging rock and geniously they
carved a dripline into that rock so that their interiors
would stay bone dry. And oh my goodness, it's like
an ancient art gallery. These caves over one hundred and

(02:05):
fifty bodist statues. There's a huge reclining border. There was
one cave jack I went into and the ceiling is
just covered in fifteen hundred border paintings and may all
flawlessly follow the contours of the rock. It is absolutely enthralling.
An inster picnic.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, that sounds amazing. So tell us about Lion Rock.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
Yeah, this ancient rock kingdom was the shortest lived but
the most staggering of all of Sri Lanka's ancient capital.
So it's also known as Sagidia, but better known as
Lion Rock. And it's this massive towering monolith, a bit
like Ularou, but higher, and it's got a flat top summit.
And this king called Kushipar he turned it into a

(02:51):
fortress kingdom about fifteen hundred years ago, and he decorated
the rock walls with frescoes, and he built a pleasure
palace on the summit that was only accessible through the
mouth of a massive carved lion. So I hauled my
way up the twelve hundred steps cut into the rock
face in the steep start between a pair of lion

(03:14):
paws which have been carved into the base of the rock.
And at one time the stairs led through the open
mouth of this lion's head, crouching between the paws. It's
all very James Bond in a Boddhist sort of way.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Why was he considered a crazy king?

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Oh my goodness, mad is a hatter, a miglomaniac and paranoid.
He actually overthrew his father and buried his father alive
to assume the throne. I know, I mean just she
very extreme. He apparently historians reckon he had five hundred
women up in his pleasure.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
Palace to leisure him.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
And you can see their bathing ponds down at the
base of the rock, because those bathing ponds are part
of what is considered Asia's oldest surviving landscaped gardens, so
they sort of just unfurl like a blanket from the
base of the rock. And another amazing feature, Jack, there
is this enormous boulder down in those gardens. This boulder,

(04:14):
I reckon, would be the size of a three or
four story high house, and it was cut in half
horizontally the boulder so that it forms sort of like
an amphitheater for the king as an audience sort of hare.
But how did they do that cutting this boulder fifteen
hundred years ago? And that's the question that just keeps
needling it you as you go to line rock all

(04:37):
over it.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
How did they do it?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Amazing? And you checked out another ancient capital mate.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yes, pollon as she hod on, I'll get this right,
Polona Ruer and this was an ancient capital eight hundred
years ago before the power base shifted to Colombo. And
it's a bit like a mini ankle watch Jack. So
it's been liberated from the jungle, and it just brims
with tombs and temples and statues and stoopas the centerpieces.

(05:05):
This flamboy and butadage, which is a superbly decorated circular
stone shrine, and there's this huge bodder statue at its heart.

Speaker 4 (05:15):
It's just drop dead gorgeous.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah, that sounds gorgeous. So sound sounds amazing. What about
the primates? Are they prolific in that part of the world.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Well, as much as I enjoy admiring lost cities, Jack,
I was constantly distracted by the primates. So if you're
up with your Disney knowledge, Polona Ruher was actually the
inspiration for Disney's Monkey Kingdom movie because it's considered the
best place in the country to get up close with

(05:44):
Sri Lanka's three diurnal primates. They've got the purple faced
leaf monkey, the Tokma Cac and the absurdly delightful tufted
gray linger. I love those langers. They're all full of
mischief and they certainly know how to work a room.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, yeah, I love the monkeys. They're amazing. Do you
have to watch your stuff? Do they get that close?

Speaker 4 (06:06):
Yeah? Absolutely, fearless.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, yeah, you've got to be smart because they will.
They're always cunning, aren't they.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
They know how.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, take advantage of a distract good tourist.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
Yeah, like a gang of muggers.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Totally. So, speaking of wildlife, what national part would you
recommend for Safari?

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, it's a good question because there are quite a
few that are all well regarded. But my pick would
be Uda wa Lawi because it's heaving with six hundred elephants.
And the interesting thing about the Shri Lunkan elephant jack
is it's the biggest of all the Asian elephants, and
they've got herds at Uda Waalawie of fifty elephants, you know,

(06:43):
and one herd, so it is majesty. Writ large fun fact,
by the way, the average Sri Lunkan elephant guzzles down
two hundred liters of water a day, Isn't it amazing?
So after after a lot of trunk time, we also
swooned over mongooses and jackals and water monitors who aren't

(07:07):
monitoring the elephant's intake, by the way, lots of crops, sloth,
be bears. We even drove over most unfortunately a six
meter python.

Speaker 4 (07:18):
Oh no, oh, I know.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
The only disappointment, Jack, by the way, was the elusive leopard,
very well named in Sri Lanka because he did indeed
elude us. But apparently he's not so elusive that at
some of the other national parks. So I'll have to
go back for a second serving.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, indeed, Oh that sounds so good. Though. We're going
to put all of your tips for tripping around Sri
Lanka's World Heritage and Wildlife on the website. So if
they found your phone, if they traveled down.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
The Samsung Find your Phone service indicates it's still in Disneyland,
So I've got I've got a cast of Disney stars,
all apparently ferreting out of its supposed geographic whereabouts.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Very good, Okay, well, good luck, good luck. Such a
pain in the butt. But we'll be thinking of you,
crossing our fingers and hope the hoping that we can
call you this next week. Thanks so much, Mike. That's
Mike Audley, a travel correspondent.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
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