HAOPASS - Walking in Sri Lanka | Sapphire on the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka Travel Guide

Sri Lanka | Prologue

Sri Lanka,
a sapphire on the Indian Ocean,
its unique teardrop shape hanging off the southeastern tip of the South Asian subcontinent,
separated from India only by the narrow Palk Strait.

Galle Lighthouse

Before departure,
this country was a hazy collage in my mind——
stupas veiled in morning gold,
tea estates rolling in green waves,
trains racing along the coast,
children blooming with smiles.
Those fleeting images,
like seeds,
quietly sank into the softest soil of my heart.

Temple of the Tooth

When the plane touched down at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport,
the gate to a mysterious land slowly opened.
It was not just a new coordinate on the map,
but my first encounter with the Indian Ocean.

Galle Fort

Taking buses in a foreign land
is the most vivid folk classroom,
for it always meets the liveliest street scenes.

Bus Stand Kurunegala

Starting from Negombo,
at each stop I first asked about the next bus,
piecing together the full itinerary in my mind like a puzzle.

Negombo Bus Station

At Negombo station,
a school‑uniformed girl caught my eye.
She sat quietly beside her mother,
staring at the “strange” East Asian face,
curiosity written in her bright eyes.

Negombo Bus Station

I smiled and gestured to my camera,
politely asking to take a photo.
Her mother returned a gentle smile without words,
only tilting her head gracefully side to side.

Negombo Bus Station

Only later did I learn
this unique gesture
means an “in the middle” easygoing attitude here.

Negombo Beach

Negombo | On Empathy

Negombo Beach

Negombo,
a seaside town steeped in everyday bustle.
No dazzling skyscrapers,
only colorful homes,
fresh and artistic with a touch of casual ease.

Negombo Beach

St. Sebastian’s Church

At the seaside St. Sebastian’s Church,
the faithful raise a lighthouse of devotion ——
faith unseen outside the heart,
yet deeply rooted within.

St. Sebastian’s Church

The Christian cross, the Islamic crescent, and Buddhist golden domes
shine together on this land.
To travelers, Sri Lanka
is a harmonious tableau of religious coexistence.

Anuradhapura

Later reports of religious conflict shocked me,
yet the serene scene at the time
was among the truest feelings of the journey.

Negombo Beach

Negombo Fish Market

At dawn the fish market paints Negombo’s most vivid scene.
The strong scent of fish drifts in the morning light;
busy fishermen, strolling egrets, and circling crows
compose a unique landscape.

Negombo Fish Market

No showy performances,
only the unadorned color of life.

Negombo Fish Market

Some love its gritty vitality,
others dislike the mess.
Travelers can choose to visit or walk away,
but for fishermen,
this is not a selectable attraction,
it is a battlefield they must hold.

Negombo Fish Market

On the battlefield of livelihood,
every fighter deserves respect, regardless of standing;
every battle merits praise, whatever the outcome.

Negombo Fish Market

Perhaps condescending pity is not true empathy,
but at least it understands those whom life has stripped of choice.

Negombo Fish Market

Though crows are black the world over,
fate writes different notes in different lands ——
in China they are ominous birds,
in Sri Lanka they enjoy revered status as divine.

Negombo Fish Market

Yet a crow remains a crow.
We think we gaze at a bird,
but in truth we see ourselves ——
meaning like dew,
rests only on the leaves of cognition.

Galle Fort

Anuradhapura | Wind over Lotus Ponds, Fragrant Foliage

Among ancient gnarled branches, squirrels leap through dappled light;
amid broken walls, butterflies hover over mottled carvings……

Anuradhapura

All living beings dwell freely in these graceful mountains and waters,
as if each life had found a melody that resonates with history.

Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura,
a pure land bathed in Buddhist light for millennia,
nurtures the purest beauty of life.

Anuradhapura

As the cradle of ancient Ceylon civilization,
it has witnessed dynastic rise and fall,
bearing the glory and dreams of generations of Sinhalese.

Anuradhapura

As the river of years flows,
this once‑glorious royal city
was slowly swallowed by jungle green,
falling silent in the dust of time,
until the 19th century,
when colonial shovels awoke its sleeping memory.

Anuradhapura

Across the ruins,
langur monkeys leap among fallen walls,
their agile silhouettes breathing life into silent relics,
as if they were the liveliest guardians of this sacred ground.

Anuradhapura

A monitor lizard slowly emerged from the grass,
its scaled pattern blending with the earth,
adding a touch of mystery to the millennia‑old site.

Anuradhapura

Most moving of all,
are the clear smiles of the Lankan people.
Be it an old woman selling in the market,
or children playing before a temple,
the ripples at their eye corners unfold like lotus petals.
This joy from the heart
may well spring from contentment with life and devotion to faith.

Anuradhapura

During a temple festival,
devotees in plain attire
walk slowly with lotus blossoms in hand.

Anuradhapura

The national flower unfurls pink‑white petals in the sun,
its fragrance rising with the chant.
In this moment,
ancient stupas, devout believers, and the sacred lotus
compose a hymn to life across time.

Anuradhapura

On this land soothed by Buddhist light,
relics are no cold specimens;
every stone pillar speaks of the past,
every leaf sings of the eternal.

Anuradhapura

And the lives dwelling among them——
leaping squirrels, silent butterflies, bounding langurs, slumbering monitors……
and the smiling Lankan people,
each in their own way,
continue this elegant epic of civilization.

Anuradhapura

Polonnaruwa | After One Song, Another Takes the Stage

Spotted deer slip through the woods;
langurs mount the ancient platforms……
Polonnaruwa’s bricks glow ocher in the slanting sun,
like a chronicle opened by the wind.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

They have seen imperial processions,
heard the Sanskrit of sutra chants.
Back then Polonnaruwa
carried an air of mingled ambition and devotion.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

This ancient city was once a new capital ——
as Anuradhapura declined,
Polonnaruwa rose;
when Polonnaruwa fell into desolation,
Kandy became the next center.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

The drama of civilization affirms an age‑old truth:
on history’s stage,
it is ever “after you sing, I take the stage.”

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

Cycling among the ruins,
whether a spotted deer threading the forest,
or langurs climbing the old stones;
whether a rabbit springing from the grass,
or a lizard indifferent by the roadside,
there are always small surprises.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

These creatures understand neither dynastic rise and fall,
nor struggles for power;
they only know the sun is kind and leaves are lush.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

Grass and trees wither and flourish year by year,
insects thrive generation after generation;
so too does the cosmos:
stars are born, burn, collapse, become dust,
and after eons, regroup into new nebulae.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

And we,
are but motes in this grand narrative.
We cling to fame and fortune,
fret over gains and losses,
forgetting life is brief as morning dew.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

If we can see through impermanence,
we may find composure amid change ——
for splendor will fade,
yet wild deer will still step into the morning light.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City

Sigiriya | If Lion Rock Had Never Been Scarred

Lion Rock

On Sigiriya’s emerald plain,
an ocher monolith cleaves the sky,
like the earth hurling a battle scroll at heaven.

Lion Rock

This “sky city” suspended among the clouds,
in solitary poise,
gazes upon the world’s vicissitudes,
condensing time into mottled marks upon the cliffs.

Lion Rock

Weather has eroded the lion’s head atop the rock,
yet the afterglow of the dynasty still flows between the stone claws.
Master craftsmen, chisels as pens,
wrote a saga of ambition and art on the cliff‑top,
so that the blood‑stained legend of patricide and usurpation
intertwines forever with the brilliance of human wisdom.

Lion Rock

When music fades and terraces collapse,
only broken walls keep watch over the stars,
fermenting that breathtaking power game
into a vintage for later generations to sip.

Lion Rock

Walking in Sri Lanka | Sapphire on the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka Travel Guide

Sri Lanka | Prologue

Negombo | On Empathy

Negombo Beach

St. Sebastian’s Church

Negombo Fish Market

Anuradhapura | Wind over Lotus Ponds, Fragrant Foliage

Polonnaruwa | After One Song, Another Takes the Stage

Sigiriya | If Lion Rock Had Never Been Scarred

Lion Rock

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