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8 Getting There & Away
Frequent buses on the road between Polonnaruwa
and Habarana (and other towns to the west) stop
in Giritale village. None of the places to stay is
especially near the stop, so arrange for a pickup.
Mandalagiri Vihara
This vatadage (circular relic house) is virtu-
ally identical to the one at Polonnaruwa, but
while Polonnaruwa’s is ringed by many other
structures, this one stands alone atop a low
hill. A granite flight of steps leads up to the
vatadage, which has concentric circles of 16,
20 and 32 pillars around the dagoba and is
noted for its fine stone screens. Four large
Buddhas face the four cardinal directions.
The site is uncrowded and accessed via a
pretty country-road drive.
An earlier structure may have been built
here around the 2nd century, but the one
that stands today was constructed in the 7th
century by Aggabodhi IV. There was once a
hospital next to the vatadage – look for the
bath shaped like a coffin.
8 Information
Admission tickets cost adult/child US$10/5, but
it’s rare for anyone to check your ticket.
8 Getting There & Away
Near Medirigiriya, about 30km north of Polon-
naruwa, Mandalagiri Vihara is best visited as a
half-day trip from Giritale. there are no places to
stay or eat nearby. without your own transport,
this trip is a nearly impossible odyssey.
M inneriya & Kaudulla
National Parks
With their proximity to Polonnaruwa and
Habarana, the Minneriya and Kaudulla Na-
tional Parks offer an excellent chance of see-
ing elephants and other animals without the
crowds of Yala National Park. On some days
you won’t need to enter the parks to view el-
ephants as they freely roam the countryside.
8 Information
If you want to see herds of elephants, first speak
to locals (guesthouse staff, tour companies or
guides) as they’ll know which of these two parks
have the greatest concentration at any one time.
t o visit the parks you must be accompanied by
a licensed guide and you must enter and leave by
vehicle (which will be your guide’s 4wD or truck).
Both parks are well served by tours: during busy
times you’ll find guides in jeeps waiting at the
park gates. typically, however, you’ll arrange a
trip with your guesthouse or hotel (or you can hire
a guide from those waiting at the main crossroads
in Habarana). with guide fees – and the many
park fees – two people can expect to pay around
US$90 for a four-hour safari.
Besides the guide you hire, a park ranger will
accompany you. Although this service is tech-
nically free, each group should tip the ranger a
small amount. the parks are open dawn to dusk.
Fees are as follows:
Minneriya National Park adult/child rs
1950/1050, service charge rs 1100, charge per
vehicle rs 2 50
Kaudulla National Park adult/child rs
1200/700, service charge rs 1000, charge per
vehicle rs 2 50
A VAT of 12% will be added to the figures above.Minneriya National Park
This national park is one of the best places in
the country to see wild elephants, which are
often present in huge numbers, and wading
birds. Dominated by the ancient Minneriya
Tank, the park has plenty of scrub, forest and
wetlands in its 88.9 sq km to also provide
shelter for toque macaques, sambar deer, buf-
falo, crocodiles and leopards (the latter are
very rarely seen however).
The dry season, from May to September,
is reckoned to be the best time to visit (as by
then water in the tank has dried up, expos-
ing grasses and shoots to grazing animals).
Elephants, which can number 200 or more,
come to feed and bathe during what is known
as ‘the Gathering’ (see page 214), and flocks
of birds, such as little cormorants, painted
storks, herons and large pelicans all fish in the
shallow waters. However, it’s also possible to
see large numbers of elephants here at other
times of year, too. We saw more than 100 in
February when we visited.
The park entrance is on the Habarana–
Polonnaruwa road. A visitor centre near the
entrance sells tickets and has a few exhibits
about the park’s natural history. The initial
40-minute drive (along a very poor dirt road)
into the heart of the park is through dense for-
est, where wildlife sightings are rare. But then
the landscape opens up dramatically, and the
views across the tank are superb.Kaudulla National Park
This park stands on the fringe of the ancient
Kaudulla Tank. It established a 66.6-sq-km
elephant corridor between Somawathiya