Photos of a visit to Anuradhapura in November 2012 as part of my personal car tour of Sri Lanka's ancient cities region.
The ruins at Anuradhapura comprise "archaeological and architectural wonders" (LP, p202) built during the city's thousand years of rule over Sri Lanka. Many sites are still in use as holy places and receive a stream of pilgrims. The city itself is sprawling and has little to interest visitors other than guest houses.
I stayed at Tissawewa Grand Hotel, another of Sri Lanka's old classic hotels. The main building dates from 1827 and the "new" wing from 1906. It stands in expansive gardens populated by monkeys, peacocks and dogs. The hotel has great character but lacks modern conveniences, although rooms in the new wing have been renovated recently. I can recommend it.
On the way there I visited Ritigale Elephant Transit Home. I noticed signs for it when trying to find Ritigale ruins and decided the elephant home would be more interesting. A long drive of several km down a dusty, rutted road only just passable in places led to a couple of isolated buildings occupied by young men who looked after orphaned juvenile elephants.