Polonnaruwa
Polonnaruwa Resthouse was in the best possible location. Right on the lake .. the dining room juts out over the lake .. small (only 10 rooms) ; much of their business involves doing lunch buffets for tour groups. The ruins are literally out the front door. The Old Town nearby has a few shops .. a slow Internet connection - no booze shops - and a Post office.
The lake (more like an inland sea ; it is 5600 acres) was the work of King Parakrambahu the Great (1164 - 1196 AD). During his reign of 33 years Lanka became "The granary of the orient" achieving the zenith of development in irrigation and agriculture of the Sinhalese civilization. He restored three great dagobas at Anuradhapura yet reserved his greatest efforts on a building spree on his capital, Polonnaruwa erecting huge buildings, planning beautiful parks. The lake (Sea of Parakrama) is his crowning achievement.; probably built as a series of tanks unlike the present huge reservoir which was repaired and restored in 1930s by the British. It is fed by a 40 km ( 26 mile) canal.
... of elephants and bats
The manager pointed out wild elephants on the other side of the lake but as it was over a mile away I couldn’t see them (my photo shows some big brown spots so I guess he was right). Sunsets over the lake were a treat (and different each evening) but the real highlight was shortly after the sun went down .. hundreds (seemed like thousands but I am certain there were a few hundred) of very large bats flew over the Resthouse en route to .. who knows where? I tried without success to get photos .. they are so fast. Take my word for it, that black mark in the upper right is a bat.
The fine print
Date of travel : November 2007
Country information :
www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ce.html