Before starting the trip, let's know about at Kanchipuram first. It is one of the ancient cities in India. The reference to this city can be found in Patanjali's Mahabhasya. It is mentioned in Mahabaratha that Kanchi was supporting Gouravas in the final war. According to Wikipedia, The earliest inscription from the Maurya period (325–185 BCE) denote the city as Kanchipuram, where King Visnugopa was defeated by Samudragupta Maurya (320–298 BCE).

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This was my first trip outside India. From memories of friends almost getting arrested to engaged guys purchasing handbags for their future wives, it has given all kind of memories.I remember my first sleepless night on Kandy, watching the full moon through the open window/door and wondering how the coming six days are going to be.

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For South Indians, it is easy to imagine Galle. If you have visited the old french streets of Pondicherry, just imagine it on a larger scale and you got Galle fort. Galle Fort, in the Bay of Galle on the south-west coast of Sri Lanka, was built first in 1588 by the Portuguese, then extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards.

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When we reached Polonnaruwa it must have been around noon. Based on yesterday's experience and my strong argument that we need a guide, we decided to visit the museum first. The guide whose name I forgot now(The meaning of his name was 'Blue Stone'), showed us around the museum first. 

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Our first stop for the day was Dambulla Rajamaha Viharaya and the Dambulla cave temple. There is nothing much in the Vihara. It has a Buddhist museum but we skipped it since we had already seen a similar one in Kandy. The main attraction is the cave temple. It is on top of a small hill. If you think it is difficult to trek then wait for Sigirya!

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The plane trip was surprisingly short and even before I finish my Chicken Tikka Sandwich, the pilot has announced that we will start descending to Colombo soon. I did try to look out the window and guess on which part of the Indian coastline we are crossing by comparing it with map.. 

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