The Wandering Scot
An occasional travel journal
Colombo
Colombo: Fort and Pettah
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| Lotus Tower
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| Lotus Tower
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| Hazy view of Colombo from Lotus Tower
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| Old Parliament Building, now Presidential HQ
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| Old Parliament Building, now Presidential HQ
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| Old Dutch Hospital (17th c)
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Old Dutch Hospital
One of two interior courtards, now a cafe
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| Grand Colonial building
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| Cargill's Building
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| Cargill's Building
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| Khan Clock Tower
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| Jami Ul-Alfar mosque
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| New Kathiresan Temple
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| Sri Kailawasanathan Swami Devasthanam Temple (?)
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| Old Kathiresan Temple
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Around Colombo
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| Old City Hall
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| "Authentic" snake charmer!
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| "Authentic" snake charmer!
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| Buddha in Viharamahadevi Park
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| Queen Victoria at Viharamahadevi Park
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| Independence Hall at Independence Square
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| Wolvendaal Dutch Reformed Church (1749)
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| Wolvendaal Dutch Reformed Church (1749)
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| Wolvendaal Church: VoC insignia on the gate
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| One of many loyal Imperial pillar boxes
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| Lake temple beside Marriott
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| Lake temple beside Marriott
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Colombo National Museum
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| Colombo National Museum
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Sir William Gregory, Governor 1872-77
And Founder of the Museum
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| Buddha statue ~800AD
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| Mara's Retinue (18th c)
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| China dish with VoC emblem
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| Manuscript on sheets of gold (9th c)
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| Siva-Nataraja (12th-13th c)
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| Last King of Sri Lanka (~1815)
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| Royal Throne
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Colombo: Gangaramaya Temple
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| Gangaramaya Temple
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| An odd collection of religious bric-a-brac
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Kandy
Temple of the Tooth
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| Approaching the Temple of the Tooth complex
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The inner Temple of the Tooth
Now protected by a surrounding outer building
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| Upstairs offering area.
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| Alut Maligawa shrine hall
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| Alut Maligawa shrine hall
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| Audience Hall (19th c)
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| Audience Hall (19th c)
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| Old Royal Palace facade
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| Elephant passing ToT entrance
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| Another elephant, near ToT
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6:00am Visit to the Temple of the Tooth
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| Main entrance hall, looking in
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| Main entrance hall, looking out
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Sacred City of Kandy
Around Kandy
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| Kandy clock tower
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| Lake Kandy, with well-manicured island
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Kandy Chocolate House
Purveyors of Milka bars and much else.
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| Sri Maha Bodhi Maha Viharaya temple
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| Sri Maha Bodhi Maha Viharaya temple
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| Sri Maha Bodhi Maha Viharaya temple
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| Sri Kataragama Devalaya shrine
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| Sri Kataragama Devalaya shrine
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| Sri Kataragama Devalaya shrine
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| Kataragama (aka Murugan) rides a Peacock
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| Sri Kataragama Devalaya: Buddhist shrine
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| Outside Museum of World Buddhism
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| Vishnu Devalaya shrine
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| Tusker in transit
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Kandy Botanic Gardens
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| Kandy Botanic Gardens
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| Botanic Garden: Royal Palm Avenue
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Cannonball Tree
"Planted by King George & Queen Mary (1901)"
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Polonnaruwa
Polonnaruwa was Sri Lanka's capital from the 11th to 13th c.
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| Royal Palace (12th c)
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| Royal Palace Complex: Audience hall (12th c)
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Polonnaruwa Quadrangle
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| Vatadage
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| Vatadage
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| Vatadage core
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| A "Moonstone": often found at base of steps
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Unusual Latha-Mandapaya shrine
Stone carved like a wooden fence, plus pillars like lotus stalks.
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| Hatadage
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| Hatadage
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| Hatadage interior
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| "Stone Book" (12th c)
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| Odd-shaped Satmahal Prasada
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Polonnaruwa Northern Group
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Rankot Vihara dagoba
12th c, much restored.
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| Rankot Vihara dagoba
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| Kiri Vihara dagoba, 12th c
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| Lankatilaka Image House
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| Lankatilaka Image House
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| Gal Vihara statue group
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| Gal Vihara statue group
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| Gal Vihara statue group
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En route to Polonnaruwa
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| Sri Muththumari Amman Kovil at Matale
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| Sri Muththumari Amman Kovil
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| 13 miles SE of Dambulla
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Sigiriya
A promonent lion-shapred rock, with cryptic ruins from the 5th-14th c.
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| Lion's Paws stairway
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| The Lion's Paws
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| The summit
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| View over Sigiriya gardens
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| The "Mirror Wall"
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Dambulla Buddhist Caves
Anuradhapura
The ancient Sri Lanka capital from 4th c BCE to 10th c, with many Buddhist structures from 2nd c BCE onwards.
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| Ancient Boshi Tree shrine
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| Ruvanvelisaya Stupa (from 2nd c BCE)
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| Ruvanvelisaya Stupa
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| Remains of Maha Vihara Alms-Hall
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| Trough supposedly used for alms of rice
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Thuparama Stupa (from 2nd c BCE)
The oldest stupa in Sri Lanka
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| Buddha shrine
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| Golden Bodhi tree symbol in shrine
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| "Elephant Pond". Water storage tank.
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Thuparama Stupa (from 2nd c BCE)
The oldest stupa in Sri Lanka
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| Abhayagiri Stupa (from 1st c BCE)
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| Modern depiction of Abhayagiri Stupa restoration in 1153
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| Revered Samadhi Buddha statue (6th c)
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| One of the "Twin Ponds"
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Giant Jetavanarama Stupa (from 3rd c)
The largest stupa in Sri Lanka
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| Giant Jetavanarama Stupa
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Mihintale
Mihintale is a site near Anuradhapura where king Devanampiya Tissa was supposedely converted to Buddhism in the 3rd c BCE.
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Ambasthale Dagoba
Marking conversion spot.
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| View to Mahaseya Dagoba
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| Hilltop Buddha
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| Hilltop Buddha
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Nuwara Eliya & Tea Tour
Nuwara Eliya: "Little England"
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| The very posh Grand Hotel
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| Tea Room at the Grand Hotel
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Damro Company at Labookellie: Tea Factory & Tea Safari
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| Damro Co. Tea Plantation
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| Tea Factory
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| Tea Factory
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| Tea Plants
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| Tea Plants
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| Tea Ladies
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| Graham picking tea
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En route to Lunugamvehera NP
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| 2 miles South of Ella
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| 2 miles South of Ella
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National Parks
Lunugamvehera NP
This is a lightly visited park and I saw no other visitors. The downside is that the animals aren't habituated to humans.
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| A little engine trouble at the start, unfortunately.
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| Largish monitor lizard
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| Distant young Tusker
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Udawalawe NP: Elephants
Udawalawe NP has a good number of Sri Lanka elephants and they were well habituated and very relaxed around humans.
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A wet elephant
After sparing himself from a puddle
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After exiting the park, a big Tusker
Just inside the park fence
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Udawalawe NP: Peacocks and others
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| A peacock sitting in a tree
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| Beautiful Monitor Lizard
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| A crocodile, with mouth open to cool himself
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| A blurry mongoose
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| Lake view
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Galle Fort
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| British-Era Main Gate (1873)
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| View over bastions at Main Gate
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| Old Fort gate (exterior)
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| Old Fort Gate: Exterior crest: British Arms
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| Old Fort Gate (interior)
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| Old Fort Gate: Interior crest: VoC
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Canon from Avondster wreck (1659)
Maritime Archaeology Mus.
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| Old Dutch Reformed Church (1752)
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| Dutch Reformed Church interior
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| Old Dutch Hospital (18th c)
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| Old Dutch Hospital (18th c)
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| Clock Tower
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| Graham on the Ramparts
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| Oddly church-like Mosque
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| Nepune Bastion (17th c) (1)
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| Neptune Battery (2)
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| Neptune Battery (3)
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Police Tuk-Tuk
For the notorious high-speed Tuk-Tuk chases.
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Singapore
I had a quick stopover in Singapore on the way in.
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| Sri Mariamman HinduTemple
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| Singapore's Temple of the Tooth
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| Temple of the Tooth Museum
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| Rooftop Shrine
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| View to main prayer hall
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| Thian Hock Keng Chinese Temple
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Male, Maldives
I made a short side-trip out to Malé, in the Maldives.
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| View from airport to Malé
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| Republic Square
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| Presidential Palace (1)
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| Presidential Palace (2)
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| 2004 Tsunami Monument
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| Vegetable Market
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| Kalhu Vakaru Miskiy Mosque (18th c)
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| National Museum: Coral Stone Reliquary (8th-9th c)
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| National Museum: Royal Throne (20th c)
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| National Museum: Carved Coral Stone (6th c)
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| Old Friday Mosque (17th c)
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| Mosque interior, Mihrab.
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| Mosque ceiling
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| Mosque interior
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Friday Mosque Minaret (1675)
Unusually short and stout
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| Ferry to greener islet of Villimalé
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| Villimalé: Somewhat greener
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| Villimalé: But still quite dense
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| View over atolls
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| View over atolls
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