I visited a couple sites in the north-central part of the island, neither considered to be in the “hot zone” for the current fighting but pretty close to it. You could tell by the increasing prevalence of military checkpoints that it was probably best not to go much farther. The first site I visited was Polonnaruwa which was the capital of Sri Lanka in the 11th-12th centuries. This picture is of the Sigiriya rock fortress ruins, a huge complex complete with royal palace at the top of a 200m tall rock and a sweet mote surrounding the whole thing. My guide was unable to confirm if there were any flesh-hungry piranhas or alligators in the mote, not that I had any reason to think there were; I just think it would be cool. I asked if they had a suggestion box but I think the joke got lost in translation.