A ruined forest monastery in the dry-zone wilderness northwest of Minneriya – occupied by ascetic monks from the 1st century BC and now half-reclaimed by jungle in a way that adds to rather than diminishes its power. Stone meditation platforms, raised walkways and bathing pools sit within a mountain forest considered sacred for over two thousand years. There are no gilded statues, no tourist infrastructure and no signs explaining what you are looking at. It is one of the most atmospherically powerful places in Sri Lanka, and one that almost no one on the standard circuit visits. Netherlands, German and Scandinavian off-path travellers find it consistently the most unexpected and memorable discovery of the journey.