1200 Steps, Elephant Trekking, Curries and Temples

Monday, July 20, 2015
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
We began Sunday with a great breakfast at the Hotel with a view of Sigiriya rock and monkeys jumping around through the glass.

First adventure for today is to climb Sigiriya and it's 1200 stairs . A Unesco World Heritage Site, it was built in 18 years in the 5th century as a palace for the King on the top of a monolith rock. Whilst not quite Angkor Wat it was hugely impressive but not the faint hearted. It was physically challenging (thought I might die at one point) although the endless stairs helped me take my mind off being scared of heights. As an aside....those on my Cambodia trip may recall just how well I descend uneven stairs.

The site has amazing gardens and frescoes (wall paintings) which are still in very good condition. A Korean lady ignored the signs, and her guide, and other tourists to turn off flash photography. So, the guard went over to her and screamed abuse in her ear until she almost cried. It was quite funny - stupid woman - if there had been more time I would have done a selfie with her in it and I would have done a meerkat too.

There was also a mirror wall in which the king could see his reflection . The wall was in such good shape Tim thought it was new! And on the top, there were amazing 360 degree views from which the king could watch the girls dancing near his swimming pool!

We were glad that the wasps were quiet. There are heaps of signs around warning people to be silent. If they are agitated you must wear rubber suits. On exit, there was a snake charmer with a cobra.

It was then time for our elephant trek. Tim has never done it and wanted to. And so I put aside my feelings of terror from last time with Rach and Lee and agreed to go on the proviso there were no cliffs.

There are electric fences on the road in this area to keep the elephants out...they kill people quite regularly. Nice....Manoj could have told me this after the trek I thought. In the end it was nowhere near as scary as last time. We sat on mats on the elephants back (albeit with a cage around us) which was a bit more stable than the chair system in Thailand .

Our guide then took us to a local restaurant for lunch. This was a buffet of traditional Sri Lankan food and it was amazing. Mainly vegetable curries including chickpea and pumpkin but about 20 dishes to choose from. And for $12 a person including 2 beers we were happy with that.

We then visited the ancient city of Polonnaruwu, another Unesco World Heritage Site. Here, we walked over many sites until we almost collapsed from heat exhaustion. Each site fascinating on its own. It reminded me of Ayutthaya in Thailand with its ancient ruins and stupas. There are about 20 sites in all open to the public - thankfully Manoj did not take us to see them all.

On the way back to our hotel, Manoj arranged for us to have a Sri Lankan massage which Tim loved. I would have been happy with a mojito in the pool but I'm sure my scalp will be nourished from all the oil that was dripped into it.

We didn't return to the hotel until 7pm, so after dinner and a couple of beers we were ready for bed!

We have another huge day on Monday here in the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka.
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Comments

Lisa
2015-07-20

Looks awesome so far! Would have loved to see you manoeuvring the stairs...and doing the meerkat! xx

beco70
2015-07-20

Actually, pretty sure you would like it here! x

Rachel
2015-07-21

Aah too many stairs for me! Glad the elephant trekking was safer!

2025-02-07

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