Hello everyone, After I wrote last night, we enjoyed dinner at a local family’s house. It was a very authentic experience, particularly because about ten minutes after we arrived the power went out. We are having a fabulous time here as tourists, but it was actually quite eye opening to experience just how normal lengthy power cuts have become for the people here. The family were beautiful, as was the food they made us for dinner. A particular highlight was lavariya that we had for dessert, a traditional Sri Lankan sweet dumpling. It’s caramelised coconut wrapped in a string hopper which is a type of very thin noodle made from rice flour. The lady gave us a demonstration on how to make them and two of our tour mates had a go too. Darsh kept commenting that the family were so grateful we had all still chosen to go ahead with our Sri Lankan trips despite the current situation here. This morning we left at 7am, to beat (some of) the heat and crowds. We were headed for one of the highlights of the tour - Sigiriya Rock. It was magnificent! Definitely up there with Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat and the Terracotta Warriors. We were treated to stunning sunny skies, crossing our fingers since the rainy day in Colombo has served us well so far. Sigiriya means ‘Lion Rock’. The rock is amazing, as it is in stark contrast to its surrounds. A granite brown and orange rock bursting out of the ground, surrounded by dense green jungle. So it comes as no surprise that in the 3rd century BC, it was chosen as the site for a monastery. And in the 5th century AD, the king at the time (Kashyapa I of Anuradhapura) built a fortress and palace complex atop the rock and surrounding the rock. It was used in such a manner by royals until the late 13th century. From then it sat dormant until the late 1800s when English archaeologist HCP Bell discovered the site and unearthed its wonder from centuries gone by. We began our ascent up and were confused by the signs warning of wasps. Apparently these are a big problem in the coming months. The walk was lovely, the boulders and ruins along the way impressive. The path leading up to the track was a divider for symmetric gardens on either side. I can’t believe I was able to do this hike. Again, my hip was so bad last week I couldn’t even tie my own shoes. With the help of Panadol Osteo and some compression shorts, I was able to trek up no worries. I’m amazed, and feeling very grateful. About halfway up we got to the lion’s feet staircase, which are surrounded by giant lion’s feet carved out or rock. Apparently back when the fortress was used by royalty, there was a lion that took up this entire face of the rock, and the stairs went up through its mouth. If its feet were anything to go by, the lion would have been huge and very impressive. From this point, the hike involved some steep, steel stairs attached to the rock. Ian, you would not have coped! Even I - not afraid of heights - made the mistake of looking off to the side at one point. I found myself feeling a bit unsteady. It was hot work too, as it was sunny and already 28 degrees by 8am today. But once we reached the top, it was all worth it. We were treated to endless sunny views of the lush greenery. We also explored the ruins at the top. On the way down, we took an alternate route to go past some of the 1600 year old frescoes. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of these, but they were of wives and daughters of the king. The colours and clarity were very impressive. Apparently there were a lot more of these but many of them have faded over time. On the way down, I bought a magnet of the rock, and we enjoyed an icy pole. Then we boarded our bus again and did a walk around a local village, seeing some rice fields and village life happening in front of us. We then enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant. Pumpkin curry, banana curry and beetroot curry were my favourites here. Yum! Finally, ten out of the 15 of us opted to do an afternoon elephant safari at the nearby Hurulu Eco Park. This was fantastic! We didn’t have much luck for the first half an hour or so, but once we saw a few elephants, we saw heaps!! Highlights included three crossing the road right in front of us, and seeing baby elephants. As always it was truly wonderful to see such beautiful creatures roaming in the wild. It was lovely to see the delight on Mum's face as she had not seen elephants in the wild before! We were lucky with the weather as now it’s belting down rain. Tonight is a free evening but I think Mum and I will just take it easy due to an early start tomorrow for a sunrise hike. Love to all, Claire Xoxox
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