 |
| Sigiriya Rock Approach |
Arranged for an airport pickup due to arriving in Sri Lanka after 30+ sleepless hours. Flight left Beijing at 02:15 and also had to endure a 5 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur, made much easier by the excellent Premier Lounge at KLIA2. Of course I was sitting in the back of the plane, but managed to hustle my way through a quick customs/immigration line (made easier by applying in advance for the visa which was already in the computer, thus I did not have to show the print out they ask you to carry). Alas, my bag came off last. but I needed $$$ and a SIM card (remarkable deal with 2.5GB data, 40 minutes local calls, local SMS and some international SMS==all for 800 rupees, or about $6 US). My driver, Jaya, arrived a few minutes late, but I was pleased to be ushered into a new car with A/C, though not so pleased when he told me road construction was going to make this 105 KM (64 miles) trip take 4.5 HOURS. This poor guy embarked on an 8.5 hour, 125 mile journey and the cab fare was $75. Take that, Uber! The driving in Sri Lanka is manic, though at least there seem to be cops every few kms issuing various tickets for illegal passing, speeding, cell phone use, etc. Got lucky and arrived at the lovely Peacock Lodge a bit early. The owner, Sanath, had called and asked if I wanted dinner ready upon arrival. Nice touch and phenomenal food. The basic Sri Lankan food is simply called curry and consists of a platter of rice surrounded by various curry dishes. I instructed them to make mine local and don't worry about the heat. Had some lovely local lake fish, beetroot curry, longbean curry and some others I can't remember, but they were all incredibly tasty and a Lion Lager worked perfectly.
 |
| A Country With Monkeys Is A Country Worth Visiting |
Went up to the most pleasant A/C room with a comfy bed, nice bath and good storage. This place costs $22 for an a/c room and a nice breakfast is included. It's located a km off the main road and is completely quiet at night. Just perfect along with a couple of OTC valium.
Sanath arranged for a bike and I was off to the famous Sigiriya site the following morning after a tasty breakfast of eggs, toast and a banana shake. Sigiriya was named a World Historical Site in 1982, back when that meant something and wasn't politicized or bought. My bike, a local Kenton, was set up for someone much shorter than I, so I must have looked like a Shriner in a mini-car as I hunched over the bike for 13 kms. At least there were a few functional gears, though the brakes were probably not as functional as digging one's heels into the ground to stop. Oh well, after just purchasing a fancy bike at home, I was happy enough to simply have a few gears. Cycling in Sri Lanka is nothing less than a scary proposition. And helmets seem to not be available. There's a certain pecking order and, apart from pedestrians, cyclists are at the bottom. I'm fairly convinced that my white skin was a plus since killing a tourist would surely be considered bad form. The ride out was delightful, in spite of practically being blown off the road by tourist buses. I passed numerous fancy hotels with pools, tennis, etc and they made me appreciate my humble guest house where the owner was happy to chat the evenings away and I wasn't part of some organized group, further split into sub-groups depending on which tour one was taking. I understand why some folks take tours, but you'll never discover the depths of a country (good and bad) from a tour bus.
OK, now that I've probably lost half my readers, back to the adventure. Sigiriya dates to prehistoric times, but the main development occurred around 2000 years ago and continued up until the 14th century. One can Google It if more info is required. The main sites include the lovely lower gardens, boulder gardens, cave paintings and the "palace" site atop the rock. It's a super steep climb and those out of shape weren't doing too well, though I'd guess most made it, however painful. There must be thousands of carved and man-made steps as you ascend 500 feet in roughly a km. Any trekker knows that's one steep climb. My favorite part of the journey were the fabulous paintings in caves halfway up the mountain. Such beautiful artwork consisting mostly of Apsaras, beautiful supernatural goddesses who seduce both men and Gods. What's not to like? Sri Lankan art is somewhat similar to that of Indian art of the period, but for whatever reason, I prefer what the Sri Lankan artists did during that era.
 |
| Apsaras at Sigiriya Cave |
Meanwhile, the trek continued upwards until finally reaching the top of the rock with fabulous views and the foundations of various buildings. Some considered it a King's palace, though others are convinced it was a sacred Buddhist site.
 |
| Don't Know How Folks Made it Up 2000 Years Ago |
 |
| I Made It |
Not being content to just climb one huge rock, I ventured over to the little-visited Pidurangla Rock, another historical site with a huge reclining Buddha near the top along with various prayer cubicles from ancient times. This place wasn't yet really set up for tourists and involved scrambling over boulders and squeezing through cracks in the walls to reach the top. The rewards were another spectacular few, a total of five tourists along the route and a lunar landscape up top with one of the largest boulders I've ever seen. At this point I was tanked. Dragged the phone out and saw that the real feel was about 100 degrees with the actual temperature around 95. I sauntered down the hill, rode the bike back to see the excellent Sigiriya Museum, then struggled the 13 kms back to the guesthouse. I'd much rather ride 80 kms back home on my bike in typical Oregon weather than ride 26 here. It was all I could do to hoist a celebratory ice cold beer (and Sanath even chilled the glass and delivered it to my room). Sanath gets it.
A cold shower and A/C cranked all the way up brought the body temp back to near normal just in time for another fantastic dinner consisting of chicken curry, a fruit curry and a pumpkin curry, most all of which came from the gardens on the premises. In countries such as Sri Lanka, there is no conversation about local sourcing of one's food. It's the norm and has been for centuries.
 |
| Huge Hornets. Scale Not as Exagerrated as You Think |
 |
| And if Hornets Don't Scare You, Beware the Roarming Elephant |
 |
| The Lunar Landscape atop Pidurangala Rock |
