Sigiriya Rock

Today started like any normal day – a hike up to the winter fortress of past Sri Lankan King Kashyapa, built on top of a giant rock to secure himself against retribution from his half brother, Moggallana, for killing their father King Dhatusena thereby usurping the throne which rightfully belonged to Moggallana. This giant rock being the world famous Sigiriya Rock.

The tour starts walking through the lower grounds of the summer fortress. Due to the hot summers the mountain fortress was only sustainable with winter rain fall. The summer fortress’ grounds were divided into three terraces. There was the water terrace, the garden terrace and the boulder terrace. The first, the water terrace, was made up of four separate bathing pools, two either side of the main walkway. The reason for the separation was to allow for individual female and male pools – as well as soldiers, the ‘illegitimate king’ had 500 concubines who all needed to bathe!

The lion's paws

The water terrace

Once you have passed the water terrace, only one side of which has been uncovered by UNESCO archeologists – they hope to reveal the mirrored side in coming years – you reach the garden terrace. Now one has to use their imagination at this point as, unlike baths and buildings, plants and flowers don’t leave foundations or ruins as clues to a past life. Of course this whole site, much like most of Sri Lanka is wonderfully green and lush; full of amazing plants and wildlife, including monkeys who have been known to steal snacks right out of tourists hands. However, one can imagine how beautifully manicured and meticulously designed the gardens once were, especially when the guide informs us that, when this fort was occupied, the surrounding forest wasn’t there, giving the soldiers a view of up to 25km to spot any potential, incoming attacks.

Once one is done smelling the sweet perfume of plants and flowers of times gone by you are welcomed to the boulder terrace. An arched walkway is naturally formed by two massive boulders leaning against each other. Most of the hundreds of ‘caves’ this rock fortress hides are on this level. I have put caves in quotes because when I think of caves I think of vast expanses whereas these seem to be just gaps between different boulders. Nonetheless soldiers apparently stood dutifully in these caves keeping guard for the many years this fortress was occupied. They were saved from the rain by creating rain shelves by carving almost straight gutters across the natural curves of the rocks to stop rain pooling inside.

After exploring the caves and testing the support systems put in place to hold up some of the boulders (most of which consists of a few sticks propping them up) you start to climb the, now metal, but once white marble stair up to the lion’s feet. Two massive paws were once part of a grand entrance that included a walkway through the lions mouth as the main entrance of the winter fortress. The paws are all that’s left now, but they allow you once again to picture the enormity and grandeur of what was once here. At this point the guide informs us of the mass of hornets nests that are, not so conveniently, right next to the remaining stairs. He hopes we won’t have a problem but if we do, he suggests we run to a make shift tent before the next set of stairs. It is supposed to protect those inside, but considering the visitors are in their hundreds and the tent looks like it fits about 25 people, I wonder about its effectiveness. Luckily for us, the hornets aren’t in an aggressive mood today.

Remaining artwork

Panoramic views from the top of Sigiriya Rock

Eventually we reach the summit, the winter fortress, many of us drenched in sweat – a mixture of the heat, the work out, the fear of the height we are at, and the hornets. Although only the foundations are left, this fortress once sat three stories high with beautiful panoramic views of the country around. There is even a pool up here now filled with rain water. I silently question the people who are sitting with their feet dangling into the green murky waters it holds. We, of course, take many photos including in the throne hall. The throne at the head of the hall is a massive bed-like seat carved out of the rock where the king used to recline and watch while his concubines danced for him below in the hall. Photos are snapped and the ruins explored, then we start making our way back down.

Once passed the hornets and lions feet we turn on to a path we didn’t walk before. We walk up a spiral stair case to a cave lined with ancient artwork that used to fill most of the walls and caves within this fortress. All the paintings consist of beautiful topless woman who emerge from clouds at the hip. The reason only eighteen of what used to be hundreds of paintings are left is not due to time, but design. After the king who occupied this fortress committed suicide – by slashing his own throat, after realising his forces where about to be defeated by his brothers army – his brother re-gifted the land to the monks who had occupied it before the fortress was built, as an apology for the desecration of their sacred land. The monks in their holy wisdom decided to chip away all of the artwork they could reach due to its offensive nature.

A beautiful Kingfisher

After we had all made it back down to the bus, we head off for lunch. A local family cooked for us after a little wander around the lake their home is next to. We were even ferried across one small waterway where we saw a beautiful Kingfisher.

The Kingfisher was the first of many animals we saw today, as after lunch it was safari time. To be honest I think calling it a safari is pushing it, but that’s what the sign said. Anyway in open top jeeps the group were driven round a national park home to 150 elephants. My jeep, which consisted of Ali (my roommate), Tuva, Jordan and Jenna and me, had a driver who was incredible at spotting wildlife. We saw a mongoose, squirrels, deer, birds, cows and, of course, lots of elephants. Annoyingly as there is a festival going on in Kandy, our next stop, the city and the park were very busy, so there were quite a few traffic jams along the way on the 20 minute ride back to the bus. I end up napping the whole time!

After the safari we head back to our hotel but not before dropping off everyone except Ali, Sarah and me, for a massage. I chose to save the money for a massage later down the line. I don’t ache yet, but I’m sure I will before my trip is up! Ali, Sarah and I shower, change and have a drink while we wait for the others to finish their massages. We did have to drink the beer back at our room though, as the bar was officially closed for the holiday the festival was celebrating.

We then all meet up in the restaurant next to the massage parlour for another buffet. I really enjoy the food as there is a pork curry as well as the chicken and vegetable curries that have been available for the rest of the trip so far. After eating, the owners of the restaurant encourage us to get involved with the karaoke that we all had noticed, but were choosing to ignore. Eventually after both the owners have done a song each some of the group including myself go up for a couple of renditions of a range of artists including Madonna, Michael Bublé, Spice Girls, Whitney Houston, Vengaboys and Back Street Boys. After the singing is done we head back to the hotel for some chill time before bed.

Our safari jeep

On 'Safari'