A loooong way down

My sister and B were staying at a different hotel from me but we met at the entrance of Sigiriya at 7am. It’s a very BIG rock with the ruins of an ancient palace (possibly a monastery) at the top. There are stone stairs to start with but most of the way up is via a metal staircase bolted into the rock. The views from the top are amazing. You can see half of Sri Lanka from there. It was a beautiful clear morning.

We were very glad we went early. By the time we went back down, it was getting very hot and it was busy. People were having to queue on the staircase. That wouldn’t have been fun, especially for those not good with heights.

In the afternoon I hired a motorbike and drove over to A and B’s fancy hotel by a lake. It was a nice drive over. I had to say goodbye to them (their holiday is ending) and leave before it got dark. There are wild elephants roaming nearby at dusk and no street lights on the roads. Much as I love elephants, I didn’t fancy meeting a herd of them on my way back! Instead I met other wildlife - hundreds (maybe thousands) of mosquitoes and other insects flew into the bike light and my face on the way back.


The extras are Sigiriya rock just before the sun rose above it and the ruins at the top.