Robin & Karen Living the Dream: Sigiriya - Elephants & Lion’s Rock

We cruised into Sigiriya in our trusty tuk tuk on February 21/26. It’s a small town of 1100 people but it is the site of Lion Rock, a 5th century ancient rock fortress & UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We arrived at the Flower Inn after a short walk down a plant & flower filled alley & were greeted by the Homestay owner, a lovely woman who spoke excellent English. Again we had to book a bigger room since I find myself now booking things last minute (basically fed up with all the planning & organizing), price including breakfast for our 3 night stay $115.

Flower Inn

Even a little patio

The owner definitely had a “green thumb”

We headed out in search of food, going by an online recommendation & stopped at Ramya’s Home - she cooks a big rice & curry spread & serves it family style. Over 10 bowls of curries & accompaniments. We arrived after the others had eaten but she said there was enough left & it was very good!

Close by we spotted 2 captive elephants being bathed in the river, later we saw them being used for rides - something we don’t like to see.

We walked a short distance to get our first views of Sigiriya Rock/ Lion’s Rock - impressive even at a distance.

We booked a safari thru our hostess to the nearby Hurulu Eco Park which is next to Minneriya National Park, the elephants move between them depending on water levels, we were happy as the entrance fee to Hurulu was much less. After a great breakfast at 6:30 we were off. Just us in the open topped jeep which allowed us to stand up, even up on the seats to get the best views.

It was magical - we saw many elephants up close in several places as we bounced along on rough dirt roads thru water, mud & huge holes for our 4 hour safari, cost $86 total for both. There were quite a lot of jeeps, up to 18 in one area but the elephants didn’t seem to care & ignored us. Occasionally a jeep would back up to allow their movement. We saw several calves, one about 4 months old. It was very special to be so close & watch them eating & going about their day. The terrain was different than our first safari, this being covered in long grass which almost hid the elephants plus rocky hills & brush sections where the elephants go during the heat of the day. Our driver took the rural road back to town, showing us different viewpoints of Sigiriya Rock & Pidurangula Rock - another famous rock that folks hardier than us climb. We also saw more of the “treehouses” that the farmers spend their nights in protecting their crops from elephants. We were warned that there are areas that you do not walk, even in daylight because of elephants. Unfortunately a tourist was killed by an elephant only days before we arrived, walking on a road he was warned away from.

Pidurangala Rock & Sigiriya Rock in the distance

Pidurangala

Elephant footprints on the road, out of the park

And huge elephant poop

Our driver/guide

Elephant “hide”, farmers protecting crops

Out for more rice & curry for me, noodles with egg & vegetables for Robin & 2 big (625 ml.) Lion beer. Cost $17.73, pricier as a definite tourist town.

We had laundry done by a local lady, we got ripped off on price but she did iron everything! $13 for 3 kg.

We have generally had excellent weather, the odd rainstorm but we were a bit worried as there was a weather advisory for most of Sri Lanka warning of heavy rain & possible flooding. It turned out to be fine.

Up early again (we’re retired, we don’t like alarm clocks!), a hearty breakfast of Sri Lankan omelettes, coconut roti with dahl curry, fruits & toast and we were off to climb Lion’s Rock.

First a tuk tuk ride to the ticket office, $96 entrance fee total & we began.

But first some history - Sigiriya Lion Rock is known for its massive column of rock that reaches nearly 200 metres high. The site dates back to the reign of King Kasyapa (477-495 AD) who chose this site as his new capital. He decorated the walls with frescoes & built an impressive palace right on the top of the rock column, accessible only thru the mouth of an enormous carved lion. Today only the paws of the lion remain and the climb begins in large very well maintained ancient landscaped gardens with water features. Then the ascent gets difficult (Robin chose wisely to skip this part & waited in the gardens chatting with others who decided it was just too much).

I kept going, 1200 steep steps, many staircases clinging to the edge of the cliff (I am most definitely not a fan of heights), many shallow stone stairs, thankfully we were early, by 8:00 so not huge crowds yet. The climb took about 45 minutes, lots of huffing & puffing & sweating, but I made it! Spectacular 360 degree views from the top, lots of ruins to explore on the top (only stone & brick walls, steps & water tanks remain), also several monkeys & dogs (couldn’t figure out why dogs were up there). The trip down was easier & quicker, even with a detour to see the remains of some painted frescoes that required climbing up again & back down a spiral staircase. Definitely an accomplishment for me & very thankful that my knees were not giving me grief that day!

View from the top

I made it!

On the top

Monkey on the wall

Heading down

Looking down at the lion paws

Lion paws

We visited the museum afterwards, interesting photos from 1896 when the site was discovered and many artifacts. The rest of the day was spent sorting thru all the photos we have taken, cropping & deleting as I went.

Lots of elephant souvenirs

In the museum, photo 1897

Iron artifacts

Before we left the next morning Robin tried to help our hostess shoo a pair of birds out of one of the rooms - it seemed they thought it looked homey!

We took a shared minivan to our next destination of Kandy, unfortunately no A/C but we survived. We passed many areas of landslides from recent storms, thru towns with school kids in uniforms including Muslims in all white, some impressive & colorful Hindu temples, some very “fancy” trucks & always fruit stands. More adventures to come, Still Living the Dream.