An ancient rock fortress, Cave Temple and Safari!
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2012
1
5
15
Trip End
Jan 21, 2012
Where I stayed
What I did
Huluru Eco National Park
Sigiriya, Central, Sri Lanka
Sunday, January 8, 2012
First stop the Sigiriya rock Fortress, which is the ruins of thousands of years old opulent home of a Kandyan king which was perched on top of a massive rock for safety, to live in decadent comfort with his one legal wife and 500 royal concubines, each one was painted on the base of the rock, only 18 remain to this day which we got to see. It was a 1200 step climb to the top, I doubt I've ever sweated so much in my life but it was worth it.
Next stop was the Huluru Eco Park to drive through standing up on a open top jeep and spy animals in their natural environment with a park ranger to help point out various creatures as they were often very camouflaged or far away. We saw a dozen elephants, male and female peacocks, 2 chameleons, an eagle and blue king fishers.
And lastly Dambulla Cave temple which was another big hike up to a large rock with amazing views on the top and along the way. On the steps going up to the cave temples we bought 2 bunches of lotus offerings, on the way up we saw lots of tiny cheeky monkeys, one lady going down said to me "No monkeys flower" which we figured ment watch out the monkeys will steal your flowers, yet still I fell victim to their naughty theiving. Out of nowhere a monkey pounced on me ripped the lotuses out of my hand giving me the biggest fright I shreiked and the monkey sat on front of me hungrily gobbling up the soft insides as I stood in shock and then burst out laughing and noticing everyone around me laughing too haha! Later I saw the same thing happen to a local women. In the caves we saw gorgeous buddha sculptures, paintings and smelt hypnotic flowers and incense, the caves had such an incredible atmosphere that can't be captured in a photograph, had to be there to be truly experienced.
I find the same goes with a lot of the things I've seen, felt, smelt, sensed in Sri Lanka, photos don't do it justice it's such a beautiful place and is a multi sensory experience.
