After we woke up, we could look at our accommodations in daylight. We have a suite of two bedrooms, a sitting room, and a bathroom with both indoor and outdoor showers.
John, of course, loved the balcony.
We had a pleasant breakfast in the small dining room adjacent to the pool. After that Tharindu met us with the car and prompted us to get a quick start to our day.
As I said, we did not have much time to pack carefully, and I should have checked my camera before packing it. I was upset when I looked at it this morning to discover that it had no SD card. Tharindu came to my rescue and found a little phone shop in the village that had a few in stock. Ta dah!
Our first adventure in Sri Lanka was a visit to the ancient fortress palace of Sigiriya. It definitely has an interesting history. According to ancient chroniclers, in the late fifth century, Kashyapa, an illegitimate son of King Kathusena, killed his father by walling him up alive. He proclaimed himself king and forced Moggallana, his half-brother and the rightful heir to the throne, to flee to India. Yet fearful of Moggallana’s ultimate return, Kashyapa abandoned Anuradhapura, the historic capital of Sinhalese kingdom, and created a new capital on this enormous block of granite rising over 600 feet above the surrounding forest.
Over the next 18 years Kashyapa transformed this spot into an extraordinary complex of palaces and gardens. But although the fortress itself was nearly impregnable, when Moggallana returned to claim his throne with a large number of Indian troops, Kashyapa was forced to face him in battle. Kashyapa’s forces were completely routed and the usurper committed suicide by slashing his own throat. King Moggallana returned the capital to Anuradhapura and turned Sigiraya over to Buddhist monks. It remained a monastery for many centuries, although it ultimately abandoned sometime in the fourteenth century. The site was almost completely forgotten until rediscovered by a British military officer in 1831.
Some archaeological work began on the site in the late nineteenth century, but most of the excavation has been done in the last twenty years. And the word is still continuing as we saw at different points in our visit.
Sigiriya was carefully planned. The entire site was surrounded by a moat. This has been allowed to fill with rain water and seems to be a favored spots for a variety of local birds.
Once over the moat and within the first level of fortifications, a visitor to Sigiraya would have been found elaborate terraced gardens. Only part of these gardens have been excavated.
Heading further towards the massive rock formation, an elaborate system of water gardens was constructed. These probably also had some practical function of storing and filtering water.
But today the only function of the water gardens is to provide homes for birds.
The last set of gardens before reaching the sheer cliff was was the "Boulder Garden” where large rocks were artfully arranged to highlight the first entrance to the palace. These presumably also had some defensive function as well.
Entering Sigiriya required climbing along the sheer cliff walls. A system of stairways was constructed and visitors had to proceed on foot, probably single file, until they arrived at the entrance to the palace itself. It is still a long and daunting climb.
John decided at this point that he was not up to climbing that many stairs, particularly as the line was moving slowly and he would be standing in place for long periods. So he left us at this point and headed off to the cafe. Tharindu and I pressed on.
About halfway up the climb, there is a long painted wall. This dates from the time of Kashyapa. Supposedly the paint on it was originally so shiny that it was like a mirror. Over the centuries people have left message on it, one of the few times when graffiti actually has some historical value. There is also a small covered area with some frescos of half-naked women on it. Historians are divided about exactly who is represented here. One thing, however, is quite clear: no photography allowed. With some satisfaction, I watched the Russian ahead of me in line have his camera confiscated for violating the rule. I still have my camera, however. This photo of the frescoes was swiped from Google Images with minimal regard to the legality of its provenance.
After the initial climb, about 400 feet, we arrived at a small plateau. This was the entrance to the palace itself. From both the archeological remains and ancient records we know that it was the face of a giant lion, symbol of the Sinhalese dynasty. Visitors actually walked into the lion’s mouth to visit the royal precincts. Today only the paws remain but even these are quite impressive.
Almost nothing remains of the original palace at the top of the mesa. There are some foundation stones to suggest where room may have been. But whatever disappointment a visitor may feel historically is more than amply compensated by stunning views of the undeveloped countryside surrounding the site.
On the way down I stopped briefly to admire the vivid colors in the parts of the rock wall. I tried to remember the minerals that make up granite, but somehow neither quartz, feldspar, or mica would seem to create anything so vivid.
Along the way, John let me know that he was safe and happy at the cafe.
At the bottom we passed by a snake charmer. He also took pictures of people with the cobra hanging around their necks. I was sorely tempted, but there was a line of people waiting for this and we pressed on to meet up with John at the cafe.
As we drove away we had one final look at Sigiriya and John used the camera’s zoom to capture the people standing on the top half a mile away. Not too bad for a point-and-shoot camera, is it?
We had lunch at one of those restaurants that specialize in serving busloads of tourists. It was still fairly early, so there was only a German family and us there. In fact, as they still had not finished setting up the buffet they asked us to wait. John noticed the pool and asked for permission to use it.
After lunch, we drove a little bit to a place for our village tour. This is one of those things that tour operators always insert into an itinerary whether the client asks for it or more usually does not. We thought about arguing that we wanted to do something different, but it seemed easier to just go ahead with it. It will not be a highlight of the trip.
It began with a depressing ox cart ride. I felt sorry for the poor animals dragging tourists on this awful wooden cart through the mud of this not-particularly-traditional village with cinderblock and stucco houses equipped with satellite television dishes. I felt sorry for the ox driver. I felt sorry for myself. It was torture for everybody involved.
After this, we were dropped off by the side of a dammed lake where we were met by a old man in a beat-up fiberglass catamaran. He doubt he spoke a word of English or any other foreign language. He walked so unsteadily and seemed so frail that I wondered how long he could continue doing this. I felt as sorry for him as for the oxen.
At least the boat ride, however, was pleasant as we drifted among the waterlilies. One of the things all these boatmen are apparently required to do is to take a waterlily leaf and turn it into a hat.
John accepted this present with more grace than I felt.
We walked from there to a “tree house” and after I obediently climb it, we were taken to a place where we were supposed to have a “cookery demonstration.” We actually were just given an extremely chewy piece of roti and some pol sambol, a classic Sri Lankan condiment made up chopped coconut, chiles, and dried fish. It is one of those dishes that foreigners can eat but do not particularly enjoy.
Our boatman rowed us back to the dock by a slightly faster route. I tipped him fairly generously more out of pity than taken by his charm. We were met a younger man for a tuk tuk ride. For those who have not spent time in this part of the world, tuk tuks are motorcycles that have been converted to hold passengers. Sri Lankans often call them “three wheelers.” Our driver was irritatingly garrulous as he drove us to where Tharindu was supposed to meet us about a mile or so away. I conveniently forgot to give him his tip.
Tomorrow we are going to see one of the island’s most ancient capitals and to go on safari as well.
