Lion Rock, Sigiriya

1200 steps to the top of the rock - 200m gain. - some on stone steps but quite a lot on steel staircases - not good for anyone with vertigo. Definitely got the heart rate up! 

Amazing to see the foundations of the King's palace, and other buildings and  reservoirs on the top of the rock and impressive water gardens at the base with hydraulic fountains which are still working after 13 centuries. 

It was a public holiday so lots of local visitors but also bus loads of Chinese / Taiwanese tourists which destroyed the peace and quiet. Apparently, they have sometimes even disturbed the Hornets which nest on the rock to the extent that there is now a hornet-proof shelter at the mid-level. 

We visited another temple site in the afternoon - even older temple bikes this  time. Fairly speedy visit so Linda and others could get back for their spa treatments.

Sitting on the terrace with a cold beer watching the sunset

when our Met police Detective Inspector jumped up and screamed as a Toque Macaque which had climbed on the bar, while she was taking pictures, was busy sipping her Singapore Sling (??) through a straw. 😂😂

Elephants

Another early start - packed, breakfasted and on the road by 7.00 am.

First stop was a sacred site at Mihintale with 300 steps to the site and then another 100 each to the Stupa, the Buddha and the rock upon which a monk appeared to the king (in the 4th century BC).

Then we stopped at a small Eco lodge - The Other Corner - for a tour of the vegetable garden and a cookery demonstration. Picked and cooked long beans in spices and coconut milk to add to the 7 other dishes that were already prepared for lunch. Interesting to see how simple the recipe was - came away with a cook book to try at home

Moved on to Minneriya National park for another Jeep Safari - this time looking for Elephants in Mahindra Jeeps. 

Fairly chaotic set up - apparently there's a restriction on the number of jeeps in the park but didn't seem that way. Elephant sightings were few and far between and each time there was a crowd of jeeps jockeying for position.

After a couple of hours in full sun - and 5 elephants - we agreed to head home and, of course then had our best sighting. 

Think we saw more elephants along the highway than we did in the Park and we managed to get to our hotel in time for a sunset swim. 

Curry, curry and more curry

Having curry three times a day may not sound appealing but the curries here are much lighter than those we have at home.

Egg Hoppers with fish curry and fresh coconut sambal for breakfast was a great way to start as is a Sri Lankan Omelette with tomato, onion snd green chilli.

Lunch is generally a selection of spicy vegetable dishes and sambals sometimes with chicken or fish curry while dinner will often be a buffet with two or three meat curry's and 4 or 5 vegetable dishes.

Had a cookery demo at one of our stops, so have a few new recipes to try when we get back. 

Lion Lager appears to be the only beer available so far although we're promised a craft brewery in Kandy 🤞🤞

Even managed a bottle of South African Merlot from Wellington last night, not sure I'd have paid  6000 rupees (£15) for it anywhere else but a change from the lager! 

A Busy Day

The floods are still disrupting our programme with the entrance gate to the National Park still blocked. Instead of an early morning safari, we went first to the temple site at Anaradhapura - two hour coach ride with picnic breakfast - and then on some fairly ancient bikes for a ride around the site and visits to a number of Stupa and other holy sites.

Visiting on a Sunday was very busy with hundreds of people - mostly in white clothes - making their gifts and praying to Buddha.

One of the sites included the oldest recorded tree in the world - a ficus that came from Buddha's place of enlightment. Venerated in Buddhism but not hugely impressive with trunk and roots hidden in a building - made me think of Trigger's brush.

Our guide assumed - correctly - that the group was not interested in ABT - another bloody temple - and we headed back to the Wilpattu National Park via a different gate for an afternoon / sunset safari.

Slightly under-whelmed by 3 hrs bouncing around in the back of a Toyota Hilux with limited wildlife on view

until we came on a male leopard wandering along the trail in front of the truck - very calm, checking and marking his territory and apparently oblivious to the 7 or 8 safari trucks all jockeying for the best camera shot.

 Eventually he turned off and headed for the bush and we headed home, arriving at our hotel by 19.30. 

Wilpattu National Park

We are staying at Backwaters Lodge just inside the Park. A small Eco-Lodge on the banks of the Kalu Oya backwaters with six upcycled containers which have been fitted out as guest rooms - simple but comfortable.

Due to the recent unseasonal rains, the flood waters have reached almost to the lodge building itself which has restricted access to the forest trails but made for interesting kayaking with a strong current making us work hard on the upstream leg.

We had started the day with yoga and after kayaking and lunch we had a boat trip on the lagoon watching a  local fisherman running his lines

and stopped on a sandbank to see the sunset.

We had an  excellent dinner of BBQ crab, fish and prawns at the next door hotel - slightly irritated by the loud young Englishman who was telling the neighbouring table about his travels to almost everywhere in the world - 20 years of back-packing - despite looking about 15 years old!

Day three started with a boat safari through the mangroves

 - didnt find the bat colony but saw a family of Monkeys - Grey Langurs - and quite few bird species - White-bellied Sea Eagles, Brahmimy Kites, Grey Herons, Great and Lesser Egrets, 

Caspian and Little Terns, Black-headed Ibis and a couple of different Storks. 

Another meal, afternoon nap, cycle ride and dinner before we are packed and ready to go at 05 45 tomorrow for a jeep safari in the National Park. 

Our Explore group

After an early morning swim and a leisurely breakfast, we were headed north to Negombo - a seaside resort town on the west coast - about 90 mins drive and the starting point for the trip. Not quite as grand as Mount Lavinia! 

The first night consisted of introductions and a short briefing from our guide followed by dinner in a local restaurant - good food again.

Our guide - George - is Christian Sinhalese ex-teacher. This part of the country has a significant Catholic presence as a reminder that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive.

Our travelling companions are Paul and Hillary - a retired English couple - also ex-teachers; Vicky - a single 50-ish Police Officer from Surrey; Matt - a 40-ish from Cheshire in the events business ; and Mel- a 30-ish teacher from Sydney.

Could be an interesting two weeks🤔🤔

 

Day one started with a bit of confusion because George got his baggage spreadsheet mixed up and insisted there was a bag missing - even though we all confirmed that all our bags were accounted for.

Then we mounted our bikes and headed up the coast to Chillaw - about 35km on the flat. 

We cycled through a number of villages each with their own fish markets on the sides of the road and managed to stay safe through the traffic which got busy in places - everyone happy to give way or give us a wide berth.

As a result of the sun and the headwind, we were all glad when we reached our destination and could pop into the supermarket for an ice cream.

Fellow travellers

While we still have to meet our travelling companions for the next two weeks, there was an interesting mix at Mount Lavinia.

I hadn't noticed how many Russian tourists were in the hotel until an email from Brian suggested we might see quite a few as this is one of the few places where they are still welcome. 

Unlike our experience in Thailand many moons ago - for the few committed blog followers - there were no muscle-bound thugs with babes in miniscule bikinis but probably their parents or pehaps what they have become in the intervening decade - muscle turned to flab on the men while some of the women may have been better not wearing Bikinis. Just as rude as ever although almost matched by a few Brits including a Nottingham Forest supporter and his group.

Joan Collins baby sister - or her doppelganger - was there too - very stylish and always appropriately dressed for the situation.

Let's hope our tour companions are a convivial group