Day 4 - Rock climbing

Today we climbed the Sigiriya rock which is a huge and ancient volcanic plug topped with the ancient ruins of a palace. The story is that the king was killed by his impatient and greedy eldest son for the kingdom land and possesions (very un-buddhist and very bad karma). The king's younger son was incensed and swore to take retribution when he was older and until then he hid in India. Meanwhile the new king built a palace (477AD) on top of the rock thinking he would be safe. He only lived there for 18 years before the younger brother came and managed to fight his way up to the palace where he killed his brother and became king. He left the place to the monks and moved back to the capital Anuradhapura (where we were yesterday).

The palace must have been magnificent with beautiful garden surrounds and many paintings on the walls. He even made a 'mirror wall' next to a walkway halfway up so he could see the reflection of the paintings on the cliff face. The wall was made shiny using honey and egg white. He must have had a fair number of chooks and bees handy given the size of it. He even had a huge pool, dance hall and enormous throne up on the top of the rock. Despite all the protection the rock offered it just shows that bad karma can come back to get you in then end!!

We think Dan must have good karma as his hat blew off about halfway up (it was very scarey-windy up there). Then at the entrance to the last set of stairs there it was clinging on to a branch. Pradeep was very brave and reached out over the edge and rescued it much to Dan's relief (favourite hat).

Heading to the last climb, Dan was given some help from a 'pusher'. We had been warned that there may be some men offering to help us up the steps and to say "no thank you". Dan was caught out by being polite and didn't realise that the man who was showing "bubba" where to go next would then hold tightly to him until we paid him to let go! He was very nice and made sure Dan was safe but perhaps a bit too attached for Dan's comfort so we gave him some Rupees and he went off to find another polite tourist.

At the very top there are fabulous views across the area, and we could see a huge white Buddha statue in the distance. Another wonderful experience and despite wobbly legs at the bottom after the climb down, definitely worth the effort.

 

We then went off to the second capital of Sri Lanka, Polonnaruwa, where the king of the day moved to to flee the invading Tamil's from India (1070 )AD. We visited the museum and saw the huge tank (dam) he created to ensure the was enough water for the people during the dry season. Then on to the ruins of the city. Another vast spread of ancient buildings and temples. Each king through the years built a bigger and better temple for the relic so there were some enormous structures and ponds with fabulous decorations.

We also stopped at a temple which is series of very large buddha statues carved into a rockface. Another incredible place. We finished the day with a swim and another feast of wonderful local and European dishes. The kids had all the staff charmed after they showed interest in how the serviettes were folded. At one stage we had all the waiters gathered around while Dan & Sarah learned no less than 5 different ways of folding. Eventually the boss came to see why no work was being done. This was our last night and we will have very fond memories of the hotel and the smiling, gentle staff.

Dan

• The rock climb because a king built 1201 steps to the top of the rock.
  
• I Could see a giant buddha from the top.
  
• Learning the poses of the buddha: blessing, stop, meditating, sleeping and just before death.
  
• You could see like the whole of Sri Lanka from the top of the rock.
  
• The mirror Wall because it was polished with bees wax and eggs.
  

Sarah

• Climbing to the top of a massive rock that a bad king lived on.
  
• I could see a stupa, a buddha and lots of houses.
  
• Realising that the big rock was a plug for a volcano and that if it erupted I'd be dead.
  
• knowing what the poses of the Buddha mean: blessing, meditating, sleeping, do not kill and just before death.
  
• The mirror wall because when the sun shines on to the rock the mirror wall looks like a rock too.
  

 


Rich
One best thing Sigiriya
The rock itself is a truly stupendous natural geographic feature. The water gardens and ruined buildings suggest a palace of mind boggling magnificence. The climb up the rock gave breathtaking views of surrounding nature and gigantic buddha statues especially at the top. The mirror wall 100m long and 300m in the air on the edge of a cliff wall rendered, and then coated in beeswax and eggs and polished to gleam in the sun. The ancient Buddha paintings in a cave simply carved out of the wall 50m above the pathway. Dan's hat getting blown off and away off the rock by the strong winds and remarkably finding it again (good karma) on a branch another hundred metres up near the top adding to the adventure! The Lion gateway to the kings palace at the top, and the nervy journey up the narrow and low hand railed steps (with a 100m drop back to the lion gate)to the very top. The sheer logistics of getting the kings palace up what must have just been a series of bamboo ladders and footholds cut into the wall defies belief! All for an 18 year reign living in fear of when his younger brother would come to kill him!!!