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Published: January 26th 2017
Today consisted of rain, heavy rain, light rain and drizzle.
Having seen the size of Sigiriya Rock and seen the pictures of the steps up there was not a cat in hells chance of me attempting it. Mum how you did it I do not know! Much respect!! Howard fully intended to but the weather was so lousy and it costs £30 to go up now - regardless of weather or if you make it or not, that he opted to do Pidurangala another massive rock formation and ancient monastery which cost just under £3 instead. I stayed in bed!
A couple of hours later and as I was attempting to eat the most enormous breakfast I have ever seen (sadly not bacon and eggs) Howard and Sajith returned looking rather wet and knackered.
We said our goodbyes to the lovely folk at Otunna and drove towards the Sigiriya Rock and on the way saw a lone elephant by the lakeside. We also saw people having elephant rides and the poor thing had chains on it's legs.
There were good views of the rock but as we got nearer to the entrance it just poured down; we
attempted to walk to the gardens but the rain just got worse so we abandoned it and headed to Dambulla.
As well as staying the night here (at the Sanemro guesthouse) we were going to see the Dambulla Caves. The caves are 400++ steps up the mountainside and I was not looking forward to that bit!
However I eventually made it up and I'm so glad I did. The views across the countryside were great even with the rain, there were monkeys carrying on everywhere and you could see both Sigiriya and Pidurangala Rocks in the distance.
Shoes off we headed to the caves, nice smooth rock this time and lots of water. The caves were great, not so much as caves but for the statues and paintings inside. I was well impressed. The cave with rock paintings covering the walls and ceilings had this strange eeeping noise and it turns out this is a caterpillar deterrent! These caves are definitely worth the climb up.
On the way down I bought some mango slices which were delicious and the monkey that swiped some out of my hands when I wasn't looking clearly agreed! I just handed
the rest over to him as he was huge and I didn't want to be mugged!!
At the bottom we had a mooch about the outside of the Dambulla Golden Temple which was rather unique in a kitschy kind of way.
The guesthouse is fine and right in town so we were able to have a wander and eat out tonight - cheese omlette and chips yummy.
And finally the bloody blog is up to date....for now at least 😊
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