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Published: December 12th 2013
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Damsels of Sigiriya
5th century paintings - about halfway up the rock. there were 150 0riginally, with about 24 of them remaining Well, the travelblog web site is acting up, and the internet is hit and miss. so I will post the pics I had previously uploaded. Then I lost the internet again.... So, now it is our last day in Sri Lanka, and I will attempt to post this blog. Since this was multiple attempts, I've ended up posting a lot of pics!
Tomorrow, we fly to Kuala Lumpur. It has been a great trip, and we definitely hope to return as we feel as though we only had a sample of this beautiful country! We spent 17 days and definitely saw a lot.
From the Old Capital, Anuradhapura, we headed to the Central area of the country to Sigiriya to see the Lion Rock. The short story of this 1100ft rock, is the stepson kills his father, the King and decides to build his palace here, away from the Capital, since he knows he is not the rightful heir. He lasts for 15 yrs until the true heir shows up, the Stepson's army deserts him and he kills himself. But the rock is pretty amazing and has a great view from the top. We stayed at a little guest
Lion Rock
In the 5th century Stepson kills the King and decides to build his palace on this 1100' rock. It lasts for 15 yrs. house about 1mile from the rock. Up early, a quick cup of tea and we were the gate by the 7am opening with about 4 people. It was wonderful as we felt like we had the rock to ourselves. By the time we came back down there were about 300 people starting to go up. There is a narrow circular stairway to see the Damsel paintings, and many people had warned us it can get very slow by mid morning, trying to go up it. The 5th century paintings were beautiful, the colors still very vibrant! Originally there were @ 150 different paintings, now there are @ 24 left, most destroyed by vandalism. There was a light mist while we were hiking up, our first rain but did not interfere with the views at the top.
Then it was a local bus to Kandy about 3 hours further south. Kandy is the 2nd largest city and much busier than we had thought. We stayed in a great little guesthouse outside the city, setup by Asolo from our guesthouse in Anuradhapura. Chama, the manager did a great job to make us feel comfortable. Even getting us front row seats for
Entrance to the palace
Was an entire lion carved into the rock. All that remains are the paws the cultural show. Kandy has a beautiful lake in the center and is known for the Temple of the Tooth. Storing the tooth of Buddha. This was our first time seeing a number of tourists and buses. And there were a lot of them, a surprising number of Russians. The common comment too us, has been, we don't get many Americans. Kandy is also know for their beautiful Botanical Garden, started in mid 1800s. We spent most of a day just walking around it. Beautiful and unusual plants and flowers.
Then it is a 5 hr train ride to Ella, one of the higher areas in the country at 3000 ft. When we arrived in Bangkok we noticed very few backpacks, almost completely replaced with the roller bags, and wondered if we were the last of them. But fortunately travelling in Sri Lanka, it is all backpackers that we see. On the train, we notice the 'older' backpackers, including us in 1st class, while the younger set is in the cheaper (about $1.50 cheaper) in 2nd class. It is a beautiful train ride thru tea plantations and waterfalls. unfortunately the weather has begun to turn and it is misty
Original stairway
a form of defense - would have kept us out. Now, for the tourists we get iron flat steps. and cloudy.
Ella is a small town with @ 12 restaurants and 20 guest houses. It is a place where the Sri Lankans come to escape the heat. And with the rain, it is almost chllly! Which considering we have been sweating the entire time, it is a welcome relief. We do some small hikes, but the rain stays for the 2 days we are there. One evening, we do enjoy a cooking class. And find out whey we are not losing any weight on this trip. That delicious rice and curry which is usually 4-5 curry dishes all are cooked with about 2 gallons of coconut milk!
Then it is to Yalta, the most popular National Park in SL. It is known to have the highest concentration of leopards, but we did not see any. But it is a beautiful park, with lots of birds, including tons of peacocks, deer, crocodiles, boars.
Then, finally making it to the beautiful south coast. We stayed in Mirissa, a small village, with 3 half moon bays and the most perfect, clear, warm ocean! We stayed 4 days and could have stayed longer. Great seafood restaurants on the beach. It
was fabulous! A great way to finish our last days!
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Jole Voulelis
non-member comment
Wow!
Hello Michelle and Ed, It's a beautiful world out there! I'm so happy you get to see it! Thanks for sharing it! Great blog! I wish I was with you! Love love love it! Have a wonderful holiday abroad. Love Jole