Blogs from Sigiriya, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

We’ve taken to undertaking our activities in the dark - given it’s about 600 degrees by 7.30am, it seemed like a good idea to start at 4am to see if that made it any more pleasant…alas not. By 5 minutes in, we were still coated in sweat as we hauled arse up what can only be described as a ginormous mountain - Pudurangala. The idea is that you haul arse up there to see the sun rise over Sigiriya which is sacred. About eleventy billion steps carved into the rock, many many sweaty puffing bodies and we made it about half way on this ‘easy to moderate hike’. Given that part had half killed us, the ‘slightly challenging’ bit at the end was set to be a showstopper! Which it was, for me, I was physically ... read more

Today was another long & hugely memorable day starting with a 6 am 15 km cycle to Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress with a royal palace perched atop. The early start was essential to beat the normal rush of tourists & pilgrims on a virtual single lane staircase. Arriving at the site is a stunning visual of a massive granite outcrop that emerges from lush greenery at lower levels to a citadel that dominates the whole surrounding skyline. The once impregnable fortress firstly passes a series water gardens before 1200 stairs needed to reach the top. Half way we passed some incredibly beautiful rock wall frescoes that somehow have survived centuries of neglect while undiscovered. The entrance to the almost vertical final 200 mtr hike to the top was once guarded by an enormous rock carved ... read more

R: We started this trip in a way we were not accustomed to - a sign board in the airport with our name on. For the next 8 days we are being chauffeured around Sri Lanka by our trusty guide, Ranjan. We had had an overnight flight from London with Srilankan Airlines - a perfect opportunity to start the day with a spicy breakfast, and this was a sign of things to come. After accidentally misunderstanding the use of a decimal point in the currency, and subsequently ordering £1 in cash from the cash machine, we left the airport (*another transaction was also made after holding up the line for about 10 minutes). It was a 4 hour ride up to Kandalama Lake, our first stop. The drive was eye opening - and made me consider ... read more

I went back to the hostel and met my two new roommates, Victoria and Deepali, friends who are travelling together. We decided to go out for dinner and we ended up back at the Garden Café due to the fact that it was the only place within walking distance to the hostel and because I was still thinking fondly of my lunchtime curry and I wanted to sample their other offerings. This time I ordered the vegetable kotthu, a Sri Lankan dish that I had never tried before made up of thinly sliced roti, vegetables, and curry, all hacked together to create a delicious, spicy mash-up. The making of the kotthu is a show in itself with the man behind the counter chopping away with his two cleavers in a distinctive clattering rhythm on the sizzling ... read more

Rano jsme opet porusili mistni zvyky a pesky(!) dosli do Shalikovy restaurace. Pry se tam chodi koupat sloni. Tak jako urcite. Ale stejne musime pockat do 13:00 na objecnane safari, tak proc ne tam. Takze co myslite, ze jsme po prichodu videli? Uplne realneho koupajiciho se slona! Uplne unreal az na to, ze to bylo real. Sice byl plne domestikovany, jeho pasak(?) byl hned na brehu, ale proste tam fakt byl. Pak prisel Shalika, donesl nejaky meloun ci co a postupne jsme si chodili slona pohladit, vrazili mu meloun do chobotu a celou dobu se snazili nespadnout do bahna. Coz jsme vsichni plus minus zvladli. Pak najednou prisel jeste druhy pasak a s nim dokonce i druhy slon. A kdyz potka slon slona, maji radost oba, o nejmenovanych turistkach z Evropy ani nemluve. Pasaci zacali slony ... read more