Cave Temples and Sigiriya Rock

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We usually enjoy exploring a country on our own; finding places we want to see and maybe doing a small tour here and there.  However the transportation in Sri Lanka would make that very difficult, with public transport being too slow and Tuk Tuks being impractical for the distance we wanted to cover. So we booked a 3 day tour that would take us to the cities we wanted, ending near Yala National Park where we booked a safari for our last full day. Our driver picked us up early that morning and we were surprised to find out we had actually booked a private tour (even better!). 

Our first stop was Dambulla to visit the cave temples.  First, we had to climb 200 stairs to reach the top of Dambulla Rock, but it makes for a great view! There we quickly stowed our shoes and donned proper attire to enter the series of caves.


Inside the first cave was single giant statue of a past Buddha. Our guide explained you can tell when the buddha is 'resting' versus 'past living' by looking at the toes.  As below, the toes are not perfectly lined up, so this a Buddha who has passed on.


The second cave was largest and had statues of Buddha in many different positions of rest, speaking to the people, and meditation.  One of the wonders of this cave was the gravity defying water flow that enters from the floor, travels up the walls, across the ceiling and drips steadily into a pot. 



We were waiting outside to visit the next few caves when we heard the morning drums signaling the locals were about to make their offerings to buddha.  Out of respect, everyone waits outside and the doors are closed until their prayers are finished. 


The paintings are in various states of restoration, as they naturally erode away from the stone. Outside, there is just the smallest remnants of the murals that used to cover the rock above the entrances. 


This is the Bo (Bodhi) tree, across from the entrance of the temples which is sacred and used for ceremonial purposes.  These are special sacred trees, kept alive and spread out over the centuries by taking a branch from the origin tree and replanting at temples across Sri Lanka.


From the entrance, we walked the opposite way down Dambulla Rock towards the Golden temple, seeing a few monkeys along the way.  These are Toque Macaques, native to Sri Lanka and seen throughout our travels. They definitely try to steal anything resembling food, and one even took a flying leap at Pedro's hand in an attempt to steal his mango slices. 


At the bottom sits the Golden Temple, which is a now also a Buddhist Museum. If you look under Buddha's chin, there are black spots we couldn't figure out (maybe a restoration process?). Turns out, honey bees will nest anywhere and everywhere!
 

Then we visited Sigiriya to see the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, dating back to 477 AD when the king named Sigiriya the Capital of Ceylon (which is the name the people gave Sri Lanka). There were many pools, palaces, and frescos at this site, though few remain from erosion.  Of the 500 frescos of the king's concubines, 18 remain near the top. (And that's one fresco painting for each of his concubines, no repeats; he had 500 wives). The rock is about 200 metres high, it was climbing a mixture of the original stone steps and modern staircases.  This is the site that made me realize I was OUT of shape while battling the 34℃ heat. 

View from the bottom

You can see here where the modern staircase was put in place of the original way to climb, which consisted of a small depression big enough for a foot and short poles to haul yourself up the side of the rock. There were also spiral staircases installed to access the small area where the last remaining frescos can be seen (no photos allowed).

Ruins from the palace
View of where we started near the top of the 


We have a running joke that anywhere Pedro visits, he wants to find the highest place possible to see the city below.  I think this may have checked the box (at least for Sigiriya). 

On our way to the next stop, Pedro spotted our first elephant sighting! We pulled over as the elephant was walking into the water to cool off.  Her owner got in as well to splash water over her.


The rest of the journey was driving to Kandy, where we would stay for the night.  We hit a lot of traffic due to a festival to celebrate the rainy season, but managed to make it inside just before the storm. 

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