Day 4 - Sigiria Rock Fortress & Minneriya National Park

Culture, culture, culture...

A 6:15am wake up call greeted the tourists for a 6:30am. The idea of curry and rice for brekky seems to be fading on the boys as french toast and streaky bacon with maple syrup. A relatively short bus trip took the group to the rock fortress. Sigiriya, considered by some as the eighth wonder of the
world, consists of an ancient castle used by King Kasyapa in the 5th century AD. It was included on the World Heritage List in 1982.

The climb ahead.

The view back down towards the site's entrance.

The ruins of the capital lie on the steep slopes and at the summit of a high granite peak (the 'Lion's Rock‘), which dominates the jungle from all sides. The upper ‘Sky Palace’ is sited on the top of the rock. A series of galleries and staircases emerging from the mouth of a gigantic lion, constructed of bricks and plaster, provide access. Sigiria is famous for painted frescoes, which perch precariously on
the steep rock face below the palace. Moats, walls and gardens extend outward from the base of the rock.

The remnants of the lion's paws still remain from the palace's entrance.

Dr. Merven looking to make this trip tax deductible come July this year...

The name refers to a site of historical and archaeological significance that is dominated by a massive column of rock nearly 200 metres high. According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle the Culavamsa, this site was selected by King Kasyapa (477 – 495 CE) for his new capital. He built his palace on the top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of this rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure —Sīhāgiri, the Lion Rock. The capital and the royal palace was abandoned after the king's death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.

Not quite the same appeal of the hotel's pool but spectacular nonetheless.

On the way down the fortress, there were a plethora of vendors looking to sell some souvenirs to the gaggle of tourists at the heritage site. Some of the boys entertained some of the vendors, who escorted them all the way back to the bus. A couple bought some unconventional souvenirs...

"Susan....Dan has something to tell you."

Back to the hotel for some more R&R - just quietly, if there were some nets at the hotel it would have been good for the players to get a bit of practice in. Some ordered their lunch to have by the pool, others didn't worry about it given the size of breakfast and knowing how dinner operates now. Coach Toth was missing listening to music, so while completing blog entries, an Aussie playlist including Men at Work, Powderfinger and Paul Kelly entertained at poolside. It wasn't long before it was time to visit the elephants at Minneriya National Park. The group split up into 4 jeeps and off we went. In the lead up, our tour guide, Ravi, informed us all of the differences between Asian and African elephants, enlightening even the most knowledgeable of staff members.

Overtaking proved difficult.

"Who would have thought looking for elephants could prove so difficult?"

After about 20 min of driving and taking in a lot of dust from the jeeps ahead of us, we finally hit the mother load...

The site of so many Asian elephants just wandering care-free was definitely uplifting to the soul. It's hard to believe that anyone would want to harm these animals - though an Asian elephant's lack of tusks does somewhat limit their exposure to danger. 

After a short drive and a "chips and coke" stop on the way back to the hotel, all and sundry took about 3 minutes to get ready for a dip in the pool to wash off the dust from our elephant adventure. The tour leadership group decided to hold some catching practice while in the pool - MVP was Alex Vievers. 

Tomorrow - Kandy.