A Sigiriyan sunrise and spa

3/4/22

Raiza and I got off the local bus just before Sigiriya and walked twenty minutes down rural lanes to our hostel. It was very pretty, but also (predictably), very sweaty!! By the time we arrived, we were very hungry, as it was way past lunchtime! The hostel (Roy’s), had been overbooked, which meant we were being upgraded to private rooms (win!), but they weren’t ready yet (wah!).

We headed straight out for food. It looked as if there was a local place on the corner, but it was actually just a corner shop. Instead, we headed into a very fancy resort, with golf buggies to drive you from A to B. We sat at a table by the infinity pool, which overlooked a pond and jungle. Monkeys were swinging in the trees behind and birds of prey were in the sky. We both ordered glorious salads, and iced drinks. Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel to freshen up. Our rooms were still not ready awhile, so we chatted, played some cricket with Roy’s son and a Swedish guy as well as playing some game a little similar to pool. Then we showered before dinner. Everyone ate together at Roy’s which was pretty nice, and better still, I was introduced to hoppers, a kind of rice based pancake which you fill with a range of curries and veggies before folding it like a fajita and inhaling it. It was delicious – not too salty, and not too bland, but instead packed with flavour! Finally I had found Sri Lankan food I actually liked – only took me two weeks! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ Then I retired to my private room and watched Netflix!

4/4/22

Today was a busy day!! We got up at 04.30 to hike up Pidanrangula Rock for sunrise. Raiza and I went with another guy and Roy, the hostel owner. Of course, Roy walked up in flip-flops and very quickly! We kept up and made it up to the top before the orange glow appeared on the horizon. We sat in a row and enjoyed the view. Roy got out some ginger tea and biscuits and we munched. There were two girls in front of us who were doing a very long photo session. Roy offered them tea, and they explained their story. One of the girl had been proposed to on the opposite rock fifteen years before. They had since divorced (after ten happy years, and five not so much), and this was a full circle trip! We chilled awhile before heading down. I got talking to some Irish girls on the way down – they were all living in Dubai and were on a package road trip of Sri Lanka. When we got to the bottom, a jeep was waiting for us. We got in the jeep and joined an Irish/German couple and another girl for our safari tour.

We headed to the national park and began our tour. We started as the only jeep. It wasn’t long before we spotted our first group of elephants. We watched them awhile before switching to different groups. There was also a peacock fanning his tail out trying to impress a peahen. The jeep chased the peacock away and we moved to more elephants including some babies. There were five jeeps at some points, which was a little much, but the elephants were beautiful to watch. They are also very loud eaters and you can hear them munching on the leaves and branches. We returned to the hostel at around 10.30, very hungry and had breakfast.

After breakfast, I napped and when I woke up, the rest of the hostel had gone out. I headed back to the fancy hotel for a full body massage. It was glorious. Then I headed to the pool, drank iced tea and swam. The monkeys were going crazy across the pond swinging from tree to tree unfazed by large gaps that they had to hurtle through!! I sunbathed and read awhile too before heading back to the hostel in time for dinner. Again, we had an array of curries, each one pretty tasty. Afterwards, I retired to bed early after a busy day full of excitement with a very early start!!

5/4/22

Today I got up and packed before getting a lift to the local bus stop to catch the bus to Trincomalee. A lot of the hostel were going hiking in Knuckles Mountains, but I had decided that it was time to get to the city, after quite some time in small towns and countryside. I needed to make sure I had enough time to get to Jaffna, which was apparently a very different vibe to the rest of Sri Lanka so I had heard! I got some bus snacks, before climbing on the bus and thankfully getting a seat!!