10Sri LankaWe were awake around 5am, Deb a bit/lot earlier than that. We were at the resort front gate by 5:40am ready for our 6am pickup.
It’s Sigiriya Rock Fortress or Lion Rock morning. It’s time for a hike, 1300+ steps up, 1300+ steps back down.
We arrived at the base of the rock at about 6:15am, ready to do a bit of climbing.
Sigiriya Rock Fortress is the 8th wonder of the world. We were told it was the first U ESCO World Heritage Site, it was built in the 5th century and is truly an engineering marvel. It has separated underground water and waste systems, there are fountains that still work, apparently they had a hydro system , and engineering systems to lift large very heavy rocks to extreme heights and so much more. We were told many of their systems predated Rome and European civilisations.
The site was used for many things, as a fortress, a place of peace for royalty, and international trade centre, poetry and the arts.
We made it to the top of the rock by 7:10am. At the very top there was a platform that was used for Royal ceremonies and greeting distinguished guests. There were also are many pools and water features, how the water reaches the site is still a mystery due to the dry climate. To taday there are over 300,000 bricks remaining in various structures. They estimate that over 3 million were used on top of the rock!
On the main face of the rock it is said that over 500 female faces were painted into damp plaster, helping a few of them survive to today. Access to view the remaining paintings is via a path carved into the side of the rock and these days, up a steel spiral staircase. No photography was allowed of the paintings, but they were primarily likenesses of Royal women wearing fine jewellery.
We left the rock at 8:35am and were back at our villa by 9 :30am, after having breakfast. Time to rest and pack before we leave. We were picked up at 12 noon and on our way to Anuradhapura.
AL9ng the way we stopped on the side of the road at a large water way. There were lily pads in the water and lots of birds. Deb got her good camera out and got lost in the moment. She loves being behind a lens and made full use of the opportunity. We saw many birds we hadn’t seen before and a number we had. It was a great way to share in her energy for an hour or so, let’s hope she shares a few pictures in her facebook picture blog (link at the end of the blog).
WE eventually hit yhe road again and were at our ne t hotel around 2pm.
We have a very nice villa at the end of the road 8nside the resort, a very comfortable “room”.
And that was our day.
More temples and Buddhist / Sri Lankan history tomorrow
#retiredlyf done our way.
Catch our photo blog here: https://www.facebook.com/Greganddebstravelblog?mibextid=ZbWKwL
