Sigiriya…Wow!

Last updated on March 8, 2022

A heads up that Laura and Trey are now writing in the same posts so the context of “I” may change throughout the text.

The next few days of our adventure were based out of Sigiriya (I kept calling it Sirigiri and told the kids that this is where Apple got the name for Siri, ha). This is a town located in the Central Provence of Sri Lanka that is well known for its eponymous ancient rock fortress. Sigiriya is one of the most impressive sites that I have ever seen in the world and was the impetus for traveling to Sri Lanka in the first place. More on this unbelievable place very soon.

The first day in this region, we visited Pidurangala Vihara, an ancient Buddhist temple constructed on a massive rock called Pidurangala. The temple features a reclining Buddha at the base of the hill (you do have to take your shoes off and wear conservative dress to visit the temple). We hiked to the top of the hill. The first part was mostly stairs and some rocky dirt paths. At the base of the large rock on the top of the hill is an ancient monastery where monks used to live under the shelter of the rock. They carved lip ledges on the rock to direct water down so it ran off before getting on to their rock ceiling. In addition to the reclining Buddha, there were several brick structures and a small pond of green water featuring masses of tiny fish…not sure how they got up there. The second part of the climb was bouldering and climbing up some non-slippery giant rocks. The view from the very top of the rock is amazing. You can see 360 degrees around…mostly farm lands, distant mountains and Sigiriya (one mile away as the crow flies). There are some grooves carved into the top of the rock that appear to direct rain water into small natural depressions in the rock. We made a somewhat pathetic jumping photo at the top. I think we are not a jumping family. I got maybe a People magazine under my feet and everyone’s timing was crap. The way down was through a small tunnel under the gigantic rock…and yes, I was thinking about what would happen if it slipped from its resting place and tumbled down (watch 127 Hours to see what was going through my mind). We safely returned to the van and on the side of the road we were lucky to see a peacock on display for 2 nearby peahens. There was a lot of feather shaking, rear-end twerking and parading around. One peahen seemed interested and approached. The other one stayed up on a nearby tree brach. We waited for a few minutes and then left before any bird mating happened. I didn’t want to deal with that conversation in a van in Sri Lanka with a naive 6 and 8 year old.

We learned about the many postures of the Buddha and how they are represented in various art forms. The four postures are reclining, sitting, standing, and walking. The most common of these is the seated Buddha which is often teaching or meditating. The reclining Buddha is in the final stage of earthly life before reaching nirvana-after-death. The standing Buddha is rising to teach after reaching nirvana. The walking Buddha is either beginning his journey toward enlightenment or returning from teaching a sermon. You can also learn a lot about the Buddha by looking at the hand gestures, or mudras. These usually indicate teaching, meditation, enlightenment, and wisdom.

We went on a village trip to see how the locals live where we rode in a wagon pulled by a large ox and saw many colorful flowers, fruit trees and rice paddies. Marin was very concerned that the ox had to pull such a heavy cart and was branded (the nose ring was also a little disconcerting). Our guide explained that this ox had a pretty cushy job comparatively and was very well cared for by the farmer. Griffin and Sy enjoyed jumping on and off the cart while it was moving past the rice fields. We then went on a short walk to the river where we crossed on a small, raft-like double canoe. The path from the boat to dry land was hand made, interesting and unexpectedly sturdy. We visited a tree house that the locals use at night to scare off wild elephants so they do not trample their crops. All of the neighbors have tree houses and they work together to make noise, sing songs and chant all night long. They communicate with each other to share the work and keep their livelihood safe.

We saw a mud and wattle house made using original methods with a roof thatched with palm leaves and floors that are hard packed red dirt. They had benches all along the sides of the rooms made from the same hard packed dirt. The walls were open air and the ceiling was vaulted. It was quite cool inside the house with a nice breeze rolling through. Outside they had lime trees, Sri Lankan orange trees (tart tasting like a cross between a lemon and a lime), guava, mango, coconut, lemon grass and other herbs. We learned how to shred fresh coconut on a metal shaving stick. A local woman gave a demonstration of how she makes bread with just a few ingredients and an open flame. The bread was made into a flat pita-shaped round from millet flour mixed with fresh chopped coconut, salt water, and regular water. This was cooked for a few minutes on a flat iron pan over flaming logs. Coconut sambol was made by crushing fresh chopped coconut, chopped purple onion, a dried red chili and lime juice under a stone rolling pin. You eat the mixture by scooping it up with the bread. Everyone loved it and asked for more! We also had coriander tea with jaggery which is unrefined brown sugar made from palm sap and tastes like brown sugar’s cousin. The tea didn’t taste like much, but the jaggery was popular with our crew. We also learned how to prepare rice by pounding it to remove the shell, shaking to let the light shells float away and turning the stones to grind the rice into flour.

We took a longer boat ride out into the lily pads where the lotus flowers grow. Sy and Griffin took turns helping to row the boat while Marin copied the boat guy’s skills in making flower necklaces from 1 single flower and stem. The kids learned how to spin the unopened blossoms to make them open, fold lily pads into hats and use the lily pad flower stalk as a snorkel to breath through. We all ended up completely bedecked in lily pads and lotus flowers. We then raced two 3-wheeled tuk tuks back to our van.

If the day wasn’t full enough. we decided to take the entire family to a traditional Sri Lankan massage with oils made of 70 herbs followed by a 20 minute steam treatment over eucalyptus and lemongrass leaves. On the entrance path, we encountered an impatient monkey who stared at us. When we did not move as quickly as he wanted, he got a little angry, bared his teeth, hissed and charged us. We moved very quickly away and headed for the massage center. Below is a photo of all the beans, herbs and things they use in the oils. I don’t have any photos of the process, but I really wish I did! First, we checked in and signed up for the 60 minute treatment and 20 minute steam. They take 2 people per room and we had 5…. I was a little nervous about any of the kids going in alone since: 1) They have never had a real massage before, did not know what to expect and therefore could not be expected to advocate for themselves if they were uncomfortable, 2) It is a little creepy to have your 6-year-old being massaged by a stranger in another country, and 3) My mom brain always wonders if this is a ploy to kidnap someone and hold them for ransom (I’ve seen Taken, have you?). We jockeyed around a few times, rotating partners until all kids were happy with their match. The final pairs were: Laura and Marin, Trey and Sy, and Griffin and Dan (our guide who we asked to do it with us because no kid wanted to go alone). We entered the open air wooden hut with old style saloon doors, and high walls up to a roof with fans blowing. Inside were two massage tables and two chairs facing each other. Marin and I were instructed to take off our clothes (and keep underwear on) and put a towel around us and sit in the chairs facing each other. We had a nice head, shoulder and neck massage in the chair and on the table with the special oils; one for the body and one for the head. It was a lovely relaxing hour and the steam afterwards was refreshing with the scents of the leaves underfoot.

Note: Massages in countries other than the puritanic USA are definitely different. You should expect that you are just a slab of meat and there is really no modesty allowed. I won’t go into more detail, but contact me for tips if you are ever in Sri Lanka going for a massage.

I was not able to completely relax because I was keeping an ear out for any complaints from Griffin or Sy. I heard nothing at all from them and when Marin and I came out to walk to the steam room, Griffin was also coming out of his room with his hair sticking up in all directions with a giant towel wrapped around his waist (over his Minecraft undies!). It was dragging on the floor and the lovely massage therapist was helping him hold it up as he shuffled to the steam room. Dan said Griffin did great and just kept giggling when they massaged his feet because it tickled. He lasted just a few minutes in the steam room. Marin and Sy stayed a bit longer and Trey, Dan and I did the whole 20 minutes sweating out the toxins. We came back to the hotel to shower and get some of the oils off of us before a quick swim in the pool, followed by dinner and bed. What a day!

The next morning we stopped to try an orange thambili, also know as a king coconut. We shared the coconut water and ate the meat at a road side stand. The produce at the stand was all from the family’s garden. Our kind guide Dan gave the kids a chocolate bar before we left.

The next stop was Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress and royal palace approximately 590 ft high. Buddhist monastic settlements were established at the site during the 3rd century BCE in the boulder-strewn hills surrounding the Sigiriya rock. Between 477–495 CE, the king chose to build his new capital on top of this rock and decorated its sides with colorful frescoes. The paintings would have covered most of the western face of the rock, an area 140 meters long and 40 meters high, but most of these have been lost to time. 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, Sigiriya, means lion rock in Sanskrit. The capital and the royal palace were abandoned after the king’s death. It was used once again as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century. You can see an overview of Sigiriya below.

The entire Sigiriya complex is composed of the ancient fortress and royal palace on top of the rock with gardens surrounding it. It features five gates and measures 3 km wide by 1 km long. The gardens consist of moats, water gardens with underground water conduits that supplied water from the top of the rock to fountains which are still functional today, islands, and pools (we saw a crocodile in one of them). There were gardens that used the natural lay of the land to incorporate huge boulders at the base of the rock and linked them with winding pathways. Most of these boulders had buildings attached to them and there are slots carved into the boulders that were used as footings for brick walls and wood beams. The moats were filled with crocodiles by the king to prevent any intruders from getting close to their kingdom.

Just past the boulder gardens, a covered path leads past some terraced gardens to the entrance to the lion staircase. There used to be a full, gigantic lion here with head, body and legs, but all that remains now are the lion’s paws. You enter through the stairs between the paws. When the fortress was being actively used, the king and queen were carried up the mountain on beds on the shoulders of 4 men. Now they have built proper stairs and metal steps with railings to help people up, but in the ancient past they had cut outs in the rock all the way up. (I seriously have no idea how anyone climbed this, let alone attached to 3 other people carrying your king and queen on a chair/bed!). It is said that it is 1000 steps to the top. Marin and I started counting, but quickly lost track. Dan said that the steps at the top where the palace once stood were the 1001st and 1002nd steps…so of course we had to stand on it together. The top of the rock is about 4 acres and is terraced with brick walls, 7 water-holding pools and 360 degree views for miles around. It really is beautiful and such an amazing complex.

The way down is more scary than the way up if you are afraid of heights, which I am. Down involves walking along a narrow wooden walkway that is attached to the sheer rock wall by old rusty looking metal spikes and brackets. Occasionally, Griffin would jump on a plank and announce loudly, “This one is loose!” I try not to let the kids know that I don’t like heights so I just told him to please keep moving along. Halfway along the side of the cliff, we went even higher up a 30-foot spiral metal staircase to a cave with vivid colored paintings on the walls. No photos are allowed, but they are all of topless beautiful women dressed in jewelry, fancy makeup and clothing. They are now called the ladies of Sigiriya. There were metal bars hammered into the rock face where the artists braced their feet while painting on the ceiling and walls. Griffin had a lack-of-food breakdown up there and we quickly plied him with Haribo gummies until he was able to get it together to climb down.

Along the way down we passed the mirror wall. This wall was so highly polished that the king could see himself as he walked alongside it. It was made of brick masonry and covered in highly polished white plaster. Much of the luster of mirror wall is gone and it is now partially covered with verses scribbled by visitors, some of them dating from as early as the 8th century. People of all walks of life, from poets to provincial governors to housewives, wrote on the wall. Even Buddhist monks were not exempt as they wrote poetry on varying subjects such as love and irony.

Lunch was a traditional Sri Lankan buffet and Trey and I tried almost everything except what we were steered away from as “way too spicy for you”. Marin was in heaven and did a taste test of all the kinds of rice they had. Turns out all three kids could blindly identify white, yellow and red rice (which apparently has a low glycemic profile).

In the afternoon we went on an open-top jeep safari to see elephants. Sri Lanka venerates their elephants and hunting and poaching is not allowed. There are no natural predators and they are thriving. There are a few national park refuges (such as Minneriya and Kaudulla) near each other providing them with thousands of acres of jungle and grasslands to roam. We saw several family groups of elephants with babies. At times, they came within 25 feet of us and crossed the dirt roads. Our driver was very experienced and seemed to know which way they were going to go so that we could get a good view, but not stress the elephants. The kids really enjoyed watching the elephants, as well as riding over the bumpy road in the jeep while standing up out of the top. At the end, we climbed a rock for a good view of the surrounding jungle before snacking on some fresh pineapple and heading back for a Sri Lankan dinner at the hotel. Trey and I had chicken curry and fish curry which came with more than 7 vegetable side dishes including daal, coconut sambol, eggplant, mango chutney, battered fried mushrooms, some kind of home made chips, something that looked like okra, but wasn’t, jack fruit, and one thing called lime pickle that was so disgusting that I actually had to spit it out and could not swallow it. I cannot identify the spices in it, but it was a combination of bitter, acrid and I don’t know what. I later found out that it is supposed to be used in very sparing amounts with your food, not by the forkful as I had tried. Desert was fresh tropical fruit and yogurt with jaggery and coconut treacle. It was lovely and consumed by all despite Griffin announcing that, “Fruit is not desert and where is the chocolate cake from last night?”.

The next day we packed up and left for our drive to Kandy. a major city in Sri Lanka and the last capital of the ancient kings’ era. It is located in the center of the country in the midst of hills on a plateau that is dotted with tea plantations. Because it is surrounded by water on three sides, Kandy was the last part of Sri Lanka to fall to the British empire when it took control of the country in 1815. On the way to Kandy, we stopped at the Dambulla Cave Temple. This is yet another of Sri Lanka’s World Heritage Sites and is composed of five caves of varying size and magnificence. The caves were built at the base of a 160m high rock starting in the 1st century BCE. They lie under a vast overhanging rock, carved with a drip line to keep the interiors dry. Inside the caves the ceilings are painted with intricate patterns of religious images following the contours of the rock. Buddha imagery including statues and paintings are scattered throughout the caves, as well as representations of Sri Lankan kings and Hindu gods. They are by far the most impressive and best preserved of the many cave temples found in Sri Lanka. Access is along the gentle slope of the Dambulla Rock, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding flat lands, which includes Sigiriya, only 19 km away.

After a short hike up some stairs past a few vendors and some monkeys (apparently they don’t like rain) is the entrance to the caves. Barefoot, in the rain, we visited all 5 caves to see the many Buddha statues in various positions, and brightly and intricately painted walls and ceilings. Tourists, as well as Sri Lankans, were visiting to honor the Buddha. Many monkeys were hovering around the perimeter looking for food handouts. They do have a fence that is electrified on the top that prevents most of the monkeys from coming over the top into the compound. We did get to witness a man offering a burning coconut to a shrine and smashing it to bits. A small monkey frenzy ensued as they tried to find the edible portions. Of the five caves, the second (called the Cave of the Great Kings) is the largest and it contains a spring which drips its water from a crack in the ceiling to a collecting pot. The drawings next to the waterline are fish. The water is said to have healing powers and is used for sacred purposes only. There are distinctive tempera paintings on all of the cave ceilings that are very colorful and impressive. This is a very cool site.

We stopped for 2 kinds of bananas, the sweet and the sour. The sweet is sweeter and the texture is firmer. The sour isn’t really sour, just not as sweet. We also tried Sri Lankan olives which have a very different squishier texture with a flavor that is reminiscent of an olive, but not quite.

We stopped at a wood working shop (Lakruka) for a lesson about the types of wood and the creations that are made in Sri Lanka. It was really interesting! We have come to realize though that when we are brought to an establishment (be it an alabaster factory, an oil perfumery or a woodworking shop) and they sit you down and bring out the drinks, we’re in for a long and expensive stay (it is hard to say ‘no’ once you have sat down and had drinks with someone). We learned that you can shave wood from a rainbow tree, mix it in water and it will change from orange to pink. If you add lime juice, it turns to blue, and if you add white powder (baking soda?), it turns to orange. The heaviest woods are ebony and coconut and the lightest is kaduru, a type of balsa that they use to make masks. We watched some young workers making smaller pieces and Marin tried her hand at it as well. The boys tried on traditional Sri Lankan Raksha masks that are used in festivals and cultural dances. Raksha means “demon” and the masks are apotropaic which means that they are intended to ward off evil. They are painted in vibrant colors, with bulging eyes and protruding tongues and they depict various types of demons. We spent 2 hours there looking at all the things they carve and create from tiny elephants to large pieces of furniture to ornately painted elephants. The kids played giant chess while Trey examined every piece in the place. We bought a few small things, but are feeling hindered by the fact that we have to lug this stuff around for another 4 months. They do ship home, but only for large pieces. Some of the large items like tables, gigantic painted elephants and large pieces of wall art, are absolutely gorgeous and go for 10’s of thousands of dollars. The company gets mixed reviews on TripAdvisor (it seems like their customer service is poor once you leave the country), but it was a cool place to visit. We are going to try to ship a box home soon so we can lighten the load.

We drove on to Kandy and went to the spice and fruit market which was very fun. We tasted all kinds of spices and I bought a few things to bring home to try to make the coconut sambol that we ate in the village a few days ago. Trey made friends with the fruit vendor and we ate all kinds of fruits including uguressa, wood apple, tamarind, soursop, mango, banana, star fruit, oranges, and passion fruit (unfortunately, mangosteen is not in season now, but they do have it in the summer). Sy grabbed a sugar cane stick and waved it around and then realized his hands were covered in very fine tiny splinters. I tried to pick them out, but it was slow going. The shop keeper saw us struggling and came over with a pair of scissors. Sy was a little nervous about the scissors, but the guy used the blade to successfully scrape the needles out of his skin.

We finished the night with dinner at a famous Kandy establishment called the Royal Bar & Hotel. Kandy has a lot of British influence from the tea plantations to the architecture. This place really takes you back to the colonial times with its indoor courtyard and wood finishes everywhere. It feels like you are sitting in the same chairs as world leaders discussing the fates of their countries prior to the start of war. There was definitely a Saigon before its fall vibe to the place (watch The Quiet American to get a sense as to what I am talking about). We arrived at our new hotel, Ru Boutique, around 8 PM. Poor Griffin fell out of the van and cried in the driveway so we got him into bed as soon as we could.

During our drive today Trey asked Dan how the Indian Ocean tsunami on Dec 26th, 2004 affected Sri Lanka. The tsunami arrived about 2 hours after the earthquake that propagated it and struck the eastern and southern coastlines with 10 meter high waves. Sri Lanka lost 35,000 people to the tsunami. Dan was actually here and saw it happening. He was lucky to have friends and family in the area who were all fleeing to the highest temple around for shelter during the surge. He saw hundreds of people fleeing on foot over the cars on the road carrying kids, pets and valuables. The traffic was stuck in many places because so many people were trying to escape at the same time. He said the local train that runs right along the coast was picked up and flung across the tracks. 1,700 people were killed just on that train alone. He and his family stayed at the high ground temple for 3 weeks sheltering. In the weeks to months following, he and his friends spent weeks cleaning up the coastal towns and villages, removing dead bodies, and cleaning people’s homes. It seemed like the whole community really rallied together to help each other. Trey and I were talking about how the culture here is really one of kindness and acting in the best interests of the entire community. The Buddhist philosophy is engrained in their culture and in all their decisions. It really feels like a friendly, helping place. Dan says that if someone is in need, they help them as much as they can.

After this post there is only one more from Sri Lanka. It has been an amazing, friendly, safe, informative and adventurous visit so far. I need to give a huge thanks to our tour guide Dan. He runs his own company, Dan Lanka Tours, and guided us for two weeks through central and southern Sri Lanka. He is an awesome steward for his country. He always has a smile on his face even when driving on Sri Lanka’s narrow roads. He was wonderful with Marin, Sy and Griffin, knowing exactly when one of them needed extra attention. He is extremely knowledgeable and his English is great. We loved that he was able to figure out our travel style and alter our itinerary accordingly. By the end of the trip he became one of the family. It was really sad to have to leave him and this wonderful country. He is a wonderful human.