No Fixed Abode: Scorchio

Wed 20 Apr 2016 - UNESCO world heritage sites, Sigiriya rock and Dambulla

We knew it was critical to be at the ticket office gate at the opening hour of 7.00am to ensure we escaped the heat and, more importantly, the crowds, as we had read this rock palace, aka Lion Rock, definitely has the highest concentration of tourists on the island. An impressive second in line and waiting for the ticket office to open we were plagued by stray mutts who were after any scraps from our take away breakfast (a doggy bag, as it were!) given to us by our homestay.

This is a huge, red monolithic rock, 600 feet high and the King who ruled around 495AD built himself a palace on top of it, along with lush water gardens, monasteries and pavilions embedded in and surrounding the base of the rock. He moved the capital to Sigiriya from Anuradhapura (our previously visited UNESCO world heritage site) after murdering his father (plastering him up in a wall no less) and, when rejected by his people for his crime and tormented by guilt, he fled deep into the forests in central Sri Lanka and built it.The famous fresco of semi-naked nymphs painted in a cave is the image on the majority of tourist brochures you’ll see, and they caused quite a stir back in history. The mirror wall just outside the painted cave having been defaced with centuries of graffiti (or ‘poems’ as UNESCO like to call them) mainly about the king's harem. A massive gatehouse in the form of a lion guarded the entrance to the inner part of the city, the palace on top of the rock, but all that remain are its paws. We started up the stone stairs between them then slogged up the zigzag metal staircase fixed precariously to the rock face as the sun was rising. It was getting hot to stand among the ruins of the sky palace but with stunning clear views across the forest and jungle of central Sri Lanka it was worth it.

Our journey down was timed to perfection as the expected crowds filed along the paths and staircases like ants in long lines. Making it back to the car we noticed tens of buses all parked up, there must have been hundreds of people here now, mass tourism at its worst.

We spotted Nana who got the a/c racing as we slid into the car and suggested a quiet place for a cuppa took out of town on the road to Dambulla. At a charity rest place we stopped and Nana helped us with our choices of local sweet rice and noodle type cakes. The main ingredient in all of them was coconut and honey and we were very good about how many we scoffed.

On the road to Dambulla we were stopped several times as New Year festivities were still taking place, this time a cycling road race. Excitedly, we prepared the camera for some action shots and snapped at the first cyclist who, well, didn’t exactly whizz past. Ready again, we thought the peloton was coming, but nothing and Nana was ushered on. We guessed this guy must have been at the back. Then, we noticed quite a crowd of tuk tuks coming towards us with headlights on and as they passed we thought we’d spotted them shielding a woman cyclist. Then another entourage of tuk tuks headed our way and two ladies went by. A ladies cycle race! Women fully clothed in long skirts and tops and cycling in flip flops no less. And they were cycling on their clapped out bikes they use daily about town. A heartwarming event and so far removed from Yvonne's cycling group with their padded seats, lycra, gloves and gears.

Arriving in Dambulla about 10h30 we now had to climb up to the Cave Temples. Yvonne stepped into the long trousers required for temples and took a pair of thick walking socks to avoid getting blisters from the scorching stone steps and brick walkways when we had to take our shoes off. In the heat and humidity we slogged up the granite steps using any shade we could find and, leaving our shoes under the shade of a tamarind tree, entered the complex of caves. They are cut out of another enormous lump of granite around 160m above the surrounding countryside and we could clearly see across the plains as far as Sigiriya nearly 20km away. The pollution hazy we experienced in Vietnam is not here and our climbs are rewarded with stunning views.

These caves were originally a refuge for the king who lost his throne in 85 BC and after reclaiming the throne in 103 BC he constructed them into temples as a sign of gratitude. There are 5 caves with stunning murals on the walls and ceiling along with many buddhas of all sizes and positions in them. These caves have been places of pilgrimage for thousands of years, with each reigning monarch embellishing them and constructing more and more buddhas of wood and bricks inside them to the point that it’s impossible not to have your back to a buddha, something you’re not supposed to do, as you walk around. We remarked how bright the mural colours were but told they were regularly repainted through time as they faded and further changes were made right up to the twentieth century. We’d visited the caves in reverse order, (5 to 1) - the furthest away first. This allowed us to visit caves 5 and 4 with only two other people in them, hit the masses of tourists in cave 3 as we crossed everyone and then in relatively calm in cave 2 and 1. A great tip from another blogger we are following.

With another full on frazzle we dripped our way back to the refuge of the a/c car. Nana cranked it up full on and we soon lost our frazzledness to watch the towns flash by, shut our eyes tight to the crazy driving and overtaking rules (?) and reached Kandy in good time. Our hotel staff met us with a fresh pot of tea and Nice biscuits which we devoured and shamelessly dunked.