Original posting 12 March 2012 from Colombo
Took the bus to Dambulla, as we got off with a youngish Irishman he pointed to the bus station over the road where we could get a further bus to Sigiriya which left twice an hour and took 30 mins. The bus was empty when we left the station but was packed with standing passengers when we stopped shortly afterwards. We stopped just over the road from the Rest House a tout told us it would be expensive and he knew a good a/c place for 4000rp, the Rest house wanted 7200rp including breakfast and tax. So we decided to look at his place called Lakmini Lodge which was the best of the tour. That's where the value of the tout ended, the tuk-tuk driver was good but he usually came along for the ride and the tip and added little if any value.
Gini welcomed us and showed an excellent almost new room and showed us a shelter on stilts with a thatched roof and brought our favourite lime drink (water and ice) whilst the room was vacated.
POLONNARUWA (capital during 11-12th centuries)
We had thought long and hard with the tuk-tuk driver and his mate about how to use the available time and in so doing solved to dilemma of how to fit everything into 5 nights left. We decided to take the tuk-tuk a one hour journey to Polonnaruwa the second old capital leaving at 1pm in fact it took 1.75 hours and by the time we had seen anything like the whole ancient city site it was dusk and we returned in the dark (the one plus being seeing a sole male wild elephant eating his way through the ditch at the side of the road, the driver swung round and re-approached him so we had a really good view.
Unfortunately we had hired a poor guide at the first site, with poor English and one suspects a limited knowledge of the site. Overall we were underwhelmed by the experience, though at least we have a framework of pictures which following today's visit to the excellent National Museum in Colombo is falling into place.
SIGIRIYA
Part of the decision making was to make an early start to climbing Sigiriya the moment they opened at 7am. We were both daunted by the thought at climbing the staircases of that 200m high rock. The young were said to go up and down in 2 hours, with the help of an excellent guide who physically helped to climb the steps and in addition to carrying my rucksack heavy with 2 kg of water, all of which proved unnecessary at that speed for we finished in 1.75 hours by 9am long before the heat of the day. Entrance cost us 30$US each. Visiting these monuments is beyond the reach of the real budget travellers, in fact by common consent Sri Lanka is the most expensive country in Asia for budget travellers for lodging but not on the scale of these entrance prices.
We saw one very tall French woman descending just as we were reaching the top. She was clearly terrified of walking down, later we realised she was staying at the same guest house and had a long conversation at dinner that night when she explained that she could no longer afford to stay in this part of the north but was delighted when I told her of Up Country where she could get a room for 1000rp in Ella her next destination, she had been travelling for almost two years now including Australia Where she found it easy to find very well paid casual employment in simple jobs like fruit picking and family help to furnace her future travels, and New Zealand.
Sigiriya not only a challenge physically but also a lovely place, the home of a playboy king with 500 concubines who had the frescos of them all painted on the walls, only a few remain and doubtless they have been restored but they are superb. Since he lived at the top of the rock in winter when water was in
plentiful supply he had a mirror wall built half way up so he could see many fine female figures without descending, the rock was turned into a mirror by fine plaster which was polished by a mixture predominately of beeswax.
The excellent guide had asked minimum 20$ from the start in fact entrance was more than I had expected so he he had to make do with slightly 2900rp just above his minimum ask of 2400rp but worth every penny, in fact Joan is convinced she would not have made the climb without his help though I felt strong and surprisingly the dodgy left knee (thanks to Rugby and the old surgical procedure of taking out the whole cartilage) felt easier with each step.
Another example if one were needed of the importance of keeping mobile at all cost. I remember writing earlier that I felt very much weaker than usual looking back I am sure the greater part was due to severe dehydration and the rest to poor sleep due to heat and unsettled by occasional mosquito bites. Three nights in an a/c hotel at Mirissa was definitely the turning point from which, apart from a very sore throat at Hambantota, I never looked back.
Overjoyed at doing so well we went back to a late breakfast in the thatched shelter with the German family as described., but instead of settling for an afternoon of rest we decided on their advice to go to reasonably near Dambulla rock temple before leaving Siririya for Anuadhapura for thee last three days in Lake Wave 2, which cooperates with Lakmini Lodge.
It was there we later had a productive conversation with a
German couple who were travelling with two children a boy of 3 and girl
of 6. Nicole worked as a potter and we were impressed on seeing her
brochure of one-offs, both simple designs including an inverted cone
shaped vase but 1.3 metres high and 0.6m wide rather similar in shape to
the tall tapered glasses we had as a wedding present. She claimed she
alone in Germany could make vases that tall the strength being obtained
by mixing three different types of clay. The other brochure both similar
in quality to those sent out by the Glynn Vivian was full of examples
of her sculptures, often of couples and even complete families built
into a vertical rings. Husband Wolfgang worked freelance in the
financial services industry which we discussed at great length, he was
in agreement with much of the reasoning in my book Casino Capitalism
written by another German Hans-Werner Sinn which was heartening as it
sounds right to me. They had found travelling a great success and the
kids as always opened doors and got a sympathetic response everywhere ,
the girl in particular was a very pretty blond with blue eyes, very
reminiscent of the fuss made of Joe in Thailand when he was just 4. One
of Joe's great regrets is that of all the grandchildren on that trip he
is the only one who cannot remember anything. But I jump forward a
little that meeting took place the next day whilst we had a late
breakfast together.
DAMBULLA
Another tuk-tuk driver took us to Dambulla for 1300 rp
including a three hour wait. Another stiff climb up steps to reach the
caves on the rock above to Golden Buddha eased by 50rp purchase of hand
made cone full of mango slices. Having made the effort we were delighted
to find that all five caves were in a line at the same level where as
we had expected to have reached only one with the other four higher up
the huge rock which towered above us. They too were well worth the
effort but will be easier to describe with the help of the
photographs, they were full of sculpted images of Buddhas and kings.
That evening we had booked dinner at Lakmini (the previous day returning late from Polonnaruwa we had had to eat at the Rest House in Habarana) and that meal was the highlight of the whole trip. It was served communally at 7.30pm with everyone seated at a single long table. Hard-working Gini placed dishes of Chicken curry and lots of side dishes on the table to get us started and there after brought on dish after dish around the table serving everyone with as much as they could possibly want of the best food of the trip. All home cooked by his shopkeeper wife, for they ran a shop as well, and somehow kept the place full without having yet secured a recommendation in any guidebook (our two previous stays had been found similarly from tuktuk drivers - a sign of the rate of change of tourism here).
The table was a buzz of conversation, a young Dutch lad, on perhaps his first attempt at travelling had deliberately separated from his wife to talk to us at one end of the table. Joan played her part by noticing that there was no seat left at the table for the tall French girl and persuading her to raid a nearby verandah for a seat and join us. I am sorry to say that the language as usual was English. Next to us were two French couples who had just met and their conversation pace was a bit to rapid for us, further down were a group conversing in German and then English again at the far end with the Dutch half and some others who may well have been native British. English is undoubtedly the language all the travelling community speak well, be they European, Chinese or Japanese or Southern Asian. Next stop I listened (and understood!) as a middle aged French couple talked in French with a young German couple but both switched into fluent English when we were involved.
It was a classic demonstration of how to run a successful guest-house, good rooms at a range of prices, the tall French girl had a room in the shop building probably for around 1500rp but all the specially built were probably from 3000 to 4000rp. Real attention and genuine friendliness to guests, superb food and waiting at table, plus helping people organise their stay and make forward bookings in newly built guest-houses at Anuradhapura and Kandy, three GHs worked together. Gini never stopped but how much difference he made to all the individual travellers involved. When he forget water for a couple of us who desperately needed it we went to their home in the shop after the meal and he apologised for forgetting earlier requests (mainly because at the earlier time he had no more bottles cold, but had put some more in the freezer before forgetting. One of ours was full of ice.
When we came to pay he didn't charge for the odd extra like the cold lime drinks we had had or the half breakfast we had a had with the German family. I feel sure he will make a big success and good luck to him.
Took the bus to Dambulla, as we got off with a youngish Irishman he pointed to the bus station over the road where we could get a further bus to Sigiriya which left twice an hour and took 30 mins. The bus was empty when we left the station but was packed with standing passengers when we stopped shortly afterwards. We stopped just over the road from the Rest House a tout told us it would be expensive and he knew a good a/c place for 4000rp, the Rest house wanted 7200rp including breakfast and tax. So we decided to look at his place called Lakmini Lodge which was the best of the tour. That's where the value of the tout ended, the tuk-tuk driver was good but he usually came along for the ride and the tip and added little if any value.
 |
| Sigiriya from Ground |
POLONNARUWA (capital during 11-12th centuries)
 |
| Vatadage |
Unfortunately we had hired a poor guide at the first site, with poor English and one suspects a limited knowledge of the site. Overall we were underwhelmed by the experience, though at least we have a framework of pictures which following today's visit to the excellent National Museum in Colombo is falling into place.
 |
| Brick constructions |
 |
| King Parakrambahu |
 |
| Reclining Buddha |
 |
| His head |
 |
| His feet left one slightly back, in heaven not dead |
SIGIRIYA
Part of the decision making was to make an early start to climbing Sigiriya the moment they opened at 7am. We were both daunted by the thought at climbing the staircases of that 200m high rock. The young were said to go up and down in 2 hours, with the help of an excellent guide who physically helped to climb the steps and in addition to carrying my rucksack heavy with 2 kg of water, all of which proved unnecessary at that speed for we finished in 1.75 hours by 9am long before the heat of the day. Entrance cost us 30$US each. Visiting these monuments is beyond the reach of the real budget travellers, in fact by common consent Sri Lanka is the most expensive country in Asia for budget travellers for lodging but not on the scale of these entrance prices.
 |
| Back of Mirror Wall |
 |
| Joan and Guide at top |
The excellent guide had asked minimum 20$ from the start in fact entrance was more than I had expected so he he had to make do with slightly 2900rp just above his minimum ask of 2400rp but worth every penny, in fact Joan is convinced she would not have made the climb without his help though I felt strong and surprisingly the dodgy left knee (thanks to Rugby and the old surgical procedure of taking out the whole cartilage) felt easier with each step.
 |
| Feet of the once guarding lion |
 |
| The Top Palace |
Overjoyed at doing so well we went back to a late breakfast in the thatched shelter with the German family as described., but instead of settling for an afternoon of rest we decided on their advice to go to reasonably near Dambulla rock temple before leaving Siririya for Anuadhapura for thee last three days in Lake Wave 2, which cooperates with Lakmini Lodge.
 |
| Made it! The very top of Sigiriya |
DAMBULLA
 |
| One step at a time, Joan on the way up |
 |
| The Buddha above the new temple |
 |
| Rock Cave 1 |
 |
| Rock Cave 2 |
That evening we had booked dinner at Lakmini (the previous day returning late from Polonnaruwa we had had to eat at the Rest House in Habarana) and that meal was the highlight of the whole trip. It was served communally at 7.30pm with everyone seated at a single long table. Hard-working Gini placed dishes of Chicken curry and lots of side dishes on the table to get us started and there after brought on dish after dish around the table serving everyone with as much as they could possibly want of the best food of the trip. All home cooked by his shopkeeper wife, for they ran a shop as well, and somehow kept the place full without having yet secured a recommendation in any guidebook (our two previous stays had been found similarly from tuktuk drivers - a sign of the rate of change of tourism here).
The table was a buzz of conversation, a young Dutch lad, on perhaps his first attempt at travelling had deliberately separated from his wife to talk to us at one end of the table. Joan played her part by noticing that there was no seat left at the table for the tall French girl and persuading her to raid a nearby verandah for a seat and join us. I am sorry to say that the language as usual was English. Next to us were two French couples who had just met and their conversation pace was a bit to rapid for us, further down were a group conversing in German and then English again at the far end with the Dutch half and some others who may well have been native British. English is undoubtedly the language all the travelling community speak well, be they European, Chinese or Japanese or Southern Asian. Next stop I listened (and understood!) as a middle aged French couple talked in French with a young German couple but both switched into fluent English when we were involved.
 |
| Delivering Rice |
It was a classic demonstration of how to run a successful guest-house, good rooms at a range of prices, the tall French girl had a room in the shop building probably for around 1500rp but all the specially built were probably from 3000 to 4000rp. Real attention and genuine friendliness to guests, superb food and waiting at table, plus helping people organise their stay and make forward bookings in newly built guest-houses at Anuradhapura and Kandy, three GHs worked together. Gini never stopped but how much difference he made to all the individual travellers involved. When he forget water for a couple of us who desperately needed it we went to their home in the shop after the meal and he apologised for forgetting earlier requests (mainly because at the earlier time he had no more bottles cold, but had put some more in the freezer before forgetting. One of ours was full of ice.
When we came to pay he didn't charge for the odd extra like the cold lime drinks we had had or the half breakfast we had a had with the German family. I feel sure he will make a big success and good luck to him.
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