Wednesday 3 Feb 2016
Today we are making our way to Sigiriya Rock and Polannaruwa. Sigiriya Rock used to be a palace and I visited this place the last time I was in Sri Lanka in 2013. Polannaruwa is an ancient capital city that was abandoned in the 13th century. It was variously ruled by Sinhalese dynasty and also by the Colas from South India who invaded much of the northern part of Sri Lanka.
We arrived at Sigiriya Rock at 9am. There were already plenty of tourists there. It is a public holiday in Sri Lanka today (Sri Lankan National Day) and also with Chinese New Year around the corner, there were plenty of Chinese tourists. The crowds here unfortunately does not allow you to fully appreciate this place. When I came here 3 years ago, there were hardly any tourists and therefore Charles and I had an enjoyable and leisurely experience. We took great pictures (Visit to Sigiriya Rock in 2013).
Only 4 of us were doing the climb today, Vasantha, Shantini, Susie and myself. I am acting as the proxy guide. Being a hot and humid day, we all carried our water bottles. Climbing up the rock was a tricky affair. There was pushing and shoving with Chinese tourists which does not make the experience pleasurable. We made plenty of stops to take in the site. The path to the middle section was a slow journey. At the fresco wall, no photography was allowed. I suppose it is because of the crowd. I managed to get some non-flash pictures the last time.
We reached the top in about 90 minutes. We examined the area on top, which was the winter palace area. The summer palace area was at the foot of the rock.
We made it down from the top in 30 minutes. We were feeling the heat and humidity by now. We were picked up again by the rest of the group and headed for lunch.
After lunch we made our way to the ancient city of Polannaruwa. It is the second most ancient city and was an ancient capital (1070AD). This site is quite extensive and sits besides a huge man-made reservoir. The reservoir resembles a lake and there are several of them in central Sri Lanka. The ancient kings valued agriculture and therefore made sure the country’s farmland is sufficiently irrigated. The amazing thing is that these ancient reservoirs and irrigation channels are still being used today.
We visited the site museum to fully appreciate this ancient site. We were then taken to a place called the Citadel. This is where the palace and central administration area of the kingdom was.
Our final stopover was a Boy’s Home in Batticaloa. Most of the boys have lost their parents for various reasons. There are about 30 boys ranging from 6 to 19. The town of Batticaloa had some bad luck ranging from the war to tsunami. Most of the boys are the casualties of some more recent calamity. There is a sad story in every corner of this town.
