Sigiriya and Minneriya National Park

Today was definitely a highlight in Sri Lanka. We started the day climbing Sigiriya Rock, a 650ft high ancient rock fortress and palace. Inhabitated for over 5,000 years, first as a magnificent palace in the 5th century then as a Buddhist Monestary. I can only imagine how beautiful the place gardens and ponds must have been. Half way up our climb along a narrow and winding brick staircase, we came upon the Sigiriya Damsels mural. An outstanding mural of 21 women painted against the bare rock which at one time may have been considered the larest picture in the world covering a wall. The next level of the climb was quite a scare... a hornet outbreak had just occurred on the stairs so everyone was warned to wear a hornet proof suit! Too much noise makes the hornets angry and they fly out of their hives along the rock to attack, yikes. Despite being 95 degrees, I was determined to climb to the top so I put the uniform on. Let me tell you I think I lost 5lbs in sweat in that suit after the remaining climb but the views were well worth it! Such a cool accomplishment to look at photos of the rock and know I was on top. 

After the climb we drove to Minneriya National Park to see wild elephants on a jeep safari. Since August is considered the dry season in this region, we were able to see about 100 wild elephants along a small pool of water. This mass meeting of elephants is called “The Gathering”, the largest of its kind in Asia.