Mar 3, 2005 - Day 240 in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

Charles writes: I woke up early and made my way to Sigiriya, a towering rock outcrop. It was the site of royal palaces and elaborate water gardens. You can see Sigiriya for miles around and many in Sri Lanka consider it a source of national pride. The walk up started around 7:15am with no one around. It was erie walking up to the rock, with not even any vendors around. After several steep and intense sets of stairs you come to these ancient frescos of voluptuous heavenly nymphs. These are very famous frescos, being 1500 years old and the oldest non-religious paintings in Sri Lanka. I immediately recognized the images from the postcards being sold all over Sri Lanka. Climbing a bit further you come to the Lion platform, the final staircase is flanked by two enormous paws carved out of rock. This is all that’s left of the original gigantic Lion statue, the entrance use to go into the Lion’s mouth! After the torturous path up to the summit the views were amazing. The entire summit use to be covered with Kassapa’s Palace, now all that’s left are some brick platform and foundation fragments. I had a little breakfast that I had carried to the top and enjoyed the peace and quiet of being the first, and only one so far to the summit. During the hike down I met a snake charmer, who gave me a small show with his cobra and python… tough work… I wouldn’t want to be a snake charmer for my job.