Day 4 - Sigiriya Rock

OceanStars :: Tuesday 27th October 2009 :: This Story

Day 4 Monday 26.10.09

Day 4 has been set aside as a travelling day as we have to reach Batticalda by the evening. As this is not a working day we treated this as a holiday. After a 7.0am breakfast we packed our bags and left Dambulia. We travelled in two minibuses and one car, taking in all the interesting details on the way. We visited the City, Palace and Royal Gardens at Sigiriya. Sigiriya itself is a walled-and-moated royal capital of the fifth century A.D.

This was another real adventure. The Palace complex was on top of a rock rising 200 metres above the surrounding plain. (1252 steps). The views were fantastic and those of us who were brave enough to climb to the top were truly rewarded for our efforts. Our guide told us all the interesting things on the way and we felt as if we had had an insight into the history of Sri Lanka.

We then proceeded to Batticaloa along a very good road. We stopped to take photos of anything of interest and had lunch in a very nice restaurant overlooking the lake at Polonnaruwa. When we arrived at our hotel in Batticaloa we unpacked and then went for a swim in the Indian Ocean. It was wonderful, swimming in warm water in the moon-light. After a briefing session for our next working day we had a very good dinner followed by a packing session in preparation for a busy day tomorrow.

Betty