We ditched the minibus (yes – we have a 20 seater minibus just for us. It was meant to be a regular car, but when I mentioned five surfboards, well, I think they panicked) and hopped on board a couple of Tuk Tuks.

Crazy Harry at the wheel

Once we were well into the bush we then switched to a cart drawn by two Brahmin cattle. No suspension.

Speeding through the countryside.

After our bones were shaken more than we needed, we boarded a local multi-hulled canoe down the river (weed infested creek) to a local farm. Every plant and tree we saw was either edible or has herbal and medicinal uses. The farmers here have blocks of about 600 square meters to live off. So we didn’t mind paying them a few rupees to see their lifestyle. There are wild elephants in the area, so the locals sleep in theses raised platforms to stay safe.

Safe sleeping quarters. Bonus cool breezes.

And here is their house….

After this we went further down stream on the canoes through this lotus filled lake….

Lotus flowers as far as you can see

And then we had lunch cooked for us by this lovely lady at her house. Curries, fish, sambals, dhal, rice, pappadams, vegetables followed by sweet bananas. Yum as.

Lunch in the making.

Fair to say, we didn’t eat much for dinner.

Sri Lanka has its fair share of World Heritage sites, and the 5th century rock citadel of King Kasyapa called Sigiriya was worth the visit. Some say it’s the 8th wonder of the world, and there’s too many versions of that list to argue.

Surrounded by four enormous symmetrical gardens, still only half excavated and restored, the journey to the top is up 1200 steps.

Sigiriya World Heritage site

On top of that big rock are the remnants of a range of buildings as well as rock art on the way up there. The stories abound about the many features and their purposes. For instance, they say that the two boulders in the pic below were moved there to create a grand entrance. I remain a little sceptical.

Boulders that were rolled here. Staying with the theme, that would be up hill.

We traversed the side of this rock on suspended walkways that were rather more airy than I like. Then also up a teeny, weeny spiral staircase to see some wall paintings from the 5th century, then back down another spiral. Way too much fresh air up there. And did I mention it was seriously windy?

Can you see the spiral stairs?

After more steps, you get to the lion’s feet which guard the start of the next set of steps to the very top.

Lion’s feet. No Lion.

All in all, it was pretty amazing – the engineering and sheer size of the structure they built so long ago, and the technology they used in their use of water, and strategies to protect the palace were ahead of their time.

And boy, was it sweaty.

We saw some cool stuff today. This cute chameleon below was spotted as we were walking through the bush to visit a local family in their home. Apparently it’s not actually a chameleon – but it sure is closely related.

Looks just like a chameleon to me.

Next up, we were wandering past the lake at the museum at Sigiriya, and see a crocodile amongst the water lilies. Could have been at Kakadu!

Just like home.

And here’s the fella that was trying to cross the road amongst the Sri Lankan traffic. Definitely NOT like home.

One of hundreds of wild elephants living outside wildlife reserves.

This is the first taste of a tropical climate for the boys. It was 28 degrees when we arrived at 2am this morning, plus the obligatory humidity. They were shocked!

We met our lovely driver, Praki, this morning. He is to be our guide for our visit here. But it looks like he has two sidekicks included in the price. He comes with a bag handler/door opener, plus a driver. Praki just does the talking – no driving, no bag handling. That’s a pretty good staff to guest ratio I reckon. And talking is Praki’s forte. We spent about 5 hours in the car today, and I’d have to say there’s not much we don’t know now about Sri Lankan history, religion, politics, lifestyle, agriculture and even Praki’s own life journey. He’s a gem. I know we are going to enjoy the trip.

With all this tropical weather, it seemed like a bit of a pool kind of evening.

After 22 hours on the road, in a plane (two actually), on a transit bus, a departure lounge, and 45 minutes on a mini bus we arrived at our hotel in Negombo, just up the coast from Colombo. I don’t think they set out to make it rhyme, but there you go. It was about 2am local time. And that meant time to be horizontal.

Leaving the dark skies at Tullamarine

What I have learned from this is that there is a limit to how many hours you can have your iphone ear pods jammed in your ears. Or any other airline issued ear phones. Agony. And one other gripe to get off my chest…there may be 245 movies, 180 tv shows and countless songs and podcasts on the in-flight entertainment system, but for me it’s much like pay tv. Nothing worth watching. I will admit to the fact that Lion was available, but I’ve brought the book with me and want to read it before I watch the movie. Fingers crossed they don’t change the play list when we fly home!