We woke up in Sri Lanka ready for a full day packed with activities! We headed to the breakfast buffet at our resort and I am pretty sure I ate my weight in passion fruit. The first resort we stayed in was probably my favorite as far as the buffet was concerned-- they had the best variety of fresh fruit and it was all so delicious!
We headed to our first destination of the day... Sigiriya Rock! This behemoth is 660 feet high and was selected by King Kasyapa 1500 years ago for his new capital. A fortress was built atop and around the rock and during the milder climate he lived on top but when the summer came they moved down to lower ground to escape the heat. The lower grounds below the rock have gardens and pools throughout and is surrounded by lush greenery.
After the king died the palace and fortress were abandoned and it was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.
The sign at the entrance... we learned all about being aware of the monkeys at Dambulla...haha!
We started the ascent a little trepidatious at what to expect. After all, this thing is 660 feet above the ground and it is impressive to stand in front of and look up at. I seriously wondered how on earth we'd ever make it to the top!
The steps were small and uneven and felt like they went on forever!
These two rocks leaning against each other show how ingenious the builders were. Its a wonderful example of them utilizing the natural forms that were already there. They built everything to compliment the rock and its natural state instead of carving into it what they wanted. The result truly is like your just climbing natural steps the mountain created.
We stopped for a break about halfway up and were treated to this view.
At that point we still had to conquer this much of the rock!
But oh, that view...
We took another break right before the last part of the climb. While we were taking a breather some guys asked Stella if they could take selfies with her. She obliged and we all laughed while these grown men fawned all over how cute she was and snapped selfies with her. Predeep joked with her about it the rest of the trip. We've found that on this side of the world people are enamored with her-- apparently part of it is the light skin and part of it is her curly hair! Either way she gets showered with attention and eats it up. She said once they walked away, "Well, I guess I'm going to be famous now." So, everyone be on the lookout for Stella on random Asian dudes instagrams...haha!
And then it was time to finish the climb. I totally forgot to snap a picture so this is one from Wikipedia (credit goes to someone named Cherubino). The base of the top part of the rock has lions paws cut into the rock and there used to be a painting of a lions head above it but time has erased the rest of the lion.
So we climbed. And we climbed. And we climbed some more. And we finally, exhaustingly reached the top....
At the end of that pathway is where we started... it was crazy to see the distance we had covered!!
The kings pool at the top of the rock
I am so, so proud of this girl! She didn't complain once about the insane climb! She just pushed through and kept going. It helps that the view kept getting prettier and prettier as we climbed. We all were pretty excited to see the top!
The kiddos at the top right before we started the descent. Quinn, on the right, was amazing-- he is scared of heights but he conquered his fears and climbed up and down the rock and I think he even enjoyed himself! Meanwhile, Kai sprinted up the rock like it was nothing!
And then we began our descent... which wasn't quite as bad as I anticipated. Though the first part was a little scary-- the steps that were on the mountain were small and steep but the rest wasn't too bad. And seriously, I know I keep saying it, but that view was worth the climb!
We encountered more monkeys... this girl had snatched someones stick of gum and was happily sitting on that ledge chewing it!! It was hysterical!
We finally made it down the rock and into the car, hot, tired, but accomplished! Predeep asked if we wanted some coconut water and we all said yes! We pulled over on the side of the road at this roadside coconut stand and watched as this guy cut open coconuts for all of us!
We drained our coconuts and enjoyed every drop!
We all sort of dozed and rested in the van while we made our way to Kandy. Driving in Sri Lanka is... crazy. We all thought Bahrain was wild and hectic... its tame compared to Sri Lanka! Between the tuk tuk's (the little cars with three wheels), motorcycles, buses, and cows crossing the road, it was insane! I don't think there's any enforced speed limit or road rules... its basically a free for all. Predeep was pretty tame on the first day but after that all bets were off. Passing someone is common practice and we wove in and out of traffic, passing slow cars constantly while dodging oncoming vehicles. It was wild!
The countryside was beautiful! We drove past rice paddies...
Buddhist temples...
And stunning and detailed Hindu temples...
Buddha driving around Kandy...
We arrived in Kandy for a late lunch and we enjoyed some fried rice and sizzling beef with a side of this view...
After lunch we walked across the street to a gem museum and factory. Along with being a fertile country for plants, Sri Lanka is also a place rich in precious gemstones and Kandy is the principle mining area. Sapphires of all colors are the most mined gem but there are also tourmalines, rubies, peridot, and more. We watched a short video on how the gems are mined and then toured the factory and museum.
After a site is found but before digging has commenced, they place offerings around the area to receive blessings from the gods. Once that is done the digging begins. As the dig they have to pump out water as the hole fills. The use leaves and plants to sort of block the water and help support the hole. They dig 15-20 meters deep before starting to dig tunnels.
This was a set up they had in the museum to show what it looked like in the hole!
Everything is done by hand. The digging, the pumping... everything down to communicating via rubber hose... everything by hand. And the tunnels are lit only by candles. Part of this is for light, obviously, but also if there is bad gas in the air the candle won't light and they know it isn't safe to be there.
They bring up dirt and rocks and sift through everything-- again, by hand. They use these large, round baskets to swirl the rocks and dirt in to sift through and find the gems.
Once they are finished mining, they thank the gods for what they found.
Stones before polishing
And after
One of the jewelers creating
We went into the showroom and shopped for gems! They had tons of loose gems you could buy or read-made pieces of jewelry. All beautifully cut and naturally colored stones. Sapphires of the darkest blue, hottest pink, deepest green, brightest yellow, and clearest white. Tourmalines of all colors, rubies, you name it! It was awesome! I came home with some small green sapphire stud earrings and Stella got a pink sapphire pendant!
After the gem museum we headed to a cultural show! It was an hour and a half of traditional Sri Lankan costume and dancing! We all loved it, but Stella loved it most of all-- she clapped and danced and loved every minute of it!
This is part of the Thelme dance-- its a classical dance from the low country and its done in honor of the goddess Patina.
This is part of a dance called the Raban dance where they balance these flat drums that are all spinning. This guy was amazing-- thats one in his mouth!!!
Once the cultural show was over we headed out into a thunderstorm and a torrential downpour! It was amazing! I absolutely love rain and we rarely see more than a few raindrops in Bahrain so I was quite happy to get soaking wet as we made our way to the Temple of the Tooth.
It was raining too hard to get a good picture of the outside, but this the entrance to the main building. It was gorgeous!
The main shrine inside the temple
There are golden lotus flowers all on top of the main shrine. Stunning!
A pagoda in the temple-- there are pieces of white fabric wrapped around coins and tied in front of the pagoda for blessings for a good life
The part of the temple that houses the actual tooth. So-- when Buddha died in 543 BC he was cremated on a pyre of sandalwood by his disciple and when the fire died down and all that remained was ash, the Buddha's left canine was found. It is said that whoever holds the tooth had a divine right to rule the land and so its been fought over for centuries. You aren't allowed to take pictures of the relic itself but this was the entrance to that part of the temple. Inside was a statue of buddha, offerings, and the container that houses the relic-- so we couldn't even see it, just where its housed. They take it out every Wednesday and there is a symbolic bathing of the relic with holy water and flowers and the water is said to have healing powers and is given to everyone who is present at the bathing.
This was a section of the temple that housed a large golden Buddha statue and then had hanging pictures that told the story of the life of Buddha and then the journey of the tooth. Its become a symbol of buddhism and is important to the followers.
We finished up at the temple and headed to our hotel. We were greeted with towels and iced tea this time! We had a bite of dinner and then had another fairly early night.
Stella crawled into bed, I turned around to get something from my suitcase and when I turned back around she was OUT!
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