Day 4 - Safari + Sigiriya

We had an early start today for our safari meeting our driver at 5am. We set off in the dark with a little drizzle and actually felt a little cold for the first time whilst here. About a 20 odd minute drive later we met our safari driver and picked up our jeep which didn't really look like it could do much against an elephant honestly but hey im sure we could out run it! With the vinyl roof pulled back and the wind in our hair we set off to Habarana Eco park. The forest is a lush green and quite dense in areas, with the clearing covered by high grass. We had a slight fog for most of the morning but we didn't mind as it kept the hot sun off our backs. Initially we saw a fox but Bec and I only saw it once it was running away (our eyes obviously not as good as the locals) next we saw a few birds - peacocks being the most interesting which until today I didn't know can actually fly quite well! It wasn't long before we came across our first wild Elephant! who I'm pretty sure was having a lot of fun teasing us by hiding behind large bushes... He was very relaxed and enjoying his breakfast. We watched him for a while and took a few pictures and then moved on. Not much further down the track our driver decided to turn around and come back (there was a fair bit of mud so not sure if he was worried about getting stuck) funnily enough though we had just driven through quite a bit of mud and on the way back sure enough we got bogged... we were quite lucky here for 2 reasons - 1 as I said earlier our jeep was only probably good for outrunning an elephant so its good there were none coming at us and 2nd there was another jeep just behind us to pull us out! Soon enough we were out, on the move and dodging quite a few over hanging branches (also spiderwebs), then just after crossing a small stream we came upon 4-5 more elephants!! again they were happily strolling along at a snails pace and chowing down on the many green plants on offer. It was awesome to see them so relaxed and simply doing what they do not even batting an eyelid at us, our guide told us there are around 300 elephants in this park and approx 6000 in Sri Lanka. Next we pulled up to a big rocky hill which we climbed up to the top and then up some stairs to the top of a little wooden lookout to see the view - which was beautiful! nothing but forest as far as the eye could see not even a single electrical pole! such a nice change to our lives! We jumped back in the jeep and headed back home, we both had a lot of fun standing and enjoying the wind as we sped along. Then not long after being back on the main road we came across... more elephants! both sides of the road 4-5 on one and a little more on the other, one of them with a fairly big baby elephant! which stuck to its mother very closely, after admiring all the elephants and many photos later we headed back to drop off the jeep and onto our next adventure at Sigiriya. So Sigiriya is a huge rock onto which King Kasyapa built a palace over 1500 years ago! quite impressive! Jerome dropped us at the gates and advised us not to get a guide (which was good cos we sure didn't need one) we headed over got our tickets and walked through what once must have been some beautiful gardens - medium sized pools to the sides and plenty of trees everywhere and in the backdrop the huge rock Sigiriya is built on - quite imposing as it is really straight up! would have been very easy to defend before air power. It wasn't long before we came across the many steps we needed to climb to get to the top... luckily we picked a good day to do it as it was a little overcast so not as hot, also the stairs were fairly shaded for most of the walk so wasn't bad! As you walk up it isn't long before you get beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and mountains in the distance - everything is so beautifully green here! About 1/3rd of the way up there is a cut into the rock where there are some surviving frescoes mostly of ceremonial women. Then you passed the mirror wall which was supposedly in ancient times so highly polished the king could see his reflection in it. A fair few steps later - some of which aren't trusty old ones but dodgy looking steel new ones (a little scary when you think if it gives way its you and the side of a cliff face) is the lion staircase which once was a huge statue of a lion with stairs heading up in between its outstretched front paws, unfortunately all that remains now is those front paws - it must have been damn impressive in its day! once you pass these its a push for the top, and once there the view is amazing! 360 degree view of mostly beautiful green forest and some amazing mountains in the distance to top it off - oh and some ruins of the kings palace to top it off! it really all is quite spectacular! not surprising as to why someone would choose it to propose I guess! Not long after getting up to the top we heard a little yelling and screaming as the friends of the happy couple found out the good news. After exploring the top and taking many a photo and watching all the Russian tourists feed all their junk food to the monkeys we made our way down to the bottom met up with Jerome and headed back to town stopping off at a dodgy massage place which was filthy so we gave it a miss. We asked Jerome to join us for a few beers before lunch and had a good chat with him about life before having another awesome Sri Lanken meal. We finished today a little earlier then normal as its been a full on couple of days so we headed back to the hotel around 3 and relaxed the afternoon away.