We had made plans to climb the 250 meter tall Sigiriya Rock (or Lion Rock, as it’s also known) today.
Like World’s End a week before, the conventional wisdom says get there early to avoid both the crowds and the heat/humidity.
We were inside the park just after the gates opened at 6:30, and had agreed that we would not push too hard. After all, there are over 1200 stairs to climb.
The views from the staircase are breathtaking, but pale in comparison with the 360 degree panorama that greets you once you make it to the top.
Once we arrived at the summit, I said to Cath that I was going to wander around the whole of the plateau (probably an acre in area, and which meant climbing up AND down another couple of hundred stairs!). I decided at one point that I wanted to change to my wide angle lens. So I found a little protected corner of the brickwork out of the wind, crouched down, and proceeded to swap lenses. Just as I’d attached my 15 mm (manual focus… grrrr!) lens, I heard a girl screaming or crying. I looked up. There, about 15 metres from where I was crouched, was a girl with her hands to her mouth, and a guy kneeling in front of her.
I instinctively leapt up, ran to where they were, and started grabbing some shots. I figured they would probably love to have some memories of that moment. I said g’day, told them I’d catch up with them later, and we could exchange contact details, and then left them to share their moment of happiness.
About 20 mins later, I caught up with Cath, who was talking to the very same couple. They were from England, and were most thankful for my having taken the initiative to grab some shots for them. I look at the 5 shots I took, and I wouldn’t say they were awesome images. But I’m sure they mean a lot to that couple.
After close to an hour at the summit, we decided it was time to start our decent.
Getting to the bottom was a much quicker journey than the climb up.
In the afternoon, Cath wanted to go somewhere for a swim, and we were told that a nearby hotel had a pool, and that guests from OUR hotel were allowed to use it.
Of course, when we got there, we found out that “allowed to use” actually means “allowed to pay to use”. Oh well. So be it.
We paid for Cath to use the pool (I wasn’t keen on a swim anyway), and we grabbed a couple of drinks.
And within half an hour, the heavens had opened up big time.
So we sat undercover and sipped our cocktails.
