Pidurangala Rock

Riding the tuktuk was one of the best ways to discover Sri Lanka since I was much exposed to the sights and sounds of the country. From Dambulla, we made our way back to Sigiriya so I could do my third and final hike of the day. I had seen Pidurangala Rock from Sigiriya Rock in the early morning and now as the sun was setting, it was time to tackle the other side. Lasantha dropped me by the lakeside so I could do a short walk by the lake before dropping me near the trailhead of Pidurangala. I had to pay for a ticket and actually take off my shoes since I was entering sacred grounds. There were cave temples here as well, similar to the ones in Dambulla. It was quite fun though a bit uncomfortable to be hiking barefoot. I felt very much grounded as I stepped on soil, rocks and leaves. I was hiking barefooted for a long time and was wondering until which parts were considered secret as I had already passed a couple of cave temples already. I decided to just put my shoes back on and made my way up until I arrived at a mountain-carved reclining Buddha so maybe I hastily put them back on a bit too early. I paid my respects and started the climb up again, the final ascent becoming much more difficult with steeper boulders that required some scrambling. At the top, I was rewarded with an even more magnificent view. Sigiriya Rock towered over the Sri Lankan country side and commanded much attention with it's shape and size. There was also a lone monkey near the cliff-edge that became my photo subject of the day as I took shot after shot, trying to get the best photo composition. The summit was windy and there were a few other people hanging around. I saw a huge group of people and a camera man taking a groufie so I offered to take their photo instead to which weirdly enough everyone started clapping. After my good deed of the day done, I sat down and meditated a bit and gave myself time to wind down from all the activities for the day. I couldn't believe I managed to pull off this much hiking. As I waited for the sun to set, I was suddenly approached by a bunch of girls from the group a while ago. Turns out, they were from an English language school and I assume they were quite curious about foreigners and were quite keen on practicing English. They were from a village a bit further away and I actually haven't spoken to anyone my age as well ever since arriving in Sri Lankta so I enjoyed exchanging some pleasantries with them. Though it felt a bit awkward as I was completely surrounded and I was being bombarded with questions left and right. I was also offered some peanuts to which I graciously accepted as I was quite famished after all the hiking and a small lunch. They said I have to try Kottu, one of the famous dish of Sri Lanka so I made a mental note of this. The girls soon left and I was happy to be alone again but it wasn't over as around four guys soon came over and stood awkwardly so I invited them to sit with me. We made some small talk before they excused themselves as it was time for them to leave. Now, I was finally alone for real. It looks like the sunsets were eluding me for most of the trip no matter how much I chased them as it was another cloudy day. I was quite satisfied with that monkey shot anyways so I took my time to just relax and explore the area and decided to start heading back down as it was getting dark. On the way down, I made some small talk with a couple before overtaking them. I safely made it back and Lasantha was already waiting to take me home.

Back in Habarana, I got to experience the blackouts which happened every day across the whole country due to the economic crisis. The government had to cut power for 2 hours per day to save energy and costs. I quietly ate my dinner with an emergency light, it wasn't all that bad since the night was cool and breezy.Read more