After stopping mid-way for our elephant safari, we arrived at the Jetwing Lake hotel at half past five in the afternoon. Set in the jungle, we’ve enjoyed this hotel before and knew it would be the ideal place to stay on this trip; spacious and comfortable rooms, attentive staff, delicious food, a 72 metre swimming pool and well-equipped gym, and within easy reach of Sigiriya and the adjacent Pidurangala rock.

We elected not to join David, George and Anna on their climb of the former having been multiple times before, so instead relaxed at the hotel. Having left before the 6am dawn they were back in time to catch us at the end of a lazy breakfast and enjoy the lazy poolside day! The evening saw us climb Pidurangala rock that overlooks Sigiriya just in time for the sunset and having stopped to buy fresh King Coconut to enjoy on the summit; heavy but so refreshing and worth it.

It was magical, if busier than before now that tourists are coming back and with this a ‘must do’ attraction in the guide books. Steve set off at pace up the steep climb to ensure he made it in time for the lighting he wanted, heavy rucksack full of camera bodies and lenses on his back. The last part was a challenge as it involves a scramble over boulders, often on ledges where the rucksack would cause imbalance so needing to be removed and carefully passed up. Thankfully some other climbers were able to help and he made it in time – if rather sweaty as you can see!  Having spent 90 minutes of solid workout in the hotel gym earlier on, this was certainly another workout.

Coming down was more of a challenge than going up as by now it was pitch dark.  There was one solitary light to semi-illuminate the initial decent over the boulders, but after that it was just mobile phone torch light to guide us on the sometimes tricky but usually steep way down; with rock all around and nothing to grab to arrest a trip or fall we had to take care.   

An amusing thing to watch at the hotel was the gardner; he had a vast expanse of grass to cut – several football pitches-worth in area – but had been given a domestic 14″ (35cm) lawn mover to do it with!  To make matters worse, it was electric with miles of trailing cable that he had to keep rearranging!  It was probably time to start again by the time he finished several days later.  Look in the first image below and you will see him left of centre – but only some of the grass is in the shot. 

After a second night’s good sleep that had followed some star gazing, we set off for Nuwara Eliya, on the way taking in the Blue Field tea factory and an educational lesson as well as a nice cuppa, and the impressive Ramboda falls. Oh, a couple of large wooden elephants were purchased too!

More holiday memories.

Rennie