Lovely start to the day, we all met at 7 for breakfast and didn't finish until 8.
I had the American breakfast which was a fruit platter, freshly squeezed juice, then omelette, bacon, sausage, steak, and grilled tomato, followed by toast, muffins and cake. Best breakfast so far. Ian had the Sri Lankan breakfast which was dal curry, fish curry, string hoppers (vermicelli noodle basket), coconut and hot chilli paste, roti - not for me at 7 in the morning but he enjoyed it.
We set off for our sightseeing at Sigiriya before it got too hot. It is a Unesco site, and is a complex on the base, slopes and summit of a granite peak 1,220 feet high. It is the earliest surviving royal palace in Sri Lanka, complete with water gardens. It dates from the second century. The climb to the top, with stops along the way to catch our breath and rest our knees, took almost two hours. We climbed a combination of narrow steps, mostly high ones, and metal stairs, both straight and spiral. Some of the spiral stairs were previously used in the London Underground in 1938 (so we were told). It was quite a view from the top. Next stop was lunch for a cold beer and some noodles.
The afternoon was spent at Polonnaruwa, which was previously a capital of the Singhalese kings from 11-13th century. This consisted of excavations of temples, dagobas, royal palace and library.
On the drive back we saw an elephant in the wild as we drove past one of the national parks.
We got back to the hotel about 6 and ordered our dinner so it would be ready after we'd all had showers and a rest. It was pretty hot today and the humidity was supposed to be about 70%.
We still seem to be the only guests at the hotel, the staff are very friendly and were waiting for us when we got back, all asking about our day, what we'd done and if we'd enjoyed it.
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