The next morning, we spent the morning by the beautiful pool. The view from there of Pidurangala and Lion Rock is stunning.
For lunch, we went to a small roadside restaurant, where we got to try another local dish (kutto). It was delicious!
Right after that, we went on our first safari in Kaudulla Park. Minneriya Park is right next door and is one of the most popular parks in the area. But there are at least 200 jeeps lined up just to get in. We didn’t feel like dealing with that, so we went to the park next door instead. We had such a wonderful time. Our driver, Shen Suranga, spotted every bird that was hiding and pointed them out to us, and he was able to answer all our questions about the elephants. At the end, we were even lucky enough to see a very “tiny” baby elephant, only a few days old. It was so cute to watch it try to imitate the adult elephants while they were eating.At the end of the tour, Shen had brought watermelon for us, which we ate by a nearby lake. All in all, it was a wonderful day.
The next morning we had to get up early because we (along with about 100 others) had the brilliant idea of climbing Pidurangala Rock at sunrise. We’d decided against Lion’s Rock, which is right next to it, since the climb there would have cost the four of us a total of just under 100€. Admission to Pidurangala was just under 9€. The climb wasn’t long, but it was quite a challenge. At the top, we had a view in every direction. It was definitely beautiful, but an hour later it probably would have been just as beautiful (and we could have slept longer)…
After breakfast—with plenty of coffee and black tea—it was unfortunately already time to say goodbye to Sigiriya. But before heading to the coast to Nilaveli, we first had to do some work—namely, to earn our lunch. We got to help prepare a classic Sri Lankan curry. So we chopped vegetables, grated coconut, and fried chips—and instead of modern induction cooktops, we used a wood fire. Even though most households in Sri Lanka now cook with gas, it was still a super interesting (and very delicious) glimpse into authentic Sri Lankan cuisine. And of course, we ate only with our right hand. Unfortunately, Noam was a little too worn out after the exertions of the past few days (and getting up early), so he took a short nap while we were busy in the kitchen. Afterward, he felt better, so we were able to continue on to Nilaveli as planned.
