The Mountain I Didn’t Climb

In Sri Lanka, one of the sights on every tourist’s itinerary is Sigiriya – another of the country’s eight Unesco World Heritage sites.
Sigiriya -- also called the Lion’s Rock -- is the ruin of the 4th century palace and fortress of King Kassapa. Since Kassapa had killed his father and taken over the throne that should have gone to his brother, it was understandable that he should look for a very safe place to live.



I had seen Sigiriya every day from my hotel and Lankesh dropped it into the conversation daily, too.
Sunday it was an encouraging “Lots of tourists climb it – even older than you, Mum. (thanks Lankesh!) If they have trouble, there are men who lift them under their shoulders and help them.”
Monday it was a casual “I once took some tourists to Sigiriya. They started up but didn’t want to go all the way. It’s a shame because they had spent their $25.” (For reasons I never understood, some sites actually base their prices for tourists in American dollars and charge according to the dollar – rupee exchange rate of the day.)
Monday afternoon, on our way back from Minneriya, Lankesh told me that the climb would be an hour and a half up and another hour and a half down. We should leave the hotel by 8:30.
I gazed at the Rock that evening while sipping my coconut juice apéritif. During dinner, I weighed the pros (palace ruins, frescoes, beautiful view of ancient gardens – and bragging rights) and the cons (three hours climbing up and down, scariness of the stone steps, possible utter exhaustion for the rest of the day – ominously there was nothing on my program for the afternoon) By bedtime I’d made up my mind. Sigiriya would have to survive my not climbing up to see it.
I think Lankesh was relieved when I told him, though he was far too polite to show it. He told me we’d go there and he’d tell me its history at the site.
No longer pressed for time, we meandered through the jungle roads. I stopped to take a picture of a woman tending her plot of land.



and another of a treehouse. Lankesh explained that the farmers who didn’t have a house on their land slept in them because of the wild elephants which still roamed the area.



Soon we arrived at the moat that still protects Sigiriya.



I saw some intrepid tourists lining up to buy tickets and begin their morning’s climb.



Click here to see what awaited them – and some of the stairs I didn’t climb.

Soon, we said goodbye to the Lion’s Rock. Lankesh tried to show me where the climbers were walking. Do you see any?



I didn’t -- except those still on the ground, of course. I left with no regrets, except when I thought of telling fellow tourists and friends at home that I hadn’t been one of those hardy visitors. Mostly, though, I was looking forward to the substitute morning activity I’d planned.