Today was going to be a long day. We get up early, per usual, and head the gardens and area called Sigiriya, located right outside the town of Dambulla. There is not much here other than the attraction of The Lion Rock. The story goes that the rock is the remnants of an old volcano and the top of the mountain was the residence of a past King. About half way up the mountain there are steps to finally get to the top but only after passing the paws/claws of The Lion (see pictures on facebook). It was early morning but it was HOT. The climb wasn't too bad other than the fact that we were all drenched in sweat. As we got higher and higher, the only relief was the wind. The climb was slow but only because there was so many pretty gardens and structures to look at on the way up so there was a lot of stopping and exploring. Once you get about 2/3 the way up you come to a flat area and The Lion's claws and through there, there were steps that lead to the final top. This part was a bit steep with questionable metal steps along the side of the rock that went straight up. This part was also very wet, as the top of the mountain hung over this area so all of the water from the top fell off this area onto the steps. Thank God for my rain coat! The top was absolutely breathtaking. Views so far, everything so green, and one gigantic Buddha that was miles away watching over the land. We hung out for a long while, took pictures, relaxed. After a while, we headed back down and back into Dambulla. Morning activities -- Check.
After a nice buffet lunch, we went to the Dambulla Cave Temple. The museum was very extravagant (see pictures on facebook) with one huge Buddha. There were monkeys literally everywhere. Monkeys that were consistently given food by the visitors and that would jump and hang on to your leg to get whatever it was that you were holding, so you had to be quite careful. It was pretty hilarious, however, when it happened to a couple people we were with. Unknowingly, we had to climb to the top of this mini mountain to get to the Cave Temples... great. We were so tired from the climb up The Lion Rock but we made it just fine but it was a slow process. The cave temples weren't exactly what I expected but were still very cool. It was a temple that was kind of tucked into a large rock that overhung the temple. Inside there were tons of different Buddha statues and the ceiling (the top of the rock) were painted with intricate paintings of Buddha and related objects/concepts. We perused for a while and headed back down.
We decided that after so much climbing and activity that we would then go get Ayuveda massages at a nearby spa for the evening. Ayuveda is the type of medicine here that is non-pharmacological, consisting of herbs, oils, scrubs, etc. That was an experience that I will never forget. We ended up buys a package deal where you receive a 60 minute massage with two different oils made specifically for ayuveda treatment. After you spend time in a sauna with a certain type of leaf and then proceed to a steam bath which was similar looking to a tanning bed but wood with the same type of leaf and steam coming out of the bottom and you head is sticking out the top. The full body massage started and it was ok... a bit unorganized/no real technique which made my back feel a bit worse actually. But the surprising part was that the "full body massage" was indeed FULL BODY. Thank god I had a women... however, I had a woman with extremely long nails, so I completed the massage and in the less than adequate sauna, I examined the scrapes she left all over my legs :( So, everyone was a bit disappointed as we left, but it was quite the experience and made for a hilarious story and fun pastime that we frequently reminisce about!
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