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My guide came by my idyllic retreat, the Hesitance Kandalama at 7 AM. Ugh. There were two reasons for being so early. One is that our first stop was Sigiriya Rock, a 200 meter climb (the equivalent of climbing a 67 story building). An early starting time meant the temperature would be maybe 87 degrees (30 C) rather than 96 (35 C) or even 104 (40 C) as it was yesterday. The other was that the day was overbooked. After a 40 minute drive and the climb, we had an hour and a half drive followed by a visit to the ancient capital of Anuradhapura.

I took one look and was shocked to think I was going to climb to the top of this rock.

These signs didn’t make me to enthused — “Noise may provoke hornet attacks” and “Keep still & silence in a wasp attack.” Fortunately, either we were really quiet or there were no hornets today.

My guide left to park the car at the back entrance so we could exit a different way. While I was waiting, a man starting chatting with me and when I climbed up a few stairs he held on to my arm to help. I didn’t want to pay for another guide but his assistance really helped with climbing these ridiculously narrow steps. When my guide came, the new guy offered to help me both up and down for about $21. I offered $7, he countered with $14 and I offered $10.50. He said we’ll see and we started up. I was congratulating myself at a rare negotiating victory. Meanwhile another couple of guides started following asking if I wanted even more guides and my regular guide got very upset and almost came to blows with one of them as you see below. This was my first negative experience like this in Sri Lanka.

The guide who I had negotiated the price with turned out to be excellent, better than my regular one in fact. Steadying my arm made it so I could climb normally rather than with my feet turned sideways. I asked him how many more times he would go up the rock today and he said this was his only time as there are over 100 guides who take their turn. I asked him about his family and he has a wife who stays at home and two children in school. At the end of the day, I gave him the full $21 he had asked for. He needed it more than me. So much for my negotiations victory.

The elevation change was actually more than 200 meters since we climbed an additional couple of hundred steps to get to the famous frescoes. Supposedly, the King had 500 wives and painted them all on the side of the rock but only a few are left.

According to wikipedia, the Mirror Wall below was polished so the king could see himself. The wall has graffiti from visitors going back to the 8th century. Here’s one from over a thousand years ago in translation — “I am Budal [the writer’s name]. Came with hundreds of people tо see Sigiriya. Since аll the others wrote poems, I did not!” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigiriya). Fortunately, new graffiti is banned.

Here are some images looking up.

Here are some images looking down from the top.

Jumping from the very highest spot.

Here’s from the bottom with my thoroughly soaked shirt.

I can’t really show the extent of the multiple stairways. I’m amazed that I was able to climb it. Having my arm steadied made a big difference. I don’t foresee mountain climbing as a new career option but maybe I’ve been underestimating my capacity. I’m thinking of trying to walk more in the hilly woods near Indiana, PA because of this experience. This rock makes me think of Ayer’s Rock in Australia that definitely would be on my bucket list if I had one. Sigiriya Rock is shaped like nothing else that I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Not surprisingly it’s been a sacred rock for centuries. It’s sacred in a way to me too. I’ll never forget this place.

On our way to the ancient capital of Anuradhapura, we stopped at a carving workshop that the travel agency considers to be very authentic. A guide showed me the different types of wood they use, which are ebony, royal ebony (with white streaks), teak, mahogany, mara, jack, coconut, pathagi, and kaduru.

The video below explains how they create the colors they use in their sculptures. They add hot water to pathagi wood (also called rainbow wood) to get red. Sandpaper is rubbed on a piece of iron treated with lime then added to the red mix to get black. Lime is added to the black to get yellow. He then added chalk particles to that mix to get purple. He quickly described how other colors are made. Finally he showed me a mask done with the natural colors and the same mask done with chemical colors. The natural one had much richer colors.

Here are some scenes of artists at work. I love using the elephant foot as a table.

I ended up buying an ebony elephant with white ebony on the tusks to make it look more realistic. It takes about 20 days to make. It was very heavy so I had it shipped which added considerably to the cost.

I had thought of getting my brother and sister something to commemorate the three of us having been here in 1956/7. When they told me that the shipping would be the same for three pieces as for one, I found something for them here.

My sister wanted a Buddha since she is intrigued by the religion. The one I got her is made of jackfruit wood and is the teaching Buddha, which makes sense since she was a teacher as were most of my family. It takes about 20 days to make.

I got my brother a Cobra Mask that is used in the  Perahara festival from Kandy that our family saw in August 1956. This festival with the exotically decorated elephants is one of the few distinct memories I have of Sri Lanka from 1956. The cobra above the mask’s head signifies protection. It’s made of Kaduru wood, similar to Balsa and uses all natural colors. It takes about 15 days to make.

Here are the three pieces I bought. They’re supposed to arrive in a month. They claim to wrap them really well and are insured. Somehow I don’t think they would have fit in my suitcase.

Some of the carved elephants getting ready to stomp on me.

I hate shopping and bargaining, I did bargain it down somewhat but my father would have paid much less. He had a passion for bargaining. I did use a trick he taught me about walking away when the negotiation stalls. They usually will come back with a lower price. I did that years ago when I really didn’t want an item and the seller followed me around and seemed to get some respect for my willingness to keep walking. I just didn’t want it.

Our afternoon was spent at Sri Lanka’s ancient capital, Anuradhapura. It’s a vast site with several stupas, which are decorated holy mounds, along with temples. This is the Abhayagiri Stupa built in the 1st century BCE.

Fortunately, I was wearing white as this temple did not allow dark clothing.

At one temple, they just barely allowed me in with my shorts. I had to undo my belt and push the shorts down to cover my knees. Remember Bill Cosby telling young African-Americans to pull their pants up? He would not have approved, not that anyone cares what Bill Cosby says anymore. I’m wearing three pairs of socks because shoes are not allowed and the pavement and sand is extremely hot. Two pairs were not enough, my feet still burned.

This monkey came right up to me.

Here are some scenes from Anuradhapura. The first one is the “Burumuni Lovers.” According to Wikipedia, it’s a “6th Century Gupta style carving. The woman, seated on the man’s lap, lifts a warning finger, probably as a manifestation of her coyness; but the man carries on regardless. The figures may represent Dutugemunu’s son Saliya and the low caste (Sadol Kula) maiden Asokamala whom he loved. It’s known that he gave up the throne for her.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isurumuniya

Four elephant sculptures bathing.

Buddhist prayers.

A row of elephants.

I was worried about having nightmares of these sculptures.

This is just one of the many unexcavated sites that are all over these massive grounds.

This sculpture was in the grounds, away from the major areas.

A monk was standing at the entrance to another temple and wouldn’t let me get away with pulling my shorts down to cover my knees. Does the sarong make a good fashion statement?

An original moonstone from many centuries ago.

Some local tourist kids enjoying a drink with the temperatures in the upper 90’s.

These are twin pools called Kuttam Pokuna, which according to wikipedia “are considered one of the significant achievements in the field of hydrological engineering and outstanding architectural and artistic creations of the ancient Sinhalese” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuttam_Pokuna).

Somehow it’s OK to use the road to dry rice.

After this exhausting day with the contrasting sites of the rock and the series of temples, it was time to find my hotel. My room was maybe a quarter mile behind the restaurant building. The resort was laid out as a small village with bungalows spread out with paths all over the place. My bungalow was half of this building.

The food was probably the worst I’ve had in Sri Lanka but the food overall has been excellent. The hotel was designed for large tour groups to go through so it had a drab buffet. The swimming pool was ridiculously large and I had to keep my tradition going of swimming after each of these long days.

Every day in Sri Lanka was exhausting except for the few days at the beach. No day was more exhausting than this one. The US Marines had an ad showing people doing wild physical activities with the tag line that marines do more before breakfast than most people do in an entire day. I’ve often thought of that as the least appealing commercial of all time. However today, I had climbed 66 stories before noon followed by miles of waking in 95 degree plus weather in high humidity. I’ve almost never experienced the need to sleep from physical activity. Today, after dinner I slept well. A day like today would not work for me more than a few, if any, times a year. However, as I write this a few weeks later I still feel the “highs” of this day (high elevation, temperature, visual experiences, energy).

Today was dedicated almost entirely to seeing Elephants. It was a tough 2.5 hour drive each way through crazy traffic but definitely worth the trip. According to my itinerary the Pinnawala orphanage “rescues the elephants that were lost to their herds by human-elephant conflict and/or by falling into pits. The elephants at the Orphanage aren’t subjected to any form of stress, abuse or threat at all and are supported by a team of employees numbering over 100 including a group of mahouts who are the caretakers, feeders and trainers. The free movement of the herd within the enclosed land of the orphanage affords the elephants opportunities to mate.”

Before the orphanage, we stopped so I could ride an elephant. I had done this in Laos as described in my blog but this was different. The setup was more primitive. Instead of a covered bench like in Laos, they just slapped on a thin mat and told me to hold on to the rope. The ride was smoother than the ride on the camel a couple of days ago. I felt deep respect for this beautiful animal and her “mahout” (trainer and companion).

I’m ready to take over as mahout.

We had to stop for her to pee. I could have drowned in it.

Hopefully, it’s nothing I said that made her stand up like this.

We moved on to the orphanage itself where we were in time for feeding the babies.

This elephant was destroying pieces of wood then eating them. I had no idea elephants eat wood.

I had lunch overlooking a river bed with probably 50 elephants sunning and relaxing. It would be fun to be one of these elephants for a while.

The way back seemed really long. Here’s my guide about to pass a truck with a car coming the other way. The truck is supposed to move to the left and the car is also supposed to go off on the side so we can sneak through. Three lanes are created temporarily on a two lane road. This is the common practice and everyone seems to know what to do to avoid the accident that would be occurring all the time if people tried this at home.

I loved this stop for coconut water. I’m glad she was using her machete on the coconut and not on my head.

When I was drinking the water, she cut a wedge out to create a spoon made out of coconut. She showed me how to scrape off some of the coconut meat to create coconut milk.

Although I’m not fanatic about animals, it’s hard not to be impressed with the elephants. They seem like such gentle creatures but so overwhelming with their size. I’m sure their non-gentle side could easily come out if provoked though.

I got back around 5:30 and was unable to do anything else. I had a granola bar for dinner and crashed.

My guide is named Lal and he’s a great companion. He’s a fearless driver but I feel safe. He bends over backwards to take care of me, even blocking me from crossing the street until it’s safe. His English is not bad but I have to listen carefully. Sometimes when he doesn’t understand me he laughs or just says yes. We’ll be together for close to three weeks. It’s going to work out really well.

Today was advertised as the Colombo city tour. Lal picked me up at 9:30 AM. He said any earlier than that would make the traffic problems much worse. The highlight of the city sites for me was the Gangaramaya Temple, which is a very beautiful but strange temple. It’s filled with lots of gifts from all over the world. Everywhere you go there are more sculptures and unusual objects.

The main Buddha statue in the temple and three women among dozens.

If I lose the little bit of hair I have left, I could be a monk.

An elephant tooth

A Jewish menorah. Buddhists seem to be very respectful of other religions. There are many other items mixed in the same case.

Retouching some of the ancient art.

I can’t do justice to the size of this Bo tree. Lal told me the story of Buddha sitting under a tree such as this one without moving for weeks.

Our next stop was Independence Plaza where Sri Lanka declared its independence in 1948. My brother and sister were in a primary school in Sri Lanka, possibly dressed in uniforms like these. These are 3rd graders, similar to Dick’s age at the time.

While my brother and sister were in school, I spent almost every day at the Colombo Swimming Club. It was a real treat to be here again after 49 years. One of the few very distinct memories I have of that time was running around the pool with a friend and jumping off the diving board that was several stories high. The diving board is gone now.

Both my sister and brother remembered that crows would sweep down and steal food off people’s plates. I asked about this and they said they brought in cats to scare off the crows.

They had a one week membership but they told me I would need to be recommended by a member since they didn’t want riffraff like me (they didn’t say that part). It would have been fun to swim there but the little tour they gave me was enough. This is the view of the Indian Ocean from the swim club.

Today reflects my two goals in going to Sri Lanka. One is to see the sights of this amazing country. The other is to revisit my past. Revisiting the past through the swim club was today’s biggest highlight.

I worked it out so I would have a long layover on Qatar Airways in Doha, Qatar. As long as it’s under 24 hours, there’s no extra charge. My schedule was packed. Khalid met me at the airport and took me out in the desert. I liked his costume, definitely would turn some heads wearing it in Indiana, PA.

When we got to the desert, he deflated the tires down to 13 psi for our sand dune ride. If the tires were fully inflated the SUV would sink into the sand.

Before the sand dunes though, I was treated to a camel ride. The camel got way down low.

I wish I had that kind of flexibility

I got on and they told me to hold on to a bar. The second I held on, we were suddenly flying up to the camel’s full height. I’m very glad to have been holding tight. I had been on a camel once before, in Jordan in front of the building at Petra that was used as the Temple of Doom in the Indiana Jones movie. I remember being more uneasy in Jordan than I was here. It felt like being on a horse with a big hump. My iPhone Moves app, which keeps track of every place I go, recorded my time on the camel as cycling. I appreciate the free extra exercise.

The sand bashing through the dunes was really wild. At first I was worried that it would hurt my back, then I thought it was OK, but the next day I was definitely feeling it. There were several types of maneuvers. One was just going straight down a dune at high speed. I’ll stop saying “at high speed” since that’s a given. Another was going along the flats while turning the wheel wildly to the left and right. The one I liked the most was going at an angle down a dune. The sand gets pushed up like a fountain to the side. Another move was going in reverse up a dune. All of these moves were done with his “party mix” of Arab music playing in the background. That music is not my favorite but it really worked for the energy of the driving.

Khalid was obviously enjoying himself. He took a lot of pictures and videos, not as much as me of course but a lot. Sometimes he’d be taking a video while doing one of these maneuvers which looking back on it should have made me a little scared.

These were the only desert flowers I saw.

We stopped at the southeast edge of Qatar, with two islands belonging to Saudi Arabia probably a half to quarter mile away. Khalid joked that I could swim to Saudi Arabia. But, he said not joking that they would shoot without a warning shot if I did so. There was a Saudi police station right just to the right of the Saudi island in the picture below. You will not be surprised that I did not swim there.

Saudi Arabia begins at the line just below the blue marker where we were.

Khalid took me to a resort just a few miles from there where I had lunch and a chance to swim in the Persian Gulf. No oil tankers or pirates in sight.

We returned to the edge of the desert and Khalid had the tires inflated back to normal pressure. Next was a tour of the city of Doha with a guide of Indian descent. This tour turned out to be a little disappointing because it was (very surprisingly) raining and when we went to the places with great views it was after dark. Qatar has the highest GDP of any country in the world but that statistic is a little deceiving. Only a small part of Qatar residents are citizens. They get free health care, education through college, and many other benefits and are very highly paid. The majority of residents are from all over Asia and don’t earn much. I sensed a touch of bitterness from my guide.

It was obvious that Qatar had too much money floating around. The Museum of Islamic Art is designed by I. M. Pei who did the Louvre additions, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and numerous other amazing buildings. This was a stunning building and filled with priceless art. I’ve been fascinated with Islamic art since I began studies in math education. Since it is against Muslim rules to show pictures of people, they developed beautiful geometric art. The famous artist Escher was influenced by Islamic art. I taught lessons at IUP that spun off of the geometry of  Escher’s work. Naturally I focused on anything at the museum that had repeated geometric patterns.

The market was massive.

The traffic was very heavy and after seeing some large, expensive developments I was done. I had very little sleep the last two nights. I had been doing stuff since my arrival in Qatar at 6:30 AM and by 7 PM (noon my time) I was done. This was equivalent to staying up all night. I bowed out of the last part of the tour and got to the airport early. My flight was to leave at 10:30 PM and arrive in Colombo at 5:45 AM, which was a 2.5 hour time change from Qatar and a 9.5 hour time change from home.

The image that will remain with me the most this day is of the big smile on Khalid’s face as we barreled down a sand dune while he had one hand on the wheel and one hand holding his iPhone to take a video. I’m really glad to have made this side trip. From now on, I’m going to try to do this every time I have a stopover.