Ciao Mondo! : Sigiriya Rock & Kaudulla National Park

Sigiriya Rock or Lion's Rock, is an ancient rock fortress and palace ruin from around 447 A.D. The rock is actually a hardened magma plug from an extinct and long-eroded volcano. Just before the summit, there are several beautifully preserved frescoes known as "The Maidens of the Clouds;" 21 non-identified female figures.

I bought my ticket and headed

inside. A man quickly approached me and began giving me this history of the area and made the ascent along side of me. I assumed he must work for the park. I really just wanted to walk by myself but decided to humor him. The weather was hot, and sticky. So much for my theory that it would be chilly up in the mountains.

We finally reached the top and snapped a few pictures from there, including one of me sitting on the royal throne.

Afterward, we made our decent. When we reached the bottom, I reached into my purse to give him a tip. I went to hand him 500

rupees, which is about 5 dollars. I thought it was more than fair. He looked at it and said, "Sorry ma'am, I am a free-lance tour guide and I get 100 rupees." I very calmly said, "Well, you didn't identify yourself as a freelance guide and tell me your fee for your services ahead of time. You just started following me

around. That wasn't very smart was it?

Unfortunately, that is the risk you take. For all I know you work for the park and get paid by them." I should have known better after living in Egypt, but I also learned that if you don't fix a price then..TOO BAD...you get what you

get. I'm thinking that maybe he was banking on that I might give him more than 1000ruppes and decided to take his chance. I stood there for a few minutes and then said, "Ok, I'll give you 700 rupees and let that be a lesson to you to state your fee upfront." He seemed satisfied and I walked away.

I sure learned a lot from Egypt. Unfortunately, it works against people too. A man with cerebral palsy approached me trying to sell something. I polite

ly said, "No thank you." and walked away. I felt sooo bad afterward. I'm just so used to the b.s.in Egypt that I hate stopping for anyone. If I could, I would go back and buy something from that poor man.

* NEWS FLASH! I just learned that Duran Duran's "Save A Prayer" video was partly filmed here. WHY DID I NOT KNOW THIS! I got to see Duran Duran in 2003 at The Cleveland Agora when they first reunited. I was 5 people deep from the stage. Great show! But I digress- I just watched the video after not seeing it for several years. I guess it never occurred to me where it might be filmed. I always assumed they were somewhere in India or some Pacific Island. Argh! Video included on proceeding post!

Later that afternoon, I was taken on a proper safari to Kaudulla National Park. I wasn't sure what to expect. I read that there are elephants, different bird species and tigers. On our way there was a wild elephant by the side of the road eating grass. We

stopped to take a couple of pictures when my driver informed me that over 100 people a year are killed by wild elephants in Sri Lanka. Yikes!

We drove into the park, up a hill, and I couldn't believe my eyes! There was a huge herd of over 100 elephants. We got a bit closer, and I watched in awe, as they grazed on the grass, played in the water and sparred with each other. I noticed 2 elephants doing what looked like feeding each other, but then they were kind of shoving each other. I asked what they were doing and the reply was, "They are gay. Do you know gay?" I chuckled to myself and said, "Yeeess, I do but-" Hmmmmyeah, didn't quite get that.

I watched them until dusk arrived and it was time to go. Amusingly, another truck got caught in the mud for a few minutes until they were pulled out. Success!