Sigiriya
I loved Sigiriya. I’ve written before about how some hostels manage to encourage a social atmosphere and some fail to, despite creating similar spaces and doing all the same things. Something about this one, Treehouse, just makes people feel comfortable with each other. Big groups of former strangers often ate together, played pool together, read silently next to each other, went on short hikes together. Exactly what you’d want from a hostel. I made several friends pretty quickly, most notably including Claudia, and Chloe, Emma and Faraj - who I’d actually run in to in Darbulla when changing buses on the way to Sigiriya. The beds were also a read highlight - high up, in wooden houses on stilts, we slept in beds only separated from nature by mosquito nets. I loved the feeling of falling asleep effectively outdoors, feeling the wind on my face. One night some fireflies decided to take refuge in our room, and we all watched silently as they danced across the ceiling. One who apparently liked me, consistently flashed surprisingly brightly just outside my mosquito net.
The free breakfast buffet (egg hoppers and coconut pancakes the highlights) and cheap family buffet dinners (spicy devilled chicken) gave a real sense of community to the hostel, and we ended up booking activities together too. I had been told about nearby Minneriya national park by the owner of Elephant Nature Park back in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and a jeep safari there was well worth the money. We saw upwards of 50 elephants in the wild, sometimes in herds as big as 10 or 15, some grandparents and some extremely cute almost newborns. They really are such majestic creatures, and were seemingly unbothered by us, perhaps even enjoying the company, choosing to stay next to the track the jeeps travel on every day when they have acres and acres of national park to choose from. We also saw crocodiles, eagles, deer, Sri Lankan foxes and water buffalo, but truly the elephants were the stars of the show. Also while we’re discussing animals, a special mention for the very cute chipmunks back at the hostel, who scampered along the roof rafters and up and down trees.
Sigiriya is most famous for Lion Rock, seemingly jutting vertically out of the flat land surrounding it. On the advice of some fellow travellers we climbed both Pidurangala Rock and Mapagala Rock, both of which offer great views of Lion Rock and the surrounding landscape without the very high price of entry. Pidurangala in particular was a fun climb with some proper rock scrambles near the top, and the view made the short climb really worthwhile, even if we did briefly get a little wet and windswept at the peak.
It’s always the nature I most enjoy when travelling, so it’s no surprise I enjoyed Sigiriya. Between the wildlife, the climbs, the views and the sleeping almost outdoors, it was very much my kind of thing.