It’s day 2 blog now! Catch the earlier stories and previous post links at the end of this blog.
Day 2 – Sigiriya, Elephant Ride & Safari
-Left hotel at 5:30 am
– Hike Sigiriya Mountain
– Elephant ride
– Safari
– Head home, dinner on the way at Mango Mango
– Arrived hotel at 11:30 pm
Climbing Sigiriya in Dambulla
Entrance – 4620 Rupees (125 AED) – Kinldy note that Locals & Foreighners have different entrance fee.
Tour Guide – starts at 400 Rupees ( more or less 35 AED ++) – Optional.
SIGIRIYA as you read it on Wikipedia is world reknown site (a rock fortress) that has the shape of a lion. Its name – Sīhāgiri, means the Lion Rock. Some of the attractions within this fortress are the Mirror Walls, The Garden, The Water Gardens, the paintings, Boulder Gardens and Terraced Gardens. The most rewarding is that when you reach the top, you will get a view of Sri Lanka 360. Today, Sigiriya is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Elephant Ride @ Green Island Elephant Safari
Entrance – Free
Elephant Ride – 3500 Rupees (95-120 AED or 25 USD)
Tip – Expected (At least 500 Rupees and above)
We were in a not so good timing for this elephant ride. While the other sites are closed… The only option we had was this place. We reached the place with only 2 elephants, one is not in action, so only one is available and there was a queue of tourist. During this month, Buddhist people offer their elephants to the temples for a festival. This is where they paint and put on beautiful and colorful clothes/designs to each elephant, but then we still got that chance, therefore I was able to tick off this bucket list! We end up 3rd in line and had a very short ride with Rani. Kokobear is the one who enjoyed it most; he had a chance to be riding on the neck of Rani!
Safari Adventure @ Habarana
Entrance – 1000 Rupees (35-40 AED)
Safari Jeepney – 4800 Rupees (137 -150 AED) – Can take up to 6-8 persons
Tip – For the Driver, expected(At least 1000 Rupees and above)
It took as a few minutes to reach the entrance to the Safari area – a 20-25 minutes ride as well to reach the heart of a very wide land, lush green grasses, a lake in between and hundreds of birds around it. I expected more animals. Although variety of birds were there, a flock of cows/carabao or I think a family of both – – a water buffalo, an eagle, a peacock, squirrels, and a big number of small and gigantic elephants!!! Actually I was a bit disappointed with this Safari ride but still happy to see this wonderful place. I will be showing you off more photos of these animals that Kokobear captured on a separate blog post soon.
Three major sites and a 5-6 hour long drive have occupied our day 2. A bit tiring but feel fulfilled with Sigiriya being conquered by the 3 of us! A closer look and touch with the Elephants is also something amazing. I missed to see a leopard though! Dinner was at Mango Mango a local restaurant that served us fried chicken, vegetable rice and noodles. The hard day has wrapped up at around 12:00 midnight!
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