James

So my driver rocks up bright and early to start showing me around the island over the next seven days. I was told he spoke English and drove a good car. Well, he was quite old, his car was too, and his English was very poor. By lunchtime, I also realised that he appeared to be blind in one eye – but by then it was a bit late to do anything about it. The air-conditioning in the car seems practically nonexistent at times, but seems to kick in when he takes his foot off the gas.

That said, he seems like a good driver and a nice guy who’s eager to make sure I’m happy with his tour. His English seems okay when he has something tour-related to tell me, but if I ask him questions, he has a hard time understanding what I’m saying. After six hours of driving through mostly traffic jams, we finally arrived at a nice hotel spread out under a cool forest of rain trees, close to one of the sites I wanted to see. My tour fees include bed and breakfast, the driver and the car/fuel, but not the entrance fees to some of the sites.

Like many developing countries, Sri Lanka charges one inflated price for visitors and a much lower price for locals. I was initially a bit put off by the entrance price of Sigiriya Rock (about $25), but after visiting, I felt it was well worth it. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sigiriya Rock Fortress (Lion Rock) was an amazing old fort, built by an empire in the 5th century, which used this enormous rock to protect against enemies.

The ruins at the bottom are very cool to wander around, but the climb to the top, where the king kept his throne, was absolutely amazing. The stairs they built were scary enough for us to climb, but the ladders the original inhabitants used were baffling. Beautiful frescoes of Indian gods lined some caves on the way up, and the views of the lush countryside below were amazing, with mountains and lakes in the distance.

Sigiriya Rock Fortress Hike (with lots of GPS interference)