2nd Day - Sigiriya

6:00 am wake up call as Ganda picked us up from the hotel at 6:45. We wanted to be the first ones at Sigiriya Rock. On this rock, a man named Kassappa built a fortress around 420 AD to protect himself from his half-brother. 🔫Now we had to climb the 200-meter high mountain, which was not easy with its thousands of steps. The entrance to the upper rock area was decorated with a lion's head, which unfortunately is only preserved halfway. 🦁

Once we reached the top, we were greeted by a breathtaking view of the surrounding jungle. It was unfortunately still a bit foggy, but that was not too bad. After the descent, Ganda took us back to our hotel for breakfast. During breakfast, we suddenly saw that the fog had stopped and allowed for a spectacular view of the rock from the pool. 🏞

Afterwards, it was check out time and we drove with Ganda towards the city of Kandy. In between, we suddenly saw a Hindu temple where they were performing a ritual with their gods. 🕌

After three hours, we arrived in the city of Kandy. We parked in a parking garage and visited the daily market. Ganda showed us all the fruits that we didn't know. We went to the stalls and tasted various types of fruit. Ganda asked us if we could withstand walking through the meat and fish market. 🍖🐟 Yes, of course, it can't be that bad. Well, think again. 

We entered this hall and immediately a sweetish smell of decay hit our noses. 🤢It felt like being in a horror movie. The butchers were cutting various body parts of animals in an environment of 30 degrees. No cooling. Ravens and many flies were buzzing around the meat. 🦟

That was too much for my stomach and I had to quickly leave this market hall. After that, we visited the vegetable market, which was impressive. Many sellers were shouting to promote their products. 🍏🥥🍍

After enjoying a vegetable dumpling, we made our way back to the hotel. Ganda seemed a bit impatient as well since he is going to sleep at home tonight, as he lives near Kandy. Ganda has a wife and a 16-year-old boy who is very diligent at school. 📈

We arrived at the Ozo Kandy Hotel, which belongs to the same hotel chain as the one in Colombo. It's a proper city hotel with a very modern design. We treated ourselves to a mojito and a Lion beer (9 euros in total) at the rooftop pool, and now we are excited to see what awaits us for dinner. 🍜