I don't think you're going to fit

Trincomalee to Sigiriya

K was feeling bit better after a few days of rest as we left Trinco and headed to the remains of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, an old capital like Anuradhapura (which we had to miss) but apparently in better condition and more compact. As we drove we often had to move to the other side of the road to avoid rice that had been laid out to dry, this is supposedly illegal but it was quite common regardless.

At Polonnaruwa we had a guide take us through the remains of the old king's palace, explaining the history of the site and also the significance of the tooth relic, supposedly one of Buddha's teeth that remained after he was cremated. Whoever holds the tooth is the king of Sri Lanka, and it was held by multiple kings in different temples at the site during its heyday in the 11th century. As well as the ruins of the ancient palace, the site also has the famous Gal Vihara rock temple, with four very impressive Buddha statues carved into a single rock.  

We were taken for lunch to what was supposed to be an authentic Sri Lankan meal, but it was very obviously a tourist trap. It was a buffet with lots of different (cold) vegetables and a few meats, interesting in its own way and tasty enough, but also very expensive at around $34 for the two of us, disappointing after the tasty and inexpensive meal we had back on our first driving day.

It was then on to our final destination of Sigirya. We checked into a nice villa in what was effectively our host's back yard, and while K rested, M went off with Sam to Pidurangala Rock. 

M climbed up along with a lot of other tourists who were planning to view the sunset, past some large Buddha statues about halfway up. Near the top as the path narrowed and scrambling over rocks was required there was a traffic jam, with many factors contributing to the blockage. Some people were trying to climb that didn't seem to be cut out for it, so there were people pushing and pulling them up over the rocks. Others were trying to crawl through small gaps with their pack still on their back, while the narrowness meant that people going in opposite directions had to wait their turn.

Once M finally reached the top, he explored for a while and admired the view of Lion Rock before heading back down, trying to get ahead of the mass of people that would all be exiting as soon as the sun had set.

Back at the villa our gracious host served us a home cooked Sri Lankan meal of chicken and vegetable curries and rice in the beautiful back garden.