I think I still need to finish writing about Sri Lanka. After Rei showed up we spent another week together. When we started planning I basically had her pick what she wanted to do, and one of her top choices was Sigiriya, cause she'd seen something about it on TV. So she met me there after landing at the airport, and the next morning we climbed it. Sigiriya is this complex of ruins that's built on top of a very distinctively shaped mountain. It basically looks like a giant boulder. It's still debated if it was a palace or a monastery, but after seeing it I think it was a palace. I saw other monasteries while I was there, and there were some pretty major differences in the layout and design. So I'm glad I was able to solve the mystery for everyone. Anyway, the mountain looks like a giant boulder and you basically climb up the steps that have been put along the side. This is after climbing a spiral staircase right up the side of it (which is basically a cliff) to see some cave paintings. It sounds pretty terrifying, but it was surprisingly ok. Even with my fear of heights I was pretty fine. The whole time actually. One of the best parts of the climb are these giant lions paw carvings that straddle what remains of the original staircase, before you start the main climb to the summit. They're massive, and apparently were part of the entire lion statue whose mouth you had to walk through to summit the mountain. I wish that part was still around. Then once you get to the top there are really great views of the surrounding countryside.
That afternoon we were supposed to go have lunch at this fancy hotel built by Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka's most famous architect, which has gorgeous views of a nearby lake and national park, and then see cave temples in Dambulla. But after the hotel our guide suggested we do the cave paintings the next day since it was too hot in the afternoon. So we did. We just hung out, I worked a bit, Rei napped, we watched some TV, had a nice dinner at the hotel, and went to bed. This was pretty standard for us. Evenings were generally spent with dinner, a bit of tv, and early to sleep. And then up early the next day. Every day.
Once up, it was on to Dambulla, which turned out to be one of my favorite places in Sri Lanka. It's a series of 5 caves, all of which are Buddhist temples, with every inch of their walls and ceilings covered in Buddhist paintings. They're also packed with statues of the Buddha and Boddhisatvas and the kings who funded them (some of whom apparently also had to use them to hide out so they wouldn't get killed). It doesn't take long at all to see. Even with a guide it only took about 30 minutes, but the caves were awesome. After that, we spend the next few hours heading out of the ancient capitals and into the Tea Plantations in the highlands. We were going to be having our splurge night that night, staying at a fancy hotel that had been converted from a tea factory. The place is gorgeous, as is the surrounding countryside, but sadly the hotel itself was pretty shit. We had a horrible night's sleep. I won't go into it, but there are terrible reviews of it from me all over the internet now. But, the service was amazing and the food was good and we had a fancy high tea in the afternoon, which is always fun, especially in a tea plantation. And we got to pick tea leaves the next morning. Rei hated it. I loved it. Point being, if you go to Sri Lanka, definitely visit the Heritance Tea Factory, but do not waste your money to stay there.
I think I'm gonna stop here. I think I'm gonna turn this into a 3-parter. So now I'll just tell you about The Seshen, an amazing band I just found. They're not new, but they just put out their first official album, Flames & Figures. They had an EP back in 2014, and an album in 2012 that was self released, but this is their first album on a label. It's an awesome album, but actually so is all their old stuff. So we'll start today with Other Spaces, which is my favorite track off the new album so far. Especially at the end. Though that might change. I love these guys already, but I see myself liking them even more the more I listen.
So if you can't figure it out after that, part of the reason I probably love them is because they sound a lot like Little Dragon. Who I love. So much. As mentioned, their old stuff is also fantastic. So instead of playing you one of the new singles or something, I'll just play you what is maybe my favorite track off of Unravel (their last EP), Shapes. This might actually be my favorite song by them.
That afternoon we were supposed to go have lunch at this fancy hotel built by Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka's most famous architect, which has gorgeous views of a nearby lake and national park, and then see cave temples in Dambulla. But after the hotel our guide suggested we do the cave paintings the next day since it was too hot in the afternoon. So we did. We just hung out, I worked a bit, Rei napped, we watched some TV, had a nice dinner at the hotel, and went to bed. This was pretty standard for us. Evenings were generally spent with dinner, a bit of tv, and early to sleep. And then up early the next day. Every day.
Once up, it was on to Dambulla, which turned out to be one of my favorite places in Sri Lanka. It's a series of 5 caves, all of which are Buddhist temples, with every inch of their walls and ceilings covered in Buddhist paintings. They're also packed with statues of the Buddha and Boddhisatvas and the kings who funded them (some of whom apparently also had to use them to hide out so they wouldn't get killed). It doesn't take long at all to see. Even with a guide it only took about 30 minutes, but the caves were awesome. After that, we spend the next few hours heading out of the ancient capitals and into the Tea Plantations in the highlands. We were going to be having our splurge night that night, staying at a fancy hotel that had been converted from a tea factory. The place is gorgeous, as is the surrounding countryside, but sadly the hotel itself was pretty shit. We had a horrible night's sleep. I won't go into it, but there are terrible reviews of it from me all over the internet now. But, the service was amazing and the food was good and we had a fancy high tea in the afternoon, which is always fun, especially in a tea plantation. And we got to pick tea leaves the next morning. Rei hated it. I loved it. Point being, if you go to Sri Lanka, definitely visit the Heritance Tea Factory, but do not waste your money to stay there.
I think I'm gonna stop here. I think I'm gonna turn this into a 3-parter. So now I'll just tell you about The Seshen, an amazing band I just found. They're not new, but they just put out their first official album, Flames & Figures. They had an EP back in 2014, and an album in 2012 that was self released, but this is their first album on a label. It's an awesome album, but actually so is all their old stuff. So we'll start today with Other Spaces, which is my favorite track off the new album so far. Especially at the end. Though that might change. I love these guys already, but I see myself liking them even more the more I listen.
So if you can't figure it out after that, part of the reason I probably love them is because they sound a lot like Little Dragon. Who I love. So much. As mentioned, their old stuff is also fantastic. So instead of playing you one of the new singles or something, I'll just play you what is maybe my favorite track off of Unravel (their last EP), Shapes. This might actually be my favorite song by them.
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