Climbing the Sigiriya Rock Fortress

After leaving Kandy, we began our journey towards Sigiriya. The drive initially involved navigating quite a bit of traffic, not only within Kandy itself but also in the smaller towns and villages along the way. As it turned out, we were travelling just before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, one of the biggest celebrations in Sri Lanka. People were everywhere, shopping for food, clothes, decorations and sweets in preparation for the holiday. The closer we got to the smaller towns, the more lively the streets became, with markets packed full of people getting ready for several days of celebrations with family and friends.

Our first stop of the day came about two hours later at the impressive Dambulla Cave Temple, also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla. The temple complex sits high on a large rock formation and reaching it requires climbing roughly 300 steps. Unfortunately for us, we were doing this in the middle of the day when the heat was at its strongest. After making the climb and reusing the sarongs we had purchased the previous day in Kandy, we entered the caves and explored the temple complex. Inside are several cave temples filled with statues and murals of the Buddha, with over 150 statues spread across five caves that date back more than 2,000 years. After spending some time exploring and taking in the impressive artwork and statues, we made our way back down the hill, passing plenty of monkeys along the path before finally reaching our driver waiting for us at the bottom.

After a quick lunch stop we continued the drive towards Sigiriya and arrived at our originally booked accommodation. As usual the hotel staff grabbed our bags and started taking them towards the room, but when they reached the door they suddenly seemed confused. There were shoes sitting outside the room and it quickly became clear that something wasn’t quite right. They tried to show us a different room but that one only had two beds instead of the three we had booked. After a bit of discussion they even attempted to offer a larger room, but again it only had two beds. In the end we decided to cancel the booking entirely. We called our driver back and simply asked him to take us to another hotel so we could check availability ourselves.

After some quick online searching we came upon a hotel nearby, the Lion See Hotel which luckily had a room available with three beds (and slightly cheaper than the original one). We checked the room, accepted it straight away and checked in. It didn’t take long before we were all in the swimming pool cooling off after the hot day. That evening we walked along a small, dark path to a nearby restaurant for dinner before returning to the hotel. Getting to sleep that night turned out to be slightly challenging though, as loud music, celebrations and fireworks were going off at a nearby house, most likely part of the upcoming New Year celebrations.

The next morning we had an early start. Before breakfast, Xander, Eloise and I headed off to climb Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Suz decided to stay behind at the hotel as she was still feeling a bit under the weather and the climb from the previous day had convinced her that another big hike probably wasn’t the best idea.

Sigiriya, often referred to as Lion Rock, rises about 200 metres above the surrounding jungle and was once the site of an ancient royal palace built by King Kashyapa in the 5th century. Today it’s one of Sri Lanka’s most famous UNESCO World Heritage sites and one of the country’s most recognisable landmarks.

The climb to the top involves roughly 1,200 to 1,300 steps and although it’s not easy, the reward at the top makes the effort completely worthwhile. Along the way you pass impressive rock walls, narrow staircases and the famous Lion’s Gate, where two enormous stone lion paws guard the entrance to the final staircase. Once we reached the summit we were able to walk around the ruins of the ancient palace complex, including foundations, terraces and water reservoirs, all while enjoying incredible views across the surrounding jungle and countryside.

After making our way back down we returned to the hotel hot and sweaty, only to discover that the air conditioning in our room wasn’t working due to some electrical problems. A quick cold shower fixed that problem temporarily however the heat quickly returned though, so after breakfast we quickly checked out and were on our way.

As we were finishing our breakfast, our driver Sumeera approached us with a small surprise. He handed us a framed photo of all of us together from earlier in the trip, which was a very thoughtful gift and a great souvenir from our time travelling around Sri Lanka with him.

After checking out, we joined a Sigiriya Village Tour which gave us a glimpse into traditional rural life in the area. The tour started with a ride in a wooden bullock cart through the countryside before we transferred onto a tractor for the next section of the journey. After that we took a small boat ride across a lake before arriving at a village home where local residents showed us how traditional Sri Lankan dishes are prepared. We were even invited to help with the cooking before sitting down to eat the meal ourselves. There was no cutlery provided though, which meant we had to eat the traditional way using our right hand to mix the rice and curry together. The tour was very gimmicky and touristy, however we still enjoyed it and it was nice to have a bit of a cooking class whilst in Sri Lanka as well!

After the tour we were all incredibly hot and sweaty, so getting back into the air-conditioned car for the long drive towards our final hotel felt very welcome. By early afternoon we arrived at our final accommodation in Sri Lanka, the Dinu Lanka Resort.

Here we said goodbye to Sumeera who had been driving us and guiding us across the country for the past week. He had helped us navigate the language barrier, taken us to amazing places and generally made the entire journey incredibly smooth. We would happily recommend him to anyone travelling around Sri Lanka and can pass on his WhatsApp number if anyone is interested!

After checking in at the resort we were immediately welcomed with fresh lime juice and a selection of traditional Sri Lankan sweets and snacks while chatting with the owner about her life and experiences. With most shops closed due to the New Year holidays, we ended up walking to a small supermarket to buy some noodles and snacks for our final dinner in Sri Lanka. After returning to the hotel we packed our bags and tried to get some rest before our alarm went off very early the next morning.

Our wake-up call was set for 4:30am, as our flight was leaving at 7:20am for the next destination on our journey.

The Maldives…