Sri Lanka was a wonderful experience!Even though we went on a short 5 day trip, we managed to see quite a bit of Sri Lanka and loved every bit of it.
Loved the beautiful island and the warm and friendly people. The trip was l planned and organized by our Sri Lankan classmate, who had planned every bit of our travel, and courtesy him we got a taste of the local culture and cuisine! What an experience!
This was what we planned to cover in the 5 days after landing at Colombo:
1. Dambulla (caves and Sigiriya rock)
2. Anuradhapura
3. Kandy
4. Nuwara Eliya
5. Back to Colombo
We landed in Colombo a little after midnight. The next day we started for Dambulla, it took us around 5 hours to reach Dambulla by road (inclusive of breaks). Our plan was to do Sigriya rock so we stayed at Dambulla which is the closest place to stay (around 20 km) if you are visiting Sigiriya.
Sigiriya (Lion Rock) is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. It used to be a monastery dating back to 1-2 century BC. King Kassapa built the Sigiriya fortress with the palace, gardens, and other buildings.
It is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. The name refers to a site of historical and archaeological significance that is dominated by a massive column of rock nearly 200 metres (from Wikipedia)
The site opens at 7 am. We bought the tickets at the counter in Sigiriya but I think there is an option to buy it online as well.
I knew that we would have to do a fair bit of trekking in the first couple of days with the Dambulla caves and Sigiriya in our agenda...while Dambulla caves are probably still doable but could be difficult for anyone with knee problems (I will post Dambulla caves after this post), Sigiriya is tough if you are not used to climbing and trekking, it is quite a bit of a climb...total of 2400 steps for the the entire trek. The good news is that it is worth every bit of the climb! And if you are physically fit, and enjoy trekking, it will be an awesome experience anyway!
It took us around 2.5 hours to complete the entire trek.Since we started the trek very early, the place was not crowded. However on our way back we saw that it was beginning to get really crowded. The best way to see Sigiriya is to start as early as you can (7 am) and come down by 10 am, that way you avoid the crowd and the heat.
Overall it was an awesome experience! The view from the top is amazing. The gardens of Sigiriya are supposed to be the oldest landscaped gardens in the world! If you are in Sri Lanka, and you are good with trekking, Sigiriya must be in your itinerary.
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| Lion paws |
On the way up to Sigiriya rock top...
At the top of Sigiriya rock fortress....the view is beautiful and worth it!
Monkeying around at the top:)
Sigiriya gardens....and an Iguana
