Sigiriya and Dambulla

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Woke up at 4:30am to go to Sigiriya and see the sunrise.

Sigiriya is a rock temple part of UNESCO world heritage and its entrance fee is $30!!!! Whaaaat?!? Of course I didn't pay that much! Instead the night before we asked the hostel to arrange transport to Pidurangala, another big rock overlooking Singiriya that costs only 500rupees (Traveling on a budget means you have to pick and choose the activities wisely.)

Pidurangala is actually the best view point for Sigiriya although by not paying the high fee you also miss on the painting and the hike up but I was ok with that.

The hike was somehow easy, a lot of stairs all the up and some rock climbing at the top. I was, of course, sweating like a pig just because that's what my body does but it wasn't challenging. The view once up was so beautiful, we were surrounded by green all around us. I think we were all in awe of such beautiful site.

The hardest part of the hike, climbing over big rocks. This guy was set on the fact that he wasn't going to be able to climb it, I kept pushing him to go and guiding him on where to put his feet. In the end he did it!

We sat there for a while waiting for the sun to come out. For a bit I was worried that the clouds would block it and we wouldn't have a sunrise but then the sun started to come out from behind the clouds and it was absolutely stunning.

Waiting for the sunrise!

I spy Sigiriya

Lying Buddha carved on the rock.

We returned to the hostel afterward and had a lazy morning and afternoon until Felix and I headed to the town of Sigiriya to find some food. We took a 20 min bus ride and were disappointed to not find any restaurants other than very touristy ones with prices of 700rupees or more and knew it would not be worth it.

Diego, the dog who walked us to the bus stop and was waiting for us when we came back!

On the way back we took a bus with a tv in it. The tv was playing music videos and it was probably the funniest 20 mins so far. Felix and I were trying to make up stories to go along with what the music videos were showing and what we came up with was hilarious. Most videos were about love, of course! In one of them a man took a woman away from her house and brought her to (excuse my language) a shit hole! Then they show him sitting outside the house while she was... cleaning! Apparently they had some financial troubles so the woman gave the man a gold necklace (it seemed like a family necklace) and the guy sold it and bought himself a tuk tuk! Hahaha one day he gave a girl a ride and started an affair with her! At the end the wife forgives him! (Of course she does! All women should be submissive and allow men to walk all over them... rolling my eyes!)

We then headed to Dambulla to see the caves.

After a bus and a tuk tuk ride we got to the temple and I had read that one must get a ticket for 1,500rupees before going all the way up the stairs otherwise they make you come back down to buy one. I couldn't find where to get the ticket and locals said it was free but I didn't believe them (since locals usually pay close to nothing for all the attractions.) Finally a man explained that they used to charge but not anymore! Yeay

Entrance to Dambulla

We walked up the gazillion stairs, passing vendors and monkeys and we finally arrived at the top to a temple inside a rock. The golden temple of Dambulla had many caves with statues and paintings of Buddha.

A kid monk running down the stairs!

Pretty cool cave

Lying Buddha

By the time we were done it was sunset so we sat on the side of the temple and 2 kids dressed in monk attire came rushing by eating some fruit and sat next to me. They smiled and offered us some fruit and sat there until the sun went down.

The views of Sri Lanka from the temple were spectacular, we were surrounded by a beautiful green scenery with mountains all around.

Felix taking in the view

After the temple we went back on a tuk tuk to Dambulla on a Trip Advisor recommended tuk tuk! haha These people put those stickers literally anywhere!

We ended our day by finding a nice local restaurant where we had Sri Lankan rice and curry!

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!