Sigiriya - The 8th wonder of the world

The teardrop isle consists of some of the best places to visit when you are in Sri Lanka. Out of them Sigiriya is a UNESCO world heritage site is considered as the 8th wonder of the world. Sigiriya consists of an ancient citadel built by King Kashyapa during the 5th century.

The Sigiriya site contains the ruins of an upper palace located on the flat top of the rock, a mid-level terrace that includes the Lion Gate and the mirror wall with its frescoes, the lower palaces located behind the lavish lower gardens, and moats and ramparts which protected the citadel.

The site was both a palace and a fortress. The upper palace on the top of the rock includes cisterns cut into the rock.

Sigiriya is connected to the city Dambulla by a regular bus. Sigiriya is located about 25km from Dambulla.
The entrance ticket to Sigiriya costs around $30 and the second ticket checking spot is 100 yards away from the first so keep your ticket safe.

Beware of the monkeys as they tend to grab your things and do not feed them because there is a tendency that they would keep on following you.

There are about 1200 steps up to the summit. It's important to keep yourself hydrated. Buy or take water before you enter the area because water and drinks are not sold inside. It's a very long climb and you will become very thirsty.

To avoid the heat, start climbing the rock as early as possible.

Sigiriya is maybe the most famous tourist attraction in Sri Lanka, and must have been a truly amazing place in the past, right now the ruins are only the two-brick-tall foundations of the palace walls; absolutely nothing remains standing.

Perfect view of Sigiriya Rock!!!

There is a "mirror wall" which now barely shines in just two small spots, and apart from the ones near the beginning, the graffiti are just modern vandalization scratches on the wall.

Photography is not allowed at specific points along the path, in particular the frescoes which are home to a gallery of painted nymphs.

Wasps have their next here before you reach the top of the rock. They can attack people when they feel disturbed by loud behaviour.

I do recommend to visit Sigiriya and Pidurangala both as mentioned in my previous post. Because both are worth the climb.