Sigiriya Lion's Rock, the pride of Sri Lanka

Sigiriya Lion's Rock is a must-see place in Sri Lanka and one of the pride of the country. Sigiriya is also one of the most impressive historical vestige of Sri Lanka and is of course a UNESCO World Heritage. But what is not UNESCO World Heritage in Sri Lanka ?! :) With its 1200 steps to climb, Sigiriya seems to be quite a challenge but is completly reachable, don't be discouraged. Lion's rock has to be earned and you will not regret it !

First advice, come early to avoid the tons of tourists and the heat, which can be quite annoying when climbing the stairs. I recommend to arrive at the opening of the site, between 7 and 8am. Most of tourists arrive between 9 and 10am, which will leave you a head start on. Second advice, take some water ! There are 1200 steps to climb. Honestly, they are not too difficult and this is not a huge challenge, even for a non sporty girl like me. However, the climb still requires some effort and water is deeply needed. The entrance of the site is quite expensive compared to the rest of Sri Lanka, around 4000 rupies, this is the price of success.

The visit starts even from the ground, with historical and archeological vestiges, which were part of the royal gardens. There are lots of perfectly symmetrical pools.

Sigiriya, Lion's Rock, is a ochre monolite of 370 meters high, dominating the jungle and was the home of a unique fortress with a very particular history. At the 5th century, Anuradhapura king had two sons. The youngest one wanted to access to the trone, which was naturally meant for its eldest brother. For this, he decided to kill his father and evict his brother. This one sweared that he would have its revenge. The winning brother decided to built a fortress on the top of the rock in Sigirya to hide himself during 18 years. His little brother managed to gather a troop around the rock, which disabled totally any possibility of resupplying the new kindgom. The youngest starving brother finally gave up and was executed by its eldest brother who took back its trone and left Sigiriya.

The walk starts with a nice view on the rock and a pathway leading to it, before entering in a jungle at the foot of the rock.

Then, take your courage in both hands, and climb the steps ! Before this, your walk will guide through fallen rocks and caves. Then, the climbing can start. The metalic stairs offer amazing views on the surrounding jungle.

The first part of the climbing leads to the Sigiriya ladies cave, which we are not allow the photograph anymore to protect the paintings. These ladies were the king courtisanes. More than 500 ladies were supposed to be painted on the walls but only 22 of them survived to modern times.

At mid way, you can start to admire the vestiges and the panorama, which offers you a splendid view on the main alley leading to the rock.

Then comes the first reward, the famous lion foot ! The challenge is to find the right moment to take a pic without the tons of tourists going up and down :)

The last part of the walk and the last stairs will bring you up on the rock and will offer you 360° views on the jungle.

Up on the rock, you will observe also the pidurangala rock, which lots of tourist like to discover. We unfortunatly did not have the time to climb it but I know this rock offers an interesting view on Sigiriya rock and worth it.