Sigiriya Rock
Trip Start
Nov 17, 2011
1
7
Trip End
Nov 28, 2011
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Sunday, November 27, 2011
This is one of the highlights of the whole trip. Sigiriya is the third corner in the cultural triangle. It is a rock palace built on top of a huge lava plug. It's very hard to imagine how they managed to build anything on top of this rock, which is about 200 meters high with sheer overhanging rock faces on each side. Sigiriya Palace was built by King Kassapa in the 5th century AD.
The climb up involves about 2000 steps along some scary looking stairs which are bolted to the rock face. Along the way are some beautiful rock paintings, the famous "Maidens of the Clouds". Half way up to the top there is a small plateau, with two huge lion paws made of brick. These are all what's left over of a giant sculpture which made the entire rock look like a lion from afar.
Not much is left of the palace on top other than the foundations, but the views across the plains and the beautiful terraced water gardens below are amazing.
