Sigiriya Sri Lanka

We were on the road at 6.30am this morning, in order to beat the crowds and the heat at the Citadel of Sigiriya, the ancient rock fortress near the town of Dambulla - another UNESCO designated World Heritage (in 1982).

The site was selected by King Kasyapa in the 5th century BC for his new capital.  The King was not a good man and was paranoid about his safety, so he needed to build an impenetrable fortress. To start with, the entry to his palace/fortress was protected by a crocodile infested moat ........

 ...and decorated with beautiful landscaping and water gardens .........

 He built his Royal Palace on top of this massive rock outcrop - the Lion Rock.

 Which is over 200 metres high and 1202 steps away for us ..........

 We start climbing (and resting along the way - to admire the views) .........

 There are still intact wall frescoes (paintings of beautiful women - King Kasyapa loved them all!) along the way in sheltered caves in the rock wall (but no photographs allowed)..

 ..... and past the "Mirror Wall" .......

 There is a very large boulder at the end of this "building" below, ready to be rolled down the side of the rock fortress should any invaders get past the moat and all the other defences in place.

 We're about halfway here ... ready to climb the last steep side of the actual "Lion Palace" (note the lion's paw at the base of this rock face). 

 And...... finally we're at the top ... along with a colony of stray dogs who seem to survive (just) on scraps thrown to them by tourist visitors (lots of bread, rice and muesli bars - not much protein).

 The king loved his water features / swimming pools .....

 Looking out over Pidurangala Rock to the north.

Coming down we couldn't decide whether it was worse than the pain of going up (extra hard for those with fear of height issues) .......

 The Cobra Rock .......

 And the cobra snake charmer ........

..... and the python charmer .............. 

We were done by 8.45 and back at the hotel in time for a late breakfast by 9.30am. We were all ready for it - and ready for an easy rest of the day in this beautiful hotel after a few days of being hard working tourists.