Sigiriya, also known as “Lion Rock”, is an impressive historical site in central Sri Lanka and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But there is even more that this place and its surroundings have to offer. You can find out exactly what in this article.
3 days 2 nights in Sigiriya
We took the 12.15 pm train from Trincomalee to Habarana and from there a tuk tuk took us to our accommodation Iwamisou in around 30 minutes for 2500 LKR. We subsequently learnt from locals that there is also a bus to Trincomalee, but this cannot be found on 12Go or other online platforms. So it’s best to just ask around. The train journey was in 1st class and took about 1 hour and 40 minutes. There is air conditioning in 1st class and the chairs can even be reclined. As the doors on the train are always open, it is also an experience to simply stop in the open door area on the way to the train toilet.
In Habarana there is only one railway station and the tuk tuks are already waiting in front of it, ready to take you directly to Sigiriya. Alternatively, a larger car or a van for more than 3 people can be booked around 30 minutes before arrival via the PickMe app. However, these require a journey time of 20 to 40 minutes, so it’s best to book on the train in advance. The tuk tuk ride was already a small safari tour, as we saw peacocks, an unfortunately chained elephant, various birds, monkeys and finally the lion rock before we even arrived at our accommodation. Now we finally saw it for the first time in real life and not in photos. In the middle of an otherwise very flat landscape, the rock towers almost 200 metres high in front of us.
We were greeted at our accommodation by a man and a woman who helped us with our luggage and took us to the roof terrace. There we had the best view of the Lion Rock and the Pidurangala viewpoint. We got a freshly made welcome juice and watched southern hanuam langurs and Ceylon hat monkeys, which are only found in Sri Lanka, in the garden. We got very close to them and took some great close-ups. When we got back to the top, we saw parrots flying past and a female spotted deer in the garden.
We could hardly believe what we had seen in just the first hour and so we moved into our room. It was huge with a queen-size bed, a bathtub and a balcony with a view of the garden and the Lion Rock. We were most impressed by the front door. Unknowingly, they gave us the room with a deer painting without knowing what the deer meant to us. This was more than a coincidence, it was meant to be.
As it was still early afternoon, we took the free bikes and made our way to the Pidurangala rock viewpoint. We wanted to watch the sunset from there. We locked our bikes and were given towels to cover our legs and shoulders at the entrance after paying the €3 entrance fee. The path to the viewpoint leads through a temple complex.
After we passed this, we tied the cloths to a pole provided for this purpose and climbed the first of many steps up the mountain. The path is steep and towards the end we had to climb a little to finally reach the top. Just below the last section is a large reclining Buddha figure from which we could let our gaze wander over the forest. From the top, there was an endless view over the Lion Rock to the mountains in the distance. It slowly began to get dark and we took some great photos before the sun bathed the sky in bright colours until it disappeared completely behind the mountains. In the dark, we walked down the mountain to the temple by lantern light. We picked up our scarves and went to see the temple, which was still open. There was also a reclining Buddha figure and other paintings.
Then it was time to cycle back. Luckily, we had our tripod with us, so we quickly turned it into a bicycle lamp, as the road back was barely lit. As the elephants are not only to be found in the surrounding national park, great caution is also required here, as they like to come into the village on their way to the lakes and ponds, especially at dusk and at night. Our night walk ended under a beautiful clear starry sky back at our accommodation and we had dinner on the roof terrace.
We then went to bed early as we wanted to see the sunrise on the famous Lion Rock the next morning. Our alarm clock therefore rang at 4.20am and after making a coffee in our room and eating a few snacks, we cycled back to the entrance in the dark. We bought our ticket for a total of 35 US dollars and only saw the outline of the massive stone on the way. Together with some street dogs, we climbed the numerous stairs and the sky became brighter and brighter.
Fortunately, we arrived in good time and enjoyed the wind blowing at the top. The strenuous climb had made us sweaty and we were more than happy to have packed a jumper as it was very chilly. There were already a few tourists there and we wandered around a bit and found a quiet spot at the very back of the rock, so we had the back area all to ourselves until the sun came out. There are even monkeys at the top of the rock and we took far too many photos of the whole area.
We could see our accommodation and after almost 2 hours we started our descent. As it was far too dark on the way up, we could now really see the path and also the large lion’s paws that adorn the climb up the rock, which is where the name Lion Rock comes from. In the past, there is even said to have been a lion’s mouth that you had to walk through to get to the top. On the way down, we also passed the mirror wall and the rock paintings, which are still preserved from earlier times. At the foot are the water gardens and vendors selling drinks and souvenirs. By now, more and more buses were arriving and we were glad to have finished, as the stone is a popular sight and therefore attracts mass tourism.
There is a lake with lots of water lilies near the ticket office and many monkeys gathered there too, which we were able to watch while they played, ate, deloused or relaxed. We found it particularly interesting that the two different species of monkeys deloused each other and were peaceful in their behaviour. We couldn’t say the same about the macaques in Malaysia, as they often tended to scare the langurs away.
On the way to the bikes, we realised that we hadn’t been to the museum, which is included in the price, so we went back and learnt more about the history and saw how people used to live and hunt on the rock. After almost 4.5 hours, we went back to our accommodation, where we were more than hungry and had a big breakfast, which is included in the price of the overnight stay. So we ate our breakfast with a view of where we had been just a few hours before and watched the tiny little people running around on the lion rock.
After a relaxing break on our balcony, we had a delicious kotthu and curry for lunch in a small local restaurant in the street of our accommodation. At around 4.30 pm, we set off on our free bike tour with a member of staff from our accommodation. He showed us beautiful viewpoints and places where, with luck, elephants, deer and crocodiles can be seen at sunset. Even though we weren’t lucky this time, we saw a beautiful lake, lots of wild peacocks, monkeys by the roadside and a great sunset with a view of the rock. The staff member was so disappointed that we didn’t see any elephants and tried a secret viewpoint in one of his friend’s forest areas for the possibility of seeing deer, but there was nothing there either.
Happy about the wonderful tour and his commitment, we drove to Ramya. We had met her by chance the day before while buying drinking water and she invited us to a cookery course at her home. We arrived at her place around 7pm and met a nice couple from Holland, with whom we had a great chat while learning more about the spices and the Sri Lankan way of cooking curry. Her children also helped and so she cooked 10 different curries on just 3 hotplates, which were cooked with wood and an open fire. We tried our hand at mixing the spices with a mortar and making grated coconut from a coconut. She used the grated coconut to make her own coconut milk for the curries. More than full and with new knowledge, we said goodbye to everyone and went back to our room. We had such an eventful day today that we fell into bed quite tired. If you plan your cookingclass in Sigiriya you should going to Ramya’s home cookings.
Our second morning started at around 5.20am, because today we wanted to relax in the beanbags on our roof terrace and watch the sunrise. We were alone for a long time and as the sky got brighter and brighter we saw more birds and there was a loud bang. Shortly afterwards a macaque peered down from the roof, followed by others running across the tin roof. As we love monkeys, we were very happy to be able to see them so close and all by ourselves. We stayed up there until the staff came and cooked us another delicious breakfast while we watched the sun rise.
We liked it here so much that we spontaneously decided to stay another night, with the hope of perhaps getting the chance to see elephants today. And if not, to simply enjoy the day here.
Buses run every 20 minutes from Sigiriya to Dambulla and from there you can travel on to Colombo, to the north or to Kandy in the south. The bus costs only 150 LKR and to Kandy only 350 to 500 LKR depending on luggage.
Our conclusion
The beautiful surroundings, the history, the wildlife and the wonderful local people are definitely worth a visit. We recommend 2 nights and if you have time and want to take a more relaxed approach to your time here, 3 nights is better. We are glad we made the stop as we weren’t quite sure at first, but it was more than worth it for us. If you would like to find out more about the former kingdom and Sigiriya, you are welcome to take a look at our article – Sigiriya – A former kingdom 200 metres above the ground – to find out more.
