13 February
We arrived at 5am sharp to climb Sigiriya Rock before sunrise. Luckily our accommodation was only a few minutes drive away. George said we could walk, but our B&B host advised against this, due to wild roaming elephants 🐘.
We pre-booked e-tickets to avoid the queue. But they don't accept tickets on phones, so we had to join the queue to get them printed. It's not worth the bother to plan ahead! This also applies when you buy train tickets online 🤔.
Sigiriya charges a special foreign tourist entrance fee (much higher than for locals) at $35 each. More people are now favouring Pidurangala Rock which is only 1km away. It's free and you get an excellent view of Sigiriya.
Sigiriya Rock is about 200m above the surrounding countryside and it took us around 35 minutes to climb. We were one of the first to the top, but already beaten by the Instagram crowd sat in their favoured seats.
Climbing is not for the faint hearted. It's better to do in the dark because when it's light you see how flipping high it is. If you're climbing pre-dawn you'll need a head torch as its pitch dark. As the sun rises it becomes unbearably hot and the steps up and down become clogged with tourists.
Unfortunately the selfie fans were disappointed as dawn ended up being misty with cloud obstructing the sun.
But the cheeky monkeys were on hand to keep us entertained.
The overcast weather was short lived as the cloud burnt off to reveal an amazing view.
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