Here, I would specifically mention the hospitality and friendliness of the Sri Lankans- not do they properly guide you whenever needed, but they also provide the best possible options, to make your tour more convenient.
Golden Temple and Cave Temple
The bus took us to Dambulla bus stop, from where we hired a tuk tuk to reach Golden Temple and Cave temple. The cave temple is situated on the top of a mountain: around 15- 20 minutes climb from the ticket counter. There are very strict rules regarding entry in the temples in Sri Lanka- women cannot enter with their head covered. Moreover, men and women need to cover their legs and shoulders, for which scarves/ lungis are available at the entrance.
The cave temple is not huge- it hardly took us 20- 25 minutes to take a look at all the caves (there were 5 of them), and we headed out downhill.
From here, we decided to save some time and took a tuk tuk to Sigriya, which was hardly 30- 35 mins far from Dambulla.
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Golden Temple |
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Atop Cave Temple |
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Cave Temple |
Sigriya and Lion Rock
Same procedure was followed here- we checked, and straight away left for lunch and Lion Rock Climb. Lunch was traditional Sri Lankan food, rice with 5 different curries, and single serving was more than sufficient for two of us.
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Traditional Sri Lankan Food |
After lunch, we reached Sigriya Rock, got the tickets and prepared ourselves for the climb. The usual cost of ticket is LKR 4650, and half price is offered for SAARC members.
The place was significantly crowded, and I had to take multiple pauses on the way to catch my breath. Reaching the top took roughly 40- 50 minutes- and it was totally worth it. Not only the view was breath-taking, we also saw the most astonishing sunset from the top.
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Lion Rock, Sigriya |
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On the way, to the top |
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Lion Paws |
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View from the top of Lion Rock |
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The amazing Sunet, as seen from atop Lion Rock |
Since there are no lights all over the place, all the visitors waiting for sunset started leaving immediately, and we were at the bottom in less than 15 minutes. With this, the second day came to an end- we just had dinner and went to sleep.
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