Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Day Three

Wednesday, October, 18, 2017

Entrance to King's Fortress
Sigiriya - Early morning leave for Sigiriya about a four hour drive and climb the 5th-century Sigiriya rock fortress. Sigiriya is famous for its toadstool of golden-hued granite, protruding into the searing blue sky from a hot, flat wilderness of scrub-land, which is transformed in the rainy season to a water garden. Afterwards visiting this beautiful area, have lunch at New Sigiri Restaurant. After lunch, visit Dambulla rock temple that was built by King Walagambahu in the 1st century B.C. and it is a World Heritage Site. It is the most impressive of Sri Lanka's cave temples. The complex of five caves with over 2000 sq. meters of painted walls and ceilings, is the largest area of paintings found in the world. It contains over 150 images of the Buddha and the largest is the colossal figure of the Buddha carved out of rock and spanning 14 meters.On completion of this visit, you will be driven back to your hotel (approx. 4 hours drive)
Yapahuwa stone Lion
History: When many talk of the city of Sigiriya, they're usually referring to its ancient Rock Fortress as this mass of 600 ft rock was actually presumed a city in itself. Its King, Kasyapa (477-495 AD) reigned from this fortress, which was also his palace, ornamented with what was believed to be over 500 frescoes of women. These, have now faded, however a few are still visible on parts of the rock faces. Yapahuwa is a 300ft rock fortress that was once home to Buddha's Sacred Tooth Relic and also the capital of Sri Lanka during the reign of King Buvenekabuhu (1273-1284 AD). It is often scaled as an alternative to climbing Sigiriya. The rock kingdom was heavily guarded with a moat and a high-rise wall. The Yapahuwa stone Lion sits smiling at its visitors while an amazing stone stairway revives evidence of an entrance to the King's fortress, which was also his royal palace.



Hotel Sunray

Hotel: After we walked around the Fortress, we drove to Kandy and checked into our Hotel. We selected a nice hotel near the middle of the city so that we could do anything the two days we were staying there. We selected Hotel Sunray because it is a quick 15 minute walk from the temple and we can start the tour on time.

Weather: The weather today was mild so we dressed in light layers. It got warmer throughout the day so we had to cool off with many water breaks in the afternoon. 

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