We left the resort at 0830 to get to Sigiriya Rock at a relatively good time. In other words, before it gets hot. About 800 meters from the resort, our driver informed us that we will need our passports to get in. So we turned around and went back to get our passports. Then we went to Sigiriya Rock.
There's a tourists entrance and a locals entrance to get into Sigiriya Rock. Tourists pay $30. Locals pay much less than that. You can get a guide if you want. Rates vary. We opted not to get a guide. Your ticket gets you into 3 places: The museum, lower area, and the top of Sigiriya Rock. We went through the museum first. kumi is a fan of museums more than I am. So while she continued to peruse the museum, I chose to head up to the rock. There's a lot of stuff to see in the lower area. I bypassed most of it and continued on. (I figured kumi would get pictures of it.) From the little I have read about the place, there are over 1200 steps from the bottom to the top. If you're in good shape, you could probably do it in about 30 minutes. If you're not in good shape, it could take about an hour and a half. (There are places to stop and rest along the way.) I had no intention of going to the top. I was going to stop at Lion's Gate. But once I got there I thought "Meh, I'm here. Might as well go up." It took me about 40-45 minutes to get from the bottom to the top. There's a different way down from the top. From Lion's Gate it took me 15 minutes to get to tourists exit area. Quickly bypassing the monkeys and souvenir vendors.
BTW, if you have a fear of heights, I do not recommend going up Sigiriya Rock. Another thing, there's a spiral staircase along the way to the top. You can bypass It if you want. It goes up to some frescoes. Photography IS NOT permitted. They are very serious about that.
After Sigiriya Rock we went to a couple more Buddhist stupas. We had to take off our shoes to enter the area. By this time it was midday and the sun had baked the cobblestones. They were too hot to stand on. We were running to and from shaded spots to cool our feet. The first stupa was painful. The second was extremely painful. (First stupa, brick. Second stupa, polished granite and steel.) It wasn't just us. The locals couldn't take either. Except for the guards who got to wear shoes and the one guy who was like "Meh, what heat?" After the stupa, we walked around the area for a bit more, then decided to do lunch.
Lunch was uneventful except for the fact that we ate spaghetti. Yeah, I know. We're in Sri Lanka and we're eating spaghetti. (This place had a lot of spaghetti dishes.) Truth was, we were in between the lunch-dinner window and many places were closed. This place was open so we went in.
After lunch, back to the resort. We showered and rested for a bit. Later, we met up with our driver for an evening drink.
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