Lion rock

Sigiriya Lion Rock's history centers on King Kashyapa (5th century AD) who built a lavish palace-fortress atop the rock to escape his brother Mogallana, featuring frescoes, gardens, and a giant lion entrance, but after Kashyapa's defeat and suicide, it became a Buddhist monastery until abandoned, later rediscovered, and now stands as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  

So what did we think . ?
After meeting an Australian chap the day before on top of pidurangala rock who said it was well worth the $30 we decided to set our our alarm clocks for 5 am .
We arrived in the dark up a 2 km dirt track to a well organized ticket office. Even at 6 am it was busy. It's probably the most visited sight in sigiriya if not Sri lanka.
The approach to the rock led us through beautifully maintained gardens . The pictures attached show the detail and scale of the archeological site , overshadowed by lions rock . Itself.
Stone steps began our climb to the top . After a while this gave way to steel chequer plate steps with stainless handrail. The stairs were narrow and steep. A line of people slowly made there way to the top.

TLeggi altro