We made an early start so that we could climb the rock at Sigiriya whilst it was still cool.

Sigiriya is a walled and moated Royal capital of the 5^th century AD with a palace complex on top of the rock and elaborate gardens surrounding it.

During the ruling of King Dhatusena I (459-477AD), there was a palace coup by Prince Kasyapa, the King’s son by a non Royal consort and Migara, the Kings nephew and army commander. This lead to the seizure of the throne and the execution of the King.

Kasyapa then established a new capital at Sigiriya while the crown prince, his half brother Moggallana, went into exile in India.

The builders called the site ‘Lion Mountain’ as there was a huge lion carved into the rock at the entrance to the final ascent. Today the two front paws are all that remain.

The centre photo shows the swimming pool, part of the palace buildings, on top of the rock.

There are metal staircases leading to the top for the tourists today. In Palace times the King would be carried up this very steep rock face.       

More rice and curry for lunch before arriving in Kandy where we had a wander around the town.

The towns are quite charming with colourful tuc tucs on the roads and many of the women dressed in beautiful saris.

It is like stepping back in time, I took a photo below of someone working in one of the offices, typing away noisily on a very old fashioned type writer.

We had booked into the Amaya Hills for the night - another difficult access, this time we climbed up into the hills, far above Kandy on very narrow roads with steep drops on one side. The hotel was amazing with views out across Kandy, we relaxed by the pool for a few hours and had a massage in the hotel spa before dinner – heaven !