Sri Lanka tour day 3
St Barbara's Web Diary
Peter & Sue Goldsmith
Mon 4 Feb 2008 07:36
3rd February
We have been sitting down for most of this trip but today was to be
different. We still had a bus ride of course, but less than 3 hours and we
were at Sigirya. Spectacular hardly does it justice. This solid rock rises
directly out of the ground some 700 feet and is surrounded by a large area
of palaces constructed around 500 AD. Half way up one side, and only
accessible by a spiral staircase bolted to the solid rock are the remains of
a series of paintings originating from the 5th century AD. It was not at all
clear how they got there. The path continued and then finished in a dizzying
series of steps to the top where a palace had been constructed. Just
amazing.
A well earned lunch and we were back to Dambulla to visit the cave
temples. We hadn't realised that the caves were at the top and not the
bottom so were off up the hill for the second time, but it was worth it. The
temples were in a series of caves the were formed by a large rock overhang,
each
full of Buddha images and elaborate ceiling paintings.
Dinner in the hotel in Kandy and a well earned rest.