We had a very early wake up call yesterday – woke up around 4:30 AM for a 5:15 AM departure time. Thankfully, my body is so confused as to what time it is… it wasn’t that difficult to wake up.

It’s been hard to sleep in the car because I want to look at everything. I did take a small siesta – and after we woke up it was time to stop for a quick breakfast bite. The first stop was not quite what we were looking for – but then we found a small bakery.

(I went for sugary – mine are in the right side of the frame. The others had fish buns and another roll that was savory).

We got to Sigiriya – and found out that because we were foreigners there was a closer parking lot. (We pay significantly more than Sri Lankans – $30USD vs. a nominal fee). We started the hike – and it was already sweltering.

(Before the actual hiking began).

After this Sabrina mentioned that she had never actually seen a line to climb the rock. The line was long – and full of people trying to cut in front of you. Thankfully, Sabrina’s mum scolded them – since we didn’t speak the language!

(The long line waiting to go up to the frescoes).

The frescoes are an interesting part to this visit – they have been maintained very well. Some say that they are nymphs to shower Kings and Queens. Others say that they are Queens and/or concubines. They believe these paintings to be over 1,600 years old! Isn’t that shocking?

(You can see how crowded it really was – and also, how intact some of these images are).

After the frescoes – you make it to another flat area where there are plenty of monkeys and tourists. Not sure which ones were more wild?

(These two lion paws and a few steps are all that are left from the original structure – which is believed to have a lions mouth that visitors would enter through).

After waiting in line (impatiently – of course) – we made it to the top. And WOW! You could see for miles. It really felt like you were on top of the world – and you could absolutely see why someone would want to build on top of this giant rock.

After climbing down – we were absolutely famished. We got a few popsicles and drove to our hotel. We were able to drop our bags before we made our journey to Polonnaruwa.

We had a very eventful lunch – which, I don’t want to draw anymore attention to. But, if you end up in Sigiriya please don’t eat at Sam’s Sigiriya. Food was good – service was not.

We made it Polonnaruwa – another UNESCO site – an ancient city. This area reminded us of Chichen Itza in Mexico – where there are many structures across a sprawling area. This helped us understand how large this ancient city was.

Both locations were absolutely stunning and we are so glad we were able to squeeze both of them in. As we were leaving – they checked our tickets and recommended since we hadn’t stopped to see a series of four Buddhas to turn around and go view them. It was worth it. They reminded me of a small Mount Rushmore – except with Buddha.

We made a quick pit stop and tried a few coconuts. Super refreshing after a hot day of running around.

On the way back to our hotel – we had noticed a car flashing its lights at us. We come around a corner to find – nothing other than an ELEPHANT. Yes, a wild elephant! Yippee!

We also got to see a very beautiful sunset over one of the reservoirs. We had dinner at our hotel and turned in for the evening. It was a very full day. But well worth all of the steps and climbing!

Up Next:

• Golden Temple
• Kandy
• Temple of the Tooth
• Royal Palace
• Queen’s Hotel