Largest and best preserved cave temple of Sri Lanka

Our next destination after such a fascinating day before at the archaeological complexes of Anuradhapura came to be another unforgettable day in beautiful and unique Sri Lanka. With so much to see in every corner on this rather small country, and with a tight agenda with unfortunately limited days, my original research for this trip was going to be visiting all of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which in turn are the must-do’s when in Sri Lanka. So with both the Cave Temple Complex of Dambulla and the ancient Citadel of Sigiriya this would be a perfect day, easy to manage in the same day since the sites are small and nearby each others, with Dambulla taking you around 2 hours to visit no more.

Sigiriya Citadel itself, although way bigger place, it does not take too much time either. The biggest “hassle” are the stairs to reach the top of the rock which if you do when the sun is at its highest (anytime between 10.00am through 16.00pm) that could be really a difficult experience. Of course this depends on the time of the year you are visiting, if in dry or monsoon season, or the seasons in between them. For us, and to anyone if I can suggest, the best planification you could do is visiting Dambulla the first in the morning, have lunch, and then continuing with Sigiriya in the afternoon towards the end of the day.

Be very cautious about the wasp nests! Yes, believe it or not there are many cases of wasp attacks in Sigiriya. Their nests are in the rock, towards the upper part and near the staircase leading to the top, you will see them hanging, near the wasp warning messages around the dangerous areas. You have to be quiet as you ascend and not going off the main path, yet many careless tourists do not follow this and can potentially trigger an attack. There are specially conceived cages you can take shelter if this happens, however, not at the top nor by the staircase which is the worst place you can be should this happen. Take plenty of repellent with you in any case, not just to protect from the wasps, but to prevent from the mosquitoes, noticeable by the gardens down below. (more…)