Day 28: Dambulla & Sigiriya, Sri Lanka (February 4, 2011)

Dambulla and Sigiriya are two of Sri Lanka's "Ancient Cities" -- a bunch of cities in the middle of the country containing really old temples and other sites. Hiring a driver is really paying off in Sri Lanka. I could have gotten to these places by bus, but it sure would have taken a while and in the end I wouldn't be able to see as much. I also wouldn't be so well taken care of either! But with car, the only time involved was the actual travel, and the rest of the day's schedule was up to me.

We started in Dambulla, which is famous for its Cave Temples, a series of Buddist temples housed in caves found high up on the side of a mountain. I'm guessing it was about 500 steps to the top to reach the caves. The temples inside date back to the 18th Century.

Each of the five caves is a little different, but typically there would be a number of Buddha statues inside, either standing, sitting or reclining:

For some reason, people have built this monstrosity in front of the entrance to the Temple Caves. I was pretty happy, though, as I was looking forward to seeing something really tacky here, and this delivered. Sorry I can't bring it home as a souvenir.

Our second and much cooler stop was Sigiriya, which is a rock fortress built on and around this giant rock in the 5th Century AD. The climb to the top took about an hour and felt treacherous, especially with all of the rain here and the non-OSHA-compliant stairways:

I'm not particularly afraid of heights, so the climb didn't bother me. Until I noticed, off to the side and about 550 feel above the base of the rocks, these ancient "steps" that were hand-carved into the rock. I'd seen them at several point on the way up, but seeing them that high up on a vertical face of the rock, and while I was on a precarious little metal staircase, made my legs go all wobbly. I get that feeling when I look at that photograph Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.

The top of the rock is still covered in the foundation of the fortress, although the walls and ceilings are long gone. The top was inside of a cloud today, so I didn't get a good view of the surrounding area, but it was cool anyway.

The best feature (to me) of Sigiriya are the Sigiriya Damsel Frescoes. They are painted on the rock, but in an area protected from the sun and rain, so several survived from the 5th Century. They are very beautiful (although stylized) and are the only non-religious old paintings in Sri Lanka.

I slept badly last night (it's been happening sporadically on this trip) so I'll spend the rest of the day dozing and eating and updating my blog. Check below for additional photos from the past few days.