While traveling in Sri Lanka with a friend, we eventually wound up in Kandy. We had a few days to spare there, before moving onwards to Ella, and there wasn’t much to do in such a bustling and rowdy city like Kandy. So we worked on planning some day trips outside of it. After having gone through certain vicissitudes in order to find a reasonably priced scooter for rental on the previous day, now, a sweet morning, we were about to drive from Kandy to Sigiriya on a single day trip.
Sigiriya, due to its astounding natural beauty and historical significance, is one of the most visited attractions in Sri Lanka. It basically is a massive, nearly 200 m tall rock formation situated in a broad green plain in Sri Lanka’s Central District, near the town of Dambulla.
Owing to its beauty and strategic position, it was chosen by an ancient king – Kasyapa was his name – as the site of his new capital in the 5th century AD. The new city was abandoned after the king’s death and was taken over by Buddhist monks who resided there up to the 14th century AD.
The city remains largely intact today and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Its name means in Sanskrit Lion Rock and is etymologically related to Singapore (lion city).
Kandy to Sigiriya route and distance
In order to drive from Kandy to Sigiriya, you take the A9 road to Dambulla and the A6 road towards Habarana thereafter. You then take a right off the main road in the village of Inamaluwa at 7.9289/80.6868. The whole drive is 91 km long and takes roughly 3 hours.
Kandy to Sigiriya Bus
To get from Kandy to Sigiriya by bus is very easy and straightforward. You first have to catch a bus to Dambulla. There are plenty of them running all the time. You may either catch one at the bus station or from any point along the road. From Dambulla, you can easily catch another bus straight to Sigiriya. The whole trip should cost between 300 and 500 LKR.
Kandy to Sigiriya Taxi
If you rather travel in comfort, hiring a taxi is always a possibility. This guy here offers the route online for 7,000 LKR. Though, if you look at the spot and you are a good negotiator, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a car to take you there for half that at the very maximum.
From Kandy to Sigiriya by Scooter
Back to the story, in our case, we preferred to drive there alone on a scooter. Stupidly enough, we started at a pretty late hour and suffered until we managed to escape Kandy’s dense morning traffic jams. Eventually, we were far out from the city and could drive freely for the rest of the way. The way until Dambulla was rather dull. The only notable thing that happened along the way was that we were stopped by the police once. But as per usual, we managed to get away without paying a fine for not having a driver’s license.
Instead of taking the normal way towards Habarana, we left the main road at a point (7.8579/80.6522) a couple of km before Dambulla downtown. We did so in order to avoid possible traffic jams in Dambulla, as well as… just try out something different basically. It was a great decision. The drive from there to Sigiriya was the highlight of the whole way.
We drove past the scenic Kandalama Wewe lake, along various narrow pathways and through several little cute villages. The inhabitants of those villages were very congenial and apparently not very accustomed to seeing foreigners, despite living in such a vicinity to Sigiriya. Eventually, we saw the lofty rock towering against the sky in front of us. The more we approached the thicker got the tourists and touts crowds. We had reached our destination.
Sigiriya entrance fee
In order to climb up to the rock of Sigiriya, a ticket needs to be purchased. That costs 250 LKR for locals and – yes! – 3,700 LKR for foreigners. This is an outright ridiculous price. You don’t pay that much even for the most renown sites of Europe. I would have been interested to climb the rock and have a look at the ancient city, but no way I would yield to such a scam; especially since there is an even better alternative.
Pidurangala Rock
Right beside Sigiriya, there lies a smaller twin rock known as Pidurangala. An entrance fee applies for that one, too, but it’s way cheaper, at 500 LKR. That is apparently paid only on a donating basis. Pidurangala is not a government-ran archeological site like Sigiriya. Local folks collect the fee on their own initiative. So in case you don’t feel like submitting the fee, no one can really stop you from going up anyway. Pidurangala is, in my opinion, the better choice out of the two rocks even without taking costs into consideration, as from its top you can get some really great views of Sigiriya itself.
Climbing Pidurangala
There is a sign at the beginning of the trail to the top of Pidurangala Rock warning of how tough and dangerous the climb is and recommending one to get a guide… Well, ok, I can to a certain degree understand that they also have a living to make and they try to earn some extra cash from silly tourists. But I was quite shocked to even read accounts of travelers on the Internet describing the climb in similar terms… I mean, come on, seriously?? One must have lived one’s entire life on some tiny island in the Pacific, or in the middle of some of the Earth’s great plains without ever leaving, to say that it is tough to climb Pidurangala. One that has done even the easiest possible hike on an actual mountain will take this one for what it actually is: a short leisurely stroll up to a small rock.
The very beginning of the trail passes through the monastery’s premises where we were requested to take our shoes off. I chose to keep them in my bag thereafter and go up barefoot; I found it quite pleasant to be in direct contact with the Earth. Then it goes up via carved steps on the rock for the most part. At some point along the way, there is a giant prostrated statue of Buddha which is very interesting to see. I assume it must be very ancient. It took me some 10-15 minutes to reach the top.
Upon reaching there I felt deep satisfaction. This is definitely going to be one of the most vivid pictures I will retain in my recollection from this trip to Sri Lanka for many years to come. The densely vegetated plain beneath stretches all the way until the horizon in every direction. The Sigiriya Rock, so lonesome, throned in the middle of the plain, looks so impressive and otherworldly. One can spend many hours up there contemplating the grandeur of existence. The only downside is the large numbers of tourists who are constantly up there bereaving the place of its quietude. I quite regretted that I didn’t plan so that I have my tent with me to spend a night up there.
We stayed only so long as it took the sun to abandon the sky to the lonely darkness of the universe. Then we descended through the dusk and rode off. We made a stop to eat in the village nearby and started on our long way back to Kandy. We only made it back, quite exhausted, close to midnight and headed straight to hit the hay and get some proper rest. We had one more scooter trip planned, to Nuwara Eliya this time, for the following morning, before catching the train to Ella on the day after tomorrow.
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