11 Feb 2024
Our guide Kenneth arrived as stated and picked us up earlier at our request from outside our hotel the Granbell in Columbo as we wanted to miss the rush hour traffic and mid morning sun, right from the start he was very friendly, polite, knowledgeable and informative about the places/towns we were driving through.
We arrived at Sigiriya in good time and were shown by Kenneth where to get our tickets, it was $36 for an adult ticket which I feel is rather expensive, they didn't take cards just cash, rupees or dollars, the steps up are quite steep at the beginning and by the time I got to the paws i and many others were already out of breath, the climb is not as hard as I thought it would be but it is quite scary in places as most of the 1,200+ steps are metal and see though with gaps in between, the handrail is thin and the staircase narrow, people are walking both up and down the stairs but were very patient and polite, I did start feeling unwell and dizzy but after a rest at the top, water and lots of photos we were ready to come down, we were back in the car in less than 2 hours.
The tombs at Dambulla were interesting but there were a lot of people around and photographs had to be taken quickly, after walking up the steps in Sigiriya the 350+ steps were definitely not leg friendly in places, before going home we went to the Cemetery, it was $3 to get in and quite honestly there was not much to see there, it took less than 10 minutes to walk round but it was clean and tidy and the staff there were friendly.
If you choose to go on this tour we highly recommend asking if Kenneth can take you, lots of happy memories, very tired legs but anther perfect day spent in Sri Lanka.