Sigiriya, Golden Temple

We quickly abandoned the plan to go to Sigiriya by bus as it seemed very inconvenient. Renting a tuk-tuk for a day was much more attractive. The driver also knew where great sights were, so we didn't just see the Lion Rock.

The journey to Sigiriya took about 2 hours. The Lion Rock definitely had a WOW effect. A huge 'boulder' in the middle of nowhere. However, I found the entrance fee of 30US$ per person relatively expensive. The stairs up to the rock were partly adventurous and I felt a bit uneasy at times. The stairs didn't scare Judith though. But see for yourself in the pictures.

Next stop was the Rock Temple in Dambulla. The first thing you see here is the Golden Temple. On the roof of the building sits a 30m high golden Buddha. An overwhelming sight. When you walk up to the individual caves in the rock, you can see over 150 Buddha statues.

We made a short stop at the Rock Cave Temple in Matale to take a picture of the large Buddha. We would have had to walk 2km uphill to visit the Cave. However, that was too much for us after the Lion Rock and the Rock Temple in Dambulla.

I don't want to mention any more short stops as they were relatively short.

In the evening, we went to bed after the halftime of the Germany game.

Today, we just drove. From 10am in the morning after breakfast until 7.30pm in the evening. From Kandy to the Uda Walawe National Park to Upul. We will go on safari with him tomorrow morning at 5.30am. I think that will be my highlight in Sri Lanka. Upul is very friendly. We just ate at his place and now we're sitting outside talking.

The journey here through the Central Highlands was amazing. Great views of the tea plantations, etc. It was freezing up in the fog.