Travelling by public bus in Sri Lanka is not for the faint hearted. More often than not the buses are overcrowded, stuffy and driven by religious nuts - believing they can drive however they like as they've venerated the local shrine!
From 'Dambulla' it was just half an hour on a packed bus to reach 'Sigiriya'. The main attraction in Sigiriya is essentially a giant rock rising 370m above the surrounding plains. The 'rock' was formed by the magma of an extinct long-eroded volcano. Since the fifth century the top of the plateau has been utilised as a fortress, monastery and palace. Most tourists visit Sigiriya on a day trip, however Amelia and I decided to spare a night, so found a cheap guesthouse to stay in called 'Samahala Guesthouse'. The owner welcomed us in (around mid morning) and bought us over a cup of tea. As well as being hospitable he was a very helpful chap, who managed to find us some rusty old bikes to use for the rest of the day.
Other travellers had told us that the entrance fee to Sigiriya was extortionate, but as the charge for entrance to Dambulla cave temples had recently been withdrawn we decided to try our luck. We stopped enroute for a small lunch at 'Ahinsa Restaurant'. Amelia had a coconut rotti served with syrup (which was even too sweet for her!) and I had chicken kotthu. We then resumed our journey on bikes to the entrance of Sigiriya Rock or Lion rock as it's also known. Sadly, when we arrived at the entrance we noticed that the fee was still very much in place, and even more costly than we'd expected. Foreigner admittance was 4200 rupees (£20) compared with less than half that for Sri Lankan citizens! In mutual agreement we decided it was far too much and went for plan b.
Plan b was to climb the lesser known 'rock' situated about a kilometre north of Lion Rock. 'Pidurangala Rock' is almost the same height with the same views but no history or ruins. Although at a tenth of the price to scale it's much more 'backpacker friendly'. To reach the summit we first had to find the 'hidden' starting point. I'd read online that the beginning of the trail is through an old dilapidated temple. Whilst cycling along a muddy track, a puppy out of nowhere ran out in front of us, the little thing almost got run over! Whilst Amelia was busy cuddling and playing with it, I noticed what looked like a temple just a few yards down the track.
With our bikes parked up against a tree we found an old pilgrim requesting for 500 rupees (£2.50) to enter. The old man didn't speak English, but pointed in the direction we should go. The majority of the way up was a stepped path. We followed it up and stopped for a breather by a beautifully made brick Buddha. From the Buddha onwards it got a little tough, the steps had vanished but there were hand painted green arrows guiding the way. Apart from one wrong turn, we followed a slippery path and clambered up some rocks until we came to what looked like a dead end. Amelia was sure it was the wrong way, but I could see the green arrows further up, so with a little encouragement we kept climbing. By this point my flip flops were sliding off the soles of my sweaty feet and the SLR was swinging around my neck like a pendulum but I could see the end was nigh. The last section was by far the toughest part and it took one final leap from one boulder to another to finally reach the top, but we did it and it was worth it. Despite the overcast skies we had a clear view of Sigiriya Rock and the surrounding area, the panoramic views were jaw dropping! As the skies darkened we wandered around the football pitch sized summit before it started to rain. Amelia was prepared, so with her raincoat held over us we crouched and waited it out. We felt sorry for other backpackers who'd just reached the summit to see nothing more than the low lying rain filled clouds we were in, the rain showed no signs of letting off so we started to make our way down.
Although slippery, the climb down wasn't as bad as we feared. We made it back to the puppy and its skinny siblings and hopped back on our bikes. It was Murphy's law that as soon as we cycled off the skies started to clear! Consequently, we went in search of the perfect place to watch sunset. It was a difficult task which ended up with us cycling around the entire perimeter of Lion Rock whilst the sun set!
Drinking alcohol in public is a slightly taboo concept in Sri Lanka. Unlike SEA apparently a licence from the government is hard and expensive to acquire. Fortunately, on our cycle back we stumbled across a 'rasta bar' evidently with a licence! It was nice to treat ourselves to a nice refreshing beer, but we paid the price (compared with what we're used to!).
After sharing a huge portion of rice and curry back at Ahinsa Restaurant, we switched on our iPhone torches on and cycled back to our guesthouse.

To reach the next destination we returned to Dambulla's main bus station and boarded a southbound bus..