The Sri Lanka Cultural Triangle is a must visit on any trip to Sri Lanka. I was traveling with 3 friends for the first part of the trip so after arrival in Columbo, and a stay in Negombo for the night, we headed off to the the Cultural Triangle the next morning.
But before the ancient sites, of course we had to stop for King coconut water by the side of the road:
Dambula
Our next stop was the temples at Dambula
There are lots of monkeys there.
The cave temples are great.
Sigiriya
By afternoon we got to Sigiriya. The most popular site is the UNESCO city on the top of this big rock.
We started the climb up many steps and saw these famous fresco paintings in a cave.
At the half-way point, there is a place to rest and there is the official “foot” of the mountain.
The stairs take you farther up and finally you have some great views at the top. See here for more tips for climbing Sigiriya Rock.
Polonnaruwa
The next day we were driven to the second point of the Cultural Triangle, Polonnaruwa.
This place is most famous for it’s carvings.
We saw these mongooses running around the site.
Plants were taking over some of the site.
There were frescos too.
On the drive back to Sigiriya, we saw this guy on the road.
And then a little later we came to a clearing and saw lots of Elephants. What a surprise and treat!
There are lots of stands selling ripe mangoes for pennies by the road. If you have your own transportation it’s worth a stop.
Later that night, us girls went to the spa for an Ayurveda massage. It was a nice place but way more expensive that it should have been in Sri Lanka but we were there to treat ourselves since it was Thanksgiving night. The steam and massage were OK, but the Ayurveda oil was not pleasant. The drip, drip, drip on my forehead was annoying and uncomfortable and then they came in and massaged all the oil in my hair. It took weeks for all that oil to wash out!
But at least we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner and guesthouse gardens the next morning.
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Where To Stay in Sigiriya
Lal’s Homestay Really great meals made by Lal’s wife. Book it now at booking.com.
We chose to get private transportation for this part of the trip, but did you know Sri Lanka is great for backpacking? Check out this backpacking guide.
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