3 Weeks in Sri Lanka - Day 4: Dambulla Cave Temples and the Sigiriya Rock Palace

On this day we visited two other big ticket spots in Sri Lanka's "cultural triangle". Both are ancient sites that are connected to Sri Lanka's golden age of kingdoms when the nation was united under prosperous, Buddhist monarchies. The first site, Dambulla, is a giant rock in the plains into which a set of five cave temples were built. We had to climb 160 meters, nearly to the peak of the giant rock to get to the cave temples but the climb was worth every single step. Dating from the 3rd century BC, the cave walls are covered in incredible frescoes and are filled with 153 statues, one for each meter we climbed. As with the other ancient Buddhist sites we've already visited in Sri Lanka, there is a strong sense of history and spiritual energy to this place. Even the climb down was an adventure as we had to hold on tight to our mangos to avoid having them stolen by the hordes of monkeys (all with some wicked "Dumb and Dumber" style haircuts).

From there, we took the short trip over to Sigiriya Rock, another of the massive boulders that rises strikingly from the central plains. On top is the ancient palace of one of Sri Lanka's many princes. The story tells of him seeking to build his palace in a place where he could escape his murderous brother who had already killed the king. The climb up Sigiriya Rock was amazing, harrowing, and the views -- incredible! Rai shed some tears but eventually conquered his fear of heights. Ash pushed him along with gentle reminders, "This is like riding the elevator to the 16th floor of our condo." Actually, at 660 feet, its more like a 60-storey building! By the end, he noted, "It's still hard for me even though I'm conquering my fear." That's progress because his fear runs so deep that he projects it on others, shouting at me to keep away from the edge, stay in the middle of the precarious, metal ladders and, generally, demand that I give up all my adrenaline-fueled fun. And, guess what animal in the wild we saw today! Amazing!