Tour of Sri Lanka 2025 | Day 19 | Sigiriya – Trincomalee | 152 kms

I wake up around 5am and, after a quick start, complete my diary over coffee by 5:30am before leaving for Sigiriya Lion Rock. The weather is perfect – cloudy with glimpses of sun. I feel lucky. I say goodbye to my friend Masa as he departs for Colombo. I then arrive at the Rock fortress parking lot and head up to the museum where tickets are sold.

They turn me back for 50% discount for Indian as I am not carrying my passport with me. The ticket is expensive and I have no choice but to return back to the hostel to fetch one. I return quickly, get my entry ticket of 6280LKR and start to move towards the iconic fortress. The time is around 8:30am. I pass the moat first, then gardens to my left and right and finally start to climb the fortress. I am going slowly, stopping to take photos in between and seeing things.

There’s a huge rush to climb the rock so mostly, people are in line to climb the fortress. A guide takes my photo near the lion’s famous paw and thereafter begins the final ascent of metal stairs. I reach the top in 15min. The 360 deg view is great, I have clear view all around as I take photos and explore the ruins. I meet a lovely couple from Colombia with whom I spend some time talking. Foreigners help me take photos of various location as I move around the ruined palace.

Done seeing everything, I get back down, have a breakfast and then move towards the adjacent rock which is called ‘Pidrungala’. This giant rock sitting at a height is a famous hike all people make as you can get to see the Lion’s rock jutting upwards from the surrounding jungle. The hike is mainly to see that view. The entry fee is around 1000LKR.

There is a beautiful temple at the base with nicely done paintings similar to the cave paintings which we can see on the fortress while coming down. I take my blessings and start hiking. The hike all the way up is through rocky sections with no clear steps being laid out. The hiking difficulty is normal as I reach the top in around 20mins. The last section to the top is narrow and only allows one way traffic and so there is a queue of people waiting to go up and come down.

We have to wait for a while. Once at the top, the view of the fortress are amazing. The force of the wind is greater as I steady my cap. I take photos of the rock and even ask some people there to take mine with the rock. I return the favor too. I explore the top by going in a clockwise fashion, seeing all the areas of wild forest, taking the wind blast to the fullest.

I might fall down it my footings are not sturdy. I decide to move back down as it’s almost 12:15pm as I plant to move towards Trincomalee. I get back to the hostel, get ready quickly and leave the place around 1:15pm. I wait for a 5 min due to sudden spell of showers but after that the rain vanishes and I can see the sunlight again.

I thank the hostel owner for the great stay and hosting me well. She offers me a complimentary cold water bottle as I leave the place.

Riding for 10-15kms, I leave the city and I am on the highway now towards Trincomalee. The highway is super wide and it’s a straight road towards the destination. I am cruising around 60-70kmph. The scenery is awesome and the weather doesn’t look threatening. I see a mother and a baby elephant to my left and a short distance later a single elephant happily engrossed in eating. I silently stop my bike and click a photo before moving on.

The roads are almost deserted with not much traffic on this side. Midway, through my ride, I stop at a traditional Sri Lankan food stall to munch on something. I try the local jackfruit cutlets and the Lewariya sweet item and wash it down with tea.

Luckily, just around that time there is a short 5min rain and I am saved but I bring my stuff inside. I hit the road again and after driving for another 20km, I stop to try the famous curd with Kithul honey dish called as ‘Mikireya’ which I so wanted to try. This was recommended to me by my Spanish and Slovenian friends. Finally, I see the shops in huge numbers along the sides of the road on both sides. I buy a medium size bowl full of curd and add honey to it and relish the delicacy. It tastes just great as I can’t stop from having more and more.

It dawns on me that I won’t be able to finish the whole stuff so a small leftover of it, I feed it to the dog. I hit the road again as the city is not far. I reach Trincomalee around 4pm, get checked into hostel I booked during my previous rest stop.

I change into new clothes quickly as I want to go and experience the only hot water springs in Sri Lanka known as ‘Kanniya Hot Springs’. The distance is like 6-7kms. I reach the place and pay the entry ticket of 500LKR and go down towards the bath chamber.

Apparently, you cannot take a dip in the pond but need to fetch water with bucket and rinse yourself. The water is at perfect temperature as I enjoy the shower like a kid, feeling satisfied to the core. I leave the place and move towards the ‘Koveswaram’ Shiva temple situated at the tip of the beach in the city centre.

I reach around 6pm. The temple closes around 6:45pm. I am the only person visitor and the whole temple is to me. The temple is similar to most of the South Indian ones. There’s a huge statue of Lord Shiva at the entrance along with Nandi. I move inside, the entry is free. The inside wall are adorned with colorful murals depicting various stories. I take time to go through each one of them. The temple in the 16th was destroyed by the Dutch people but, people during that time, hid the lord statues under the ground and when the area was excavated after few years they found the idols following which a new temple was built on the same one.

It’s dark as I come out of the temple and take a long road seeing the city around the beaches etc towards the hostel. I go out for Dinner nearby and come back around 8pm.

There I meet 2 girls from Netherlands and Spain in my hostel. Their dinner also being done, we relax over wine and spend the rest of the night talking about our own countries, life, jobs, travel stories etc. Around 10:15pm, we all say goodbye to each other and I retire to my room for a good sleep.