[SriLanka] Sigiriya lion mountain from Kandy via Dambulla

Sri Lanka is a true backpacking paradise. Every year thousands of people backpack through Sri Lanka visiting its adventurous mountains and marvelous beaches. While i was searching information for my trip to Sri Lanka one particular spot that i wanted to visit was Sigiriya and that too because of the Castle Rock Mountain often known as Lion Mountain.

So my plan was to stay in Kandy and do a do trip to Sigiriya however there was very less information from this trip from kandy so i decided i will write a blog for this.

Wake up and Go!
So the journey from Kandy to Sigiriya starts at 7AM. At 7AM we reached to Kandy Bus Stop and we started asking for Bus to Sigiirya however we were told that there is only one direct bus to Sigirya and it has left already. So then we went on to find a bus for Dambulla. There are two options to go to Sigirya:
1) Direct bus from Kandy to Sigiriya
2) Go to Dambulla and change the Bus from there to Sigirya

So we have to choose the options number 2!

AC or NO AC?
Often you will find buses without the Air Condition and the weather usually is windy so it works however we found a mini bus with air condition and we payed 220 Sri Lankan Rupees ( 1.37$USD) which is 100Rupee expensive than the normal NON-AC bus costing at 116 (0.72$USD)

Kandy to Dambulla
The journey took about 2 hours and 30 minutes and the time can vary a little based on the traffic as its a single road and often tuk-tuk going with their speed. The bus will continuously pick and drop people on the way so make sure you have a seat from start!

Dambulla Bus Stop
The bus dropped us at Dambulla Bus Stop and from there we waited 5 minutes to get another bus to Sigiriya

Dambulla to Sigiriya
The bus from Dambulla to Sigiriya cost us about 50 rupee (0.31$USd) and dropped us at the entrance of the Sigiriya Castle Rock entrance. The travel time is 30 minutes.

Sigiriya Castle Rock

The bus drops you at the entrance of a side road however you need to walk about 1.75KM to the Museum to buy the tickets. You can take a tuk-tuk if needed (costing about 100rupee)

Ticket Price

The ticket price is 30USD for Adult and 15USD for Child.

If you are from SAARC country you will get a 50% discount but you need to show your passport. Previously they used to accept picture or photocopy of the passport but now they insist on seeing actual passport.

Dont worry ifyou forgot to bring your passport you can pay the full amount (i.e. 30USD) and get a discount paper signed from the information counter and when you are back in Colombo you can go to their office (in Colombo 07) to claim back that 50% of the money.

The way back

To go back you need to go back to the same place where to bus drop you and wait for an incoming bus to Dambulla, you would rarely find a direct bus going to Kandy. Again the bus will cost you about 50Rupee

Dambulla to Kandy

This time we took a non-ac bus and our hard-luck the bus was already full so we had to stand in the bus and it gets crowded. the bus will cost 118 rupee (0.7$USD) and will drop you back at the Kandy Bus Station or you can get dropped at the Tooth temple.

The story about truth temple will be shared with another blog! I hope this information was helpful for planning your trip to Sigirya from Kandy!