The ruins at Sigirya are the most iconic site ancient site in Sri Lanka. This massive basalt rock is all that remains of an ancient, long-extinct volcano, its vertical cliffs rise from the jungle planes and are topped with the ruins of an ancient palace complex. At the foot of the rock are the remains of ancient water gardens.

Some researchers say that it used to be the site for King Ravana’s palace from the Ramayana Epic, but some researchers argue that Sri Lanka was not really the Lanka mentioned in the Ramayana and therefore it cannot be Ravana’s palace.

We took a car from Kandy at 5am to try and beat the heat and spent a few hours exploring the ruins. It was a steep hot climb up the vertical rock via a modern staircase which has been attached to the rock face – not for the faint hearted if you are scared of heights, but the views from the top were worth it.