In this episode i feature Sri Lanka's most popular tourist attraction Sigiriya which is one of eight
UNESCO world heritage sites in the country and is considered the eighth wonder of the world.
This is truly a remarkable place, so come along with me and let me show you around.
Hi I'm Mike and this is Mike's Road Trip. "Get off the road..." "All right."
Located in a rural part of the country Sigiriya or Siguria if you prefer, was built around the
3rd century BC and was used as a monastery for nearly 800 years. By the 5th century
Sigiriya became a royal palace this national monument is essentially broken up into two parts,
the massive royal gardens at the base, and the royal palace at the top of this monolithic rock.
In order to reach the top it requires a semi-arduous hike up some 1200 plus steps
which will take you about 45 minutes to an hour to climb it's best to do it early in the morning
to avoid the crowds and the heat of the day so the kings that occupied this area
never ever walked to the top they actually had servants who would carry them and they would
have uh two servants in the front that were much shorter than the ones in the back so that the
king could stay level the entire way up that's impressive Sigiriya is considered an engineering
marvel due to the advanced skills required to construct the fortress from sheer rock the
terraced gardens are formed from the natural hill of the base of siguriya rock a series of terraces
rises from the pathways of the boulder garden to the staircase on the rock now these have been
created by the construction of brick walls and are situated in a semi-concentric way around the rock.
Lion Rock the English translation for Sigiriya
towers more than 600 feet from the valley below and is 1144 feet above sea level.
You can see here how it gets its name Lion Rock with these two huge paws at the gate of the
fortress. Apparently there used to be a lion head at one point but it sheared off by erosion over
time. The gardens are divided into water gardens terraced and boulder gardens the subsurface has a
complex hydraulic system used during ancient times that are still functional today during
the rainy season the water channels get filled up and the water is then efficiently circulated
throughout the entire fortress a system considered too advanced for its period
so it begs the question where did this technology come from my gosh this place is absolutely amazing
oh my gosh this is steep so steep i think there's 1258 steps
60 floors or something like that
so
Well that's it from Sigiriya here in the heart of Sri Lanka i hope you enjoyed this video
and if so please hit that like button and don't forget to subscribe for more
road trip travel videos so until next time we'll see on the road.
MikesRoadTrip.com