TRAVEL | Sri Lanka
It’s pouring with rain, and the four of us, sharing two umbrellas, are standing between two gigantic lion’s paws. Like a scene straight out of Lord of The Rings, the pair of monumental paws form what was once the base of a whole lion, created from as many as three million stones and bricks and stretching to the top of the sheer-sided, massive monolith of red rock that looms 200 m above us. Sigiriya, Lion Rock, the Castle in the Sky, call it what you will, this ancient fortress, perched on the top of a rock that juts dramatically over the forests of central Sri Lanka, must once have been truly awe-inspiring. But that was probably the point: a warning to potential intruders.
The origin of Sigiriya's habitation is shrouded in myth and mystery, unsurprising when you realise they stretch back 5 000 years. What remains here today is a more recent legacy, dating back a mere 2 500 years to the reign of King Kashyapa, and like
