Hotel Sigiriya Sri Lanka

We arrived at Habarana around 12.30 pm after 8 hour tran journey. Habarana is a small station outside a small town.  It was hot and dry as we struggled off the train with Mrs H's backpack, and set out about finding a way to Sigiriya.

There were a couple of tuktuks available at the station.  One was taken by another party.  We entered negotiations with the remaining tuktuk driver, and settled on a price of 1200 rupees to be taken to Sigiriya.  

We later learned that this was far too much, and that we could probably have paid closer to 700 rupees.  At the time though, we didn't seem to have many options and we weren't sure where we were in relation to Habarana town.

The drive from Habarana to Sigiriya was mostly via a one-laned road that ran through the jungle.  It was sealed and well-maintained, and the drive was comfortable.  The jungle in question was part of a reserve and although we saw evidence of elephant dung along the sides of the road, we didn't see much wildlife on the trip. It takes around 20-30 minutes from Habarana to Sigiriya.

We choose to stay in Hotel Sigiriya for our 4 day trip. This hotel is 15 minute walk from the main area of Sigiriya Village. 

This hotel is in the midst of national park where many wild animals like elephants roam around.  There were electric fences to keep the animals away from the village.

We arrived at the Hotel Sigiriya, a pleasant hotel comprising semi-detached rooms set in gorgeous gardens around a pool.  From the lobby, we looked out across the pool, towards the famous Sigiriya Rock.

Our room (number 3) looked out across the gardens towards the pool.  It was well-appointed, and comfortable.  It came with tea and coffee making facilities, but lacked an iron (one was available on request).    There was no wifi in the room, but it was available in the lobby.

The hotel was full of wildlife. Around 6 to 7 species of animal were easy to spot around the garden and the pool. We stayed 4 days there, and found monkeys, squirrels, big lizards, small reptiles and even a snake!  While none of the animals appeared dangerous (although we weren't sure about the snake), you do need to walk carefully around the garden, especially in the night.

Onee difficulty is that the Hotel Sigiriya is a bit far from the small restaurants around Sigiriya. While it's an easy enough walk during the day, it's not so easy at night, so we hired a tuktuk in the evening.

Overall we had a lovely  stay here. And we recomend this hotel to be place to stay when you are around Sigiriya. We give 8/10 rate. And will be back if we visit Sigiriya Rock again.