Sigiriya and Dambulla

Sigiriya or Lion Rock is one of Sri Lanka's most famous sights, probably alongside Galle. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is a former palace/monastery located atop a very distinctive and mighty 200m-high rock, from which great views of the surrounding forests can be had. Dambulla is a series of caves atop a hill filled with Buddhist murals and statues, dating back almost 2,000 years ago. Also, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it and Sigiriya are part of Sri Lanka's Cultural Triangle. Both are located north of Kandy and can be visited on a daytrip, as I did. It takes two hours to reach Dambulla and then one hour to Sigiriya from Kandy. On the way, the town of Matale has an impressive Hindu temple as well as a Buddhist temple on a hill.

Matale