The winter sun island luring back visitors with heritage wildlife and low prices

The winter sun island luring back visitors with heritage wildlife and low prices

The air was heavy with humidity. Hastily avoiding the grasping hands of a mischievous macaque, I hauled myself up a final set of rock-hewn steps, emerging on to the flat brow of Sigiriya, the striking 180-metre-tall volcanic plug that roars high above the forested landscapes of central Sri Lanka.The ant-march of tourists up the “Lion Rock” – home to the remnants of a 5th century palace built by a Sri Lankan king with a penchant for patricide – w…