The hydraulic water gardens at the base of Sigiriya are engineering from the 5th century AD, still intact. The Mirror Wall carries devotional poetry from a thousand years of visitors, and the Apsara frescoes have survived 1,500 years on a sheer rock face. The summit view at first light across the Cultural Triangle plains is everything the photographs suggest and more. Climbing before the gates properly open is the difference between a good visit and an unforgettable one.