1. Day - Dambulla

Today, our very friendly tour guide, "Ganda", picked us up at 8:00 am sharp in his Toyota Prius, which will accompany us for a week. 🚘 

We started in Colombo and the drive through the city was exciting. This city with 2 million inhabitants was buzzing with thousands of cars and twice as many TukTuks. The traffic rules clearly showed that "who honks, wins" was the dominant mentality. Driving by ourselves would be difficult in this country, as tourists are always at a disadvantage in case of a car accident. That means if the tourist was not in the country, no accident would have happened. 🤪

Therefore, we are glad that Ganda is safely chauffeuring us through the streets. We passed through many towns and there was no stretch of road that was not populated. Ganda explained to us that almost all residents build their houses along the roadside, as electricity and water lines provide optimal supply without major costs. 🚰

Our highlight was the stop at a small vendor where we got a King Coconut to drink. 🥥 The price for both coconuts was 140 Rupees (1 Euro equals 200 Rupees) and therefore very cheap.

After a 4-hour drive, we reached our destination in Dambulla: the Cave Temple. This was built 1 century BC and was located on a mountain. We had to climb many steps to reach the top. But the climb was worth it, as we could have a great view over the jungle from up there. The humid weather made us sweat a lot, even though it was very cloudy. In front of the temple, we had to leave our shoes for 25 Rupees, as they are considered impure. 👟

We entered the different cave chambers with 30-meter-long reclining Buddha statues. Afterwards, we walked down the other side of the mountain without Ganda, as a 40-meter-high Buddha statue was waiting for us there. On the way down, we encountered many monkeys, but fortunately, they were not aggressive towards us. 🐒 

On the way to Dambulla, we were often looked at from top to bottom by the local people, as there were no tourists in the area where we were. But this changed in the temple area, where there were a lot of tourists.

After visiting the temple, Ganda picked us up again and took us to a roadside vendor with specialties from Sri Lanka. Beforehand, we washed our hands, as it is typical to eat with the right hand. We tasted a kind of vegetable pancake with various curries. They were really delicious, just a bit too spicy. 🔥

It is also worth mentioning the very courteous and friendly nature of the residents. 🙏🏻

Now we are heading to our next accommodation. 😴

The Sigiriya Village was in the middle of a jungle and we were immediately impressed by the individual bungalows. At the pool, we treated ourselves to two Sri Lankan beers, which were quite strong with 8.8 percent. 🥴 Unfortunately, our pool evening was interrupted by a storm. So we walked in swimming attire and waterproof backpack in the pouring rain to our bungalow. 🌧

And now we are waiting for the rain to stop so that we can go to our dinner. 🍜

Aja shower gel, rest in peace ✝️ at the Ozo Colombo hotel. So always remember to check behind the shower curtain to make sure you have taken everything with you. 🤫