At Dambulla we stayed in Oasis Tourist welfare centre - a crumbling guesthouse run a lovely cheerful old lady who made us tea. At 900 rupees - £4.39 for the two of us, it was also the cheapest room we've had in Sri Lanka. The room was pretty much a box with a double bed built into it but it was so colouful and there was a strong fan to cool us down. Her dog tuttut was also very cute and playful. The living area was beautiful and had lots of family photos and we were free to use it whenever we pleased.

We had an awesome rice and Curry spread here at Saman's Restaurant - an empty cafe found in our aging rough guide. The papaya curry was excellent! And the Three Coins beer was also very good - although we were so full we had to waddle back to the guesthouse for the night.

The cave temples here are a beautiful set of 5 temples - going from back to front allows you to go from the least to most impressive. Each temple built into the rock face is adorned with beautiful Buddha carvings and murals depicting certain events in Buddha's life. The walk up and down to the caves is also nice past lots of monkeys and had a good view of the surrounding area.