So since arriving in Sri Lanka we stayed the first night in Negombo - a seaside town with a large Christian community. Star beach hotel - the place we stayed was nice and clean with a good bathroom and was right on the windy beach. Here we had our first Sri Lankan Rice and Curry and also sampled the local Lion lager.

The next day we headed to Dambulla - a dusty town spread put on the main road. The attraction here is the Rock Temple - a series of caves beautifully adorned with various Buddha statues and murals built into an overhang in the rock. It was a hot climb up the steps and the rock was scorching on your bare feet (no shoes in buddhist temples) in Dambulla we styled at Oasis Tourist Welfare Centre - a falling apart labyrinth of a house with tiny rooms but loads of character. Run by a lovely old lady who made us tea and had a beautiful dog called tut tut.

That day we moved onto Sigiriya - only a 45 min bus ride away. Here we got a room at Nilmini Lodge - a pretty guesthouse set in a nice garden with nice veranda - great for lounging around. The attraction here is a massive rock jutting out of the surrounding forests which was used initially a a monastery then a palace when it became the capital of Sri Lanka and then a monastery. The whole rock is surrounded by ruined gardens. It's a hot and long climb up a lot of steps - some of which cling precariously to the rock face. In a ledge near the top there are ancient drawings of women - very well preserved - and very naturalistic in style. You can even see the mistakes including an extra hand and nipple on some of the women! Beneath this is he so called Mirror Wall - which was originally highly polished and contained old graffiti from people visiting the rock. You approach the summit via stairs leading through lions paws - originally there was a whole lion apparently. The view from the top was incredible of the surrounding countryside. There was also a very good new museum just outside which detailed the history of the site.

We are currently sitting on the veranda of Nilmini lodge waiting for dinner - Rice and curry! Our plan is next to head to Pollonuwaru - another ancient capital of Sri Lanka.