Dambulla, Sigiriya and the herbs garden

2014 February, The Long Trip - Sri Lanka, Dambulla

Dambulla is famous because of a cave temple - to get there we climbed the stairs to the top of the rock and  visited 5 caves inside. The entrance fee was 1500 LKR (8.26e) and we paid for a guide 500 LKR (2.76e). He told us about buddha and explained the meaning of his gestures. Unfortunately, he was in hurry as another people were waiting for him to be guided. Afterwards, we took our time to explore the caves on our own.
The next stop was Sigiriya where one king built his palace and fortress on a top of a big rock. It is an amazing place - the ticket cost 3900 LKR (21.48e) but it is worth spending it.
The last point was a herbal garden somewhere near Nuwara Ella. We had a tour with presentation of plants and herbs and we tried some of their products. We also had a short massage. 
At the end our guide asked for a tip and it wasn't nice as he wasn't a good guide. It is a problem here - they think that they should get a tip even if the job or service wasn't a good one.

Dambulla - cave temple

Dambulla - our guide

Sigiriya

Sigiriya - the rock

On the way to Nuvara Ella

Herb Garden

Anuradhapura

2014 February, The Long Trip - Sri Lanka

We rented a car and started our journey together. If you want to rent a car in Sri Lanka, firstly, you need to apply for a special driving licence. It will take a few minutes and you are free to go.
The first stop was in Anuradhapura were monkeys walked almost everywhere. Bicycles were the best option to see all temples spread around the town. Our bicycles were far from new but still it was good fun to have a ride around. In one of the temples the local family gave us a lotus flower then we did as they did - we gave the flower to one of the buddha asking for.... We also saw Jatavana, the biggest stupa in the world made out of brick.  As we couldn't find a ticket office we saw the place for free. On our way back I saw one but it was already closed.

On the way to Anuradhapura

Local sweet

Anuradhapura - monkeys everywhere

Anuradhapura - I wish.....

Jatavana - the biggest brick stupa 

Kingfisher