Fish market & Dambulla Cave Temple

Hi all,

This morning we woke to some sunshine - hooray! We enjoyed some breakfast and I went for a quick walk along the beach.

Then we boarded the bus and headed to the Negombo Fish Market. This was crawling with activity, people bringing in fish, gutting fish, turning fish over on mats that were drying in the sun, and selling fish also. Darsh explained that people living in coastal areas enjoy fresh fish, whereas those living in the mountains purchased dried fish as it can be kept fresh due to the drying and salt. It was a really unique experience visiting - this market occurs everyday and is such a part of the livelihood of the people living in Negombo.

Then we drove towards Sigiriya. On the way we saw a few petrol stations with huge queues. Due to the shortage of petrol we have seen this a few times. Sadly it means people are then wasting fuel whilst waiting to fill up as well. Darsh told us that fuel is being prioritised for tourist buses though as the government are keen to keep the tourism industry going. I’m grateful, but also feel bad for the every day people who are struggling to get petrol to go about their lives. We also saw huge queues at ATMs. Darsh explained this is due to the upcoming Hindu new year. People are spending whatever money they can to buy new clothes, appliances etc for their family for new year.

After 2-3 hours we reached the Dambulla Cave Temple. This temple is made up of five caves, and is approximately 200m above the road. We ascended stairs in the hot sun - not complaining, much better than yesterday’s rain. However this became slightly problematic when we had to remove our shoes to enter and the ground was really hot. But we made it work. It was nice being able to see Sigiriya Rock in the distance approximately 20km away (more on it tomorrow when we visit!).

The series of caves at the Dambulla Cave Temple date back to the 1st century BC, when King Valagamba was driven out of Anuradhapura, the then capital. He took refuge in the caves for 14 years, then when he regained his throne, he had the interior of the caves carved into the amazing rock temples we see today. Further paintings and 157 statues have been added over the year.

The paintings and statues were pretty amazing, and the dim light of the caves added to the effect. Then we descended and walked past a golden temple with a huge Buddha on the way down. The two Norwegian boys on our tour purchased T shirts and snacks from every vendor along the way. We keep commenting that they’re singlehandedly saving the economy one purchase at a time!!

The AC on the bus was a welcome relief at this point, and we drove to lunch where we enjoyed some buffet Sri Lankan food. Then we checked in at our hotel. We are 20 minutes out of Sigiriya despite the tour itinerary saying we were in Sigiriya, but I suspect this may be due to finding a hotel with a generator. Never mind, we have a nice view from our room, and the hotel has a nice pool so we went for a swim! Off to a local family's house for dinner tonight.

Love to all,
Claire
Xoxox