Day 4 - Dambulla Rock Cave Temple

It was an earlish start as we had a 4 hour drive to our next destination which was Sigiriya and the Amaara Forest Hotel. It was an interesting experience on the roads of Sri Lanka as we’re still not sure what the rules are on giving way and it seems that the bigger vehicle has priority when overtaking, which happens a lot. The tuk-tuk is the peasant of the road and seems to have no respect from an vehicle!

We travelled for a couple of hours before stopping at a very nice coffee shop for a drink and toilet break. A couple of incidents occurred that shouldn’t be happening on a cricket tour, Ciaran dropped a drink down the captain (AP) and Freddie managed to drop a coffee on himself. The group later deemed that Ciaran’s drop and his ability to put away an astonishing amount of food earnt him the ‘Badger of the Day’ award! 

We arrived at the Dambulla Rock Cave Temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and as a sign of respect we had to cover our shoulders, knees and not wear hats. This led to all of the touring party channelling our inner David Beckham as we donned a selection of very fetching sarongs. On the way up to the temple we came across several families of monkeys who didn’t mind a selfie and a snake charmer. The temple reminded me of something from Indiana Jones as it was built in to rock. Inside were amazingly carved statues from rock that were coated in polished clay to give it almost a wooden look. The walls were all beautifully painted with images of the Gautama Buddha and all over the ceilings. Depictions on the walls of the caves include the temptation by the demon Mara, and the Buddha’s first sermon.

We then went for lunch at a local restaurant, which again provided Ciaran with the opportunity to have one of the largest plates of food I’ve ever seen but he put it away without an issue. 

The Amaara Forest Hotel was our next stop and it didn’t disappoint. Obviously set in a forest the rooms are very spacious and has a lovely pool that the boys made use of soon after arrival. The food was excellent again in the evening with a buffet catering for all tastes and ensuring that nobody was hungry. 

The boys decided to get an early night as we had a 7.30am leave for our first cricket match.