Sri Lanka 3 - The Cultural Triangle

The easiest way to travel in the rural areas in Sri lanka is with a car and driver; which costs about 70 US$ a day depending on distances. Our first stop was the Hindu temple in Matale and then Aluvihara Temple with grotesque and torturous depictions of Buddhist Hell. Who knew there was even a Buddhist hell?  The next stop was the Dambulla Cave Temples, dating back as far as 77BC. It's a steep climb up to five caves filled with Buddha statues from various eras. All the walls of the caves are painted with beautiful Buddhist designs. Then on to Anuradhapura. Our guest house was called The Grand; with a good view over one of the lakes. They were feverishly preparing for a 350 guest wedding the following day, draping everything is swathes of cheap, silky material, erecting marquees and even completing paving at the last minute. We sipped our beer and watched a worker using an angle grinder to saw through asbestos sheeting with just his t-shirt tied over his nose and mouth for protection.