tIt was an early start. but our room was supplied with a kettle, tea, coffee and cups, plus when asked for more juice they were happy to supply it. it was still pretty dark when we set off. we had our own private driver with a nice cool air conditioned car. we headed in the direction of Matale which is 23km/14miles away from Kandy. he stopped en route while the sun had just started to rise and let us take some pictures over the fields. very picturesque and quiet. the area has a lot of tea, rubber and cacao plantations. Matale is famous for its monastery and rock temple, "Aluvihara" we visited this and the "Sri Muthumariamman temple"
https://www.thrillophilia.com/cities/matale
we stopped first to visit visit the rock cave temple. as it was early there wasn't really anyone about, just a couple of old pilgrims.
Aluvihara Rock Cave Temple
Sri Muthumariamman Temple
next we stopped at a roadside cafe for breakfast curry and some nice juice. cheap but still quite tasty. we then stopped at the Sri Muthumariamman temple, it's in the small town, a hindu temple, beautiful decorated and colourful. there was a ceremony on so we couldn't go inside be we could walk around the outside and take pictures. the temple is dedicated to Mariamman, the goddess of rain and fertility. We didn't spend to much time there and got back in the car heading to Dambulla to visit the royal cave temple.
Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple / Dambulla royal cave temple
we parked in the car park, it was quite hot and sunny by this point, maybe around 10am. there wasn't too many people about. tickets cost about LKR1,500 per person and LKR25 for shoe storage once you get to the top, you need to be wearing Proper attire, covered at least to elbows and knees - which is a common requirement for the religious sites in Sri Lanka, and some other south East Asian buddhist countries (eg parts of Angkor Was, Thailand reclining buddha etc) shoe removal is the norm for asian temples (in Myanmar I felt like I didn't need shoes I had they off so often) .
there is also a security check before entry to the temple, but again common due to the bombings a few years back in Colombo.
The Dambulla royal cave is a recognised UNESCO site, its been a sacred pilgrimage site for 22 centuries. it's a cave monastery, with five sanctuaries, and is the largest, best-preserved cave-temple complex in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist mural paintings (covering an area of 2,100 m2 ) are of particular religious importance importance, as are the 157 statues inside as well. it was established by monks in 3BCE
there's a lot of steps up, and in the early morning it can get a bit uncomfortable as the temperature and humidity rises. thankful not so many people. The temple is high up on a hill/small mountain.there wasn't too many there which was nice, so we could enjoy it at a leisurely pace.
we were given a private tour, shown different herbs spices and fruits and told about their uses and benefits for different health issues and overall healthcare.
Golden temple of Dambulla
it was hot, we were tired, I relaxed outside while Andrew went in. there was a nice pond area nearby, and a tasty drinks stall, cheap too! we got 3 fruit juices. the then jumped back in the car and heading on and going to the spice garden which was cool and shaded under all the trees
SPICE GARDEN
vanilla. a great substitute for sure, sweet tasting and smelling. my favourite
lots of different fruits, even the huge smelly durian, though I personally like it. Durian is Thai and means "king of the fruits"
this type of pineapple can be used medicinally but not for eating as a little poisonous and indigestible.
very small, red and very cute. they had natural remedies for so many things, skin care, teeth, herbal teas, tea for male potency, oils for hair growth, massage etc. there's a gift shop at the end where you can buy the different things they produce, and offer discounts for multiple purchases and can even post worldwide.
we were also given a health massage and demonstration with some others. it was relaxing, different from other massages but good. they used a natural oil they produced at talked about different techniques they could use plus the benefits. of massages. Andrew got some things in the shop, including some teas. you can pay with American Express.
MOUNT SIGIRAYA
next was MOUNT SIGIRIYA , the "LION FORTRESS" another one of Sri Lanka's UNESCO world heritage sites. known by locals as the 8th wonder of the world
Built in the 5th century it was discovered by an archaeologists in the 1800s. its high with a LOT of steps. not an easy climb at all. inside the cave it is beautifully decorated with frescoes though unfortunately you can't take pictures as it may damage the art. the rock/ mountain is in fact an extinct volcano and is surrounded by western style gardens from the colonial period
while Andrew climbed it (entrance fee is 30 dollars, locals pay 50Rupees) I went to a local hairdresser and beauty salon nearby.run by locals you could speak the very minimum English I got my eyebrows threaded. they were quick, painless and very very cheap, I was a small run down beauty shop, a local town area, basic and used only by locals. I sat in the old beauty chair while they did it. there was a small tv on in the side room and the girl also had her small baby there too. they were friendly and nice and it was an interesting experience
. 
our next stop in the late afternoon was the nature reserve, not minneriya as we were informed most of the elephants had already moved from there but instead to
HURULU eco park
HURULU eco park was established as a biosphere reserve in 1977 in particular for elephants who tend to migrate here during the dry season (usually April/may until September) Minneriya National Park, the Kaudulla National Park are nearby and the elephants tend to migrate between these, july to September in Minneirya, then Kaudulla, and usually spending December and January in Hurulu, hence why we choose this one, and we found lots of them! there's also a few endangered animals to be spotted here too such as the Indian star tortoise, Sri Lankan leopard and dusty spotted cat, though we didn't come across any.
there was a lot of elephants. some with babies too, and some got pretty close to us which was great! 
there were lots of elephants to be spotted. we got really close up to a few!! we had our own private jeep too which was cool. this reserve had lots of small Rocky Mountain cliffs, the driver stopped and left us climb a small one, it was so nice sitting at the top. overlooking the land and spotting some birds while we relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.
we also spotted lots of birds such as hawks/eagles and peacocks who like to fly and hang out in trees....it was. little intimidating to say the least, I didn't know they did that
we were leaving just as the sun was starting to set 
on the road out, towards our final destination, our hotel, we spotted a lone elephant walking along the main road! was so exciting to see. we finally arrived late at night to the hotel. a really nice place, four poster bed, bathrobes and an infinite style pool beside the lake it verged on
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