Ok, so we took a tip from one of our tuk tuk drivers who recommended we go to see this area of Sri Lanka along the coast before heading to the tourist central 'Arugam Bay'. We caught a local bus from Trincomalee, which was fairly crowded and not good for the hangover we were feeling from our last night with the Germans. When we arrived in Passekuda, there didn't seem to be anything around but dirt tracks and ramshackle stalls. We quickly caught a tuk tuk to 'Victoria's Guesthouse', which was pretty much in the middle of nowhere but seemed nice and homely. We met the owner, a chatty woman called (surprise surprise) Victoria, with 3 children and her lovely assistant Sanjay, who didn't say much. The room was 2000sr for the night, and had working wifi. Since we couldn't see any form of food joint in the area, we took up Victoria's offer to eat at the homestay while we were there.

Kalkudah by bike

This morning, we caught the train to Trinco! In true Sri Lanka fashion, the journey was beautiful onboard the rickety carriage, overlooking the scenery. We noticed that there were more westerners than we'd seen in a long while on the train, which was interesting, but Trincomalee is known for its beaches so makes sense. We changed at another random station, and had a brief encounter with a man and his family, which ended in them giving us some cake - win win!

Another nice and early bus today, hurray! After our new fave breakfast of samosas and sweet cakes (so healthy) we paid our 90sr and hopped on the bus to Polonnaruwa. It was only a 2 and a half hr ride, so we could cope with the stuffiness. The first man we saw when we got off at the other end was Mr Upeli, ready and waiting to offer up his hostel, 'Leesha'. With nowhere booked, we accepted the free tuk tuk drive to his place, and bargained down a double room with fan and ensuite to 1800rs/£9. He also cooked dinner at the hostel, and we love a bit of homecooking.

 

If you've done your research before visiting Sri Lanka, you'll probably have heard of the almighty Sigiriya, also known as 'Lion Rock', a gigantic, ancient rock with some interesting features. It can be found a short ride away from Dambulla, hence why we organised a day trip with a tuk tuk driver for 1500sr. He stopped for us to pick up some breakfast snacks, then drove us to the entrance. Even after four months of travelling, this is still the most expensive tourist attraction we've visited, costing 3700rs/£17. To get our moneys worth, we spent a good day exploring the area, checking out caves and looking at the frescoes of cloud maidens and damsels on the various rocks. For people who don't like living the high life, there are a fair few rickety staircases that might put you off climbing to the top, but once you get there it's pretty beautiful to see the landscape and ruins. 

 Sigiriya - The Lion Rock

We rocked up to Dambulla on the local bus after a smooth, but hot and squishy, 3hr journey (100sr), and asked a tuk tuk to drop us at The Sunflower Inn. We managed to get a double fan room for 2000sr/£10, with a lovely balcony and Wifi. It ended up being one of the nicest place we stayed in Sri Lanka, in terms of cleanliness and quiet. After this, we took a stroll into town, which turned out to be one long street full of tiny food shacks and brik-a-brak shops, but overall it was quite a run down area. 

Double room at Sunflower Hostel - 2000rs/£10 a night