Dambulla, Aluvihara & Nalanda

First stop was Aluvihara. It was a working monastery though we didn't get to see much monastic action in progress. The cave temples clearly demonstrated the monks were busy scaring the pants (or limbs) of anyone tempted by such shocking exploits as prostitution and other indulgences. A cave and a model room were dedicated to what the "demons" would do when they got their hands on you if you had strayed from the path of the truth.

Jason was especially fond of the lifesize upside down man hung by his ankles with his legs spread while he was hacked apart down the middle.

According the museum, the Duke of Edinburgh was also here along time ago . Maybe he too was worried about the demons and that's why he slipped down the stairs.

Nalanda was a smallish eight century Geidige (temple) that contain this rather odd sculpture. It was the only erotic sculpture that survived, so it looked a little out of place. Our driver was part-time guiding by this stage and tried to tell us that it was a man a woman and a lion. He obviously wasn't so keen to come to grips with his ancestors bisexuality. The man in the middle is obviously pitching and catching.

The rows of Buddha heads around the Nalanda temple had an eerie serene look on their faces.

Next stop was Dambulla town for some lunch. Town isn't anything special, but it has amazing cave temples that were worth a visit.

This is the rather grand, possibly Chinese financed, entrance to the caves complex.  Jason thinks it looks a Buddhist "house of horrors" where you ride around in a train and get randomly slapped around the face for those porno mags you weren't suppose to own.

It was a long walk up to the caves in the midday sun, but we really enjoyed the peace and quiet, if we had waited two hours each cave would have been rammed with school kids.

The caves have nice white facades to them now, but nothing to compete with the Buddha horror house.

The caves were built around the first century BC by King Valagambahu, who took refuge here after he was driven from his home in Anuradhapura). When he regained his throne he had the interior of the caves carved into the rock, creating magnificent temples.

Cave two was a huge structure with a floor plan 52m by 23m. It was lined with Buddha statues and paintings of the life of the Buddha and heroic deeds of the kings.

The Buddha statues.

Cave three is reclining Buddha who looks like he might be a tired auditor trying to figure out how all that Tsunami aid didn't get to the people on the coast.

Claire was guiding for day.

Monkeys drank from the beautiful lotus ponds...

... and ate the lotus buds when they tired of their beauty.

"Hello Driver." How long did it take to wake him? Not a lot happens in Sri Lanka in siesta time.

We were supposed to visit Sigiriya in the afternoon, but a lazy driver who couldn't get out of bed before 9am, who gave us some even worse information regarding Sigiriya closing time, led us to Polonnoruwa.