9 January, Sigiriya and Dambulla

In the morning we took a bus to Dambulla (2 hours, £0.54 per person) and then we took another bus, short drive this time, to Sigiriya village where we are staying in a tree house. It's just a village but very interesting, and close to two rocks: Sigiriya and Pidurangala rocks. When we arrived this afternoon, our tuk-tuk driver told us that the entrance to Golden Buddha caves we wanted to visit in Dambulla was free of charge only today. We changed our plans and instead of climbing one of the rocks, we dumped our luggage in the tree house and we went back to Dambulla to visit the caves. We really enjoyed them and the whole sacred area.
The journey there and back took us ages as we had to wait long time for the local bus. It was the only bus service in Sri Lanka that we were not happy with. It's better to hire a tuk-tuk driver for 1200 rupees, he will wait outside of the caves and will take you back to your hotel in Sigiriya.
The entrance to the caves was free the next day too, as we found out from an Italian couple who went there. Some other people had to pay, so we are not sure why it’s free sometimes and why sometimes it costs 1,500 rupees.
When we came back, we started preparing our beds in the tree house. I am so stressed because of bugs, snakes and everything else as we are in the middle of the jungle here, but on the other hand it's a great experience.