After leaving the tea plantations we headed towards Dambula where we stopped to climb up to the Golden Temple which is built into the top of a large rock.

The entrance has a huge golden Buddha and a line of statues representing Buddhist monks visiting for their pilgrimage.

The inside of the temple was very intricate with Buddha’s in every conceivable position and the walls and ceilings decorated with ornate patterns.

Then on to our hotel – The Amaya Lakes.

Well named as you have to drive across a dam at the edge of the lake to get to the hotel. With all the recent rain and flooding the it looked very scary with water pouring over the lake and across the road.

After watching a few other vehicles motor across, our driver decided to go for it !

Once we were across safely, even a tuc tuc and motorcycle followed us through.