There was no direct bus from Sigiriya to Kandy, but it would only require one change in Dambulla. As Chris and I waited patiently on the main road through Sigiryia we were approached by a tuk tuk. This was nothing out of the ordinary as tuk tuks were always trying to gain our fare, however the bus is incredibly cheap and we were never in a rush to get anywhere, making us difficult customers for them! Nevertheless it came to light that this tuk tuk driver was heading to Dambulla with or without a customer. So for a very good price for us, and a bonus for him, we squeezed in with our bags off to Dambulla.
At the bus station we were soon ushered onto the bus to Kandy, which was a tedious and sweaty ride again. We eventually arrived to the town after an unexpected 2-3 hour journey and jumped off at one of the many bus stations. We decided to walk the kilometre to our pre booked accommodation, which with me desperate for the toilet turned out to be quite a speedy walk in the midday sun! We were welcomed into 'Mount View Inn' by Morris, an elderly chirpy man, who was proud to show us to our room. For us it was nothing fantastic but it was clean which was priority.
We walked towards the city centre along the incredibly dusty, busy and polluted road. We found our way into a fresh food market where Chris managed to photograph some very characteristic faces. But we were on the hunt for food for our lunch so quickly escaped the hustle and bustle and a helpful local directed us into a hidden hotel. It was packed with locals, which is always a good sign, so we sat down and tucked into a banana leaf filled with a rice and curry mix. It was plenty for the two of us, but sharing one portion invited some strange looks from the locals.
Much to my delight the hotel was tucked in the corner of a small market so it seemed rude not to have a look around. We were enticed by a local fruit seller offering us samples of various new and exotic fruits. We both were won over by a fruit called Anoda (or soursop) a sweet and sour tasting fruit, so we purchased one to eat later.
Kandy, being the second largest city in Sri Lanka, was busy and polluted, with a few tourist attractions. One being the 'Tooth Relic temple'. But having read many reviews and with advice from other travellers, we decided to give it a miss. Instead we walked up to a view point known as 'Arthur's Seat' which had wonderful views over the city, the Tooth Relic temple, and the beautiful central Bogambara Lake.
We had heard about a dance performance native to Kandy, and although it is rare for us to watch the touristy shows, as a former dancer I was intrigued by the Kandyan dance. It wasn't hard to locate the performance, rather it was a case of just following the crowds.
We sat in a village hall type room on plastic chairs facing a small stage. The show consisted of small routines, performed by both men and women and accompanied by three men playing ceremonial drums. The costumes were fabulous, incredibly colourful and festive. Each routine told a story but unfortunately the entire performance was very amateur. It then took a turn for the worse as the audience was ushered into the car park to watch the "fire walking". A small patch of burning coals was laid out in the middle of the car park. Some of the men were fire breathing and rolling fire sticks over their body's, others took it in turns to quickly tip toe over the "fire". It was pretty naff but they were braver and more hardcore than me for sure! I'm not sure I would recommend this performance but it was an hours entertainment at least. As the performance ended we walked back towards the city centre along the lakeside just in time to catch sight of a stunning sunset.
We were still struggling with the lack of variety in the Sri Lankan diet and annoyingly a popular burger joint happened to be closed for this one evening. Unenthusiastically Chris ordered chicken and rice and I ordered kotthu to take away and eat back at the guesthouse.

We didn't have to go far before we spotted a small hotel serving rice and curry for breakfast. Then with information from Morris, we went in search of the bus to take us to Hatton. Our thought was to catch the train but Morris had insisted that the bus would be much quicker....