Dambulla was a cave temple dating back to the 12th century. The caves house intricately carved statues of Lord Buddha and various Hindu Gods. Not a surface was unpainted, not a section of wall was without some sort of statue depicting Buddha sitting, standing or lounging about. In respect of Buddhism you were required to remove your shoes when entering the temple grounds. This was not a problem for the Sri Lankans, many Sri Lankans were already shoeless climbing the stairs to the caves, but for this white soled America those rocks were hot. I tried to remain composed and gracefully enter the temple grounds in a solemn state but by the last dozen strides toward the caves I was running.

After the cave temples we stopped off at a medicinal herb garden. I don't think my Vietnamese companions were too interested in this stop, as it wasn't on their itinerary, but I was keen to go. I did not know so many spices grew in Sri Lanka, cinnamon, sandalwood, cardamom, vanilla, nutmeg, cocoa, you could scratch the bark or crumple the leaves and the air would perfume with their respective scent. At each tree our guide presented some sort of medicinal product made from the source. None of us were really paying attention when he mentioned the hair removal cream; I don't really know what tree it came from, I just know that within minutes the pinkish cream was being spread on my leg and twenty minutes later the cream was wiped off along with a two inch patch of my hair. According to the herbal doctor we met at the end of the tour, the cream was invented by Buddhist monks. After multiple applications the hair would not return. Convinced by the hair removal demo that everything he was hawking would cure cancer, I bought the tooth whitening powder and some vanilla, and Hoài Anh, she was going hairless.