DAY 3: SAPPHIRES, DAMBULLA ROYAL CAVE TEMPLE, and KANDI CULTURAL SHOW
This day was going to be a bit more rexlaed as only 2 scheduled tours: The Damulla Royal Cave Temple and the Kandi cultural show in the evening. So I asked everyone if we could stop and see some sapphires….looking to buy a small token from Sri Lanka. The team said sure and off we go!
Ahhhh…my favorite breakfast…Egg Roti!!!! The bread sticks were sweet and yummy too.
First stop…Gamini Gem & Jewellry shop….where we get a short video explaining how the mine for gems in Sri Lanka and a short tour of specifically, this shops process of making jewelry….pretty impressive. Below is an article about ethical gem mining in Sri Lanka.
The mines are hand dug….no electricity just candles…. 
The mines walls are lined with hand cut trees are ferns…. 
Wasala Perera showing us how the old tool used to cut and polish gems.
He was melting silver….. 
This is the end result…they obviously process it more…but I don’t recall exactly what they do….
Today’s cutting and polishing process 
I believe it’s a diamond sanding disk…. 
He has been doing this for over 20 years!!!! Perfection : )
Making the setting…. 
setting the stones.
Get your wallets OUT!!!!
Don’t ask….and what a process…it is so different than buying a piece of already made jewelry. You really start to “connect” with a certain stone….at least that is what we both felt. Trevor and I both kept coming back to this stone in particular after looking at many others. The color was right and the size was perfect. The good news is that OUR sapphire is certified and official.
It is possible to buy sapphires that are not certified…just like in French Polynesia and their black pearls…. 
They literally made the setting of 14k white gold (so it won’t rust) onsite within an hour.
After a short period of retail remorse…we headed off to Dambulla Royal Cave Temple.
At the entrance…
Shoes off…. 
flowers bought as an offerings…covered knees and shoulders… 
Buddhist flags are everywhere. Here is a link to Wikipedia for more info on the flag:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_flag
View form the entrance…you can see Sigiriya, the ancient city on top of the rock that we visited yesterday.
Inside there are multiple caves to walk through..some small, some big….all had painted ceilings and all types of Buddhas….
There were multiple hand positions on the Buddhas….I don’t know what they all mean…but you get the idea : )
These photos does not give any justice to how intricate and detailed the paintings on the walls and ceilings are: Fight scenes, Bodhi trees, cobras for protection, to name a few images…
Lunch and then a van ride to the town of Kandy or Kandi….where you could visit the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Tooth…but we only had time for the cultural dance show and dinner at the “PUB”.
It rained…for a second…first rain we have seen in months! 
Kandy Pond….comes with thousands of BIRDS….watch your head! 
Walking to the cultural show around the lake.
The show started at 5 until 6 pm. It cost about $5 usd per person. It was full of tourists…imagine that…but was a short and sweet taste of the traditional dance here in Sri Lanka.
Spinning plates..that is where it comes from?! 
Intense colors and intense moves….
We “ditched” Raj…no really he has friends in the area and wanted to hang with them (of course he does) and we ventured off to find a good place for dinner and a drink….harder than you think even in a bustling town like Kandy.
Ahhhh…beer…. 
I forgot already what my meal as called on the menu but I ordered it just for the name of it, something like “….in a basket”….too bad I can’t remember what it was…I only had 2 beers ; )
Making our mark in Kandy….. 
On the way to the restrooms, there was this wall full of names and the like…so I asked the “bartender” if I could put our name on it… he gave us a crayon : ) 
As did Starry Horizons….
Bellies full, we headed back to our rooms to rest up for the next day….
Next Up: Splitting up….Tea Plantation and Spice tour with a free massage, and home again.