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Our first meal in Sigiriya was a simple dish of noodles with a entertaining side of several German shepherd puppies. We had stumbled across Milli’s Restaurant while looking for a tuk-tuk driver to take us to Pidurangala rock, and were delighted to find Milli had an abundance of domesticated ‘western’ dog breeds. We had our lunch surrounded by dalmatians, labradors and the adorable German shepherd puppies and their mother. Now it must be noted that Milli’s restaurant was simply Milli’s home cooked food with simple plastic tables and chairs in front of her house, so when we inquired as to where we could find a tuk-tuk driver to take us to Pidurangala it was simply a matter of calling her brother-in-law over from the next house and so we were introduced to Nali. After agreeing that Bob Marley was the greatest musician to ever live (debatable but I liked the guy so we went along with the statement) Nali was very happy to drive us to Pidurangala provided we didn’t mind the music blasting from the hugely oversized speakers in the back of his tuk-tuk. Despite the language barrier, by the time we arrived at Pidurangala we had discovered he was a deeply thoughtful man who saw the world not in black, white and grey but in a myriad of wild and wonderful colours. He gave me the shirt off his back in order for me to pass through the temple at the base of the rock - and came back to pick us up 3 hours later, still shirtless - before driving us through the jungle to the middle of nowhere next to a local reservoir with a panoramic view over both Pidurangala and Sigiriya. On top of all of this the man invites us round to his house for dinner having known us for less than half a day, for the best spread of Sri Lankan food we’d had since being in the country. Despite all our protestations Nali wouldn’t take any of our money instead insisting on driving us half an hour down the road to Dambulla the next day. 36 hours since first meeting him Nali dropped us in Dambulla with promises of love, friendship and a stake in the ‘Mango Hostel’ he would soon be opening. All of this and we still had to force money into his hand as he left. Truly the epitome of Sri Lankan kindness and hospitality.