King Fern Nuwara Eliya

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We made our way to Little World’s End and then walked on to World’s End itself, where the cloud shrouded part of SL’s big peaks (across from our rock face) and the intervening lush valley, far below and between us. Thankfully, it soon started to clear and within half an hour the gods had answered my prayers! The furthest views were amazing, seen from a lush, rocky escarpment that dropped dramatically away. Tow Japanese gents, fearful of ...

... it definitely doesn't beat the tastings I had at the tequila factory in Mexico or the rum factory in Cuba!! Nearby the tea factory was Lover's Leap Waterfall...no explanation needed. The following day I went to Horton Plains National Park, about 1 and 1/2 hours south of Nuwara Eliya. This area lies in the middle of Sri Lanka's 2nd and 3rd highest mountains ...

... were basically the only people in the park for the first hour or so and took loads of photos. We walked as quickly as possible to get to the main view point, Worlds End, before the cloud descended and managed to get about 30 seconds view of the 800m drop before the clouds obscurred it. Once we had rested for about half an hour at the Worlds End viewpoint we decided to slowly make our way round the rest of the walk. It seemed that half of Kandy had decided ...

... Horton Plains and World's End Horton Plains National Park is situated half way between Nuwara Eliya and Haputale in the hill country. We stayed in Nuwara Eliya which is a good hours drive away on a very steep windy potholed road which made me feel quite sick first thing in the morning. We set off at 6 to get walking just after 7 because the view from World's End tends to mist over at about 10. The altitude is ...

... s tea factory on Sunday, where you get shown around the factory and the plantation before having a sampling. We weren't allowed to take photos in the factory itself in case we stole the secrets (so they said). Was interesting to see the process from the tea plants that are picked through the drying process and then refinement. I would like to go to the tea auctions at some point in Colombo which are held on a Wednesday ...

... spiral set of stairs to view some frescoes - they were of women who look like they had had breast implants.. A local guy was sitting up here and for a small tip we could climb over into the restricted bit to see a few more - this was a little freaky as it was just wooden boards attached to the side of the rock not the solid metal we were sanding on earlier...! A quick photo we were out of there... We climbed all the way down ...

... ebbed and flowed, with both teams getting on top at different times. It had been fantastic to spend time with Andy, Tommy and Simon - all great lads - pack the guide book away, and indulge myself in sport for a few games. However, after saying our goodbyes, it was back to the hotel room to pack up the rucksack once again, and begin planning my visit to the "Cultural Triangle" area.

... for my train, I witnessed some pretty ridiculous railway station renovations; basically there was a big concrete block at the end of one of the platforms they were trying to remove, so they had the bright idea of hooking up a locomotive to it with a rusty chain and trying to rip it out. I stood behind a concrete pillar and watched, and to everyone's surprise but my own the chain snapped, sending the links flying in all directions. No major ...

... This is where the leopard ate my dog," said a man from Nuwara Eliya, pointing up a bent tree overlooking the town, the leopard's dinner table. So despite the fragmented, mostly destroyed nature of the cloud forests, it seems only small patches are able to house a whole lotta wild. Perhaps its the dark and dense thickets and rugged terrain. Then again, it could just be a matter of time before these rare species disappear from the world.

... it will fantastic to see our project take off and really make a difference. The Dogstar Vet (who we have employed since November last year) has already run 2 local clinics at MEF which were kindly funded by MEF volunteers (and were very successful) but this will be the first 100 % Dogstar funded Clinic and I am pleased that we can travel as far North as Habarana to help people (and there animals) who already face immense difficulties on a day to day basis. We ...