The Hill Country
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2007
1
11
23
Trip End
Jul 16, 2007
Ella, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy,
Sri Lanka
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Well as usual I am quite far behind with my entries but before I move onto Thailand i would like to share our time in the Hill Country of Sri Lanka with you.
We arrived in Ella on 5th April and it was absoultely beautiful. The lush green carpeted hills and the tea plantations dominate this area. We stayed at a good guest house (Rowana Holiday Resort) and our room was great with a big balcony overlooking the beautiful scenery. The climate was a lot milder and so we enjoyed the coolness of the evenings and wrapping the blanket around us at night was cozy.
On our first day we got up early to hike up Little Adam's Peak onlt to find that it took one our to get up and we were back in the village at about 9am
Littel Adam's peak, Ella, Sri Lanka
. That included Kev's one million photo taking stops aswell. A tea picker stopped us as she wanted Kev to take a photo and then post it home to her. The address reads: The woman's name, The name of the Tea plantation, Ella, Sri Lanka. That's like sending a letter to Kev Taylor, Barrhead, Glasgow, Scotland. Mind you knowing Barrhead that would probably get there. So we took the photo and ofcourse she asked for money but we didn't have much so wee gave her 2 bananas. Then she asked for our water and as I was leaving she started pointing at my fleece. I thought I would be stripped naked before I got away from her, so I called a stop to it and we left quickly. The walk was lovely and it was good to finally be using our legs again. We did another 2 walks afterwards and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. On our last day we did a Sri Lankan cookery course so if you don't want us to cook you any Sri Lankan food when we get home, you should hide because we are very keen!From Ella we moved to Nuwara Eliya and as it was coming up to the Sri Lankan New Year, it was like a carnival town. They have horse racing, abig fayre ground and lots of stalls. It was like Blackpool in the middle of Sri Lanka. It started to rain and it didn't stop much so we had to forget our trip up Adam's Peak (5000 steps to climb in the rain would not have been good) and we moved onto Kandy the 2nd largest city in Sri Lanka
View from Balcony - Kandy Sr Lanka
.Kandy was crazy, it was like Oxford street the day before Christmas. Everyone was buying presents and it was danterous on the streets. It was hot and there were a million umbrellas for the sun and rain at the same time, poking us in the eyes. Luckily we found a guest house away from it all which was overlooking the lake. It was very atmospheric when the sun was setting and the monks were chanting in the distance. We had to stay for about 4 days until New Year had finished as travelling was manic. After that we planned to go to see the ancient sites.
We met a really lovely couple from Norway. Kev was happy because not only were they good company, the guy was a photo journalist AND they live in Oslo which is one of the Ryanair destinations. Great for future holidays!!!
Speak to you soon,
Cheza and Kev xxx
