Day 10 - Ella

After a quick breakfast we met up with Jerome and headed to Little Adams peak, which is a smallish mountain in Ella. It was a fairly gentle walk uphill though more tea plantations and a nice view of Ella rock. It probably only took about 30-40 minutes to reach the top where we sat to catch our breath and enjoy the view with some of the local dogs eager to hide in our shade. After enjoying the view we slowly headed down back to the van and drove to Ravana falls which is quite an impressive waterfall, there are also lots of monkeys hanging about and a few souvenir stalls. Bec found our patches that we always get for our backpacks in every country we visit and we got 2 for 400 rupee (about 4 bucks) Bec was also feeling super adventurous and tried some street food even though it was just some corn on the cob, I had a taste too and it was super yum! I got some cut up mango for me and to share with the monkeys, the monkeys definitely aren't shy and don't hesitate when offered food, grabbing it and downing decent size slices of mango in seconds! I fed about 2-3 monkeys before I ran out of food, after that one of the little buggers almost went me! cheeky thing it was eyeing me off and then growled at me showing its teeth! I chickened out and walked away and Bec says it was still puffing its chest up at me... talk about biting the hand that feeds you! Anyway after taking a few more pics of the falls we headed off. We were talking about what to do next considering having an early lunch as there wasn't much more to do and we wanted to go into town for dinner tonight instead of stay at the hotel so didn't want it to be a late one. But then we remembered about the Ayurvedic massage place in town that Jerome's friend owns, so we headed over to try that out. After a small description of what it was all about, we decided to give it all a go! So after putting our valuables in a locker we stripped down to underwear and were led into a warmish sauna, it was nice though as they had some smoldering wood that we couldn't see but that was smoking into the room, it smelt really nice but did sting our eyes and Bec's throat a little. After this we were led back up for a head and neck massage - very relaxing!! dammit I ended up with the guy masseuse as always seems to happen. After our head rubs we laid down on the massage tables and so began Bec's idea of torture, starting with a foot and leg massage which did tickle a little (Bec says she was constantly flinching) then our back, shoulders, arms and hands all rubbed down again very relaxing although I'm not sure if Bec agreed, and I must admit I hate people touching my feet. Both our masseuses got a little full on when we got our coccyx rubbed... hmmm slightly awkward... anyway after this we headed downstairs again for my favorite bit, we walked into a room with what looked like torture devices! a couple of dodgy beds with a pot above the head on a metal bar, we again laid down and were blindfolded (well had some paper towel put over our eyes) and then had warm oil poured on our foreheads from these suspended bowls, it was a really nice sensation and very relaxing! This went for about 15 to 20 min then we headed over to the steam baths, which are wood coffin looking contraptions where your head sticks out and your body steamed with special herbs and spices from underneath! it did get too hot but only in waves apart from that it was again really nice. This was the last treatment and after being dried off and getting dressed we headed out to lunch. We went to the downtown rotti hut, mmmm super yum lunch of kedai rotti (Bec veg and me chicken) After lunch we headed to the local train station and headed down the tracks to the 9 arch bridge, along the way we passed some local kids playing cricket and we decided to have a go, Bec went first and after a dismal attempt at bowling had a go at batting and whacked it for a 6! took the kids about 5 minutes to find the ball in all the grass/plants. Next I had a go and hit the first one but then got bowled out on the 2nd! Dammit!! Then Jerome had a go at bowling and finally I had a go at bowling but the kids were too good, we agreed that Sri Lanka beat Australia and we did our walk of shame. After walking through a small tunnel (a little scary on a live train line) we made it to the 9 arch bridge, had a good look around and took some pics and then headed back. After getting back to the van we drove a little way then I suggested we stop at a dodgy looking little bar for a few beers, Jerome joined in and we had a little chat, then he taught us how to play carrom which Bec or I had never played. I got the bar to put on some Yacht club djs and we had some more beer while playing. After Jerome kicked my ass in carrom we headed on to dinner at the Dream Cafe. We ordered a mini feast Bec with her veg curry and me with beef curry and a chili cashew mix, it was all really good tasty food! we were so full by the end! Finally we headed back to the hotel where I crashed/passed out and Bec I'm assuming played on facebook.

Day 9 - Train to Ella!

We said goodbye to our lovely hosts JP, Raj and Loga and headed for Nanuoya Train station. We had been told by many people how lovely the train ride was so we were very excited. The station itself was lovely surrounded by mountains and tea estates. After a few photos at the station we heard the train coming from a mile away about 1/2hr early. We went to suss out if it was our train and sure enough it was so we jumped on board...first class! We were very lucky as the carriage was almost empty. Two English couples, a french family and one local man for part of the way. We had allocated seats but since it was so empty we opened up all the windows and seat hopped as there was so much to see from both sides of the train. The mountains and tea estates were beautiful, the locals we passed all gave us a huge smile and many waves and we enjoyed hanging out the window and door taking it all in. The train went over quite a few high bridges and through many dark tunnels, some longer than others. During the journey when we stopped at one of the stations Rudi decided to buy some vadai from a man selling them through the train window out of a basket. He lived to tell the tail but there were a few tears from the fried chili! I tried to make friends with some of the railway dogs but they just wanted food and didn't like vadai. It is crazy how much tea there is...everywhere you look and as far as you can see. We passed many tea pickers hard at work but who didn't hesitate to stop and smile and give us a wave. Such beautiful people all throughout Sri Lanka. We chatted to the english couples a fair bit on our 3hr journey and we ended up inviting them to join us and our driver at the other end to drive into Ella. Our driver was more than happy and they gave him a tip so a bit more money for him! We went and checked into our guest house which had an amazing view of the waterfall in the mountain just straight out from our balcony. We then headed into town and decided to stop at the Chill bar for some lunch. We went up two flights of stairs to hang out in a cubby house style loft sitting in beanbags drinking beer and eating lunch. We decided to have dessert as well and shared a banana fritter with hot chocolate and coffee. We left here and decided to walk through the tiny town and check out Ella train station. We couldn't come all the way to Ella on the train because of the heavy rains they had the tracks had been damaged and covered from land slides. I very quickly started to feel quite sick so we headed back to the car and started to head home. Not realising how sick I felt the driver stopped off to chat to one of his friends and try and find himself a room for the night. We made it back to the hotel and I was very happy to see a toilet and a bed! I slept for a couple of hours while Rudi went for a 'little walk.'I woke and it was dark and started to worry a little when there was no sign of Rudi. As I started to plan the rescue operation in my head in he walked saying "I just went on the most epic walk!" So he ventured off on foot with camera to check out the mountains and try to get to the waterfall. Along the road he met a local man who offered to show him the way. After originally refusing and being followed Rudi gave in and agreed for the local farmer to show him the way as it was a little dangerous to walk as it was slippery and muddy. Anyway hours later after walking well past the waterfall and after the local farmer took many photos of Rudi he returned safely! I was feeling a little better so we sat and had dinner at the guest house and tried some curd and palm syrup for dessert. Was quite yummy!

Day 8 - Nuwara Eliya

Another early start today with a 430 get up and what was supposed to be a 5am departure but then turned into 5.30am as we took some people from our hotel in the van with us, with the hopes they would pay the driver a little more. It was dark when we left for Horton plains so half the drive we couldn't see much, but slowly the sun started to peak out and as usual it was green hill after green hill. We saw a beautiful sunrise over the valley with every low bit of low ground covered by a thick mist. We pulled up to buy our tickets and headed into the national park. Our goal was to get to "worlds end" which is basically the edge of a cliff, with a straight drop of almost 1km. The walk between 6-8km long, it was fairly easy definitely had some hard areas but the majority of it wasn't too bad, and the scenery on the first part of the walk was really beautiful, gentle hills covered in native grass with odd trees here and there, there was also a nice waterfall (Bakers Falls) on the way to worlds end . Having said that the whole thing was a bit of a disaster... so first off Bec felt very average after a windy drive in and felt sick for the whole walk, 2nd we should have left earlier and 3rd the walk is a loop and we took the long way to get to worlds end, so by the time we made it to worlds end, we literally had 10 seconds before the clouds rolled in and the view was gone! and I'm not kidding - I had enough time to get 1 photo and Bec missed out while she was trying to get her camera out of her bag! the frustrating thing was we powered through the first part of the walk to make it in time to see this cliff and so didn't get to enjoy and admire the views as much as we could have, and then we also kinda missed worlds end... and finally the last part of the walk (the shorter bit) was nowhere near as nice as the way in!! arghh!! there was just no winning. Anyway such is life we headed back to the van, I got a few pics of a deer who must have been fed by people as he was hanging out in the car park watching and waiting, not scared at all. We went back the the hotel, Bec still feeling sick and both very sleepy from the early start, so we had a 2-3hr nap and then headed out again. We drove over to the local lake (we had seen some canoes, kayaks and swans to ride when we drove into town yesterday) so we thought we might hire one but once we got there we found out the lake is shut down and out of bounds! the police were worried that there would be trouble because of the election. So we drove around the lake made a stop to take some pics with some horses and some local kids playing cricket. The local town is dead as everything is shut because of the election so we headed over to the train station to get our tickets for tomorrow morning. Then we headed back and Bec got herself some sprite type drink and some biscuits hoping they would make her feel better. We walked around town a little and walked down to the local race track, where there were a few games of cricket and some horses wondering around, but as Bec felt sick and there was really not a lot to do we decided to head back to the hotel and relax. Tomorrow its a 2hr train to Ella which is meant to be stunning so hopefully we have more luck then this morning!!!

Day 7 - Nuwara Eliya

We started with our usual brekkie of egg on toast, jam and toast and a selection of fruits, oh tea as well! It is Sri Lanka after all. We left Kandy at about 830, the scenery slowly changed from the usual palms, banana trees and bush to hills and glorious tea! The plant itself not that impressive on its own but seeing the plantations go as far as the eye can see is really beautiful. It wasn't long before we pulled over to take some photos of the view, where we met 3 cheeky boys asking everyone who stopped for some money so they could go buy some toffee! We took a few pics of them and gave them a donation towards their sweet treat. Our next stop was at a small waterfall, we started exploring and taking some pictures when a little girl walked over and said hello, we talked to her for a little while and she took great interest in Becs diamond pendant, telling Bec to give it to her as Bec had 2 necklaces (the other being an elephant on some string) while she had none. Bec wasn't willing to share so we took some photos with her and wandered on. Next we met Asha who I'm guessing was the previous girls sister, she picked some flowers for Bec and again we had a little chat and took some pics. Again we drove on with nothing to see but tea! But no complaints from us! We stopped at the Glenloch tea plantation/factory, after a cup of tea we were shown around the factory from drying to grinding to baking and finally large 20kg bags of the finished product. Glenloch produces 25% of Sri Lanka tea. We were also educated in the ins and outs of different tea types and quality. After buying some fresh tea we had a little walk around outside soaking up the beauty of it all, along came another friendly little girl called Fatima, she was a little shy but Bec got her talking, she was a very cute little kid! We drove on and stopped at another waterfall, these falls were a fair bit bigger and we headed up a little path next to the water, after about 15 or so minutes of steep steps and having lost sight of the falls we decided to turn back, there were a couple of paths to the falls so we took one that looked nice and had a closer look, waterfalls are always nice! And this one was no exception, we dipped our toes in but it was freezing! Next to us some locals were having a bath laughing at us... We drove on and stopped off at another plantation called Mackwoods, which is the biggest plantation in Sri Lanka, distinguished by its Hollywood esque white sign on the hills surrounded by tea. We walked down some steps into a valley with a river at the bottom and hills of tea on both sides, really beautiful place. We hung around here taking some pictures and enjoying it all for a little while and then headed onto our destination Nuwara Eliya, we headed to the hotel to get rid of our bags and after that went back into town. Town was quite dead, as it was election day a lot of the shops were closed so not much was going on, we walked through the local market which had about half its stalls open with lots of fresh fruit and veg and some possibly not so fresh meat and fish. Next Jerome bought us a little street food, some vadai with some deep fried chili to boot, it was yum but the chili got quite hot after the first one. Soon after we headed back to the hotel for dinner, which was a little different! For the first time this trip we didn't have rice! It was dal curry with some rotti style bread but it wasn't like a pancake shape instead it was cooked in a tight spiral shape, so when you ate it fell apart into strands. After dinner we went to bed. It's mostly been early nights so far not sure why we are so sleepy at the end of each day!! Getting old maybe!

Day 6 - Kandy

Our main day in Kandy was an 8 am start after a simple breakkie at our hotel Jerome picked us up and we headed out into Kandy. Today was the day before the election in Sri Lanka and as a result many roads were blocked off for security reasons, in addition to this all the ballot boxes for this area were being picked up and driven out of town in anything from buses to mini vans, as you can imagine it was chaos! the roads were packed and traffic at a stand still. Jerome thought he could possibly get a park at a church that he knew, so we went and check out the church the building was quite nice if a little plain, the art was a bit average with nativity scenes with little figurines and a dead Jesus in a glass case... mmm so we didn't stay too long. Unfortunately Jerome's plan didn't work as we were't allowed to park for security reasons. We headed back into the traffic but finding a park proved impossible and after probably an hour and us suggesting we drive out and get a tuk tuk into town Jerome succumbed and drove out of town a little and found the dodgiest car park outta town possible. After a 15 or so minute walk we arrived at the Temple of the Tooth. This temple supposedly holds an actual tooth of Buddha himself (I say supposedly because the Portuguese crushed, burnt and then scattered the tooth into a river) so Buddhists believe this crushed tooth was either a fake or if the real tooth it reassembled itself by divine powers. To enter we had to pass through a checkpoint where males and females are separated, patted down and bags checked (there was a bombing at the then entrance by the Tamil Tigers in 1998) hence the security. After this we proceeded into the temple grounds surrendered our shoes and passed over a moat surrounding the complex, from here it feels a little like being a lamb that's being led to slaughter, as in everyone is filed basically single file and herded along by the staff, if you hesitate for a few seconds either someone pushes in front or you are told to move along by staff. The actual shrine for the tooth is on the 1st floor with old wood carved columns, masses of people and a sectioned off area right in front of the relic for people with babies being all that I really remember of the building. The actual tooth is not on display only the shrine its encased in - which from the possibly 3 seconds i manged to see it for is actually quite beautiful, a gold bell shape very sparkly very bling bling! but that's it you are herded on to various other rooms with various Buddha statues and other Buddhist artwork - I would describe more here but you really are rushed through a lot of it, within reason as there are MANY people, but from memory there was an octagon room with a statue of Buddha in the center, then a 2nd shrine room with a big statue of a gold Buddha a lot of elephant tusks around him and paintings telling the story of the tooth. After this we headed out where there is a small museum showing relics of the kings palace which used to stand here and various other items from this period. Another room is dedicated to a massive elephant (Raja) which was the main casket bearer at the annual festival in Kandy who has become a national treasure since. I must add that in a lot of these rooms we kept coming across a couple that loved taking selfies and pictures of each other but not like normal people they took at least 6 or more in various poses and weren't happy till they looked hot enough and even had the shits with Bec when she was in one of their sexy pics. We crossed back over the moat grabbed our shoes and went for a little walk along the lake which is beautiful and has a stunning backdrop. Next we headed over to the Queens Hotel which is a colonial era hotel where I though hey they must have a pretty cool bar right!? Well it wasn't bad but wasn't quite as pristine and high class as I would have thought but I guess that was a long time ago now and everything ages... So we had a beer checked out the grounds a little and met up with Jerome, we walked back to pick up the van stopping at a few shops here and there nothing special just chain outlets, Jerome led us into a shopping center which was just like back home clean, expensive and devoid of anything interesting. We picked up the van and headed to lunch, our usual fare of Sri Lankan curry! Under the restaurant there was a batik factory/shop so we checked it out - batik is made by applying a wax design to cotton material, this is then dyed a color and anything the wax has protected stays white - this process is then repeated for however many colors are in the design. Its very time consuming and you would need a lot of patience but some of the pieces were really beautiful! We bought a piece which shows a moonstone to go with our mandala we already have at home. Finally we headed over to see the Kandy dancers, which is traditional Sri Lankan dancing, was a pretty good show some of it was a bit circus like with some spinning tops but most of it was interesting, at the end of the show they did some fire breathing and walking over coals etc. which the tourists loved. After this we headed back to the hotel for dinner and a few beers. Its voting day tomorrow! and then into the hills and tea plantations.

Day 5- Dambulla to Kandy

We said goodbye to our wonderful hosts in Dambulla and continued on our adventure heading towards Kandy. Our first stop was Aluvihare temple in Matale. It is a rock temple but is known as the place that the doctorine of Budda was written. We were shown how they used palm leaves and a needle to write the book and were given a souvenir palm leaf with our names on it to take home. Next stop was a Hindu temple Sri Mathumariamman. We were super excited about visiting a Hindu temple as we loved all the Hindu temples in India but after arriving we quickly realized this was a little different. It was very brightly coloured and a bit kitch for our liking. We walked around the temple and then headed out to the main road in Matale and it was very busy. We found Jerome doing some shopping and I quickly lost Rudi who had run across the road for some photos. Jerome told us this was the longest road in Sri Lanka! Next stop was a spice garden where we were taken around and shown the different trees and plants and got to test out a few, smelling, tasting, head shaking!! We learnt what different spices are good for and their uses. We then got a free massage which Rudi and I got the giggles throughout. Was very relaxing though except for the finger cracking! Rudi tested out the hair removal cream so now has a bald patch on his hand! We visited their shop and bought some massage oil and citronella spray! Back on the road and as always I needed the toilet so we headed for Kandy and decided to have lunch and a toilet break. We went up a few flights of stairs and were seated on a balcony over looking a river. Right in front of us was a man probably 3 stories up on two thin planks of wood rendering a patch of wall. It was interesting to watch but also a little scary. He gave us a few cheeky smiles as he worked away soaked as it started to pour rain! There was no Sri Lankan rice and curry on the menu so we opted for a vegetable biryani and Rudi the chicken biryani. When it came out it looked like KFC chicken...it smelt like KFC chicken and according to Rudi it tasted like KFC chicken! There was a KFC just down the road so we discussed whether they got yesterday's left overs! Haha. Let's just say it was the worst meal we had so far. Jerome then took us to a gem factory where we watched a video to see how the gems were mined, walked around the museum looking at the different gems and cuts, walked through a replica mine and then into the shop...Rudis worst nightmare! Jerome was on my side saying that if he loved his wife he should buy me something but we left empty handed but enjoyed admiring the beautiful jewellery...not so much the hassling to buy! Our day had been busy but we decided to go to the Botanical gardens for a couple of hours to finish off the day. Jerome dropped us and about 30mins into the gardens it started to pour. We had no umbrella or no raincoats. The trees sheltered us quite a bit so we wandered around taking photos of the biggest bamboo we have ever seen, some amazing shaped trees that looked like they could come alive and wrap you up in their branches at any minute and a monkey stampede as they seeked shelter from the rain. We decided we couldn't hide from the rain any longer so we wandered back getting absolutely soaked but since it wasn't cold it was ok. We found our way back to the car and Jerome was there waiting for us laughing at the drowned rats he saw before him. "Did you not have an umbrella, I have one here in the car!" Some help that was! Anyway we headed off in the dark thinking we were going to our hotel but when we pulled up it didn't look like a hotel. We got out unsure of what was going on and Jerome told us this was his house! We were welcomed inside by Jerome, his wife and daughter. We then met his mother and father in law. We talked for awhile but his daughter was very shy. They then told us to sit at the table and uncovered a spread of Sri Lankan sweets! Expecting them to join us we sat down but no one else did. They told us what all the food was and said it was all for us! I'm sure it was enough to feed a family of 6!!!! We tried a bit of everything and it was all very yummy... I have no idea what we ate except Rudi had the giggles when I clarified one sweet with them called something like 'assme!' It was slightly uncomfortable being watched by 5 strangers as we ate the unknown but they were so happy to have us in their home and refused many requests to sit and eat with us. They made us the best pot of tea...very sweet and packed us doggy bags to take back with us to the hotel! It was quite late now so we said goodbye and Ayubowan to Jerome's mother and father in law and got back in the van with his wife and daughter who came along for the ride! We drove through the city centre which was quite busy and lit up and up a windy road to our hotel. We dropped off our bags and headed upstairs to check out the rooftop view, waited over half an hour to order a beer and then gave up and went to bed! What a busy day!

Day 4 - Safari + Sigiriya

We had an early start today for our safari meeting our driver at 5am. We set off in the dark with a little drizzle and actually felt a little cold for the first time whilst here. About a 20 odd minute drive later we met our safari driver and picked up our jeep which didn't really look like it could do much against an elephant honestly but hey im sure we could out run it! With the vinyl roof pulled back and the wind in our hair we set off to Habarana Eco park. The forest is a lush green and quite dense in areas, with the clearing covered by high grass. We had a slight fog for most of the morning but we didn't mind as it kept the hot sun off our backs. Initially we saw a fox but Bec and I only saw it once it was running away (our eyes obviously not as good as the locals) next we saw a few birds - peacocks being the most interesting which until today I didn't know can actually fly quite well! It wasn't long before we came across our first wild Elephant! who I'm pretty sure was having a lot of fun teasing us by hiding behind large bushes... He was very relaxed and enjoying his breakfast. We watched him for a while and took a few pictures and then moved on. Not much further down the track our driver decided to turn around and come back (there was a fair bit of mud so not sure if he was worried about getting stuck) funnily enough though we had just driven through quite a bit of mud and on the way back sure enough we got bogged... we were quite lucky here for 2 reasons - 1 as I said earlier our jeep was only probably good for outrunning an elephant so its good there were none coming at us and 2nd there was another jeep just behind us to pull us out! Soon enough we were out, on the move and dodging quite a few over hanging branches (also spiderwebs), then just after crossing a small stream we came upon 4-5 more elephants!! again they were happily strolling along at a snails pace and chowing down on the many green plants on offer. It was awesome to see them so relaxed and simply doing what they do not even batting an eyelid at us, our guide told us there are around 300 elephants in this park and approx 6000 in Sri Lanka. Next we pulled up to a big rocky hill which we climbed up to the top and then up some stairs to the top of a little wooden lookout to see the view - which was beautiful! nothing but forest as far as the eye could see not even a single electrical pole! such a nice change to our lives! We jumped back in the jeep and headed back home, we both had a lot of fun standing and enjoying the wind as we sped along. Then not long after being back on the main road we came across... more elephants! both sides of the road 4-5 on one and a little more on the other, one of them with a fairly big baby elephant! which stuck to its mother very closely, after admiring all the elephants and many photos later we headed back to drop off the jeep and onto our next adventure at Sigiriya. So Sigiriya is a huge rock onto which King Kasyapa built a palace over 1500 years ago! quite impressive! Jerome dropped us at the gates and advised us not to get a guide (which was good cos we sure didn't need one) we headed over got our tickets and walked through what once must have been some beautiful gardens - medium sized pools to the sides and plenty of trees everywhere and in the backdrop the huge rock Sigiriya is built on - quite imposing as it is really straight up! would have been very easy to defend before air power. It wasn't long before we came across the many steps we needed to climb to get to the top... luckily we picked a good day to do it as it was a little overcast so not as hot, also the stairs were fairly shaded for most of the walk so wasn't bad! As you walk up it isn't long before you get beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and mountains in the distance - everything is so beautifully green here! About 1/3rd of the way up there is a cut into the rock where there are some surviving frescoes mostly of ceremonial women. Then you passed the mirror wall which was supposedly in ancient times so highly polished the king could see his reflection in it. A fair few steps later - some of which aren't trusty old ones but dodgy looking steel new ones (a little scary when you think if it gives way its you and the side of a cliff face) is the lion staircase which once was a huge statue of a lion with stairs heading up in between its outstretched front paws, unfortunately all that remains now is those front paws - it must have been damn impressive in its day! once you pass these its a push for the top, and once there the view is amazing! 360 degree view of mostly beautiful green forest and some amazing mountains in the distance to top it off - oh and some ruins of the kings palace to top it off! it really all is quite spectacular! not surprising as to why someone would choose it to propose I guess! Not long after getting up to the top we heard a little yelling and screaming as the friends of the happy couple found out the good news. After exploring the top and taking many a photo and watching all the Russian tourists feed all their junk food to the monkeys we made our way down to the bottom met up with Jerome and headed back to town stopping off at a dodgy massage place which was filthy so we gave it a miss. We asked Jerome to join us for a few beers before lunch and had a good chat with him about life before having another awesome Sri Lanken meal. We finished today a little earlier then normal as its been a full on couple of days so we headed back to the hotel around 3 and relaxed the afternoon away.