And now it’s time for Ella (ella ella, ay ay ay!), a little
gem of a town, tucked away high in the mountains. In similar fashion to the
other places we’ve visited so far, we only had a couple of days here, but once
again it proved to be enough, as we had time to get settled, get fed, get
rested and see what the place had to offer.
But before all that, we had a 7 hour, third class train
journey to get through, which sounded quite daunting from the outset, but
turned out to be hugely enjoyable, and all for little over a Euro! (Bus
journeys here were the same, cheap cheap cheap!). We were seated opposite a Sri
Lankan couple with their young child, who were really lovely, although the
breast feeding was quite awkward… (I keep telling Aisling not to do it in public
but she never listens - joke!) Still, it made sure we were looking out the
window to take in the amazing views!
The journey just flew by and we arrived in plenty of time to
see the town and plan the following day before it got dark. And that plan
started with getting up early again the next morning for another big climb,
this time to the summit of Ella Rock. We
had researched directions online how to make your way up, as the path winds and
twists through the trees, and splits in countless different directions. But before reaching that point, we had to ‘walk the
line’ as it were, and follow the train tracks out of town, even having to hop
off at one point for an oncoming train!
It was one of my favourite parts of the holiday so far
though. I don’t know why, there just seems to be something very wholesome about
walking along a train line through the countryside, especially when passing locals doing the same as part of their daily routine.
We eventually came to the point when we had to go off the
rails, and start our uphill climb. We had our printed directions, and between
them, some local advice and a bit of guesswork, we eventually made it up about
2 hours later. It was an enjoyable hike and we were lucky to have such a clear
day to fully appreciate the views.
We were also fortunate enough to have the place to
ourselves, so have a look at our extra scenic video diary:
The way down should in theory have been easier, but it took
us a while, including a few dead-ends, and narrowly escaping a snake attack
(well, we saw a snake…). We got ourselves quite a bit lost, but eventually
stumbled back onto the train lines, so we couldn’t go wrong from there. Back on
track!
Later that day, we went on another, much shorter hike up to
Little Adam’s Peak, which was nice as we got to walk through some tea
plantations along the way, which is what I always picture when I think of Sri
Lanka.
Doesn’t she look tea-rific!
There were even some women in the traditional garb, picking
away, to complete the stereotypical image. There were also a few chancers
dressed up, pretending to work the fields, and asking the passing tourists for
money to take their photos!
The sun was on its way down at that stage but we still
managed to get a few pics of the women (the real ones) doing their thing.
And that was Ella! As I said, another brief stay, but it was
all we needed, and greatly enjoyed. The next day we would be hopping on a bus
to Galle for our final stop in Sri Lanka and the final day of 2013! See you
then!
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