Ella - Tuka Tuk Tuk

Day 1

We got up early once again, due to the promise of a Bus directly to our next destination, Ella, at 7.50am.  When our Tuk-Tuk ride to the Bus Station turned up and following a conversation with the lodge owner it was now decided there was no direct route and we would have to change bus a couple of times, however the Tuk-Tuk driver said he could take us all the way to Ella if we wanted.  Personally I think we may have been mis-informed to the benefit of his mate the Tuk-Tuk driver getting a large fare, however we decided for convenience we would take the Tuk-Tuk.

The journey by Tuk-Tuk was about 2 hours up the winding mountainside, passing the obligatory dogs lying in the road.  The driver stopped for a Melon as there was promise of Elephant up ahead which sadly never the materialized. The scenery however was fantastic and we did get the time to see it properly due to the fact that the Tuk-Tuk’s 50cc motor was having difficulties with the combined weight of Shelley and I, our luggage and the steep inclines.  Just before the village of Ella we also past a lovely waterfall (see below).

Ella is mainly a Tea growing town, but has also become a bit of a travellers hub so there is plenty of cheap accommodation and a few restaurant’s and bars.  We stayed in a nice place just behind the main street, but far enough away to get a quiet nights sleep...albeit the chirping crickets and frogs!

Once we were settled in our digs, we thought it was time to do some laundry as I was on the third wear of my T-Shirts and the less said about my pants the better!  We found the local launderette and presented them with our offerings which they painstakingly went through (rather them than me) and we were told to return to collect them later in the day.

Unfortunately after this we were re-acquainted with beer at the chill bar, which after 4 days without  alcohol meant we did not do much more that day, apart from we met a nice Mum/Daughter Couple from Leeds who we got on well with (Mum used to write for Kerrang back in the day).  At some point during that evening we returned to our lodgings (complete with local equivalent of a kebab – Vegetable Rotti’s) and went to bed!

Day 2 Little Adams Peak

After a pretty good night’s sleep and yet another cold shower (Slightly warmer than freezing – I guess what the advertised hot water meant!), we then had a great breakfast, which consisted of a pancake stuffed with coconut and honey, toast and jam and a variety of fresh fruit and a smoothie. 

We had to move accommodation that day as the place was fully booked so we decided to do one of the local attractions before we moved on, a trek to Little Adam’s Peak.  Due to the alcohol intake we decided on NOT doing the Ella Rock walk, a steep 4 hour hike). Adam’s Peak was a very nice walk with a gentle incline alongside the tea plantations followed by a 400 steep climb at the end.  When at the top you had terrific panoramic views of the whole area including the waterfall we had passed the previous day.

After the walk we moved to our new home for the night, which was just around the corner, but had a far nicer view.  The guest house was a bit higher up but was located alongside a tea plantation and also surrounded by them, it also came complete with two three month old kittens (the owners pets) who would not leave us alone, one thinking my typing would be improved by his paws stomping over the keyboard as I tried to complete the last blog. Pic below taken from our veranda. . 

We then caught up on E-Mail and sorted out our bookings for Kandy before heading back to the Chill Bar to test a couple more Lion Beer’s, today we even decided to have dinner there, a 10 dish local Sri Lankan Curry (first meat dish we have had so far –chicken).

As we are doing a 6 ½ hour train journey to Kandy tomorrow we decided to have an early night watching a DVD and listening to the frogs!. We've picked up supply of Veg Rotti's for the train journey tomorrow but they are looking pretty appertising  so I dont think they will last the night!