March 13th and 14th Kandy to Nuwara Eliya

We left the Hilltop Hotel around 9 am and passed by an eye clinic as David had a blood vessel burst in his right eye. While he has had these before, we thought we should just double check and so went to an eye clinic that from the outside we would have never gone in, but actually we were impressed with the doctor who had excellent English and seemed to confirm all we had read on the internet, as well as checked David's left eye that was recovering from surgery. With that and an ATM visit taken care of we made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Nuwara Eliya.

Plantation China with emblem

The road from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya twisted, turned and climbed almost 4,500 feet, still only a narrow two lane road as in the past. Jade green tea plants covered the mountain slopes and we saw the women tea pluckers busy at work. There were also many beautiful lakes and waterfalls along the way with some stopping for birds along the way. We stopped at the Macwood Labookellie Tea Factory for tea and chocolate cake.

We noticed a different style of sari draping here in Sri Lanka than in India -  by having no pleats about the waist although the head-piece (Pallav) is neatly pleated and thrown over the shoulder, similar to Indian styles. Another distinguishing feature of the Kandyan Sari (also known as Osariya) is the frill at the side. The frill or peplum varies in size and shape depending on which part of the country it is worn, but the sari style as a whole is credited as having originated from Kandy; hence the two names given to this style of sari.

On arrival in Nuwara Eliya we went to see the old British hotel St. Andrews which had an old snooker table and English menu in their restaurant. Following that we went the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club to check out the possibility of trying a round of golf even though we are not golfers, since the walking would be good. Unfortunately rain spoiled any chance of golf, or of outdoor birdwatching in the Victoria Park, so we toured the town and lake. After a good lunch at the Indian restaurant we checked into our lodging Misty Hills Cottage, a two story two bed two bath condo served by a staff of three. Dinner was a home-made chicken dish with fresh vegetables served by a cook and two waiters in white gloves - cost $9 each. We had an early night as we had to rise at 5 AM to go on our hike to World's End.

off over Horton Plains

We had a nice packed breakfast and at 5:30 AM left for the two hour trip to the Horton Plains National Park,  where we started just before 8AM the 5 km hike to The Worlds End. We hiked up and down through an undulating plateau covered with grasslands interspersed with patches of rocky outcrops, patches of forest and lakes with misty clouds rolling by at our altitude of 6,500 feet. The Worlds End is a straight drop off of 2,800 ft. which creates a stunning view if the midst hasn't rolled in.  You need to arrive before 10am to really catch the view. Thank goodness we did make it in time! We did a circle route which made the total hike 6 miles. During the hike we saw Sambar deer, purple-faced langur (monkey). Birds we saw included the Ceylon Blackbird, the dusky-blue flycatcher, and the Black Eagle. We had lunch for the second day at the Grand Indian before heading back to our Cottage for a shower, handing laundry to our "staff", and having a nap.

This is as close as I am getting to the edge Honey!

We enjoyed a typical Sri Lankan meal with the spices left out at our Cottage for dinner and were happy watching the news on TV for the rest of the evening with our feet up.