sri lanka: colombo

When you look up places to visit and things to do in Sri Lanka, the capital city of Colombo is almost never on any list. I had two reasons for putting it on my itinerary: one, it is the capital city, and two, I saw a couple photos on social media of sights that were different from what else I'd seen in the country.

Colombo isn't a city you think of when you think of Sri Lanka, or its culture. Over the days I was there I saw Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim worship places. I saw high end markets and malls, as well as street vendors. It's a city with anything you want, in terms of shopping.

Wikipedia tells me the Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million people, while the city proper is just over 750,000.

The history of Colombo didn't seem very specific to me. That is, Wikipedia tells me traders from a variety of countries were aware of the area as far back as 2000 years ago, because it has a natural harbour. The first Portuguese arrived in 1505, which is the start of the colonial history. The Dutch came next, then the British.

Ceylon gained official independence in 1948, at which time pretty much everything about the city changed, proper names in particular. There were changes in laws and customs and clothing styles.

In 1972 the name of the country was changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka.

As usual, it took me longer to get moving from my place in Galle than I'd imagined in my head. I ended up on an air-conditioned bus to Colombo. Normally I hate paying extra for that luxury, but since the bus was stuck in traffic for much of the ride, I was glad I did this time. It took nearly four hours to get to the main bus station in Colombo.

As I left the bus station a million tuk tuk drivers approached me, I chose one. He initially asked for 2000 rupees to get me to my accomodation, sighting all kinds of reasons: traffic, he is poor, it was a long way, etc... 

I agreed on 500 rupees, which he eventually agreed to as well. I knew this was a reasonable rate, I refuse to pay a tourist price if I know better. That didn't stop him from hassling me throughout the entire ride, even at the end. I pointed out to him there was none of the traffic he spoke about, it wasn't that far, and he agreed to the price. Sigh. I am not a human ATM and hate being looked at that way.

Checking into my guesthouse was easy. Like many business oriented Sri Lankans, the owner spoke really good English, which was convenient for me. I rested for a while, and charged the battery of my phone.

When I'd looked at the map before coming to Colombo I was excited to see one of my favourite brands had at least two branches in Colombo, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I first had this brand when I lived in Seoul, and I've loved it ever since. They have fantastic chai lattes, made with actual tea. (Starbucks simply froths the milk and adds flavoured syrup, there is no tea involved.) Imagine my disappointment when I got there and they told me they were out of chai lattes. I could see the ingredients behind the counter, so I was a bit confused, but whateva. The chocolate mousse cake was everything I remembered it being.

I kept going, coming to a small lake, there was a small temple in the middle. The temple was quite nice, very simple. You have to take off your shoes to visit, which wasn't a problem, especially since I could see I wasn't going to be walking on hot sand this time.

This temple had a single stupa, and the main building was surrounded by rows of Buddhas. The small temple juxtaposed with the modern skyscrapers behind was impressive.

Futher along the banks of this lake was a park in the middle of the lake. It was quite lame, though I liked the way the bridge to get there looked. 

As it was hot and humid out, there weren't many people hanging out, even though part of the park was covered.

I stopped at a random place for food, and ended up paying what I thought was a ridiculous price, 280 rupees. I don't know if I overpaid, or they charged me for two separate things even though it was served as a single meal. By comparison some of my earlier meals had cost me 120 rupees for the same food, or even more.

It took quite a bit of walking to get to my next destination. The walk took me through the city itself, not the touristy areas. That didn't stop someone from trying to chat me up and direct me to a specific shop. 

When I said I had no interest in shopping he was quite offended. He said he worked for the government tourist office, then told me the place I was intending to go was behind security walls, and not safe. I've heard that before, almost always false. I hate this kind of tout more than others. Don't present yourself as something you're not. I have no idea if Sri Lanka even has a government tourist office.

I passed a black and white painted lighthouse, which was quite small, and looked like it wasn't still in use. There was a memorial on one side, the whole thing was very photogenic.

The place I'd wanted to see was finally in view at that point: a Buddhist temple that looked more like a rocket ship than anything else. The top was a curved dome, and it was on stilts, so a visitor has to climb a number of stairs to get to the entry door. It was open, and no one was around, so I don't know how often the temple is used. Unique architecture, to say the least. The views from the top of the stairs were great.

I got back to the main roads of the city, and stopped briefly into one of Colombo's million and a half tea shops. Though the tea is grown in the mountains, the main sales points are in the big cities. I realized there were plenty of flavours available, and made a point to come back when I was more in the mood to shop. 

Plus it was getting late and I wanted to keep going.

More walking took me through a market area I hadn't been aware of ahead of time. People on the streets moving merchandise around. Stalls selling everything on the streets. Stores lining the streets. Gajillions of people walking everywhere. It was super crowded, but I didn't feel hassled for being a foreigner, which was nice.

I finally got to the second place I'd really wanted to see, the Red Mosque. Also called the Friday Mosque, as it is one of the main mosques in the city. Unfortunately, I'd taken too long to do various things during the day, meaning I arrived at the mosque a few minutes after visiting hours for tourists were over. 

The guy working the reception desk assured me I could come back the next day, no problem.

I walked home, getting to see a beautiful sunset along the way. The full rainbow of colours, including purple. That's something rarely mentioned when Colombo is presented. On the way back I stopped in another coffee/tea shop and took my chances with a chai latte, which turned out to be amazing. Their cake was pretty darn good too ;)

When I got back to my accomodation I discovered the power had gone out. It ended up being out most of the night, which made it a very long night. 

No power means no fan, which is tough in a hot, humid country. I can deal with heat, but without the fan it was really hard. The mozzies had a field day with me. Sigh.

The next day I went to the other branch of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, they said the same thing about not having chai lattes. I was frustrated, since again I could see the ingredients on the shelves with the barista.

Oh well, I went back to the same place I'd had success the night before. Yay!

From there I walked back to the Red Mosque, only to be informed that I couldn't visit until 1500, because it was Friday. I'm fully aware that Friday is the most important day of the week for Muslims, but being told yet again to come back later had me irritated. Just in case, I wrote down 1500 and asked ok? The guy said yes.

From there I walked toward a series of three Hindu temples. All three were very colourful, with both paint and offerings creating all that colour. There were stalls outside the temples selling offerings, in case I wanted to add my own. I didn't, but still took a minute to enjoy the atmosphere inside and outside each temple.

The streets of Colombo are busy. All the time. Busy busy busy. Sometimes it is more vehicular traffic, sometimes it is more pedestrian. But either way, heaps of people all the time.

I walked to a touristy area, meaning the business comes from foreigners, not locals. I saw a whole lot of white folks, not many locals looking around.

The old Dutch hospital has been redeveloped into a market and restaurant area for foreigners. I was rather disappointed, there was nothing particularly unique to see. Just shops and cafes.

Since I was relatively close at that point, and didn't want to walk too far away, I went back to the tea shop I'd stepped in quickly the day before. I bought two tins of tea, hoping the flavour taste turned out as good as it smelled. (Side note, I had it when I got back to Moscow, and it was.)

I went back to the Red Mosque at 1500, they told me to wait another hour. I admit it, I got mad at that point. I told my story of being told to come back several times, and each time being told to come back later. 

I don't mind having specific hours to visit, but why didn't the people telling me this have their stories straight? It can't be that hard to sort out a clock.

I was allowed in, after donning a full body robe. The ironic part is that I was only allowed into a small area of the mosque. A very very small area. I could see nothing new from where I was allowed to go than I'd been able to see from the reception desk. So annoyed. I didn't see a prayer area, so letting me in earlier wouldn't have interrupted anyone. Sigh.

While walking out of the area I stopped for snacks. Snacks are always good, though not always necessary.

I had two pieces of burfi, an Indian sweet. I also had a fruit salad with ice cream, and a fish roll. Good food, but probably not the best idea to eat a fish roll right after dessert.

I went to another major city sight: another Buddhist temple. Gangaramaya temple is on all the tourist lists, but I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. To me it just seemed like a big collection of Buddhas. The actual prayer area was quite small, the rest was just rooms with religious painting and Buddhas everywhere. I was probably just in a bad mood by then, but it didn't stick well in my mind. It didn't help that security on the way in took everything out of my purse, then got upset when it took me a minute to put it all back in the way it had been.

On the way home I stopped by a war memorial, which was an obelisk in a small park. Not a whole lot of people seemed interested in this one, but that's probably because the park was in the middle of traffic.

Thank goodness my guesthouse had power that night. A properly turning fan felt soooo good.

The next morning I went back to the same place as the day before for breakfast: Tea Avenue. Who says there is anything wrong with double chocolate cheesecake and an (unsweetened!!) chai latte for breakfast?

After eating and drinking I walked to the national museum. It's an impressive building, definitely built by colonialists.

I didn't go in, as I've seen history museums of places with colonial history. None of them are that different from each other.

From there it wasn't far to Independence Square. It's an impressive open air pavilion built to commemorate national independence in 1948. It is built at the official spot where the formal ceremony marking self rule took place. Go figure, this ceremony involved a British official opening a new Sri Lankan Parliament session. 

As the day was hot and humid (as is every day in Sri Lanka,) there were lots of people taking advantage of the shade, relaxing and hanging out with each other. 

The entire base of the pavilion was surrounded with stone carvings of elephants, which reminded me of the big temple in Anuradhapura. There was a museum in the basement area of this pavilion, but I skipped that too.

I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I point this out because my next interaction was with a lady telling me to wear more clothes. We were not in a religious setting, I was just on the street. I was annoyed because it felt like she was telling me this for safety reasons, not religious reasons. I don't know how to describe it, but it felt like she was victim blaming me for being a foreigner, and not covering myself enough, even though I was not a victim. Sigh. 

When women themselves blame women for what they're wearing, rape culture will never end. Sigh.

After another long walk, I got to a shop run by the Sri Lankan Tea Board. I ended up buying just two tins of tea, but I wanted a lot more. I saw many of the brands I'd already seen, as well as heaps more. So many choices. The only thing stopping me from buying more was the awareness that it takes a while to get through 100grams of loose tea leaves, especially when you drink just one cup a day. I love seeing tea from single estates, and smaller companies.

At that point I was basically done with everything I'd wanted to see/do in Colombo. The rest of the day I just wandered. My dinner came from several different places, and I took photos of street life. Eventually I got to the coast, which is where the train tracks run. I've heard that the train from Colombo to Galle is very scenic, maybe I'll get to ride it one day. I've also heard that I need to book it well ahead of time in order to have a seat that allows me to see the beautiful scenery. All those social media influencers and people who properly plan their holidays take the good spots well in advance.

On my way back to my accomodation I stopped in Tea Avenue for another visit, to pick up goodies for the road. I got slices of cheesecake, not really thinking about how much they'd melt when not kept in a fridge. (I discovered that mess when I got up in the middle of the night to catch a taxi to the airport.)

Getting to the airport was easy, as was check-in. The lady said my carryon weighed too much, so I took stuff out of it to show her, then put it all right back in. The people before and behind me in line did the same thing.

The flight took off late, but what did I care?

I would love to come back to Sri Lanka, but I don't know when it will happen.

sri lanka: galle

Galle is probably the most touristed city in Sri Lanka. It is certainly more touristed than the capital of the country, which isn't very common, at least not in my experience.

I wasn't able to find an original founding date for Galle, but Wikipedia mentions trade from Sri Lanka going back as far as 1400 BC, and it seems likely that some of the shipping happened in or near Galle.

Galle is sortof divided into two sections, they're totally different from each other. Galle Fort is what used to be the fortress protecting the area, built by the Portuguese. The Dutch later added to the fort, as did the British who were the last colonialists. 

Galle Fort is the aesthetically appealing part of Galle to visit. The interior of Galle Fort seemed mostly made up of cafes and restaurants, shops, hotels and other accomodation, etc... Everything catering to tourists. I saw a couple schools and such, but it didn't feel like a living city, if that makes sense. The other half of the city is the living part. The part with supermarkets and homes and government offices and the bus station and everything else one needs in regular daily life.

I kinda visited Galle twice. The first time was on an afternoon, while I was still sleeping in Unawatuna. 

It was an easy 20 minute bus ride, so hey, why not? My bus dropped me off at the main bus station, which is across from the main entry gate to the fort.

Walking from the bus station to the entry gate was an exercise in avoiding eye contact, ignoring everything and everyone around me, and occasionally saying no rather forcefully. I was saying no to tuk tuks, tour guides, touts offering places to stay, etc...

My notes in my travel journal tell me the walls were built by the Dutch starting in 1663, and let me tell you, they're thick. The walls are still standing, and you can walk along the tops the entire way around.

One of the first things I saw was a tree that had been taken over by another, so there were lots of 'vines' hanging down. A photo opportunity, but nothing of real interest.

One of the sights listed in the guidebook is the former Dutch hospital, but you can't tell it was ever a hospital. It has been redeveloped as a mall, with shops and restaurants. I found a tea shop in there, but it was otherwise not very interesting.

The bastions of the original walls still stand, and each has a different name, I don't remember any of the names. There is a lighthouse near one of the bastions, but the lighthouse wasn't open to visitors. 

Despite not being open, the lighthouse shows up on quite a few postcards of the city.

Postcards, yahoo!! I finally found them in Galle. Considering how much natural beauty there is, and how much culture there is, I was extremely disappointed in how few postcards I found in the country. I ended up buying them from several stores in Galle.

I watched the sunset from one of the bastions, it was quite pretty. It was easy to get back to the bus station, and only slightly more difficult to figure out what bus I needed to take to get back to Unawatuna.

The next day around lunch I officially checked out of my accomodation in Unawatuna, and hopped on the next bus to Galle. It was easier to get off the bus this time as I knew exactly where I needed to go.

I'd booked a studio flat in the fort area, it was definitely a splurge. That being said, it was nice, with a fan, air con, a mosquito net, and a modern bathroom. I generally don't spend a lot of money on accomodation, and in the overall scheme of things this still wasn't expensive, but it was more than what I'd been paying during the rest of the trip. $30USD goes a long way in accomodation in Sri Lanka.

After cooling down for a bit, I went out walking. Since I'd already seen some of Galle I didn't feel like there was a whole lot more to see. It's cute, but pretty small. I walked along some of the wall area, particularly by a tower near the main gate.

As I was walking along one section of the wall a local pointed out a couple sea turtles in the water below. AWESOME. As the water was pretty choppy, they weren't as obvious as I would've expected, and it wasn't easy to keep track of where they were. Soon enough they swam away.

After the sea turtles I walked out of the main gate and through part of the 'living' city of Galle.

It was pretty boring, to be honest. I found a Hindu temple still under construction, it hadn't yet been painted. I found another temple that seemed quite a bit older, but wasn't open. I found a mall, and I have to admit the air conditioning felt pretty good. I found the train station, with a difficult to read schedule. I walked around the bus station too, tryint to figure out where I'd be catching a bus the next day.

I looked for a local place to eat dinner, but didn't see anything. I assume I just didn't look in the right places, because there are almost always local restaurants near bus stations. Oh well.

The next morning I packed up and returned the key to the flat to the store below, then walked back to the bus station. Goodbye Galle.

I'm not sure I'll return to Galle, as I don't feel like I missed anything, even though my time there was short.

sri lana: beaches: mirissa, kogalla, unawatuna

Sri Lanka is cheap. Sri Lanka is beautiful. Sri Lanka is warm. Those were the reasons for the next section of my trip, spending time in the sun on the beaches.

Getting from Ella to Mirissa was easy, but took about four hours. It also took me from the cool temperatures of the highlands to the heat and humidity of the coast.

Sri Lankans don't spend time at the beach, at least not like foreigners do. Sri Lankans come to the beach to go fishing, or to have businesses catering to foreigners, but not to lay out on beaches and soak up sun.

I'm glad I'd booked a place to stay, as there were plenty of touts waiting when I got off the bus. My place was a room in a family home, a couple streets off the main drag. I had a mosquito net over the bed and a fan, so life was good.

My room included breakfast which was usually toast with butter, tea, an egg, and fruit. More than enough, considering I burned very few calories over those few days. My walk to the beach was about ten minutes, then I laid out in the sun, then walked home. During the walk home I picked up water and/or snacks from the supermarket.

One morning I got up a little earlier and walked down the road a bit to a place called Coconut Hill, or something along those lines. 

It's nothing special at all, but has sortof become insta-famous. It is a small hill, with a lot of coconut trees, overlooking the water. Very pretty, and full of people trying to take the best photo.

My favourite part of this walk was the tiny little beach I had to walk over to get to the hill. Very quiet, very rocky, very pretty.

Another day I took local transport to another beach called Kogala. I was hoping to see some Sri Lankan fishermen, many of whom fish in the traditional way. They sortof sit on stilts, and when they work depends on the tides. 

For many of these fishermen they've realized they'll make more money by asking tourists to pay for taking photos of them, so you don't see all that many fishermen doing the work they used to do. At least not in places easily accessible to tourists.

I didn't see any fishermen, but I did see plenty of the stilts sticking up out of the water. Very photogenic. The beach at Kogala wasn't as good as the one at Mirissa, but I'm happy as long as there is sun, sand, and heat.

One afternoon I walked to the local marina in Mirissa, just to see all the local boats sitting around. It wasn't nearly as pretty as I had hoped, mostly because there was so much rubbish all over the place. It was everywhere.

After a few days in Mirissa I took the bus up the road to a town called Unawatuna, another beach town. When I booked my place I hadn't realized how far away from the beach I'd be, but that ended up being okay.

Not far from my room was a Buddhist temple, which I visited one morning before going to the beach.

Another morning I walked all the way to the Japanese Peace Stupa. It's big, white, and simple. A 10 minute walk near this stupa is another Buddhist temple. This time I actually saw monks around, I hadn't seen any at the first temple I visited.

The beach at Unawatuna is different from the one at Mirissa. It's wider, and the sand is darker. It's also longer, and completely lined with cafes and shops. Even figuring out how to get to the beach from the road involves walking through a cafe, or a small alley between cafes.

Unawatuna is also a town that mostly caters to tourists, so there wasn't much available in terms of restaurants for locals. Oh well. I stuck to fruit, and some of the cheaper places to eat.

One afternoon, after the beach, I went to Galle, which wasn't that far away. I'll write about that in the next post.

I'd be happy to return to the beaches of Sri Lanka. They're not Sri Lankan, but I'm a sucker for beaches, especially when accomodation is cheap, and food is cheap. The island has heaps of beaches, so maybe next time I'll try new beaches.

sri lanka: kandy, nuwara eliya, ella

Next up on my self directed tour of Sri Lanka was the city of Kandy. It is on nearly every suggested itinerary of the country, which is how it ended up on my itinerary.

Kandy was the last seat of the ancient kings in Sri Lanka, and is an important religious sight as well. In terms of what I'd already seen in Sri Lanka, Kandy is a young city. Wikipedia tells me the first king of the Kingdom of Kandy lived in the 15^th and 16^th centuries.

It seems that none of the ancient kingdoms ruled the entire island of Sri Lanka, which surprised me for I don't know what reason. 

The island isn't big, I guess I expected at least one of the kingdoms to take over everything. Even when the Europeans began to colonize the island, none of them ruled over the whole island.

Kandy was still a kingdom when the Portuguese ruled some of the land, and the Dutch as well.

The main religious sight in Kandy is the main reason Sri Lankans come to Kandy: the Temple of the Tooth Relic.

Kandy is only 75 kilometers from Dambulla, my bus between the two cities took abot two hours to make that distance. The bus station in Kandy is big and chaotic, it took me a while to figure out how to get out.

Once I got out I followed a tout to a place to stay, the first place was full. I don't know if it was actually full, but that's what they said. Oh well. The next place quoted me a price that was about double what I'd been paying, and the room was definitely not two times better. I said I didn't want air conditioning, as I knew a fan would be fine, which was the key to a much cheaper room.

After relaxing for a bit, I started walking. Kandy is a busy city. There were a lot of cars and tuktuks and bikes and people on the streets, everything was crazy. 

I ended up stopping for food, since I hadn't yet eaten that day. I walked into a random place that did not seem touristy, because no one was using utensils to eat. I chose well, as the food was simple, good, and cheap. Apparently it was also all you can eat, because my plate was refilled twice, and almost a third time until I spoke up and said no more. I was tempted, but it would've been too much.

It took me a while to get to the first thing I wanted to see, which is the temple I mentioned above. Go figure, when I first arrived, it wasn't during visiting hours for foreigners, so I kept walking.

Kandy Lake is supposed to be a beautiful place to go for a walk. That definitely wasn't my experience, but that could be for all kinds of reasons. I don't think it had rained much recently, as there was plenty of dust, and the lake was low.

I walked all the way around the lake, which wasn't all that big, or that pretty. The temple grounds sit on one side of the lake, so when I got to the opposite side of the lake at least it was a little nice.

When I got back to the temple gates it was finally foreigner visiting hours again. I understand the reason for having special hours, since foreign tourists tend to make a place feel less than holy by going everywhere without respect for the place they're seeing. 

I like to think I'm not like this, but I'm sure I have my moments.

Like everywhere else I'd already been in Sri Lanka, this place had a special entrance fee for foreigners, argh. There was also a separate section for foreigners to leave their shoes. I was fine with leaving my shoes in the local section, but I wasn't allowed to. Much to my frustration, there was a jar set up for donations in the foreigner section, but not in the local section. Since I'd already paid for entrance to the temple, and Sri Lankans didn't have to pay, I had zero desire to donate more money.

This temple is a major Buddhist pilgrimmage sight because it is said to hold a piece of the Buddha's tooth that somehow survived his cremation. The room holding the tooth was closed during my visit, so I have no idea what it looked like.

The temple holding the tooth is a couple floors tall and is full of people all the time. Tourists were looking every which way, taking photos of everything. Most Sri Lankans I saw were sitting and praying. (Praying to the tooth maybe? Or to one of the Buddhist statues?)

It is up on the second level where the faithful leave offerings, the tables were overflowing with flowers and such.

Another big section of the temple grounds had a few dagobas, with more people making the rounds and praying. I think there was some sort of party or festival coming up, as one area was full of people weaving decorations out of palm fronds. Quite impressive.

I exited the temple complex out the back gate, and followed the road. My map told me this was the most convenient way to get to what I wanted to see next: the cemetery of the British garrison, back when the Brits were in charge of the area.

The cemetery was small, and I wouldn't have found it if not for a small sign pointing up a small hill. The graves weren't big, and there weren't a whole lot of them, but I read quite a few just out of curiosity. People seemed to do well if they lived to the ripe old age of 40 back then.

At that point I'd seen everything I wanted to see in Kandy, so I decided to walk the city center by following a grid pattern. I found good food this way, (and ate way too much,) but nothing else of interest. 

I found the streets that most tourists walk, as they were lined with shops full of kitchy Sri Lankan souvenirs, and cafes with menus in English.

I also found the streets with stores selling things random things you only need when you live somewhere. Those streets were much better for people watching.

The next morning I was up super early to walk back to the bus station. As the bus station was quite big, I ended up wandering around for a while, until someone asked me where I wanted to go.

After telling someone I wanted to go to Nuwara Eliya, they took me to the next bus leaving for that destination. The name is spelled Nuwara Eliya in English, but when the driver called out that name, it didn't sound like that to me. Thank goodness for helpful people.

The distance between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya was also about 75 kilometers, but this bus ride was a lot longer, as the road was anything but straight. It wound through mountains, so there was going up and down, in addition to winding around, so I spent a part of the ride trying to sleep so as to prevent motion sickness.

Nuward Eliya has nothing to do with ancient Sri Lanka. This was the beginning of a completely different section of my holiday tour. The first few cities were all about the ancient cultures and faiths of Sri Lanka. This section was all about tea, and beautiful landscapes.

Nuwara Eliya basically exists as a place to visit because there are a bunch of tea plantations in the area. It is at 1868 meters, (6128 feet,) which is considered altitude in terms of growing tea.

I'd booked a place to stay, and walked to that spot on the map from the bus station. When I got to that spot, my accomodation most definitely was NOT there. 

I walked up and down the street quite a ways, but it wasn't there. I tried calling the phone number listed on the booking, but that didn't work either.

A random tuk tuk drove by and offered to help me out, I ended up in a random house. When I was able to check internet, I found a message from the accomodation I'd booked telling me to call to get directions. Argh.

Eventually I ended up there, but I was more than a little annoyed that it was located nowhere near the address they listed on the booking. (Yes, I made that very clear in my review after leaving a couple days later. I hate that sort of lie.)

The city of Nuwara Eliya has exactly one sight: maybe one and a half.

The one is Victoria Park, which is supposed to be pretty nice. I didn't think it was that exciting. Nothing was in bloom, so it was all rather boring. I did see quite a few local families having picnics, a few of them asked to take my photo. Since it was only men asking to take the photos, I said no.

The park had an entrance fee for foreigners, but not for locals. Will this ever end? So annoying.

The half sight is the building of the post office, since it looks completely different from anything else in the area.

I also walked into a church, which was completely different from anything else I'd seen in a while. I was happy to find postcards for sale there, I hadn't had much success in finding those so far during the trip.

Dinner that night was a random cafe, then I walked back to my room. My room was nice, the location was not.

The next morning I was up early in order to walk into town to pick up water and snacks for the long day I had planned. I walked to Pedro Tea Estate, which was the closest tea plantation I could find. 

The walk was easy, and quite pretty.

To see the tea plantation you have to join a tour. The tour is during the day, though the factory usually works at night, so you don't really get the sense of how it all works.

Our guide spoke rather quietly, so I'm not sure I heard everything, but oh well. She explained the way tea is produced as we walked through different sections of the factory, then the tour ended with a cup of tea for everyone. Even though I would've loved to see the whole thing going, I liked learning the basics of tea production.

I started learning the differences between different teas, which mostly seem to be based on when the leaves are picked, and how big they are. I learned that teas grown at higher altitudes are usually a lighter flavour, and are drunk without milk. Those grown at a lower altitude have a stronger flavour and are usually drunk with some milk.

After the tour we were able to walk through some of the rows of tea plants, and see some of the tea pickers at work. These are almost all Tamil women, and the amount they're paid is shockingly low. 

They're paid by weight, and they work hard all day every day. The places they work are beautiful, but I'm guessing they don't notice the beauty anymore.

The tour guide said the ladies pick 15kg of leaves each day. Think about that, 30lbs of leaves. Then think of how 'heavy' a tea leaf feels in your hand, and how fast you can pick those leaves.

I walked out of the tea plantation and followed a trail to my other sight of the day, a place called Lovers Waterfall. I think the story is something about a guy jumping off the waterfall because of love. I don't remember the specifics, but that doesn't matter.

The walk to the waterfall was pretty, and allowed views over the area. The trail wasn't busy, but when I got to the waterfall there were plenty of people hanging around. That being said, I was still able to get photos without other people in the frame, yay.

I could've figured out how to climb to the top of the waterfall, as I could see a few people up there, but I chose to skip that. After hanging out for a while I headed back toward town.

I stopped for an early dinner at a roadside cafe where I got to eat with my hands. Good food, great price. As I walked home from dinner I realized the skin on my arms was already starting to peel, eww gross.

The following morning I was up early in order to trek into town and get to the bus station in time to catch the first bus to my next city: Ella.

As far as I can tell, Ella exists only as another town to support tourism. There is no local culture, no religious sights. I'd booked a place to stay, it was easy to find, and I was able to check in straightaway even though it was only mid morning.

I ended up hanging out in my room until at least noon, my hosts insisted I have a cup of tea. Yum, and relaxing.

When I started walking, I headed out one side of town and made my way to another tea plantation. It took me a while to get there, with going up and down hills, on dirt trails, etc... At a couple points during the walk I really wondered if I was going the right way.

The last nearly 2 kilometers were pretty steep, I was huffing and puffing by the time I walked into the office of Uva Halpe. I was sent straight to a tour that had just started, they told me to pay afterward.

This tour gave the same explanation of how tea is produced, but I got a much better explanation of the different grades of tea. When we walked through the gift store afterward, there was a display of what each grade looks like after brewing. We also got to taste four different grades: pekoe, flowery broken orange pekoe, broken orange pekoe, and fannings.

I know I'm whinging here, but the walk back into town also felt uphill much of the time.

Since every place in Ella caters to tourists, I decided to eat touristy food: a hamburger and fries. It was good, partly just because it was different from what I'd been eating for the last week. 

I was not thrilled to find a 10% service charge on my bill, those always feel sneaky to me, and make me dislike a place. I'm pretty sure those were at most places in town, argh. 

Though this was New Year's Eve I went to sleep at 2200. If there was any sort of celebration in town, or in the area, I had no idea, because I slept straight through the night.

My alarm went off early, as my landlord had suggested a sunrise hike to Little Adam's Peak. This sounded much better to me than staying up late on New Year's Eve, and I was glad I made the choice.

Walking in the dark wasn't always easy, but I had a head torch so at least I wasn't completely blind. Little Adam's Peak isn't any great thing, but the views at sunrise were really pretty.

What was not pretty was the way my tripod tipped over, and my camera broke. Sigh. I figured out that the camera wasn't able to focus again, though I have no idea what exactly was broken.

I went back to my guesthouse for breakfast, which was amazing after the hike. I dozed for a while, then set out for my next sight: a bridge.

The nine arch bridge is another 'iconic' photo in Sri Lanka, especially if you've booked tickets on the trains that go through the area. There are all sorts of photos of people hanging off trains, as it goes along the curve of the bridge.

When I finally got to the bridge, (which involved the most difficult hike I'd done so far,) I was surprised to see a lot of people on the bridge itself. When the train went through they were all taking selfies. I did walk across the bridge and back, but had no desire to be on the bridge, or near the tracks when the train came along.

I hiked back up a hill, then went through town, and out another side. (There are basically three exits/entries to Ella.) I followed the highway a long way to get to my third and last sight of the day: a waterfall.

The waterfall is about 10 meters off the road, so it's really easy to get to, and pretty busy. There are stalls selling souvenirs and fruit set up pretty close to the waterfall, it's quite annoying.

The waterfall was quite pretty, and I was happy to see plenty of water, since I wasn't aware of recent rains. There are different levels of the waterfall, which is what makes it worth seeing. I bet it is amazing (and empty of people,) during rainy season.

I stopped at another random roadside cafe on the way back to my room. I had Sri Lankan curries, it was a lot cheaper than the night before. And the desert of yogurt, fruit and honey was awesome.

The next morning I was up early again, this was basically the theme of my traveling days. I caught the first bus coming through town (Ella doesn't have a bus station, there is just a stop,) on its way south.

I'd love to come back to Ella and the surrounding area, it's beautiful and there are so many outdoor activities to do.