NUWARA ELIYA

27th - 28th May 2015

We got the train (which was ridiculously cheap) to Nuwara Eliya, also known as "Little England". It was a beautiful journey, with unbelievable countryside to pass through. Everywhere we looked were luscious green trees and tea plantations as far as the eye could see. We spent some time sat in the door way looking out, and it was brilliant. Until a huge family wanted to get off and we were in the way!

When we arrived, there were 10 of us, 8 Germans and us two. We jumped in two taxis and asked them to take us to a guest house that the owner of the place in Adams Peak had recommended. Unfortunately, we had no idea of the price, or that it was a much more expensive town than Adams Peak. So we arrived at this guest house and started haggling for rooms for the 10 of us. As we had paid 1200 rupees (£6) the night before for a double room, that was our basis for haggling. We went in hard at 6000 rupees for 10 of us for the night, with our biggest argument being that we would fill her guesthouse for the night. Eventually we got her to 7000, however there had been a miscommunication somewhere, and she wanted 7000 just for the downstairs rooms, which would only sleep 6 people. We realised we were way off on our budget and politely said we'd have to look elsewhere as it was too much. We managed to secure a deal with a place down the road which was closer to our budget. It was all good fun, but taught us a bit of a lesson about room prices in Sri Lanka that we would need to learn sooner or later! We weren't in India anymore!

Once we were settled, we headed to the main town to 'The Pub' and started our afternoon in true German style, with a beer. One beer became many beers, and soon we were playing drinking games. We introduced the Germans to 'Sheep' a game that we had learned in Nepal, which went down a storm. We also played counting games, hand tapping games and eventually dares. It was bloody good fun and didn't end there. We went to the 'Foreign Liquor Store' and bought gin and tonic and headed back to our place for round two. Getting back involved a tuk tuk race up the winding roads, which we won! We chatted, listened to music and enjoyed each other's company. It had been a great night.

In the morning, we all woke up a little worse for wear. This wasn't helped by the fact that Adams Peak had done something awful to our calf muscles, and walking up or down even the slightest hill was a big problem. We hurriedly had to pack to leave the rooms by 11, and make some sort of plan for the rest of the day. Everyone wanted to go on the walk round Horton Plains the following day, the girls decided they would go to the town of Ohiya to stay the night as it was closer than here, and as you have to get there quite early it seemed like a sensible idea. However they wanted to get the next available train but we wanted to look round the town, so we said we'd meet them there at some point that night. We bid them auf wiedersehen then walked in to town to see the famous Victoria Park and the beautiful lake, plus the Little England buildings that Nuwara Eliya is famous for. The red brick post office was a highlight. The gardens of Victoria Park were beautifully kept, with flowers of every colour in neat flower beds. There were plenty of places to sit and watch the world go by, and even a few secret bushes with benches inside. School children came to eat their lunch in the park, and there were also ponds with dead water lilies that I'm sure looked beautiful when they were in season. Seeing things out of season is becoming a regular occurrence on this trip!

The lake was also beautiful. I wanted to take a swan boat but Will wouldn't be seen dead in one of those so we took a bog standard pedalo (Classic in Will's words) out instead. We pedalled around for a bit, looking at all the upmarket waterside accommodation we could have stayed in (had the budget allowed) and the Tudor and Victorian styled houses that were sprinkled across the hillside. Then it was a race against the clock to catch the last train east. 

The train was quite late but it gave us time to chat to an Australian couple who both work for a festival planning company in Australia, so we got the low down on what festivals we should go to when we get down under! 

Eventually the train rolled in and we raced off to meet the Germans in Ohiya, or so we thought...