more Ella

Added another day to our stay in Ella hoping to get some hiking in but the rain has hampered those plans.  We are in a lovely spot and so are enjoying the views and the great curry meals we have been eating.

Before leaving for Ella we managed to get a safari in to see some elephants.  Another rainy day but the jeep drivers enjoyed trying to get across the swollen rivers.  Some did get stuck and the guys were in their element helping each other.  

Coming home from school.  

hiking in Ella

After the rains keeping us from doing some hiking we finally got a beautiful day.  We spent 3 days in Ella. the final 2 days were at Misty Hills Resort.

A view from from our room.  The name 'Misty Hills fits the view for this day.

heading out on our hike to Ella Rock.  Another way of getting around for us and the locals is via the railway tracks.  Everyone uses them as an easy route.

A morning view of Ella Rock where we hiked.

It took us about 2.5 hours to reach the summit and when we arrived an elderly local man was making tea for anyone wanting a cup.

Taking a rest before the walk back down and a hot shower. The vehicles in Sri Lanka- buses, trucks ... are painted and look like they are from the '60 's .

The inside of the buses are just as wild along with flashing coloured lights and all kinds of hanging icons as well as shag carpeting on some of the seats.  Austen Powers would love it.

Ella, Sri Lanka

Unable to secure a train to Ella , we resorted to our driver that we used before.  We stopped at a Hindu temple as well as another tea plantation/factory.

A  view of Ella Gap from our room. The drive here with a stop at  a Hindu Temple took about  6 hours for only about 95 km.  The roads were extremely narrow and twisty as we got into the mountains and so the driving was a bit slow.  But it was much more comfortable than our local bus ride that we took from Polonaruwa to Kandy that took 4.5 hours in an overcrowded ride.  The rains continue for a few breaks and so we cancelled our hike this morning since the hillsides are very slippery.  

Hidden Gem

Although it is raining off and on, we managed to get an hour by the pool and lounging on the deck.  Bird watching here is a treat.  Frank as usual, did some research and discovered a restaurant not too far from our hotel that sounded interesting.

The owner opened this restaurant only a year ago - Jaga Restaurant.  It is down a little dirt path at his farm and 60% of all vegetables come from his farm.  All organic he says.  It was a great meal and our entertainment was the Water Monitors - giant lizards.  There were 3 just outside the sitting area by the stream.  There was a one foot high fence of bamboo sticks to keep them from joining us.

By afternoon the rains started again and so we passed on visiting the ruins near by.  The afternoon was spent napping and watching the amazing variety of birds outside our window. 

Elephants to view

There have been some heavy rains but whenever we left our vehicle to view a site we had a bit of sunshine.  Lucky us.  Yesterday on our drive to Polonnaruwa we stopped at some caves with Buddhist  paintings as well as the 'largest' Buddhist statue in the world (so it says).

The caves were stunning.  Every inch of the ceiling and walls are painted.  At first I thought they were cloth covered because the rock is not smooth or straight.

You can see how the interior is painted.  We climbed a few hundred stairs to arrive at the caves.  Good thing since I have been eating too much.

Outside the caves.

We arrived at The Lake Resort mid afternoon.  A nice 50s style lodge at the edge of a small lake close to the National Park.  Again there are monkeys everywhere.  A few climbed up on the roof and looked in our open window.  Frank noticed and quickly closed it so that camera and things would not be taken.  Despite the cloudy weather, I took a late afternoon swim.

View from our window with the pool in the foreground.  There are bikes here and so today we may bike a few km to some ruins and then tomorrow take a jeep safari to see some of the animals.  We can see elephants from our room.  They roam freely here and usually come to the lake in the afternoon.

Kandy

Elephants are a common motif in Sri Lanka.  Yesterday we saw an elephant on the side of the road pulling logs.  To break up our trip to Kandy we stopped at a tea plantation and saw how Ceylon teas are processed. Afterwards we were treated to a cup of Orange Pekoe tea along with a piece of coconut sugar.

a view from the sitting area outside our room.

Our excellent tea.

Our room is simple but comfortable.  The rain has started and the cool air is a lovely change for us.  We ate dinner at our place - The Nature Walk Hotel.  We woke up to heavy rain and low clouds over the hills.

Breakfast consisted of milk rice with a hot curry paste, fresh papaya juice, a bowl of fresh fruit, toast, egg and coffee.  While enjoying breakfast we watched around 8 monkeys running up and down the roof next to us and on a short walk we got to see them up close. I quickly put my iPhone in my pocket and 'frank wrapped his camera close to him.  The monkeys will sometimes grab things from you. The original pick pocket.

We wandered around the town and the rain stopped briefly.  The one thing we noticed about folks here is a relentless to sell you something and when you do buy something they try to sell you more. It gets a bit weary after a while.  We picked up a brass elephant knocker for when we get home - a good luck symbol for visitors and a pillow cover with again an elephant motif.  I guess that's it for elephant items.