Day 21 - Sri Lanka

We spent one night in Ella, then got up to head back to Colombo.  The original plan was to spend another night in Ella, then leave for Colombo the next day to catch our flight.  Our driver mentioned that the drive from Ella to Colombo is approximately 5 and a half hours... with good traffic.  He said it would be better to spend the night in Colombo, then go to the airport from there.  So we did a quick walk-by of the 9 Arches Bridge, decided not to do Little Adam's Peak, then left for Colombo.

We did a few stops along the way, another tea factory, gas station, view point.  Eventually we realized leaving early was a good idea.  Traffic was not good.  It was a 2 lane road all the way from Ella to Colombo. The rain and the 4 vehicle accident didn't help either.  By the time we got to Colombo it was dark.  I think we arrived at the hotel a little after 1900.

We were staying at the Cinnamon Red.  Upon entering, you immediately realize they have a red theme going on.  I think they cater to business travelers.  But families can stay here too.  It's a very nice, very modern hotel.

Day 20 - Sri Lanka

Spent one night in Kandy.  The next morning we were off to Nuwara Eliya to catch a train.  Nuwara Eliya is about 60 km from Kandy.  But it takes about 2 hours to get there because the route is a single lane, curvy road through the  mountains.  The heavy rain might have added more time to the trip too.

On the way, we stopped at Ramboda falls.  It's a viewing point for the falls.  It's an obvious stopping point for tourists.  There's a nice souvenir shop there too.  (Yeah, we bought some.)  If you want a better view of the falls, you can visit Ramboda Falls hotel.  It's close by at the bottom of a steep hill.  There's a shuttle you can take to the hotel, and an elevator to the view of the falls.  Unless you're a guest of the hotel, they charge for both.  However, if you eat lunch at the hotel, there also isn't a charge.  We ate lunch.

After lunch we drove farther up to Blue Field Tea Factory.  It's a nice place to visit.  They give you a quick tour of the factory.  You're also given hot tea.  And of course, there's a tea shop you can browse through.  The most important thing about the place though is no one is pressuring you to buy anything.  Not that kumi needed any encouragement.  She bought as much tea as she could fit in her bag...  Actually, she probably bought more tea than she could fit in her bag.

From Blue Field Tea Factory, we went to Nuwara Eliya.  We arrived at the train station with over 30 minutes to spare.  We bought to 2nd class tickets for the train to Ella.  1st class was sold out.  1st class has air conditioning and assigned seating.  2nd class doesn't have air conditioning and is open seating.  There is also 3rd class...  Luckily, it wasn't hot so 2nd class was fine.  (Due to the rain, it was actually quite cool.)  We originally planned to take the train from Kandy to Ella, 7 hrs.  Luckily, our driver recommended taking it from Nuwara Eliya, about 2 and a half hours.  Much better idea.  This train is not like Amtrak.  (No where near as nice.) Though it does seem to be the touristy thing to do.  There were a lot of foreigners on this train.  Some of which acted like they have never been on a train before.  (Just because you can hang out the door of a moving train, doesn't mean you should do it for most of the train ride.)

Our driver was waiting for us at Ella.  We hung around for a bit then went to a Bed & Breakfast place, the Ella Gap Panorama.  The rooms are OK, but the view is awesome.  The staff are friendly and very helpful too.  Being a small place, the same guys who unloaded our luggage and took them to our room, are also the same people who cooked and served our dinner.  Which was great BTW.  A point I will make in my TripAdvisor review.