Blogs from Ella, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

I arrived in Colombo for a three week trip around the island of Sri Lanka, an island in the Indian Ocean. I was immediately hit with the humid city air, the intense smell of spices, the sounds of car horns going off in every direction and cows strolling down the roads. I walked down a small street lined with stalls selling many varieties of crunchy spiced nuts and caught a Local bus from Negombo to Colombo. It was hot and sweaty, and we were packed in like sardines, but $3 for a 45 minutes trip, I couldn’t complain! I took a walk along the Beira Lake and went to collect my prepaid train tickets and read my book at the Colombo Fort train station, the epitome of British colonial achievements. There was a small stall where ... read more

Nachdem ich eine Woche lang mit meinem Freund Eddy den Norden Sri Lankas erkundet hatte bin ich wieder zurück nach Sigiriya, zum Fresco Lion Villa Hostel von Roy gefahren um dort ein paar Tage zu chillen und um nette Leute kennenzulernen die auch Richtung Süden wollten (von meinem letzten Aufenthalt wusste ich bereits dass viele Leute von dort aus in den Süden fahren). Roy war ziemlich überrascht und auch froh mich wiederzusehen und ich war froh wieder dort zu sein. :-) Und tatsächlich habe ich sofort an meinem ersten Abend zurück dort tolle Leute kennengelernt! :-D Ich habe Daniella aus Italien und ihren Freund Josh aus Neuseeland kennengelernt, Arielle aus Frankreich und ihre Freundin Hannah aus England. Diesen ersten Abend war ich sehr müde denn Eddy und hatten den ganzen Morgen lang mit dem Fahrrad die ... read more

Up and out by 9am, we headed for the first venue on our hiking spectacular, Ella Rock. Extensive research of travel blogs online told us that the way to get there involved starting at the train station in Ella, which meant getting breakfast at the shops in town, which was effectively a roti with honey inside. From the trains station we walked left off the platform and down the tracks itself. We were met by signs saying this was illegal, but there were many other people doing the exact same thing and nothing happening about it, so we continued. The view to our left spanned out over the valleys overlooking the top of the trees. After about half an hours walk we came to another train station and just after we took a sharp left turn ... read more

We arrived in Ella! The trip was long and eventful, but we were finally here. We got off the train and joined the long line to leave the platform. This town was popular! Next we jumped in a tuk-tuk and were off to our guesthouse, right through the middle of town. First glimpse, so far, so good! Nice, small town with a bit of a hippy vibe... One street with shops, restaurants and bars, surrounded by dusty roads full of guesthouses. As we got to our guesthouse we were greeted by our hosts. Very nice bunch of people, straight away you could tell that each of them had specific roles to play, dad hardly speaking any English just smiled and made everyone super welcome, mum - obviously the boss, making sure everything was working ... read more

Yesterday when Claire offered me the opportunity to get up early today and go for a long walk to see a bridge I immediately said yes. Which took her by surprise that's for sure. These Apple watches need to be satiated with exercise though so the alarms went off at 6....actually quite a lie in on this holiday. The nine arch railway bridge was on the same railway we walked along yesterday but in the opposite direction. We again ignored the signs telling us it was an offence and walked along the tracks. We even ignored the next sign that warned us of thieves and robbers on this stretch of track. We liked how this sign was AFTER the one telling you what you were doing was illegal....as if they knew you'd ignore the first one. ... read more