On Christmas Eve we undertook the 5 hour journey from Haputale to Hatton and then on to Dalhousie (also referred to as Del House by the Sri Lankans) to hike a sacred mountain. We arrived at 6:00 PM, just in time to take a look at the mountain we were going to climb, have dinner and get right to bed, setting our alarm for 2:00 AM. It is called either Adam's Peak and thought to be the first place Adam touched earth after being cast out of heaven, or Sri Pada, where the Buddha left a footprint on his way to paradise. Pilgrims have been climbing it for over 1000 years. Many people climb the mountain at night so they can be there at dawn to witness the sunrise. The town of Dalhousie is at an ... read more

We walked out of the train and into a mist so fine it felt like we were walking around in a cloud. Our reason for coming north was to see the spectacular views and do some of the hikes the area is famous for. Our big goal is Adam's Peak but it's supposed to be quite a climb, and since we've been doing nothing but lounging on beaches for a few weeks, we thought it would be a good idea to warm up with some easier hikes. The town of Ella itself isn't much to see. It is a popular starting off point for hikes so there are many tourists - once again mostly Germans and Russians - and the town clearly caters to foreign backpackers. It does, however, have great food. In the central highlands ... read more

Best-laid schemes and all that... When we went to the station in Weligama to buy tickets this morning we were told there were no first class cars on any of the trains going to Colombo today. Serves us right for trusting what we were told the day before! We had hoped to acclimate to train travel with a trip in 1st class where a seat is guaranteed, and to ease our way back to 2nd class at a later date just to have the experience, but given the option of 2nd class or a day's delay in our trip, both of us chose to dive right in. We are rapidly learning to roll with the punches here. Since Weligama is only the second stop on the line we thought we may have a chance at a ... read more

Here we go! It took us a long time to get here but the adventure has finally begun. We were originally drawn to Sri Lanka by the quintessential symbols of kindly intelligence - elephants. The country hosts the largest herds of wild Asian Elephants found anywhere in the world. But it turns out they are also the perfect ambassadors for the Sri Lankan people. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and all around friendliness we have been met with in the South. Many of the people we have spoken with have told us that we are the first Canadian and American they have met, as the majority of travelers to this part of the country are either Russian, German or other Europeans. We haven't encountered anyone from the Americas since we've arrived. We'll see what ... read more