Blogs from Ella, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 7

Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Ella August 14th 2006

Hello all I have had one hell of a weekend! Friday got up at 5 am to get into the capital to have big fights with the airlines insurance people about all the damage to my bag and stuff. They were so rude to me so I lived up to what they already thought western woman were like and was very forceful that I wasn’t going to take any rubbish off them and now I have to go back and speak to there manager on a day next week so that will be fun! Anyway after that excitement I got on the bus with a lot of other volunteers and headed for the rainforest in the center of the island somewhere near Ella i think this journey took about five hours and so at the end ... read more

Yala to Ella

Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Ella April 23rd 2006

The road to Ella

SCandSC

So as we survived Jumbo's super charge at the 4x4 in Yala we then headed towards Ella and the Tea Plantations - cup of tea anyone...? The drive to Ella leaves you with no guesses as to why this area is called the "Hill Country" - it's hilly my friend - very hilly... and also green - very green... also has a few beautiful waterfalls thrown in for good measure. Apparently the hill country was first of all used to grow coffee rather than tea but to some unknown reason (there is only so much I can take in when listening about tea I'm afraid), so tea is now the major export of the area. And of course where there's tea there are tea factories and of course we were invited to see how tea is ... read more

Pradeep, his mini van and lots of ancient things

Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Ella March 12th 2006

Tea picker

Franland

Our first stop in the Cultural triangle was Dambulla rock temple, which was up lots of steps. Sadly, the king who 1st used it, as a refuge in 1 B.C., didn't have the foresight to install an escalator, so we all got very hot and sweaty climbing up there. Next up, was Sigiriya rock fortress, which, just for variety was... up loads of steps. This time, the crazy king decided to build a fortress on top of a rock which stands in awesome, impressive isolation in the surrounding countryside. Sass and I decided to climb up to the top, which was a disgustingly hot and sticky experience. The views from the top were amazing though, and lessened the blow of losing half our body weight in sweat!! Driving from there to Polonnorauwa we were really excited ... read more

Sri Lanka la la la...

Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Ella March 12th 2006

Sigiriya

Franland

Greetings hungry blog followers. Apologies for the lack of travel anecdotes to munch on recently. Where, oh where, have we disappeared to? The answer... Sri Lanka! We have been here for almost two weeks now and have covered most of the Island in that time. Sri Lanka is the same size as Ireland, so compared to travelling the length of India, it is a piece of cake! We flew into Colombo, having joyously played with our tv screens and eaten mystery Sri Lankan pastry things on the 50 minute flight from Trivandrum. Sass caused a scene at the airport by (she says accidentally...) trying to smuggle her penknife on board in her hand luggage, but was (miraculously, in my opinion) reunited with it on arrival in Sri Lanka, equipping her to continue her criminal ways on ... read more

La-la-la-lanka, Sri Lanka!

Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Ella March 12th 2006

Tea Picker

Sassal

Thanks for the title must go to the band who serenaded us on our 2nd night in Srilanka with such a beautiful complex song consisting only of those words! Anyway... Sorry it has been so long but I have been very busy enjoying this beautiful isle for two weeks now and loving it. The people here have won over my heart - so different from India. The locals are brilliant with us and treat hauling our massive bags around as a great game and ask us what we have in there! So, here is the catch up: Wew headed straight up to Kandy on our arrival on the train, where we had to sit on the floor in third class as there were no tickets for anything else, although halfway through a man offered us the ... read more

Beautiful Ella, Horton Plains & World's End, Sri Lanka

Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Ella December 6th 2005

The view from my room of Ella

Uncle Buck

I had chosen Ella as a stop because of the fantastic scenery. Most guesthouses a traveler could stay in provide wonderful views of dramatic, jutting green hills and the village looks past the imposing Ella Rock. The village itself is very quaint and described in the guidebook as the closest place in Sri Lanka to an English country village. The Ambiente guest house is on the west side of the village away from the majority of accommodation, which is to the south. It looks out on to Ella Gap and Little Rawana Ella Falls and my 1st sight from the balcony leading out from my room was the most spectacular I have ever seen in my life I arrived soon after Lunch and I had not eaten so I ordered some food and a Beer and ... read more

Brief history of Sri Lanka

The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced beginning in about the mid-third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa...more history

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