Little Adam's Peak and a Train Ride

The rain has really cleared out since we arrived. We took a morning stroll in lovely sunshine up to Little Adam's Peak, which is a small mountain with a great view. The people here are incredibly friendly. Everyone shouts "good morning" and waves. Overall, the locals are just so warm and welcoming, which makes traveling here even easier, and you can't help but feel happier when greeted by smiling faces. After our 1.5-hour hike, we worked up quite an appetite for breakfast. Honny ordered the local breakfast, which consisted of string hoppers with dall—a kind of cold noodles with lentils. It didn’t seem like it would be a favorite dish :o) I played it safe with an omelet, toast, and tea. The train from Ella to Nanu Oya, heading towards Hortons Plains National Park and World’s End, was an hour late. There wasn’t an accident; it was just “a little broken,” as the locals put it. Most people heading to the national park stay in the town of Nuwara Eliya, which is what we did too. The train has 2nd and 3rd class, and we were definitely going for 3rd class to meet the locals. A ticket costs 60 rs, and the journey takes about 3 hours. The train moves slowly through the landscape, giving you plenty of time to enjoy the many tea fields. Today is a Tamil festival, so no women are working in the fields. Most of the other tourists taking the train opted for 2nd class, so we were pretty much the only tourists in our section of the train. We had barely settled in when an old man waved us over to sit with him and his family. He was 65 but looked more like he was 80—completely wrinkled, and one of his eyes was cloudy and gray from cataracts. But he was eager to chat and spoke quite good English. They had been visiting one of their daughters and were now on their way home. He told us that there were mostly Tamils on this train. Everyone had been visiting somewhere due to the extra days off from the festival. His family also works on a tea plantation, like many other Tamils. He chuckled at why we had bought 3rd class tickets when we could have gone for 2nd class. He seemed to think we were a bit crazy for wanting to meet the locals :o) Nuwara Eliya itself isn’t a particularly exciting town, but it serves as a good base for the nearby national park. Most hotels can help arrange trips to the national park and the surrounding tea plantations. The town has a market where you can buy knock-off brands—Helly Hansen, North Face, etc. But the quality and selection are pretty poor, so don’t get your hopes up about scoring a great deal here—unfortunately :o) It’s high season, so hotels have generally jacked up their prices everywhere we’ve been. It feels a bit strange that there are only three people staying at a hotel that can accommodate around 50. But the staff insists it’s high season... There’s a bar in town aptly named The Pub. It’s a rather gloomy place that serves cheap beer. When we walked in, everyone turned to look at us. They probably weren’t used to tourists wandering in here. They certainly didn’t seem accustomed to sharing their pub with a girl :o)