Hiking in Sri Lanka Hill Country – Nuwara Eliya

From  Argum Bay we head directly west inland on windy roads through lush, beautiful countryside past inumerable tropical fruit and vegetable stands, to “Hill Country”.  ….Buddha leading the way… up, up up to the coolest town of the country: Nuwara Eliya at 1888 meters (6128 feet) above sea level.

We hire a car/driver for most of our travels. Today Buddha leads the way.

We are in luck: Nuwara Eliya is often covered in cloudy mist: we get sunny, pleasantly warm days with mid evenings cooling to make our lugging of jackets worthwhile. But just barely.

Newara Eliya B&B breakfast; this scamp stole a banana inside our unit from our beautifully laid out breakfast.

Victoria Gardens:

Quiet contrast to bustling centre, alot of prep happening. Gardens at best in April on.

Gardens, shady paths and  brief encounters
Kauri tree?; mostly female workers; Prickly leaved Teatree?
White cape Marguerite daisy, poinsettia, cartoon plant
Left: bottlebrush,  brugmansia; right: paperless reed (Cyperus papyrus)

Town is spread out. It has often been called Little England – similar climate in an exotic environment.

Old England architectural influence
Centre has modern mall hidden amidst retail shops in reminents of old colonial buildings and and newer (ugly) concrete structures
Calm and chaos: part of Lake George given over to seadoo thrill-seekers (not shown)
Centre: ‘wine store’ ‘found’ …(not hard), colonial building, warm hats

An afternoon walk up to Lovers Leap and waterfall takes us through Pedro Tea Plantation

Free cuppa, factory and a sneak peak at machines
Heading up the mountain
No one leaps; looking down at Pedro Tea workers community

Another day, another hike:

Leaving our sweet B&B Nuwara Eliya using path map finder, Komoot

We head along a suggested route, up Single Tree Hill, for its view of city and temple on descending side. No single tree found, just massive communication tower.

Checking out one-time mobile store; locals dressed for mid 20 C??; tea and villages view
Up and up; surprise construction with assistance from Electrical and Contractions specialist! Interesting combo.
Drying clothes; varied countryside; looking down at Gregory Lake
Then we descend to gigantic Buddha under construction…many monks welcome us at Single Tree Temple
The monks surround the entire temple area.

Having some English history this town has a full 18 hole golf course:

No leaf blowers here: cheaper to hire women rakers
  gin and tonic with roasted cashews on the patio
Tour of the club;  bar (bartender has served 40 years) and library
Old colonial Post Office

Now onward to Ella!

2 thoughts on “Hiking in Sri Lanka Hill Country – Nuwara Eliya

  1. Hello, Beautiful pictures yet again. Looks like an interesting country to visit. Glad you are enjoying yourselves. Thank you for sharing. Keep them coming! regards, Louise

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