From tropical beach to tea plantation

Day 4 we leave the relatively arid area of the National Park and head north up into the slightly cooler and wetter hills. Oh so slowly, and as the bus struggles up the hills the driver occasionally has to turn off the air-conditioning so that we can make it to the crest of the next hill, and we all start to melt. The hill country is just as it used to look in the Ceylon tea ads that I recall from TV when I was a little girl growing up in the UK. Lush, green and steep. Most of the tea pickers are Tamil women as apparently the British found the Sri Lankans too lazy - at least that's what our Sri Lankan guide told us.

We stopped to take photos of some waterfalls but unfortunately a lot of the surrounding rocks had been defaced by graffiti. Not your common garden graffiti but political graffiti extorting the populace to vote for a particular candidate in the forthcoming elections on April 8th - which our guide gave us daily updates on as we move from province to province and district to district. Apparently it is illegal to put up billboards or cutouts of the election candidates (largest of which appears to be at the entrance of the Colombo airport) but we saw literally thousands, along with masses of bunting, and graffiti and posters on rocks, trees and just about every other available surface. It can only add to what appears to be an already major problem with rubbish in the streets. One candidate is promoting rubbish bins and recycling - I'd vote for him :-)

We also stopped to take photos at Ella Gap some 1041m above sea level but it was rather misty so not the very best of views.

Nuwara Eliya (our destination for the night) was popular with the British (because it was slightly cooler than the coast) and so they styled the architecture along the lines of Tudor England and the Lake District. The Grand Hotel where we stayed was dated back over 200 years and was the former residence of Sir Edward Barnes, governor of Sri Lanka from 1830 to 8150. It and the other English styled buildings looked a little weird and out of place among the Hindu and Buddhist temples (didn't see any mosques here as Muslims are in the minority).

Having spent far too long in the bus we headed off down into the local market in light rain for a bit of bartering before dinner. With Frank's assistance I got a "Reebok" lightweight fleece jacket for $14. I had been looking for one for a while but wasn't prepared to pay the prices they were asking in Melbourne. Not sure how long it will last for but at $14 it probably doesn't matter.

By the way - Frank bought some thongs for 150 rupees - about $1.50!