Where the heck are we now?: Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

The next stage of our trip was also on train from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya which is rated as one of the most scenic train trips in the world. We couldn’t get reserved seats for the trip so ended up with second class unreserved and hoped for the best.

There were a lot of people standing but after a couple of stops we were fortunate enough to get seats only to be told a few minutes later there was a train derailment ahead so we all had to get off, not happy campers. We were then told to wait for buses to come to take us past the train derailment to another station. We all waited in the heat for over an hour, herded on over crowded buses, bussed around the mountains for almost another hour, only to be deposited at the next train station amd told we had to wait another 2 and half hours for the next train...it was quite the journey that day!

The bus...

Still waiting...

Eventually after many hours delayed we got aboard the slow train for Nuwara Eliya and again were fortunate to find seats for the whole journey.

The train went through many small towns...

School girls waiting for the train to pass...

Laundry day...

This little boy was with his father at one of the shops along the way...

Nuwara Eliya is in the center of the country and is located at one of the highest elevations of over 6000 feet so has a more temperate climate. It wasn’t long before we were travelling through some of the hill country landscape...

The train was the iconic blue Sri Lanka train with people hanging out the sides as we rolled along...

As we got closer we came into tea country as Nuwara Eliya is a very important tea growing area in Sri Lanka. The hills were similar to ones we saw in Munnar in India...

The town is often referred to as “ Little England” as it was settled by English and Scottish tea planters in 1846 and still retains some of the colonial charm. Our homestay house was built by the British in 1892 but now belongs to a Sri Lankan family whose father purchased it from the British when they left the area. It has such beautiful flower and vegetable gardens...

Our host and his sons working in the garden, they grow enough produce for their own use and then sell the rest...

There are many gorgeous homes in this little town...

Surrounded by beautiful flower gardens...

Even the Post Office is pretty...

And there is a golf course in the middle of town...

And a race track, all left by the British...

There are still some of the old hotels including the Grand Hotel in operation here. The original building was constructed in 1828 as a holiday residence for the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Edward Barnes. In 1892 it was sold and began life as a hotel which since has been upgraded to the luxury building of today. The grounds are so well kept...

We enjoyed the evening buffet at the hotel and it was indeed very grand. There was a dress code to dine there so Don had to wear a sarong, no picture as he wouldn’t allow it!

The town is a tourist destination for a lot of Sri Lankans and it being a holiday weekend the hotel was crowded as well as the rest of the town. Many places including homes were decorated with paper lanterns which were lit at night.

Decorations at our homestay...

Another attraction here which is just outside town is Gregory Lake built in 1873 by one of the British governors, it was meant to provide electricity but is used mainly for leisure and recreation. There were lots of people enjoying the day...