Nuware Eliya

My husband Timo and I were traveling in Sri Lanka by public transport. We started in the south of Sri Lanka. Traveling from beach to beach and from village to village.
Train rides are really famous for the scenery views among tourist.
From Haputale it is really easy to take a train. We couldn’t find a place to sit next to each other, but a few man wanted to change, very nice!
The views are really amazing! Trough the hills and trough tea plantations a few hours later we arrived in Nuware Eliya.

This was a city and to us a bit less appealing on first sight. It might have to do with the rain pouring down and it took a while before we found a guesthouse. We walked around a bit, but we just couldn’t feel comfortable. As it kept raining, and Timo needed a haircut we tried to find a hairdresser. When he was waiting his turn he asked me if he would shave his beard. The hairdresser could do some really fun styles so with a real Sri Lanka beard we left the building.

Horton Plains

At the guesthouse we arranged a tuktuk for the next morning to Horton plains national park. The tuktuk was by for the cheapest option. Not the most comfortable one with a drive for 1.5 hours in the cold morning.

All around Sri Lanka there are national parks. Most of them have excellent trails for good hiking. We choose Horton plains cause it would have an amazing view with a drop of 800 meters steep down.

After a really good breakfast with egg and toast we set of at 5 A.M. to Horton Plains. The tuktuk was really cold and not too comfortable. The driver was good, so nothing else to worry.
For the entrance you need to pay a steep fee of almost 25 Euros. The 9 km trail is marked and easy to find. We walked first to Wold’s End viewpoint. This is the view with 800 meters drop. Mostly after 9 A.M. the clouds would come and the view is blocked.

World's End view point

We were happy to see the amazing view! We made pictures. It was a bummer my DSLR camera was broken down. A few days earlier Timo dropped it in a waterfall. As you can understand, the camera didn't survive the bath.
So with only a simple camera we made pictures. As a dare devil, I sat down at the edge. The steep drop off does not have any fences! I got warnings from a few guides. Apparently some tourist felt down, when they wanted to sit on the edge.
So be very careful if you wanna make a picture like this!

We continued the hike which was lovely. It is a little hilly, but nothing to worry if you're not a professional hiker. The paths are clearly marked and you can see nice scenery. You can take an extra tour on the path. This will lead to Baker's waterfalls. It is almost 22 meters high and with a lot of thunder the water is coming down. You have to walk down here, so be prepared to take the same path uphill.

The same day we return from Horton plains we took different buses to Kitulgala. Here we stayed at Rafters Retreat.