SECTION -2
CONTINUED from section -1,
After seeing the map and discussing it with our favourite Nishi, we almost fixed our plan for the next day and told Nishi to report at 8-30 am and to leave by 9 o’clock. The place to be seen was almost decided. But there was rain for some time at night. I was hoping there would not be rain tomorrow. The room was comfortable and cold towards the morning, but AC was unnecessary. Here individual room ACs were fitted, and the room was comfortable.
The hotel is at a height from where we can see the lush green tea gardens in the morning. It is an eye-catching view. I am told that Nuwara Eliya is the leading tea-producing and exporting area of Sri Lanka. The morning was sunny, and the fresh air made our day fabulous. We were ready and finished our breakfast when Nishi came. We took a backpack only with us with our camera and went out, telling the receptionist that we were not coming for Lunch and we would check out early the next day.
Nishi told us that the area near Nuwara Eliya has a few breathtaking waterfalls, tea plantations, a beautiful hillside grassland, a lake, and so on. The impressive colonial architecture may be more than a hundred years old, which increases the charm of this place.
We have rechecked the list and found three powerful waterfalls: St. Clair’s, Ramboda Falls, Laxapana Falls, Aberdeen Falls and Bomburu Falls, etcetera. And several beautiful tea gardens, especially, The Pedro Tea Estate and Bluefield Tea, attract many tourists. The Horton Plains National Park was another major attraction. To reduce our travel time, we decided to go only to one fall, the grassland and the lake, and the National Park, and return to the hotel early to walk through the city of Nuwara Eliya.
We immediately started for the National Park, which is around 30 km, and took nearly 40 minutes. It is at a height of 7000 ft from sea level. About 30 km away from Nuwara Eliya lies on a plateau. The park is famous for leopards, but unfortunately, we did not see any. From the top, the city looked great, and I was coming back lazily while Nishi was saying to go back early to cover the other places. World’s End viewpoint is lovely and passes through Bakers Falls, our next destination. These are also trekking routes, and tourists enjoy trekking through these routes.
We then proceeded to Gregory Lake, an ancient lake almost as old as the town. It was constructed to supply electricity. It is now a popular tourist destination.
The lawns around the lake are a jogger’s paradise, and street food vendors are getting their livelihood from their small shops in these areas. We got our cardamon tea here, which was very good, and I took two cups and filled my flask full, which would be sufficient for me till reaching the hotel. We used the paddle boats look like a swan neatly arranged at one end of the lake to take us around for what can only be described as a ‘surreal’ ride.
We were already late from our schedule and moved to Victoria Park, which is also ancient but nicely maintained. Nishi told us that most of the trees here were once brought from Scandinavian countries by the Britishers. A dedicated kids’ section with playgrounds and other facilities was also available to entertain its young visitors. Nishi told us that the park also has many migratory bird species, and we could see if we came in the morning. The area is extensive, and we cut short our travelling around the park so that other places are noticed.
Moon Plains is about 12 Km from our hotel, The Second Worlds End. Almost all famous peaks of Sri Lanka are visible from here, including single-tree mountain, Piduruthalagala, kirigalpoththa, and these areas produce much potatoes in Srilanka. We have seen a herd of buffaloes and deer on our way.
We dropped our visit to Hakgala botanical garden as we had already seen the National Park. It is at an altitude of around 5000ft, and we were told it has a massive collection of different species of trees and orchids. Since it is not the flowering session, we may not have the flowers blooms at this time of the year.
Galway’s Land National Park is inside the city and is a comparatively new and small wildlife sanctuary for birds and flowers mainly and protects few endemic species. Barking wild deer and the wild bore is also available, and it is open throughout the year, Nishi told us as we skipped this place also.
One more day was required here in Nuwara Eliya to cover all the sites, but we had to leave the following day and skipped whichever was not very important or came in the same category.
Lover’s Leap is a beautiful waterfall and a collection of streams falling from around 150 ft from the peak of Piduruthalagala. Nishi told us that there are some exciting stories of this fall near the city, and the route going through a beautiful tea plantation where the tea leaves are now coming up, and plucking has just started.
Nuwara Eliya Golf Club has one of the world’s oldest golf courses and owes its existence to the British colonial rulers of the time In the hilly terrain of the Golf Club. It is as old as 1889. The grounds are very well maintained, and visitors are allowed to play, unlike most golf courses in other parts of the world where only members are allowed entry.
We just had a bird’s eye view of the Golf club and were hungry too; we told Nishi to go to a roadside Dhaba(restaurant) where good Indian food was available. Nishi took us to a small but spotless restaurant, and we got the menu card after thorough research of the menu card; we finally selected our food, but the waiter was having a language problem, so Nishi was talking to him in his language. We had pretty tasty food but a bit spicy, but we enjoyed it; we were too hungry.
Adams Peak is one of the most revered religious places at 700 ft. The significant foot-shaped location there is believed to be the footprint of Buddha, and the Hindus believe it to be of lord Shiva. We avoided visiting the place as it needed climbing up many stairs, and my wife needed help walking those uneven stairs. We prayed from the area till which the car could go and come back.
Seeta Amman Temple, Seeta being the wife of Lord Rama, it was believed that Sita was born not from her mother’s womb but from the earth, and people pray to her as the daughter of mother earth. The footprints of Hanumanji are there, as believed; this is the famous Ashok Vatika where Sita, wife of Lord Ram, was kept by Ravana after the kidnapping, which became the cause of the famous war of Ramayana.
Ambewela Farm is a lush green farmland known as the New Zealand farm. The blue skyline and tall mountains and famous for organic cultivations there. About 20 km from Nuwara Eliya, a very peaceful place. People come for a picnic, having a lot of small coffee/ tea stalls. It has the flavour of a typical village atmosphere with countryside charms. I would like a place like this to spend my days after retirement. Tea plantation is abundant in and around Nuwara Eliya; whichever way you move, tea plantation is visible.
We were pretty tired when we reached our hotel, and my wife told me she would not go for the city walk and rest. A had a hot bath and immediately went to the Bar, had two rounds of whiskey fast, and was about to leave for the walk. A gentleman came to me, and we got introduced. I was lucky; he was also looking for someone to go for the city walk. We started. He is from Denmark and seems to be very happy visiting the place. He has two girl children working in the UK now, and he divorced a few years back. Now, whenever he can, he visits a few countries yearly. He is a lovely gentleman who likes to speak and goes on talking about his country, but he comes back every time, why they divorced and he did not marry again. Soon we became good friends, and till today we are mailing each other or talk.
Walking around the city was an excellent experience, and my new friend Victor made it more interesting.
The walk taking us through its colonial bungalows keeps, yet nicely, the beautiful streets, temples and churches. The town beautifully waves itself with nature, and you can walk by jungles upon jungles and tea gardens not far away. We walked for an hour and a half, returned to the hotel, and went straight to our favourite destination, the Bar with dim lights welcoming us. Victor, by this time, I am calling him as Vicky ordered two whiskeys, and soon we give a repeat. I called my wife, but there was no response; the second time, she picked up hers, and from her voice, I understood that she was fast asleep when I called her. She asked me the time, and it was 9-45 pm. I told her to come to the restaurant for dinner, and in the meantime, Victor ordered the third. We were about to finish when my wife arrived, and I introduced her to my new friend Victor.
After a light dinner, we parted, telling each other, Brother, we will meet soon. He was such a nice guy. I was pleased.
We told Victor we would leave early after breakfast and may not meet tomorrow. Still, we will meet somewhere someday, but we will keep contacting. In the morning, we were taking breakfast and checked out. Nishi has already arrived. I was astonished to see Vicky waiting for us to say bye. We hug each other and leave.
Our next destination was Hambantola via Bandarawala.
TO BE CONTINUED
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