On the heights of SRI LANKA: ELLA and KANDY

After our visit to the Natural Park of Udawalawe, we continue our ascent to the north of Sri Lanka, with two stages of the mountain to Ella, then Kandy. The diversity of landscapes is fascinating for such a small island!

Ella: The head in the clouds

In the Ella area, we take our sights on a guest house called Morning Mist, a name that means "morning fog". This is well found because the fog is actually never very far. The clouds circulate throughout the day, such as large ships, between the hills of this haven of peace and greenery. Only the cries of a wild peacock sometimes disturb the silence. Now imagine a White House with columns, nestled on top of a mound, in the middle of a tea plantation. You're in the Sri Lankan mountains!

There are plenty of walking opportunities in the immediate vicinity. For our first hike in the mountains of Sri Lanka, we climb on the Eagle's Rock, a hill overlooking our little village. The round trip takes us 1h30 to small steps. We do not see any eagle, however, the view at 360 ° is striking!

Strangely, we have often found elsewhere in the world that the inhabitants of the mountains were less friendly with tourists than those from below. Well, that's not the case at all in Sri Lanka! Once again, we only crossed smiles.

The comfort seems to put a little time to arrive in the heights of Sri Lanka. We notice for example that the inhabitants do not have running water yet and they come to pull the water to the well. On the other hand, the number of a tuk-tuk on the roads is impressive, for a whole area quite sparsely populated. The explanation is simple: many families own their private tuk-tuk, cheaper to purchase than a car.

Out of curiosity, we visit a tea plantation called Amba, which produces a tea of the highest quality. They provide for example the Noma of Copenhagen, former "Best restaurant in the world". If you wanted to get into the industry, here are some secrets that we have taken from the Guide: 1) The shrubs are organic, 2) picking is done exclusively by hand, 3) only the two or three youngest and fresh leaves of a branch are used and 4) The leaves are rolled one by one by hand. In comparison, a low-end tea bag contains anything, including the stem, and everything is crushed by machines.

We participate in the optional tasting and can confirm that their tea is good. But as for the wine, we do not have the palate delicate enough to appreciate all the subtleties of this high-end tea!

The legs heated by the Eagle's Rock, we now decide to embark on a more ambitious hike on Ella's rock. It is a rock that dominates the town of Ella and offers a spectacular view of the valley.

The round trip is supposed to take four hours, but, accompanied by children and slowed down by the rain, we will need more than seven to complete it.

We do for the first time acquainted with leeches, these little critters... Very engaging! Nothing serious though, and it should not prevent you from enjoying these landscapes dementia. They are small and crawl on the ground, attracted by the smell of passersby. It is better to have high socks and check occasionally that no worm is climbing them. At worst, have some salt on you to pick them up.

The end of the hike directly takes the railroad path, which is quite fun and safe. Just deviate if comes to pass one of the three or four daily trains.

Before his trip to Sri Lanka, we offered a novel entitled The Adventures of Philibert in Sri Lanka to our nine-year-old niece. Not only did she devour him in record time and read three times, but she also talked about it all the time on the spot and loved discovering the places evoked in history. A 100% recommended book if you plan to travel to Sri Lanka with children!

Practical Tips on Ella
Where to sleep in Ella as written above, we stayed in the Morning Mist, a large guest house in the mountains. The place is secluded and a bit far from the town of Ella, but the possibilities of hiking all around are excellent. We just regret the rates a bit high compared to other Sri Lankan guesthouses. Come to morning Mist from Udawalawe Bus from Udulawale to Wellawaya: 1h, 100 Rp/€0.49 per person. Then we dodged the raging touts who take their commission to get ourselves a taxi, parked a little plu

 Kandy: Buddhist High Point in central Sri Lanka

Kandy is the ancient capital of a kingdom that spread over almost half of the island of Ceylon and resisted the aggressions of the Portuguese and Dutch colonizers. At the time, the mountain trails leading to Kandy were kept secret in order to protect the city and, apparently, this unbelievable technique actually worked!

Today, Kandy is no longer the capital, but it has remained an important place for the Buddhists of the country. Following the cremation of Buddha, a canine (five centimeters long!) would have been found intact in the midst of the Ashes. First venerated in India for long centuries, this unusual tooth was exfiltrated in Sri Lanka, concealed in the hairstyle of a princess. Today, a large temple, simply called the Temple of the Tooth, is consecrated in the heart of the city of Kandy. Pilgrims even come from all over Asia to gather in front of the sacred Quenotte.

The interior of the temple is visited by 1000 Roupi

Concretely, the city is not as beautiful as its UNESCO World Heritage ranking might suggest. Of course, some old colonial-style buildings give it a little British air, but nothing phenomenal. It is the walk along the lake that we prefer. We are very surprised when we see a big grey pelican fishing and swallowing fish wider than his neck!

In the vicinity of Kandy, the Botanical Garden offers a friendly exit. As we thought we would go around it in an hour, we almost stay there for the day. The park is immense, with long walkways, large lawns where Sri Lankan schoolchildren are amused, a suspension bridge, greenhouses, as well as collections of palm trees, coconut trees, cactuses, bamboos...

The plants are particularly well staged, which makes it possible to discover rare and spectacular species. The Cannon Cannonball Tree, for example, produces large, round fruits, hard as metal. The Baobab Tree of Africa has a bigeye trunk, while that of the rainbow eucalyptus is multicolored. We even discover the largest coconuts in the world, weighing up to thirty kilos and take six years to reach maturity!

A family of macaques walks in the park and it is easy enough to approach them. A huge colony of bats also people places here. They are literally thousands to sleep upside down, hanging on top of the trees and it's very impressive!

Goodbye the Mountain, Goodbye Kandy, heading north of Sri Lanka!

Note: Practical tips for visiting Kandy

Where to stay in Kandy? We tested two hotels

Jilly Stay (~ €18): On the heights of the city, perfectly correct rooms with breakfast included.

The Guesthouse Shine Residence (~ €17) that we preferred: a friendly Sri Lankan family rents new rooms, cooks an excellent breakfast and provides good advice on the city.

Restaurant If you do not know the Dosa, this delicious Indian crepe, go to Balaji Dosai and order a Paper dosa (the widest and crispest) or a Masala Dosa (with spicy potatoes). If you already know, go ahead anyway because they are excellent. If hygiene does not seem to be their priority at first, no digestive problems have been reported despite three meals on the spot! Coffee Natural Coffee is a perfect coffee for a short break in the city center of Kandy, with good wifi.