Nuwara Eliya - March 2008

March provided a nice long 4 day weekend (rare even in the holiday country of SL) and we decided to get away from the hot, sticky and unseasonably wet weather in Colombo and head for the cooler climes in the interior of the island. The idea was to leave on Thursday, have a walk around the Horton Plains on Friday and return to muggy old Colombo on Saturday, leaving Sunday to recover from the vacation before heading to work. Must have been the wisdom of experience, leaving a vacation day to recover from the vacation.

The numbers were down this time, just Ruwan, Nilu and me heading out, and we started out from Colombo in the intrepid Aggie (Nilu’s car, I have no idea why its thus named). We were actually on time (which must be why it rained so much) and headed off towards the first stop at Lyons in Hanwella for breakfast (Strictly speaking the first stop was the ATMs, but lets skip that detail). I was due a number of brain-farts on this trip, and the first was missing Lyons, definitely a first. Luckily, Nilu saw us passing said eatery while we were driving along, so we were able to put a u-turn and have breakfast. Lyons has quite a good breakfast buffet going, and after a rather hefty breakfast we were ready to head out again. Heading out again, time for brain-fart number two as I took the Ratnapura Road from Avissawella, rather than the Hatton road. We were well into Kuruwita before I realized we were going the wrong way. Thank goodness we didn’t aim for Kithulgala for breakfast. Anyway, after a quick discussion, we decided to keep going and head into NE via Balangoda (remembered my mum making a similar goof while taking some people upcountry while I was younger and they took that route). What the heck, we had been on the Hatton Road already and were in no particular hurry so we would take the scenic route. (ahem)

Traffic was annoying at Ratnapura, but the road opens up into a lovely ribbon of smooth tarmac from there on (the road from Avissawella to Ratnapura is pretty good too, but traffic is heavier). Keeping a sharp eye for cops, we were moved on quite briskly. Stopping at Silver Ray for refreshments, and a call home to check directions, we headed on towards Balangoda. A quick stop at the Cargills, and we moved towards Haputale, were there is a short-cut to Nuwara Eliya, rather than going towards Bandarawela and then turning back. I had noticed Aggie giving some trouble coming up to Ratnapura, but the climb towards Balangoda confirmed that we were having clutch slippage. The slow going and steep climbing from Haputale probably didn’t help the problem. However, she managed to hold up until Nuwara Eliya. I had been hoping to hit a good road, as the road from Haputale was rather rough, but the so called A5 (I believe it goes from Kandy to Badulla thru NE) proved to be a massive disappointment. Especially with an ailing clutch. There quite a long stretch of B road before that what was better maintained.

Anyway, we headed into the Hotel without further mishap, tho the climb up the drive of the hotel caused a few flutters. A bit of a steep climb just off the Park Road. The location was pretty good, and we could see the people in the Victoria Park from the garden. We decided to have a stroll in the park after freshening up and having lunch. Lunch being the term chosen for a meal at 4pm. The park entrance was less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel, so after lunch, we headed off on foot. Being warned that the weather had been uncooperative recently we stopped at a shop near the park entrance and bought raincoats, and headed on into the park.

Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya is pretty small as our parks go. It is possible to see every bit of the place in a couple of hours or so, but it is a nice relaxing spot, and there was plenty of bird life around too. Nothing spectacular, but we were able to get some nice pictures of Oriental Magpie-Robins, Red-vented Bulbuls, Bitterns and Indian Pond Herons. However, the light faded fairly early, so we headed back to the hotel.

There was a nice fire going in the common room, so we relaxed and took a few pics. Since we couldn't make it to Horton Plains with Aggies clutch, we arranged for a van the next day. Wise move on the whole, since going there with a healthy clutch would have probably meant coming back with a broken one anyway. :) That road is pretty rough.

We were up bright and early for the trip to the Plains. We were there pretty early, which was necessary to beat the rush. Which was crazy for that time of year! It was damn cold, misty, rainy, but we headed on since we expected it to clear when the sun came up. Unfortunately, it never did. On the way to the start of the foot trail, we made a brief stop to take pictures of a tame Sambur, who came right up the vehicle and poked his nose in the window. I guess he was used to getting handouts from travelers. It was raining fairly steadily at the the start of the trail into the park, so we hung out for a while at the Farr Inn, and had some coffee. It seemed like the rain was easing so we actually set out to on the trail clad in raincoats, but by the time we got to where the path divides to head off towards the lesser Worlds End, it was fairly obvious that the rain wasn't letting up. Since the whole point was to take pictures, and we can't do that in the rain without getting the cameras wet, we gave it up and headed back to the van. We then decided to make some use of the trip by trying a visit to Hakkgala Gardens. It was dry when we got there, but no sooner than we approached the ticket outfit, it started raining furiously. Obviously, the Gods were trying to tell us something :) The new raincoats certainly saw some good use. Well, it was kinda disappointing to keep getting thwarted like this, even tho walking isn't one of my favorite activities.

We got back to the hotel, and had a late lunch in the bower outside the hotel. There were plenty of birds around so we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the grounds and taking pictures. What I like to call the "Birds and Bees" photo session. :) In particular, I got some great shots of a Ceylon Hill White-eye, and finally a decent shot of a Red-vented Bulbul. There was also a nice little Grey Wagtail in the harvested vegetable beds. I got a rather long shot of an Ashy Woodswallow too.

We headed into town for a bit before heading over to the Grand Hotel for dinner. The food was great, and the whole place has a certain ambiance about it. It is a great photography site. Must make a more leisurely visit sometime to take some pics.

The next morning we headed out towards the Galway National Park. This is a new place, pretty small for a national park, surrounded by the town. It is mostly a bird place, which the odd reptile and other small creature about. It features about 2km of trails in in, and its a nice place to walk around in. Its pretty heavily wooded, and while we could hear the bird life, spotting it was a bit difficult. Besides, the light wasn't great, and the S2 was a bit out of its league unless we found a clearing. I did, however, find some interesting shots to take.

And so, after that, we headed back to the city, this time taking the A5 through Kandy. The Ramboda Falls and the tunnel at the Ramboda Pass provided the highlights on this road trip, which was notable for its great driving road. I couldn't play around too much with a car with a slipping clutch, but the fact that is such a great road at least made the driving easy. Stops at the Labookellie Tea Center and at the Royal Mall at Kandy for lunch, and we finally managed to get in to Colombo late on Saturday.