Tuk Tuk journey through the Sri Lankan mountains

From Adam’s peak Sri Pada we took a tuk tuk all the way to Ella
which is a 4 hour ride across a mountain, well this driver said he knew a shortcut.
Driving through the tea plantations is beautiful, hills covered with these kryptonite green bushes!
The ladies picking the leaves are dressed in what it seems like are tribal dresses, big golden nose rings, they looks like small colorful tea fairy’s .
They make about 50rps a kilogram which is about 33 cents, the more they pick the more they get, but I would guess that one kilo tea leaves is a lot of leaves!

We continued up to higher altitude, up here it started to rain, and it was pretty chilly, so we had to bring down the side covers to protect ourselves.
We had a few beers on the ride, to enhance the ride of course!
The tuk tuk driver just brought us into smaller and smaller roads, now we were driving off road, there were big holes and mud all over. This was more like a path in the woods, he said it was his shortcut!
We started to believe we were about to get robbed, stop somewhere and then all his friends jumping out and take everything we had.
But fortunately this driver was a great man so it didn’t happen!

I would never have guessed that a tuk tuk is so strong that it can take you through a rainy and muddy forest high up in the mountains! Some parts we were just like – No way!
But it was not only a great tuk tuk, this driver knew how to drive, off road!

We got to see a lot of the nature, it is so weird that first you drive through tea plantations and then you are in this jungle, and then suddenly you are driving in a pine tree forest!
Got to love the nature here, it’s so diverse!

It took us 4 hours (7000rps but considering how far it was and that he had to drive all the way back we gave him 10000rps 70USD). So I guess it was not a shortcut , we stopped once though.
A quick samosa break! Samosas here can be really great!

We arrived in Ella around 2 pm, a nice little village with a backpacker vibe.
More cafés and restaurants aiming for tourists.
What we came for was to relax, after all the traveling and hiking we were in need of relaxing and not getting up somewhere in between 2:30 – 5 am!
Our mission was to get some rest, eat a lot of food and get massages, Ayuverdic ones.
We stayed at Nandas guest house, a triple room with a tiny bathroom for 3500 rps, this was not a good deal considering the low standards.
The owners were very nice and helpful though!

In Ella we tried many different restaurants and café, our favorite one was the Dream Café !
Divided in one upper and one lower area, the people working here were awesome, they explained what you were eating and where it came from, they also gave you information about anything you wanted, very helpful when it came to questions about the buses, time tables and how to stop the bus. There is no bus stops so you have to wave it down at certain places!
This place had excellent rice and curry platter, with three different curries, mountain curries.
You eat these vegetable curries together with rice crackers made in to bowls which you fill up, and top this with the coconut Sambal! (spicy chili)
Super good!

They also have great coffee and tea, and many different pastrys to choose from, one example was the delicious carrot cake!
Comparing prices to the previous places, now we could see it was going up, still very cheap, but a few extra hundred rupees per meal, 500-1000 rps.

We also tried the Chill Café, the prices here are higher than average.
They serve very good western food, like burgers and pizzas.
We tried their spicy tuna pizza for 800 rps (6USD), a pizza you wouldn’t expect to get up in the mountains, very good taste and the thin crust was perfect.
Except for some deadly bones I recommend this pizza!

The place itself is awesomely decorated with bamboo and all wood tables and chairs, cool chill ambience, and as usual with this country all the people are very friendly!
On the top floor you had a bean bag area, where you can lay down, read a book and sip on their Sri Lankan special!
A drink made from Coconut Arrack, ginger beer and lime! Great taste, party drink!

We took two massages, one that was right in town called Nature Secret Ayurvedic which was a nice massage, but the ambience was totally on the wrong track, even the price compared to the next one we took was more expensive.
1500 rps for a 30 min foot massage.

The other place was further down the road, Suwa Pradeepa Spa.
This place was way better, great ambience which gave you a more relaxing and peaceful vibe.
Here they played some really soothing chanting tunes.
For 2000 rps per person we got ourselves a one hour massage, it was so good, and my body was so much in need of this!
They also had a “Steam Sauna” here, but it was not the sauna I’m used to.
Here you were laying in a coffin with your head sticking out, under you the were burning herbs to get you steamed up.
Sounds pretty horrible to me, I’m way to claustrophobic for that!

The people there were very nice, asking all the time if everything was good, and really wanting you to enjoy the full massage!
This place I highly recommend.

We stayed two nights in Ella, we were all about relaxing!

Last day we waved down the 6:30 Matara bus with some help from the owner at Nanda’s Guesthouse. We were on our way to Yala National park. We threw the bags in the back and jumped on. We had to stand for about one hour, because this one was packed.
One guy then offered us a seat next to him, he probably saw us holding on hard to the bars above us but still flying back and forth in the bus.

The same guy told us when to get off.

This bus leaves 6:30, 7:10, 8:45, 9:15 and 11:30, to the city Matara on the coast, and it takes about 3 hours to get to Yala(Werrawila) and then another 3.5 hours to get to Matara.
If you are heading to Yala national park for the safari then jump off at Werrawila and from there take a tuk tuk or bus to Tissa.
Tuk tuk only costs 300 rupees.

We stayed in Tissahamaram, which is about 10 min ride from Tissa.
Our tuk tuk driver Jayrantha is a funny old man that speak great English.
He also owns a safari company , run by him and his family, he has 33 years of experience in this park!
If you get him or his brother Tooty, it doesn’t matter they are both very professional and probably the best there is in this park!
We checked in at Reginas Inn, a clean double room with a huge bathroom for 2000 rupees a night.
For the full day safari we paid 12500 rps per person, including food and drinks.

Then Jayrantha took us on a free mini safari, to his house that was next to a lake.
On the way there we gotta to see a lot of birds, fruit bats and monkeys, but we also got the opportunity to see a crocodile sun tanning beneath a tree!

At his home he gave us tea, bananas and a chocolate pastery and told us stories about the safari, his life and about his friends.
A very nice man that I highly recommend taking your safari from!
At this point we had already booked the safari so all of this he did just because of his kindness.

Reginas Inn turned out to be a superb place where we meet a very nice man Ranjith, that was a very kind person.
We had a little dance party with some Arrack and house tunes and became great friends!
The first ones to get to use his scooter to go for dinner or whatever, yes that was us.

This trip is just getting better and better!

Next post will be about the incredible safari in Yala national park where we got the opportunity to the meet the legendary Leopard in the wild! A Close encounter!

Wish you all a merry Xmas ! Ho ho ho

Monkey