Nuwara Eliya

Saji collected us at 10.30 as arranged. We said a fond farewell to Wasantha who had accommodated our every request with a smile. We set off for Nuwara Elia knowing the it would be at least a three hour drive as it would be mostly up the mountains. Leaving Kandy central area was very busy as usual. As we reached the outskirts Saji asked if we would like to visit the National Botanical Gardens. You can guess the response and he pulled over. He suggested we would need an hour and went off to find parking. Even roadside parking in such busy places is managed by a patrolling ticket seller. An hour was just seeing the very central area of the gardens which were extensive and beautiful. Our first stop was the orchid house. The flowers there were stunning with a huge variety of flowers and colours that we would never see in Australia. We did see some everlastings in a border planting and a magnificent Peace flower which has barely survived in Walpole. We took photos galore which we can show you when we get home. Just as we arrived back at the car we saw our first accident. A collision between a motorcycle and a Tuktuk. Fortunately no one seemed to be seriously hurt but the Tuktuk driver had taken the impact on his knee when he was spilled out. He was bloodied but hobbling. His passengers seemed to be mostly shaken up. Saji seemed to think the motor cyclist was to blame and took an interest in the proceedings for a while until we indicted our wish to move on. The road wound ever slowly upward. Our little Suzuki a was mostly travelling at 40km although we did manage 60 km on a couple of short straight stretches. It is not the healthiest little vehicle and there were times when I wondered if it was going to make it up a steep section. Bob even asked Saji if the surging was a petrol filter problem but his rather short response was that it is a gearbox problem. I consoled myself with the thought that even if it developed a problem they would be sure to keep us moving. Tomorrow we are back on the train with a reservation we made from Australia. Saji will drive on with our luggage and meet us at Ella. From there we needed car transport anyway so he will take us through to Galle after which we have train reservations back to Colombo. We stopped at a Tea processing plant which Saji says is the largest in the area. It was a nice break from sitting in the car but the guide we had through the process was obviously burnt out and disappointed that we didn't look wealthier I think. She went through the process which we were already familiar with from Malaysia. The tea tasting was interesting and we bought a kilo in the appropriately sealed packaging so hopefully Customs won't think we are trying to smuggle in something altogether different. We are in a guest house here which has all the necessary facilities but doesn't come up to the luxury of Kandy. We are going out the explore now so more later.