Nuwara Eliya to Katharagama

Our drive to Ella and the Nine Arches Bridge was all downhill through mountainous country on a very winding road. To get to the bridge from Ella we had to go in tuk tuks on a one-lane rough and bumpy dirt road. They caused a traffic jam when they all tried to overtake each other and then there was oncoming traffic and no one was going anywhere. The bridge is "an architectural marvel from the colonial era spanning 91 metres at a height of 24 metres." We had to brave the tuk tuk trip back to the bus and after lunch drove to Yala National Park where we hopped on safari jeeps and went in search of crocodiles, elephants, monkeys, buffalo, deer and leopard. There were plenty of deer, buffalo and monkeys and we saw some crocs but we spent so much time looking for a leopard we had to leave before we could look for the elephants. We wondered why we went back to our hotel in Katharagama in the safari jeeps but we heard it was in case elephants attacked the bus.Read more