To Ella via a scenic railway journey

We were awoken earlier than needs be by some piped piano music!! I was second into the shower only to find there was no hot water left....
However, the day got better after a brief stop at The Grand Hotel, a lovely old colonial style building in pretty gardens. Buddhika, our guide, had spent his wedding night here!
We then set off to board the train to Ella, a three hour journey through some beautiful scenery. We had expected it to get quite cool higher up in the mountains but the sun continues to shine and there was only a small overall drop in temperature. Still no need for the long trousers I’d worn, nor the fleece that I’d carried 🙄
Following a quick hotel check in and a bite to eat, we set off to see Nine Arches Bridge. It was a fairly steep descent, some well structured pavement and steps and some not so much!
The bridge is an impressive piece of engineering with no metal in the structure anywhere! We waited to see the train make its journey back via the bridge but didn’t wait in the end as the train had got delayed somewhere down the line.
We slowly made the ascent although this seemed a bit easier as it felt less slippy going upwards.
We then took the minivan round to the start of a hike known as Little Adam’s Peak!
Buddhika just pointed us in the upwards direction this time! We made it to the summit in just over half an hour, which we felt was pretty good going as it was very steep at the top with lots of slipping opportunities!
Having puffed and panted our to the top, we were impressed to see (amongst many others) a lady modelling a wedding dress...!!!
The views at the top were fantastic and we stayed long enough to appreciate the views, take some photos and get our breath back. Again, with some careful negotiating of foothold, it was quicker on the way down.
Despite being rather hot and bothered back at base, our next activity was an Ayurvedic massage! Andrew declined and spent an hour looking round the shops, which gives a clear indication of how much he dislikes massage 😂 Julie, Dave and I were all floating when we regrouped an hour later. We must have looked a right state as we set off for dinner, because the first part of the massage had involved oils and a head massage - I think I emerged looking like Worsel Gummidge!
Ella is a vibrant tourist town. There are lots of shops, restaurants and bars and we had a lovely meal in one of them, where there was a guitarist playing 😀
Back at the hotel, ( swerving a line up of staff who’d turned out to wait upon a local politician!) a shower was needed to get rid of the massage oils. All in all, a very busy day; think I’ll sleep well tonight!Read more