Devils staircase (Ohiya to Kalupahana)

Because the last trekk has been a while ago, and because Horton Plains was not exactly what we call a trekk, we really felt the need to look for a proper hike in Ohiya. What we found was a route called the ‚Devil‘s Staircase‘, a 17 km route with breathtaking views and not to be taken by the faint heartet - according to all the blogs and google reviews, at least. There are two ways the hike can be done: uphill or downhill. As the uphill point is Ohiya (where we were staying) but also because we were (are 😬) really out of exercise and scared from the reviews we decided to take it simple and try half of the downhill route and then go back to our stay in Ohiya. Well, we did take it simple but in the end still walked the whole route down to Kalupahana. Honestly, the blogs and google reviews were mercilessly exaggerated regarding its dangerousness (saying things like ‚the most dangerous Devils Staircase in the world‘ etc.), but luckily all the comments about the views were true: we loved every minute of the walk ❤️ it took us not only through tea crops in the mountains with fabulous wide views on the lower lands below (half of the route escorted by the loveliest dog couple we’ve ever met) but also near and through some tiny villages mostly untouched in infrastructure by tourist influences - a thing hard to come by when travelling by public transport and not by bike, as we came to notice after Vietnam. After a good talk with a random local, a delicious Sri Lankan rice & curry lunch and our very first local bus ride at the end of our track we arrived in Haputale just in time to miss our train back to Ohiya 🙃 but Haputale was the perfect spot for us to get stranded for a good hour, being located on top of a mountain ridge with great views on both sides and many many restaurants (with beer) featuring terraces with a view 🥹 it was definitely worth missing the last train and paying for a taxi/tuktuk back to Ohiya! And even though the hike was not nearly as hard as we expected it to be, it was the most rewarding and satisfying day we‘ve had for a long time ❤️ enjoy the view!Read more