Day 14 - I have located the ouch

09:15
I’m awake at 07:30, and more than ready for breakfast at 09:00. Dilpesh brings me a plate of fruit and some coffee. So far so good. He then asks how I’d like my eggs cooked - fried or scrambled. Not a problem. He then returns with six plates - eggs, hoppers, roti, toast, butter + jam, pancakes… It’s a little overwhelming. I half expect him to return with bowls of curry, but happily he’s done. After eating what I can of that mountain, so am I.

11:30
I don’t think I’d quite realised, and please do take the opportunity to laugh at me etc etc, that the hill country in Sri Lanka would be quite so, well - hilly. After I’ve picked up my scooter, my first port of call is Nine Arches Bridge the insta-famous railway bridge a few clicks to the North of Ella. Following some fairly sketchy directions, I leave my bike up at the roadside, and start to hike down towards the bridge. I’m conscious that the people coming the other way are red-faced, sweaty, and panting. This can’t be good. There are some properly steep sections of path, and then around 400 deep steps to make my way down. I still can’t see the bastard bridge. According to Google Maps, it was only 1km from my bike to the bridge, and I think most of them are a vertical drop.

Finally, FINALLY I make it to the bridge. It’s a pretty surreal experience, as people just casually walk across from one side to the other. There are only about 6 or 7 trains that cross here per day, so there’s (hopefully) fairly little chance of them being mown down, As per yesterday, the train moves so slowly that I suspect someone with the energetic vigour of youth could probably outrun it. I get a little anxious when I see people hanging their legs off the side of the bridge - there’s a sheer drop of 20m either side. One mother decides to place her baby on the bridge wall to take a picture of it, and I tut rather less than silently.

It’s around 10:15 - a train was due through at 09:30, and there’s not another due for an hour, so I decide to start the gruelling climb back up to my bike. I make it not very far when I hear a train approaching. The 09:30 is apparently the 10:30 today. Looking back down, I can’t see anyone in danger of getting run down. Equally, I can’t see under the train’s wheels to see if perhaps some folks already have been.

Continuing my climb, I reach the steps section of the course. Getting up these is something of a struggle. Whilst it’s cooler here in Ella, it’s still hot, and I’m steaming. The steps negotiated, I move onto the steepest hill I think I’ve ever climbed. It’s brutal. I keep making slow progress, and the road flattens out. Briefly. By the time I finally make it back to the road, my Garmin reckons I’ve climbed the equivalent of 45 flights of stairs. I catch my breath and head up the road to 98 Acres.

98 Acres is a plush hotel that sits surrounded by tea plantations. A little out of my price range for accommodation, but I can stretch to a cup of tea. I park up, and am directed up some stairs to reach the restaurant/bar. MORE FUCKING STEPS. The views at the top are worth it though. Just beautiful. I have a cup of Orange Pekoe (nope? New to me, too…) and a very cold bottle of water, and Get back on the road.

13:45
I am in Cafe One Love - a restaurant and bar dedicated to Bob Marley, to the extent that they play 4 of The Wailers’ tracks on repeat. Still, the views from the third floor balcony are very pretty. The rest of my morning consisted of walking to the viewpoint of Little Adam’s Peak, and then riding down to the Ravenna Waterfall, 10km South of Ella. I also make it *some* of the way up Ella Rock - again, to stunning views. I think Ella is one of the most very beautiful places I’ve ever been - up there with the Franschhoek Valley, the top of Le Fornet in Val D’Isere on a crystal clear day, and Yosemite National Park. By 13:00, I’m knackered, and would commit crime to secure myself a cold beer.

On a slight downer, my cookery class this afternoon has been cancelled. I’ve been picking up recipes as I go from chefs at various places I’ve eaten, so have at least got some options for recreating the amazing Sri Lankan dishes I’ve tried while I’ve been here.

I can feel a nap coming on…

17:00
YES! Cracking little snooze. I decamp to the balcony to wake up with a G+T as the sun starts to hit the horizon in the distance. I don’t have much of a plan for this evening. Few beers, bite to eat etc etc. Ella’s a very easy place to spend time, and the prospect of an evening of doing not very much at all is a pretty damn good one.

21:49
I barhop. There are a few different bars in Ella that have a happy hour. I’m used to Happy Hours in the likes of Vegas, where it makes drinking just about affordable. Here in Sri Lanka, it takes drinks from thoroughly affordable to practically free. I have an Arrack cocktail for £1, a beer for less than that, and a glass of passable white wine for somewhere in between.

The booze helps stimulate my appetite. I’m just round the corner from Cafe Samsara, very well reviewed little joint just off the main street in Ella. It’s small - maybe 5 tables and 15 covers. The menu’s pretty brief - lamprais (literally lump rice, served with a couple of meat/fish curries) or rice and curry, vegetarian this time around. I go for the rice and curry, and it’s brilliant. A great dhal, a beetroot curry, some spiced and braised pumpkin, a potato curry and some great curried aubergine. Just banging. The bill, including a Lion is less than £4.

I head back to One Love for a post-prandial. I can’t quite face the walk back up to Third Eye just yet. Back at One Love, there’s the pungent smell of weed in the air. It’s a comforting smell, even if I don’t particularly want to smoke any at the moment. A couple of beers slip down incredibly easily. I’m close to ordering a third, but remember I have an 8 hour train journey tomorrow.

Back at my room, I make a half-arsed attempt at packing. What’s particularly impressive, is that there’s not really anything to pack. I abandon this plan before it becomes foolhardy.

I suspect the gin in the fridge will leak during transit. Happily, there’s a solution for that.

23:30
Gin!

I take a second swing at packing, and it goes much better. It’s mid-afternoon back home, and Vicks suggests a call. It’s amazing to hear her voice, even if it’s a bit croaky. Vicks has been struggling with a cold all week, and has foregone her weekend plans of fun as a result. We sort of agreed that while I’m away, an actual call once a week or thereabouts would be cool. Given that when we’re both in the UK, we speak on the phone about once annually, this is markedly different. It’s incredibly welcome, and I'm incredibly excited to see her in a few days.

I found myself thinking earlier about the emotional reaction to the end of an amazing trip. Obviously, I don't have the 'back to work' blues that I've experienced so often in the past. What I do have is a combination of sadness that my journey is ending, with excitement that I get to see my beloved wife, I get to see my baby bundles of ginger, and that our trip to Thailand is only a couple of weeks away...Baca selengkapnya