Eight of us had a sunrise hike planned this morning at the Horton Plains National Park so we groggily gathered in the lobby at eye-rubbing 5am.  Obviously it was far too early for the breakfast buffet so the hotel kindly made up some bagged sandwiches & fruit for us to take with to enjoy on the 75 minute drive.

The park is a 2,100 -2,300 meters high plateau in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, consisting of grassland and cloud forest. Years ago the British used the plains for sport, cruelly hunting the indigenous elephants to extinction.  Luckily the plains became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 protecting the remaining fauna (deer, leopards, monkeys, etc) for future generations.

We started our hike just as the morning mist was burning off, while it was still cool enough to need coats and mittens being at such a high elevation.  Not that I had any mittens but I sure could have used some!  We were on a loop hike of 9 km to see a couple of viewpoints and a waterfall.  The path was mostly a creek bed cut deep by decades of rain + wear & tear, that dropped down through a dripping forest, out across open plain, then up again quite steeply to where we started.  It was the longest I’ve walked in 3 years and I’m pleased to say I accomplished it, especially considering the terrain, but I’m glad it wasn’t any further!

After a long drive back to our hotel we only had an hour to shower and pack up before we hit the road again.  First lunch at a lovely lakeside restaurant, then we had time to wander through the grounds of a lovely 4* hotel before it was time to catch our train to Ella.

We still have our bus and all our luggage will be transported in it to our next hotel but a huge touristy thing to do is ride the local train this distance as it’s incredibly scenic, passing acres of tea plantations, small rural villages with their beautifully symmetrical garden plots bursting with vegetables, and steep forested ravines.  It took about 2.5 hours to make the journey, with us arriving just as it got dark so any impressions of Ella will have to wait until tomorrow.