The Mountains

Like the beach, Sri Lanka is also famous for all the mountainous landscapes, tea plantations and nature reserves that are located more inland. Here’s some of our favourites:

Ella is known for a number of vast attractions and activities and is one of the most touristic towns in Sri Lanka. It is definitely white-washed but has some really pretty scenic attractions and landscapes:

ELLA

There are plenty of gorgeous and hotels in and around Ella (definitely within budget) but one of our favourites (if you’ve got a tad more to spend) was Glen Rock. It’s an Eco lodge with private access to a river and they do small landscape safaris and organised hikes to Pahanthudawa waterfalls and other activities. Perfect for a 2 night stay and they will arrange a great experience for you.

 

Nuwara Eliya is basically a little England in Sri Lanka. This area is nice a cold (yes you might actually need a sweater). There’s a lot of colonial history with Victorian buildings and high teas. Gorgeous botanical gardens and the Ambewela Dairy Farm/ factory. The weather is ideal for tea plantations and flower productions so all you will see are beautiful rolling hills. It is also home to Sri Lanka’s tallest mountain - Pidurutalagala.

NUWARA ELIYA

If you want a challenging adventure and a half this might be the activity for you. Sri pada is a mountain viewed as a pilgrimage site across Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. There are 2 different paths you can take to reach the top of the mountain. The pilgrimage season falls between December and May (peaking in April). The climb up the mountain basically feels like a never ending giant stair-master.

The first route known as the Hatton trail is the “easier” and most commonly used route which is 5,500 steps - about 7 km one way.

The second route (which we did for god knows what reason) known as Palabaddala / Ratnapura Trails was 12,000 + steps - about 12km to 15km. But boy was it worth it! We started the trek around 3/4pm and reached the top just before sunrise. It is an overnight hike (mostly done to avoid the heat) and of course in time for the sunrise.

There are checkpoint shops every few thousand steps, they’ve got food and water. The most difficult and mentally challenging part of the climb is towards 3/4 AM when you’re sleep deprived and everything is in pain and when you see a 70 year old grandma go past you like its her daily hike. You do have to be a nature person to do this cuz the toilets are sparse.

We got to the top, saw the amazing sunrise, there’s a small worship area, and a small empty hall for people to rest before heading back down (we took the shorter way heading down, thank god cuz my legs were trembling). Even though it was painful, it was one of my most memorable and unique experiences so if you’re on a fitness journey and want a challenge better than a Hyrox or Ironman, this is it! Let us know if you plan on doing this, and we can give you some more info on it :)

SRI PADA/ ADAM’s PEAK