Day 7. 14 February 2026. Sri Lanka. Ella to Kandy

We checked out and as part of a ritual of the resort we received a blessing wishing us a good future. We both chose to have the Buddhist blessing. We were both given a piece of white cord tied around our right wrist.
We were on the road by 8:05, another longish drive.
As we got higher into the mountains, Ella was at around 1000m, the highlands were around 2500m, it got cooler. The British found this climate similar to England, its so much cooler than the coastal areas, and they started highland farms producing vegetables familiar to them. Leeks, beans, strawberries, etc. They establish towns in the highlands that to this day have a very British look about them.
Our first stop was at a Hindu temple, the Jai Sri Ram Jai Anjaneya Temple in Seetha Eliya. The temple is dedicated to Lord Hanuman, and attracts visitors due to its intricate architecture and golden sculptures. It also offers a place of tranquillity for prayer and reflection. We were amused by the antics of the troop of Toque Macaques (an old world species of monkey endemic to SL). They were having such a good time playing in and around the golden statues.
SL has 5 different types of primates, and it goes that they can all be easily distinguished from each other solely by their hair styles.
While I’m on a wildlife theme,  , yesterday afternoon while we were having a swim we saw what we thought were dogs up on the hillside, I wasn’t convince because of the way they acted and ran. I asked Hiru about them today and he said they were probably Barking deer. A small/medium dog sized deer that barks like a dog.
Today we drove through the area affected by last year’s cyclone. The area had 6 months of rain in just 5 days. Most damage came from landslides. The biggest/longest landslide was about 5 or 6km long. There is still lots of evidence of the landslides and damaged caused. The road were cleared in the first 3 weeks after cyclone, enough for traffic to pass through, but still in some places it is only one lane. On top of the landslides there was vast areas hut by flooding, it was and still is devastating for the locals.
While we are driving between towns, Hiru gives us vast amounts of information of historical and cultural themes. However, when he starts with “True story, ….” we know it definitely isn’t and to wait for the punchline! It’s a fun way to break up the facts.
He also comes out with some wise words and old sayings, today’s most notable was “If you eat food like medicine, in later life you won’t need to eat medicine like food.”
We drove past one of several protected regions and preservation areas within Sri Lanka. These areas are set up to presrrve and to protect endemic and endangered species such as Toque Macaque habitat. Entry to these areas is highly restricted.
Our next stop was at Nuwara Eliya, a very British town, from the old world post office, with a post box outside it that is cleared 13 times a day starting at 5:15am until 7:30pm. The town has a horse racing track,an18 hole golf course, large markets (the biggest central market in Sri Lanka) and the busiest craziest bus station we have ever seen. A great town for a stopover.
Nest stop was the Glenloch Tea Factory. We were given a private tour of the factory. Such an interesting process, black, white and green tea are all made from the same leaves, they are just processed differently. Tea loses a lot of weight in the processing, it takes 5kg of fresh leaves to produce 1kg of dried leaf. And then there are different grades produced, BOP, BOPF, OP/OPA and FBOPFSP. The difference between them is remarkable. But long story short, stay away from tea bags, you are essentially buying tea dust! We finished our tour with a tea tasting. We were given some black (English Breakfast), white, golden and green tea to try. My favourite was the Golden, Deb’s was the Black. We bought some tea in canisters to bring home, the ones with bought in New Caledonia have served us well but seen better days.
We stopped at a roadside stall so Hiru could buy a flower plant for his wife, it is Valentine’s Day after all, and Kandy is his home town.
We took a slight detour when we got to Kandy. He took us to his home, how special is that. We met his wife, brother and mother. (Edited as I said I would Hiru, ❤️ ) We were given a cup of tea and some nibbles. While there was a bit of a language barrier, we had a good time and felt very privileged to meet them all.
Back on the road and onto Kandy’s main street, it seemed like peak hour in Kandy at 2:30pm, but Hiru assured us this was normal. Kandy has basically one road in and out of town, and it takes all the traffic. Patient is a requirement.
We had lunch at Bajaji Dosai. at 3:25,pm. It was a vegetarian restaurant. I had a Kara Dosa, Deb had a Cheese Mushroom Dosa and we had a Ulundu Vada each. The food was very tasty and because Hiru knew the owners we got 5 star treatment.
After our late lunch we walked down a very busy Kandy street to The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, or the Sri Dalada Maligawa. Hiru described it as the most sacred Buddhist site in the world. The tooth is the left canine tooth of Buddha, retrieved from his funeral pyre in 543bc and brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century ad. It is enclosed within seven golden caskets. Rituals are performed 3 times a day by the monks of the Malwatu and Asgiri chapters. The temple is a major pilgrimage site. Hiru gave us lots of history behind the site and how the relic came to be there. It was humbling to be given an insight into his spiritual side.
After visiting the shrine we went outside and saw building on which the Independence Square building in Colombo was modelled on. The connection and symbolism was enlightening.
We finished up for the day and drove to our hotel for the night, the Kings Pavilion. Our room had an outside shower, but it was only when I went to use it that I discovered it was cold water only, what seemed like a fun idea quickly turned cold with the water.
And that my friends is the end of our day.
#retiredlyf done our way.
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