This weekly wrap-up covers our journey from December 8 to 14. We spent the entire week exploring Sri Lanka, beginning in Galle before traveling to Udawalawa (home to Udawalawe National Park) and Ella (a popular town for backpackers). On Saturday, we took the famous hill country train from Ella to Nuwara Eliya.
Favorite thing we ate: I have a friend from college (hi Roshani!) who is Sri Lankan, so she sent us a list of food to try and she was spot on. At the top of her list was kottu, a dish made of chopped of roti (flatbread), vegetables and whatever else you order (e.g. egg, meat, cheese). We ordered kottu many times in Sri Lanka (sometimes twice a day!), but Jonathan’s favorite was the first kottu we tried at Café Hula Hula in Galle [pictured above left]. He especially loved the date chutney served with the kottu [small dark dish at bottom left of photo]. Megan absolutely loved the Sri Lankan breakfasts served at our homestay in Ella: Rest Full Homestay. The menu changed slightly each morning, but the breakfast pictured above right included [from top] coconut pancakes, egg hoppers, flatbread with potato curry and coconut sambal, and fresh fruit. Yum!
Favorite thing we drank: Hotel Le Green in Udawalawa greeted us with delicious and very refreshing lime juice. Ahhhh.
Favorite thing we did: Hiking up to Asanka Café in Ella to watch the 6:30 a.m. train cross the Nine Arch Bridge was pretty cool [pictured above left]. We followed this activity by climbing up to Little Adam’s Peak, also called Mini Adam’s Peak [above right], so named because it’s much shorter and easier than climbing Adam’s Peak, a famous but strenuous hike located between Ella and Nuwara Eliya.
Biggest splurge: We did a safari ride in Udawalawe National Park, which cost 4500 LKR for a private 4-hour tour in a jeep, plus 8300 LKR for two park tickets. After tipping our driver and guide, the total cost was around $92 USD. If you’ve done safaris elsewhere (say, Kenya), then you’ll probably laugh at calling this a splurge. It is definitely an amazing value, but it was still the most expensive part of our week. (Sri Lanka overall is amazingly affordable–you should go!)
Best deal: The trains in Sri Lanka are beautiful and so inexpensive! We got second-class reserved seats on the famous hill country train from Ella to Nuwara Eliya (a 3-hour section of the longer Kandy–Badulla hill country route) for only 500 LKR each (about $2.76 USD).
Biggest oops: We used Google Maps to route our way to the start of the Ella Rock hike, which directed us along the road up and over a (big!) hill to the Kital Ella Railway Station. From the station, we walked along the tracks [pictured above–yes, we adopted another furry hiking buddy!] to the trailhead. Really, it’s much more popular (and far easier) to start at the main Ella Railway Station and walk along the tracks all the way to trailhead. By walking on the road, we had already walked 4.5 km over several hundred meters of elevation by the time we reached the trailhead. If you plan to hike Ella Rock, use this guide from Atlas & Boots to avoid our mistake.
What we’re reading: Jonathan started reading an advance copy of Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian (scheduled release date: March 17, 2020). Megan read this year’s Booker winner Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo and it immediately earned a spot on her “best of the year” list! She also started Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom.
Total walking distance: 31.64 miles
Up next: We’ll be in Sri Lanka until the weekend, when we’ll be meeting Megan’s mom in Singapore (and checking out that sweet airport!).
Featured image: Tuk tuk parked on a street in Galle Fort, Sri Lanka
