Day 26 - Time for Tea
A very early start at 5am to set off for Horton Plains national park which is where you can walk for around 7km through grass land and forest, the main attraction is 'World's end' which is ona cliff top with a sheer drop providing amazing views across the countryside. We had our eyes peeled for wildlife such as elks or leopards but with no such luck except for the one elk that is there everyday at the entrance as he knows he gets to eat everyone's breakfast, and ofcourse the jungle fowl! We had a cup of tea before going up then Nihal sorted ourtickets and waved us off into the park. The scenery was beautiful, photos couldn't do the views justice, there was an impressive waterfall 'Bakers fall' to see as well. As we came back on the circular walk Nihal was waiting at the end for us waving with a big smile.. He has become like a parent! We got back into the van and he rearranged the chairs so we could see each other so we could play games, and we started a long journey through the hill country to head towards Adam's peak. Along the way Nihal stopped to get us some yoghurt to keep us going, and the next stop was a tea planatation. The landscape is dominated by tea plantations, they are huge!! We visited one of the factories and had a tour about how tea is made, it was really interesting, they still use the old English machinery. The women who pick the leaves pick 20kg a day in the boiling sun, we could see them all up in the fields picking all day. Afterwards we got to try some of the tea it was really nice, Sri Lanka has been the best place abroad for a cup of tea normally you can never enjoy one like at home but here it is just as good!
From the tea plantation we continued our journey and went to a strawberry farm on the way.. It probably wasn't as impressive as the strawberry fields at home but they had a good cafe with all things strawberry so we shared a strawberry pizza!
From there we continued to Dalhousie which was quite a long journey and we all slept! As we got closer to Dalhousie we could see Adam's peak looming above us, we all couldn't beleive how high it was! It did not look like an easy climb! Dalhousie is a small town at the foot of Adams peak and it is pilgrimage season so it was very busy with loud music and a loud speaker going on into the night as the locals tend to climb early evening. We however were climbing at 2am to reach the top before sunrise so we tried to get a very early night... We were in bed by 7.50pm! So that we manage to get a few hours before getting up, this is easier said then done with music blaring outside! Before bed however we popped out to buy some wooly hats apparently at the top it is very cold untill the sun rises!

Nihal had pulled some strings at the guesthouse and we had little cottage rooms high up on a hillside overlooking Adams peak, it was beautiful and as sun set we saw the lights come on which will lead our way up over night!