After a few days in the mountains, I moved to the east coast, which is the most unexplored part of the country. 6 hours bus with nonstop tamil techno music at full volume brought me to Arugam Bay, considered as the most beautiful surf spot and beach of the east coast. I found a very quiet city, with dozens of surfers guesthouses, surf shops and schools and of course many surfers from all around the world. Since the water here is very calm, and therefore suitable for beginners, I planned to try surfing one more time. As soon as I saw how crowded was the surf spot I had to give up: 30-40 surfers waiting for waves in something like 50 square meters. Knowing my surfing level, it will have been too dangerous for others if I have tried anything with a board. So my two days in Arugam Bay have consisted in walking on the beach, sunbathing and swimming in the sea (including a great midnight session!). During the evenings there was nothing much going on, so I stayed at the guesthouse, talked to people and enjoyed the awesome company of monkeys and baby cats spending the evening with us.
After a few days in Arugam bay, I took a bus back to Ella, to continue in the mountains. Bus ride took me 8 hours, but we drove through amazing landscapes up and down famous Ceylon tea cultures. For 100 rupees (70cts), I had the greatest views of the country since I arrived. I must say I was very lucky being seated on the first row of bus, so I had room for my legs and backpack. Otherwise it could have turn to nightmare. I arrived in Ella at dusk and immediately went to bed. Knowing the place where to sleep helps saving lot of time!

When I first stopped in Ella, I walked down the railroad tracks for hours and saw a couple of trains. That soon became a "thing to do at any cost". Taking train in Sri Lankan mountains is an amazing experience, specially in 3rd class without reservation. When train reached Ella by 9am, it was already overflowing with people, some literally holding the outside handrails and therefore standing outside the coach on the boarding platforms.
Fortunately a group of young people helped me climbing aboard, and somehow I was able to stand almost inside the coach. Believe me, it was everything but easy with my backpack. Also train don't really stops, it actually slows down while passing in the station. Of course no chance to seat, even on the floor! Ride to Nuwara Eliya took 3 hours, and seconds after leaving Ella, the guys who helped me to board (about 20 people) started sing local songs in chorus and dancing with the support of a very energetic drummer. They were singing so loud that it was just impossible to hear the train, knowing that train is 50 years old, and doors and windows were kept open.

The guys have sung and danced nonstop for 3 hours, which created an amazing atmosphere by passing through breathtaking mountain landscapes. Train rides at about 20km/h and when going through a tunnel ALL the people starts to scream very loud to play with echo! At each station a new fight begins to keep everyone's living space: sometimes we arrived in stations with platform full of passengers with tons of luggage and I thought to myself: "they will never be able to board". In the end, and somehow, everybody was always able to jump in, including families with 10 children.

Anyway, this is something I strongly recommend to anyone who plans to visit Sri Lanka! But I also recommend a 1rst or 2nd class ticket... Not that easy to make it in 3rd class.. One must not be scared of very close and sometimes violent contact with people!
I was finally happy to jump off the train as my hears were starting to whistle. I wish I could have take some pictures, but there was really no way to grab my camera...

Another 30 minutes bus on an unpaved road and I finally reached the town of Nuwara Elyia at 2000m. It was raining very hard, and I was starting to feel sick, most probably because of the temperature difference between Arugam Bay (35 degrees) and Nuwara Elyia (10 degrees), so for the first time I stepped in the first hotel I saw, lowed the price as much as possible, and spent 1 hours under hot water. After an afternoon sleep, I wanted to take a look around the city but rain had doubled, there was no way to step out. I just ran to the closest restaurant for dinner and went back to hotel.

Fortunately the day after rain stopped, so I had a morning walk in the city, and was lucky to watch at a huge ceremony for some reason I was unable to understand. People with all kind of Asian flags, street orchestras and some military and politics VIP's (see pictures). As I realized there was nothing much do to in Nuwara Eliya, even if the city is very green, I decided to leave the same day. Temperature also played a part in my decision: I didn't want to continue my journey with 40 degrees fever.

Thank you for reading me !