With plenty of time to burn we swapped the breakneck speeds of the bus for the relaxing pace of the train. With the doors never closed, we were able to sit in the doorway and take in the amazing vista's and tea plantations as the train cruised through the mountains - awesome journey. Once in Ella we enjoyed some excellent hiking (Ella Rock & Little Adams Peak) and ate more great food (hoppers for breakfast and Sweet Lassi for desert)...

We survived another bus journey (apparently smashing the horn means it's ok to overtake at high speeds, on blind hairpin corners, on the wrong side of the road, on the edge of a mountain...!!!) to reach the crisp temperatures of Nuwara Eliya. We had an excellent few days exploring tea plantations, drinking awesome tea, visiting tea factories, hiking to big waterfalls (lovers leap) and sampling more amazing food (coconut sambol) and fruit (wood Apple)...

Can't believe someone built a city on-top of a massive rock - that's awesome. Great day hiking up Lion Rock with some great views at the top. With the sky turning black, we managed to make it down from the top just before the storm came in...

It was great to catch up with Lindsey for a few days and check out the ancient ruins. Riding around the lake and local villages provided us with encounters with all sorts of wildlife and awarded us with some awesome views. Aaron's tasting notes - it would have been rude not to enjoy a local bottle of Lion beer when catching up with old friends...

Kandy gave us our first introduction to the crazy busy trains and insane local buses and gave us an opportunity to sample some of the awesome Sri Lankan food: Indian breakfast (no idea what we are but it was nice); coconut chutney; coconut roti and kottu (so good). The family of monkeys in the trees outside our room kept us amused whilst the sweaty hike up to the Buddha on top of the hill provided great views...