Sweaty s***ty night sleep, trying to push my way over on to Ellie’s side of the end again! Got woken up by bangs on the roof, which we later discovered were monkeys fighting on the roof. The little sods! Didn’t get bitten too badly last night so I suppose that’s a little positive?

Breakfast a little later this morning because we had changed our route to Nuwara Eliya as there was no point in doing Adam’s peak because it’s the worst time of the year to do it because of fog and rain. Only.... I looked at train times last night and got mixed up with the end destination from Kandy onwards so we actually missed the last train Kandy to Nuwara Eliya because we wouldn’t have got the bus there in time. So we had to do a double bus journey! Whoooops.
After breakfast the guy took us in his tuk tuk to the bus stop, a red public bus came whizzing by and he told us it was going to Kandy to a very awkward hop skip and jump with our huge rucksacks onto the very overcrowded bus, threw the bags in the bag area (surrounding the wobbly gear stick) and off we went. The seats we managed to sit on were half the size of a normal I’m sure, you couldn’t have fitted a toddler on one! Very cosy I must say.
We wobbled and bumped around to Kandy for about 2.5 hours and found another bus to Nuwara Eliya. They were dieing to sell us the air con bus ticket but that was double in price so we debated back with them that we are on a budget and we have to settle with natural air con buses (with the windows open and super overcrowded) even if it took and extra 45 minutes!
But first we had to empty the bladders. It was Ellie’s first time in a eastern toilet (a smelly hole in the floor) what a great way to start, with your big ruckpack on your back and your small rucksack on your front. Great for the balance and checking that your peeing in the hole and not on the floor!
But the outcome was successful! She successfully conquered the eastern toilet with no splash backs on her ankles! Woohoo!

At least the next bus had a little more room - I’m not saying a great deal more but a little. As we got further up into the highlands it got colder and the clouds suddenly surrounded us and then were below us whilst we got into the tea plantations. When we managed to get through the clouds the place was so picturesque, absolutely beautiful scenery from the tea trees! Reminded me of India.
Although I was probably more excited about the fact I could finally put my jumper on because it was COLD outside!! (The little things... it’s what the sandpit does to you!)

Arrived in the main town or Nuwara Eliya, very foggy and damp. Everyone was wearing coats and bobble hats! It was very english there with a horse race track, old English cottages, the post office even looked English with the postboxes outside, there were English names colleges like Sussex And Norfolk colleges. And of course it was raining! Actually a really miserable day but I was so damp excited to see rain and fog and people wearing coats it didn’t phase me.

We got to the hostel (the laughing leopard), music pumping and the guy that owned it was wearing sunglasses (here we go....) he was all yeah man, yoooo! How’s it going dude, sup’ guys this is sick that your here! Swore a lot in amongst that too (neither of us knew what to do or say, we just sort of stared at him and smiled awkwardly)
The place was okay, we got put in a mixed dorm with a few people; our first hostel! But it had warm showers so that’s all that mattered (well that and a woolly blanket and beer)

After settling down we sat in the common area outside on the pallet furniture. Bloody freezing! The owner came out with his “yo, hey man, sick bruv, how’s it going, what ya saying” quotes again. (Not sure who he thinks he is, he’s not that cool). The beer situation: “so yeah if you want a beer man, they’re 200ruppees per can, you just pay me as you go along because I won’t remember how many you’ve had once I get f***ed up.” Ummm yeah okay cool!
We sat and drank and they cooked vegetable kottu for dinner so we had a delicious plate and I called it a night at around 9.30pm because it was an early start tomorrow and I wasn’t feeling being pressured into drinking his god awful punch. Ellie made the most of this however lol!