Day 7

 A busy day.  We are going down to Ambewala to get a train through Ella. Today our driver is called Dush 

It's a couple of hours journey and on the way we pass beautiful waterfalls 

And devastation from the cyclone back in November. Just a couple of pictures here but there was lots and lots and lots of landslip.

Our driver lives in this area and he told us some very heart-rending stories. Many of his friends lost their homes and worse..... 

We stopped at his family's cafe for a very very sugary sweet coffee and met his wife, mother-in-law and grandad. Lovely people

We were stopped by the police a few minutes later and Dush got a fine for crossing the white line to overtake a few tuk-tuks the fine was an eye watering £2.50 🤣 that'll teach him not to break the law!

We stopped at a tea factory for a tour. Absolutely fascinating. The factory was established by two British brothers in 1840 initially growing coffee. However, they realised that tea could also be grown due to the very fertile soil. So they switched entirely over to tea and by the 1920s had turned it into a huge thriving plantation called Bluefield. In fact, most coffee growers in Ceylon also started establishing tea plants as it was more profitable. The tea will grow all through the year and you can harvest the tea almost every week. 

We boarded the train at 3:00 and it's about a 2½ hr journey. We're in third class as that's all that's available (we managed to bag a couple of seats) and it's a real mad house. All the carriages are full. A few of the stations more passengers get on. Everybody has a rucksack and a backpack... A bit like the northern line at rush hour. However, the scenery really is beautiful. We're up at around about 10,000m here and it's lush green hills, tea plantations, tiny villages, waterfalls and it's just a great ride. And the tickets were 175 LKR each - thats 80p..... I don't know how they do it!!

We just checked into our hotel. Looks like a beautiful view out from our balcony.