Sri Lanka - day 5

Today was the day we were going to step out into the real Nuwara Eliya and experience the awesome weather we had all been waiting for. We started our day with a trip to Gregory lake, a reservoir constructed in the heart of the city by the British in 1873. It is a very scenic area with lots of recreational activities on offer, such as swan boat rides, regular boat rides, pony rides and watersports like jetskiing and windsurfing. And oh, apparently, air taxis and seaplanes arrive in Nuwara Eliya by landing on Gregory Lake!

The place was absolutely stunning!

It was fabulously cold, and thankfully we were all bundled up in our winterwear.

Xena lost no time in flicking my jacket. I still had a shawl with me but I was enjoying the cold weather so much I didn't use it much. 

Shawls to the rescue of the mommies!

And one for Toots!

Family picture at Gregory Lake

I asked Xena if she wanted a boat ride or a swan boat ride and her no was very clear. I asked her if she wanted a pony ride and her no was very clear. I wanted her to get over her fear so I asked her again. She said she'd go only if I went with her. So I told her that we'd go say hi to the pony first and if it was big and strong enough to take both of us together, we could. One look at the tiny pony and I knew there was no way it could take the two of us together. So I told Xena that she could ride and I would walk beside her, holding her hand.

Very reluctantly, she agreed, though you could tell she was extremely nervous. 

After a while, I let go of her hand and even the guy let go of the reins. Surprisingly, she seemed ok. 

Parting shot with the pony before she went back to report to her grandparents how bravely she'd been on a pony ride!

We hung around for about an hour, walking around the lake and enjoying the weather for Nuwara Eliya was as cold as it would get on the trip. (At least that's what we thought, for we had not gone to Lipton's Seat yet!)

Next, we headed towards the Seetha Amman Temple, or Sita Temple, believed to be the site where Sita was held captive by Ravana. My mom was very excited about the temple, as to her it was possibly the most important 'Patel point' for Sri Lanka. In fact, she wanted me to point out the exact spot where Sita sat and waited for Rama, and I was like "Uhh..."

The temple was only about 5 km from Nuwara Eliya so we got there pretty quickly. It was crowded -- lots of Indians and lots of monkeys.

The Seetha Amman temple

I pointed out these statues of Hanuman and Sita to my mother, and she was content and confident that it was the spot she had been looking for. She asked me to take her picture on her phone so she could send it to her friends immediately (= whenever we got a WiFi connection).

Next, we set off towards Haputale, our next destination. The journey took over an hour, and mom-in-law settled to do her jigsaw puzzles on her iPad. 

It was almost lunchtime and we were still on the road. So we asked our driver if we could stop somewhere for lunch. He took us to this place 'on the way, sir', called Glace Bakery and Cafe. It sounds like a place with just cakes and snacks, but their menu was UH-MAZING. They had pizza, pasta, Chinese food, kothu paratha, everything. We ordered an assortment of dishes, and everything was great, especially the pizza. 

Glace Bakery and Cafe menu

And free WiFI! WHEEEEE!

The area around the cafe was very scenic. 

Dad and I enjoyed the view and chit-chatted. (Hopefully he was not planning to take a tea cutting back home!)

We checked into our hotel at Haputale and relaxed for a bit. The plan was to go to the famous Lipton’s Seat lookout in the late afternoon, but according to our driver, we were better off hiring a tuk-tuk to go there due to the narrow winding roads. We were still discussing it when he suddenly said he will take us up there in his van. Not knowing any better, we agreed. However, once we got there, we (and he) realised soon enough that the path was a bit too crazy to go in a giant van. We got off near the Dambatenne tea factory and hired two tuk-tuks to take us up. As it was a steep and narrow uphill path spanning 8 km (!) to go to the top, tuk-tuks were aplenty as they were pretty much the only viable mode of transport. 

The tuk-tuk drivers were like ants, stopping to chit-chat for a few seconds before proceeding, and it was like they all knew one another! Even our driver who was not from that part of Sri Lanka was chatting with everyone like long-lost brothers. You could see why everyone says Sri Lankans are really friendly people. 

Under ordinary circumstances, I would have enjoyed a winding 8-km uphill path through lush tea plantations. However, in this case, it had started raining, and the path was a bit too narrow, the climb a bit too steep, the tuk-tuk a bit too full and our driver a bit too chillaxed (he took a phone call... IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT INSANE RIDE! I kid you not!). The road was so crazy, every time another vehicle appeared, we had to reverse and somehow make space, and many times we came dangerously close to the slope. I cannot tell you how many times I thought we wouldn't make it. The fear of thetuk-tuk sliding down at any moment was not just a fear, it was seeming like a real possibility. As I was the one who had planned the entire itinerary and excitedly included Lipton's Seat, I asked myself in a moment of panic, "What have you done, woman? And dragged your entire family into it?" I had started having some seriously horrid ‘what if’ thoughts. 

And finally, oh finally, we reached the top. I shot out of the tuk-tuk like a bullet and went and hugged everyone. WE WERE STILL ALIVE! I did a quick headcount and WE WERE ALL THERE! 

Now that we were all accounted for, I remembered the other hilarious things that had happened along the way. Our tuk-tuk driver had tried to get us the entry tickets at the local price, but the guy at the counter peeped inside to confirm if it really was Sri Lankans inside, only to encounter my very dazed face. I couldn't wipe that look off my face, but thankfully my dad-in-law started talking in Tamil and they let us go. 

When our first group had arrived, it was so misty that nothing could be seen. Luckily as soon as we reached, the mist cleared and we saw the most amazing views. 

We were at an elevation of about 1500 metres, and got a stunning view of five provinces of Sri Lanka. 

There was a staircase to go up even higher and we did. It was bitterly cold and windy at the top, and Xena took my jacket to wear on top of hers, leaving me freezing. My shawl saved my life.

The women: Brrrr....

The women: Morrrre brrrr...

The men: Ya whatevs...

A gorgeous tree with spectacular blossoms

Panorama shot from the top

And here we are, posing right next to Sir Thomas Lipton, who used to survey his sprawling tea empire from this spot! 

Tea plantations everywhere

There was a sign with all the information about Sir Lipton. He visited Sri Lanka in the 1800s and decided to start a tea empire here. A marketing guru, he commercialised Ceylon tea and made it accessible (and famous). 

We would have liked to spend more time there, but the cold and the wind made it impossible. So we got back into our tuk-tuks and made the very perilous journey again to get back to the warmth of our van. Thankfully, the return journey seemed shorter (and I guess we had established from experience, some kind of trust in our tuk-tuk driver's skills in not getting us killed). 

We got home, everyone played Uno while I made notes for Hopscotch. Xena was starting to get a slight temperature, but I had taken medicines along and thankfully, it came down. 

It had started to drizzle, so Viv and Toots went to pack dinner for everyone -- some very tasty fried rice and noodles. We decided to call it a night pretty early, as Viv, Toots and I had to wake up at 4.30 am next morning to go for the World's End hike!

Click here for Sri Lanka road trip - day 6!