It’s an early start to catch the train to Peradeniya for the onward connection to Nuwara Eliya in the heart of the hill country. We have booked first class tickets in the observation car and are pleasantly surprised to discover that we been allocated seats immediately in front of the observation window which provides uninterrupted views down the track and across the countryside. Quite a result!
It’s 65km from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya but the train journey takes 4 hours as it winds up through the hills with spectacular views most of the way. Neatly clipped tea bushes carpet the hill sides and there are a few tea pickers to be seen on the slopes cloaked in plastic capes to ward off the rain and with large plastic sacks hanging from their heads.
Nuwara Eliya nestles between the surrounding hills about 1800m above sea level and our guest house seems to be a long way up the hillside away from the centre. We are staying at King Fern Bungalow and are picked up at the station in Nanu Oya about 6km away. By the time we arrive we are beginning to feel that the location is far too remote. But this is definitely the cleanest and most attractive guest house we stayed at by far. There are fantastic views of the town below from the balcony outside our room and also from the dining and sitting room. Plus there is internet.
The family – mother and three brothers – who run the bungalow (which is a complete misnomer since the building is on several levels) and King Fern Cottage further down the hill – are very friendly and attentive and the puckish brother who seems to do most the work is very chatty and keen to tell us all we might want to know about Nuwara Eliya and we are in danger of information overload. Mamma surprisingly manages to make herself understood despite her very limited pidgin English and bird-like voice and is famed for her cooking, which sadly turns out to be not quite as good as she likes to believe.
It’s distinctly cooler here, overcast and wet. In fact rains heavily most of the afternoon and well into the evening. So plans to take a walk down into town, which we are assured only takes 10 minutes by the short-cut, will have to wait until tomorrow and we hunker down in front of a wood fire in our fleeces instead – and yes, it is that cool!