So sad to say good bye to friends but ready for the next adventure! A couple of people from the hostel near Sirigiya said that Nuwar...

Nuwara Eliya

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So sad to say good bye to friends but ready for the next adventure!
A couple of people from the hostel near Sirigiya said that Nuwara Eliya was not worth it, that we shouldn’t do it, that they even regretted stopping by instead of going straight to Ella. I looked at Felix and said “what should we do?” Felix just looked me so I said that I really wanted to go and that if we didn’t like it we could leave the next day.


We left Kandy by train and took the very famous Kandy to Ella train, which is supposed to be one of the most scenic train rides in the world. I was very excited for the train ride but not so much about getting on the train since I had read and heard from others that getting in is impossible and that everybody pushes everybody in order to get a window seat.

We arrived at the train station an hour and a half before the departure to make sure we got tickets and were not at the back of the crowd and could get in and get a seat. 
The train got in on time and we were ready to fight for a seat! The train was already full of people and we had to (kind of) wait for them to get off so we could get in. 
The whole thing is a mess, you have at least 50 people with huge backpacks trying to get in a wagon that sits only ½ or ⅓ of the people trying to get in. I got in pretty quickly and got a seat next to a German guy, Felix did not get a seat (story of his life!)
The train ride was not all that amazing in my opinion. My new German friend got off at Hutton station and I called Felix to come sit down. From Hutton station to Nuwara Eliya the view was really great, we were surrounded by tea plantations and it was beautiful!

Here we go!


View of the tea plantations from the train!

Nuts anyone?

The Sri Lankan way of traveling!


I let Felix have the window... for a little bit! haha


Wagon to wagon smiles!

I see you :)


Madness at the station! My phone fell and the screen broke into pieces :(

Calm, at last!
In Nuwara Eliya we dropped off our bags at the hotel and we set out to explore. 


Our guest house! Don't be fooled by the good looking one at the top!
On the way to town

 I had seen a little village on our way from the hotel and I decided we should go walk over there. Felix i think was a little skeptical and was afraid of being robbed in the village and he even asked “aren’t you afraid of getting robbed? You are walking around with an expensive camera, there are no other tourists around…” I obviously responded that I wasn’t afraid and that walking into little villages where there were no tourists is the best part of traveling. I also shared with him my view about the world, I do not walk around thinking that the world is a bad place, or that something will happen to me; on the contrary, I walk around and I think that the world is a beautiful place full of people with good intentions but that also at the same time I am cautious of my surroundings and don't do stupid things that will get me into trouble.

Walking into the village was beautiful! We were surrounded by tea plantations and ladies cutting tea leaves! 
How Beautiful! 
I did not like the children in the village who approached us and asked for money or presents or asked to take pictures of them. I have travelled enough to know that when they are the ones asking for pictures they will ask for money so no thank you! 
We kept walking through the village



Ladies bagging the tea leaves
Many of the people in the village were kind and helpful, they asked us where we were going and we answered that we didn’t know and many of them told us the route to go up the hill and see the beautiful view from above.

Walking through the tea plantations was really nice and we ended up on top of the hill at a temple with an amazing view!




View from the temple at the top.


For dinner (and breakfast the next day) we went to a super cool food court run by local ladies. Each lady makes one or two dishes and sells them to the public for as little as 10 rupees ($0.07) and as much as 35 rupees ($0.20) a piece. The food was very tasty and had a good variety.



Those look like pupusas!

Pol Roti


Breakfast Dosa

Hopper and Vadai

One day we took the bus from Nuwara Eliya and visited the Ramboda Falls. I wanted to take a tuk tuk to take us to the falls and tea plantations but Felix insisted on taking the bus so I said yes. We went to the bus station and went in the express “A/C” bus down the hill. The guy who collects the money charged everybody except us before departure, I thought it was weird but I didn’t really care since I knew he would get to us eventually. We had to wait in the bus for about 30 minutes until it got full and could leave. Once on the road the driver decided to charge us; Felix was behind me so he paid first, he told me “it’s 220 rupees” I immediately jumped out of my seat and said that it was impossible, this ride shouldn’t cost that much. I asked the guy seating next to me how much he had paid, I told him we were going to the falls. By then Felix had already given 500rupees but I made sure we did not pay that much. At the end Felix received 300rupees back, meaning they had charged him 100rupees for each of us for a ride that shouldn’t be more than 50! It's so unfair that they try to rip us off!

I had gotten information to go the Ramboda Hotel since the view from there was the best. Once we got to the hotel the bus wasn’t stopping and had to have a local ask the driver to stop. 
We walked to the restaurant and had an amazing view of the falls.




Ladies working at the hotel's tea plantation.

View from main street
After a little bit at the falls we decided to go a 1 ½ km up hill and visit a tea factory. We decided to get a tuk tuk but they wanted to charge 300rupees, we offered 50 and walked away. Ten seconds later the tuk tuk driver was next to us again and said “50 rupees ok”, he took us up the hill for 3 minutes and we gave him 60 rupees.


Bluefield Tea Factory.
I , of course, did a lot of research and found out that this tea factory was really close to the Ramboda falls so we decided to go. The factory gives you a free private tour and shows you step by step how they make tea. The tour had a lot of good information and was a really cool experience.



Drying the leaves


The factory!


I only noticed ladies working so  I asked why and the guide said "No reason"


We spent the rest of our time in Nuwara Eliya walking by the lake and taking in the view.
At night we went to a local restaurant where both Felix and I had a masala dosa for dinner. I can tolerate a lot of spiciness in my food and the dosa was a little spicy but for Felix I think it was more than he could handle. At one point he was super red and drinking water like a thirsty elephant so I told him that he should stop eating it… he refused… It was quite a sight, he looked in pain! haha
This put this big plate in front of us, you eat what you want and pay what you ate.

The struggle was real!
A mobile temple!



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About Post Author

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

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About me




Hi! It's me... Andrea!

In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around the world!

Please feel free to share tips or places to go!
Contact me: andreaheartstraveling@gmail.com