Thursday 30th January - Enchanting Ella

No alarm this morning and we sleep in until seven when the racket in the trees around the hotel wakes us. We take one more trip down to the tank to see if the Paradise Flycatcher will grace us with his presence but no luck. There are several Kingfishers and at least seven Night Herons, more in one place than we have seen in eight trips to India combined. A couple of Japanese chaps appear toting cameras with lenses that could give a chap an inferiority complex. When they tell us that Paradise Flycatchers are tuppence a dozen in the garden of their hotel we decide to call time.

This is our first chance to sample a Blue Turtle breakfast. Unsurprisingly R is very taken with a fruit that appears in the fruit platter called soursop. D's preference is for the homemade banana jam. We have been delighted with our stay here. The place is well maintained with cheerful, well trained staff and good facilities. The garden is a splendour of colourful flowers and insects, with interesting birds as a bonus. As we know you all enjoy our 'Name that fruit' occasional  feature can you identify this fruit, growing on a bush in the garden?

Our taxi arrives a few minutes early and we get loaded up. Our driver is quite cheery but we discover that his English is not quite as good as he thinks it is. The roads for the first 40 miles or so are single carriageway, but quite wide and lots of straight sections. The speed limit is 70kph which our driver seems to observe strictly. We have a number of p stops. The first to pump air in a tyre, the second for petrol, thirdly for a prayer at a shrine and finally for the driver to pee. D also requests a stop but is unable to continue the alliteration as he was withdrawing cash not paying in.

The last 15 miles are on a narrower road that winds steeply up into the hills. Our chap's driving habits deteriorate as he refers constantly to Google maps on his phone. Pointless really as there is only one road and we are on it. A few miles short of Ella, our destination, there is a spectacular waterfall. We stop to take pictures and note the cooler temperatures at higher altitude. Despite notices in several languages pointing out the dangers of bathing and placing a strict prohibition upon it, there are various pink idiots splashing about in the pool at the bottom of the main fall. When we get back to the car a youth with a vaguely official looking book relieves us of Rs 50 for parking. 

The last section of the trip is interminable as there are several sections where roadworks are taking place, either because bits of cliff above have fallen onto the road or chunks of road have disappeared into the abyss below. The final obstacle is a resurfacing scheme in the town which sees us stuck for ten minutes while only about 200 yards from our destination. The last fifty yards is along a path too narrow for the car so we have to saddle up and walk. 

The owner of the Spice Lodge comes to meet us and takes on the large holdall for the 95 steps up to our room. Most of these steps are fashioned from roughly cut sandstone and have risers varying from about 9 inches to 18 inches. The man trots up like a mountain goat with us floundering behind. When we eventually make it up we are greeted in English by the lady of the house, who registers us, shows us our room and notes our preference for breakfast tomorrow.

The Spice Lodge is described on Booking.com as a One star hotel but with very good reviews. The accommodation is much simpler that the last place but very clean and comfortable. There is a kettle and a fridge as well as a very interesting looking shower in the en suite. There is no a/c but we are over 1,000 metres up with a nice breeze and full height windows. If it gets stuffy there is a tower fan with remote control, not something we have seen before. We sort our luggage and have a cup of tea. The daughter of the house appears with Maw. She is at college studying to be a teacher of English. She certainly has the linguistic ability. She quickly runs through the arrangements that we thought we had already settled with Maw and then quizzes us in detail on our plans. She gives us some useful pointers that should save a bit of time tomorrow.

Interrogation over we sort ourselves out to go exploring in Ella. It is basically a small town clustered around a T junction. There is a railway station at the far end of town and a street of shops restaurants and bars leading up to it. We are at the quieter, posh end of town but don't mind a bit of slumming now and again. The whole place has a kind of hippy vibe with a lot of younger tourists and some very competitive prices. There are a lot of French people around, most of them on hired two wheelers. R absolutely refuses to hire a Scooty on the grounds that she does not have the necessary outfit.

We walk through to the station and back, purchasing a few essentials and enjoying a beer at half the price of the ones in Tissa. We manage to drag ourselves up the 95 steps again for a laze on the verandah. Our room is one half of a cabin and a young French couple arrive to occupy the adjoining room. They appear to have left their Scooty at the bottom of the steps. We have decided to go quite early for supper so that we can descend the stairs in daylight. As we walk into town the temperature is pleasantly warm, like Scotland can be two or three days each year.

The main street is much busier than this afternoon and the hospitality venues are starting to fill up. We move on past the venues promising live music and pick one at random. It is called Chill. We can be hip with the kids. Their prices are reasonable, they have beer and the menu includes lamprais, a dish originally introduced to Sri Lanka by the Dutch. It is chicken curry with potatoes, various veg, a deep fried hard boiled egg and rice, all served wrapped in a banana leaf and accompanied by poppadoms, chutney and a spicy coconut garnish. Delicious! When our meal is served the restaurant's resident mutt sits by our table with oh so sad eyes. As soon as the plates are cleared he moves to another table. If you don't count breakfasts in Colombo we have not yet had a dud meal in Sri Lanka.