Road trip to Nuwara eliya

Woke up at 3:30 AM, groggy and still sleepy, I packed all that was needed for the journey including the handy camera and cuddly wife and left for the inlaws by 3:50AM; still half asleep. To my surprise the inlaws were still getting ready, and since I had extra time on my hands, I topped up my tank with $20 of juice and headed back to the inlaws. Nevertheless, we left Colombo by 5AM and headed strait through Malabe/Kaduwela to Avissawela while it was still dark. By now I was fully awake and in good sense as I felt the burdens on Colombo dwindle in the background. After a good 1 hour, we reached the Avissawela road and notice the traffic building steadily as it was a long weekend and I would supposed everyone wanted to get away from Colombo as well.After a good 2 hours into our journey, we approached the famous town of Kithulgala and passed it like anyother town with absolutely no concern of stopping and having a refreshment. The climate has not changed much as Kitulgala is not at a significant elevation. However we stopped at Kithulgala for a short tea-break as I needed stretching. The Kithulgala Rest House (image on right) which is managed by the Ceylong hotels corporation is an excellent spot for tea, however the humble tea-cup sports a boastful price of 90¢. Passing Kitulgala I headed up the ever winding road with 2 destinations on my mind (Ginigathhena and Nawalapitiya).A few minutes into the second hour and we approach Ginigathhena; a town a few hundred meters above sea level and somewhat cooler. As I took the left road at the main junction I remembered the Google Earth image of the town and the junction which made it quite easy to locate. The road was well carpeted, but wound downhill as I was heading back into the valley below. The scenery had rapidly changed from lush montane forests to valleys growing crops with hills in the distance. 12km from Ginigathhena (on the B117 route) I approached Nawalapitiya with confused directions as the in-laws knew another road which was well carpeted. Heeding their advise I headed strait to Gampola not knowing where exactly I was, except for the running commentaries from my bro-in-law and his new GPS phone.. Nevertheless a few minutes later I approached the famous or rather infamous ramboda pass (image on left), which I took just for the heck of it. It was indeed stunning and the sheer cliffs of the mighty rock was a thrill passing. The ramboda pass was used until early 2008 and was known to cause traffic jams as only 1 vehicle was capable of traveling through the pass. Apparently it was the shortest route to Kandy from Nuwaraeliya. Most people generally avoided this road altogether as it was dangerous and cumbersome. However in early 2008, the Government completed the construction of a massive tunnel which is now considered to be the longest road tunnel in Sri Lanka. The ramboda pass is located in the pussellawa area and its notorius nature is known throughout the hills.Leaving ramboda I continued all the way to Nuwara eliya without looking back or left or right for that matter as the winding road demanded 101% concentration. As the road is narrow with rocks onto my right and cliffs to my left, it was hard finding parking space except when portions of the road merged with tea plantations providing me with about 20ft of parking space to play with. Now almost into the 5th hour, I can barely contain myself as the cool climate soothes my soul and heals my anxiety. As I ascended the hills which tower over 2000m, I breathe a sigh of relief as the road winds it way through some stunning vistas and dramatic chasms, all neatly cloated in misty montane ever greeen forests and tea plantations. The town has be optimally commercialized as we headed to the Cargills super market to buy stuff. As there are 2 supper markets, you will have the choice of choosing your best option (Cargills and Keels)... As the town is not more than 1 square KM, its unlikely you will ever get lost for more than 5 minutes.Attractions in Nuwara eliya:

As far as I know, the attractions are quite less as this is a commercialized town and the primary reason people come here is to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The following attractions exists...

1. Lovers Leap

2. Colonial houses

3. Plenty of hills to explore

4. Ambewella farms

5. Horton plains national park

6. Worlds end within the park

7. Tea factories

8. Hakgala botanical gardens

9. Sita eliya town

There is very little night life in Nuwaraeliya as the misty mountains play a mojar role in driving tourists back into their dens. The only night life available is probably located in Hotels, however I would seriously doubt that as well. Several Hotels do offer dinner buffets for under $15 a head, however I generally preffer the $3 a head meal :) Amazingly, there are no popular food parlours in the hills (Mac Donalds, KFC, etc etc).. however if there were, I'm pretty sure they would be packed to the brim during weekends. One possible reason for not having food parlours would be the lack of business during week days.

By Shawn Brito