Blue waters of Unawatuna.....

Day 7: 5th Mar, 2015

It was time to say good bye to Nuwara Eliya and head on to our next destination which would be a beach destination, Unawatuna. It was a long journey and we decided to start early by 7:00 am. The route to Unawatuna is very scenic with lot of greenery and a river giving company for most of the journey. You get to see two waterfalls on the way - St. Clair falls and Devon falls. First comes the St. Clairs falls which is a very beautiful cascading falls with a viewpoint on the highway. The falls is also known as "Niagara of Sri Lanka" and is located along the Kotmale river. The falls look amazing from the viewpoint where you can also take some pictures with the backdrop of the falls. The next falls on route is the Devon falls which drops from approximately 97 meters and is also located along the Kotmale river. There is a viewpoint for this waterfall as well.

St. Clair falls

Devon falls

Some clicks and we were back in the car to continue the journey. Adam's peak also known as Sri Pada, is very famous for trekking in Sri Lanka and we wanted to at least have a glimpse of the peak in this trip. We were discussing the same with our driver and somewhere midway through the journey, we saw through binoculars what was supposedly Adam's peak. If what we saw was indeed Adam's peak, it looked quite inviting for a trek. A depression in the rocky summit represents a huge footprint which has been venerated as a sacred sign which is why it is known as Sri Pada.

We were yet to cover half of the distance and hence, we stopped at a beautiful resort which was on the banks of a river for a short break. We had some tea and were just lazing around the river for a while which was much needed during this long journey. There were also some vintage cars for exhibition at the resort which was very interesting. we also spotted some really beautiful birds on the way.

A short while after the break, we hit the southern express-way which is Sri Lanka's first E class highway. The highway connects Colombo to Galle and Matara, major cities in the south of the island. We traveled almost 90 kms in 1 hour and 15 mins. Wasn't that amazing!

Southern Expressway

It was 1:00 pm when we reached Unawatuna, a suburb of Galle. Unawatuna is a major tourist attraction famous for its beautiful beaches. It was very disheartening to listen about how this place was badly affected due to the tsunami back in 2004. We were told that all the beach lined hotels were flooded by sea water and the tsunami had a devastating effect. But it felt good to see the town back in action!

The small lane from the highway to the resort was lined with jewelry shops, restaurants and hotels. We had booked Thaproban Beach House located on the beach based on the reviews from TripAdvisor and Booking.com. The hotel is right on the beach with its superior rooms and suite facing the beach. Considering all the different hotels, we found this one to be better according to our budget and the views!

View from room

We had a warm welcome from the staff with a welcome drink and we were escorted to our rooms. We had booked a deluxe room and a suite. The suite was good for four adults as it had 2 bedrooms but the only problem with it was -  the only single bathroom. The suite had a sea facing sit-out with large ceiling to floor windows which opened directly to the sea view. The bathroom was spacious and extremely clean with a large shower area. Lunch was the usual veg fried rice and veg noodles (which being a vegetarian I had become very bored of). The blue waters reminded me of the beautiful Andaman islands in India and I was eager to have a stroll on the beach with my husband soaking my feet in the cool waters!

View from balcony at night

Beach restaurant

We relaxed in the sit-out until evening watching the waves with the soothing sound of water calming us. The clouds covered the sun and we knew it was time to hit the beach! We had a lot of fun in the waters, getting completely soaked and wishing it would never end! The beach at Unawatuna is considered to be very safe as the water is shallow. Be sure to hit this beach if you visit Unawatuna. It was a full moon day and the tides increased as the day progressed. We freshened up and had a family time in the balcony chatting up with the neighbors and discussing about our lovely trip so far. It was dinner time and we had dinner on the beautiful tables arranged right on the beach. It was a family dinner to be remembered forever! And thus the day was well spent relaxing in the cool sea breeze.

Gregory lake, Seetha Eliya and much more....

Day 6: 4th Mar, 2015

The second day at Nuwara Eliya started on a cool note! The temperature was too low compared to the previous day. It was foggy and cold. The plan was to explore Nuwara Eliya. We had a breakfast of bread followed by some hot tea! The van and driver were ready to take us to all the places planned.

The first place we wanted to visit was Seetha Eliya which is supposed to be the place where Sita Mata was held captive as per Ramayana. It is a temple surrounded by trees and a small river flowing by its side, approximately 4-5kms from Nuwara Eliya market.

Temple at Seetha Eliya

We spent almost 2 hours at this beautiful place which provided peace and tranquillity. According to the Hindu mythology Ramayana, Sita Mata was held captive by King Ravan at a place called Ashoka Vatika and during her stay over there, Hanuman delivered her the ring which belonged to Lord Ram. The locals told us that it was supposedly at this place that all those events described took place. There are also some huge depressions on a giant rock which are believed to be the foot-prints of Hanuman. Also, since the soil color on the other side of the river is black, it is believed to be the part which Hanuman had set on fire.

Small river next to temple with the depressions

It was almost time for lunch by the time we were done admiring the place! We had lunch at Milano restaurant which is in the market area. Since there was not much option for vegetarians, we had Vegetable fried rice and Vegetable noodles. There is this sweet delicacy called Watalappan which is very famous in Sri Lanka and it was long pending in our must eat list! And I must admit it that a trip to Sri Lanka is incomplete without you tasting this dish!!

Done with our lunch, we were all charged to explore some more places. The next place on our list was Gregory lake. This lake is very well known among the tourists to Nuwara Eliya. There is a garden along the edges of the lake where you can take a stroll. I think the entrance fees for tourists is around 200 LKR.

Lake Gregory

The weather played a spoilsport here as it started to rain the minute we stepped out from our van. We got back in and were just waiting for the rain to subside as we were in no mood to skip a nice long walk along this beautiful lake. To our luck, half an hour later, the rains stopped. We took a walk around the lake, took some really beautiful pictures and had a lovely family time.

Fruit market

There is also a garden you can visit but we gave it a skip since it was a very rainy day. A hot tea was what was required in a place with dropping temperature! There is a fruit market near the main market where you get to see and taste different varieties of fruits. There are also many other attractions like Hakgala botanical gardens, Horton plains national park.Then we headed back to our hotel and were back to the town square for dinner. And it was the end of another day at Sri Lanka......

The world famous Ceylon tea....

Day 5: 3rd Mar, 2015

The day started with the chirping of the birds waking us up for a journey to the tea estates of Ceylon. Ceylon tea has been famous all over the world and Nuwara Eliya is the "Little England" of Sri Lanka.  Nuwara Eliya has a cooler climate compared to the other cities we visited. And it rains most of the time. It has the English country village feel to it with beautiful gardens and golf courses. We had an Indian breakfast of Masala Dosa and Idli at a small restaurant just opposite to the hotel at Kandy. After breakfast we were all set for Nuwara Eliya. Our driver took us through the University of Peradeniya and it was a very beautiful place with lots of trees and spot clean roads. We stopped near a huge tree for a family snap. On the way, we got to see a part of Buddhist culture as our driver stopped near a Peepal tree, got down from the van and prayed for a minute standing opposite to the tree. :)

At University of Peradeniya

The distance from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya is approximately 100kms but it takes around 4-5 hours since the roads are through the hills and you can also club in a Tea Estate tour en route. As we started the ascend, all that the eyes could see were beautifully pruned tea estates. It was time to take some snaps amidst the tea trees and we stopped at one of many tea estates on the way.

Tea Estate on the way

Our next stop was at Mackwoods Tea Estate where a guide takes you on a tea estate tour showing you how different varieties of tea from CTC to the expensive Golden Tips are produced.All the different varieties of tea are taken from the same tea tree but each variety has a different oxidation level. We were told that each tree has a life span of around 60 years and they need to keep pruning it to keep it short. The procedure of tea processing starts with withering where excess water from the lea leaves is removed. Next comes rolling where the tea leaves are twisted after which comes roll breaking which separates large clusters of rolled leaves into smaller ones. Next is Fermentation where tea leaves are spread out for oxidation. The last step is firing after which based on the oxidation, you get different tea leaves. It is a very interesting procedure and at the end of the tour, you will be guided to a cafe where you will be served black tea after which you can also buy different varieties of tea. I would recommend to buy the Orange Pekoe variety for its distinct taste and the beautiful blackish orange color after brewing.

Mackwoods Tea Estate

Different tea varieties

After a bit of tea shopping we reached our homestay for the next two days. We had selected Sherwood Cottage for our stay and I must admit, it was an awful stay with bad smelly rooms and a not so friendly host. I would recommend staying in some other resort, hotel or homestay than this one. Also the approach to this homestay is not good as the roads are too narrow.

We settled in our rooms, freshened up and were ready to explore Nuwara Eliya. Nuwara Eliya has a lake, a small market or town square, a temple and a golf course. We took a walk to the town square and shopped for a few groceries. By the time we were done, it was dinner time as the restaurants here close by 8:30 or 9 pm. There is not much choice for vegetarians here. We had Vegetable Kottu and Veg noodles. And then we took a walk till the homestay.

View from the homestay

The weather at Nuwara Eliya is very unpredictable. It was warm in the morning and too cold at night. It also rained the other day. If this town is in your itinerary, be sure to carry warm clothes, some winter wear and an umbrella. And with this the fourth day at Sri Lanka came to an end....