1st Jan – On route to Nuwara Eliya, feeling exhausted but chuffed I conquered Adams Peak for the New Year!

The trip from Adams Peak to Nuwara Eliya takes about 3 hours. Sri Lanka is world famous for its tea and much of that is produced in Nuwara Eliya.

- TEA PLANTATIONS AND PICKERS

There are still so many relics of the British colonial era in many parts of Sri Lanka. From the Railways and their stations which look like they date back to the 1800’s (which is when they were first built) through to typical English buildings and even a race course because the British wanted something a little more familiar.

I’m staying in what was the British Governors mansion and is about as British as you will get with log fires and old English furniture everywhere. Just learning about the history of Sri Lanka has been an experience in its self; its history is vast from recent colonization’s over the last few hundred years’ right back to its ancient history over many thousands.

- THE GUEST HOUSE, COMPLETE WITH LOG FIRE

From just about knowing where Sri Lanka was on the map to being submerged in its history, culture and natural beauty it’s been one of the most fascination experiences I have had and continue to have.

Here I met a Swiss girl called Jocelyne (from the french part of Switzerland) staying in the same place who was also traveling alone. We had a lot to chat about and it was good to meet someone of a similar same age. A few of us got drinking quite a bit that evening, including the Japanese guy I met in Sigiriya – it’s a small world! We were drinking Arrack which is the staple spirit drink of Sri Lanka, I had a fair bit in Sigiriya so know you get pretty drunk off it and i didn’t even get a hang over – I’m currently looking into how I can ship a load of this back to the UK! We all had a really funny drunken night getting to know each other.