Nuwara Eliya - Ella

This morning we got up early because we wanted to take the train to Ella at noon and see a bit more of Nuwara Eliya beforehand.

After breakfast, we went to the over two hundred-year-old racecourse, where I was allowed to ride a wiry little horse and we were guided through the venerable racecourse. A highlight for me, as I had never been to a racecourse before. After that, we took a walk around Gregory Lake and drove to Nanu Oya train station.

Our tuk-tuk rental had arranged for a driver to take our tuk-tuk to Ella while we took the train. The two and a half hour train ride down to Ella was very beautiful. The train traveled at a maximum of 30km/h through tea plantations, vegetable fields, pine forests, tunnels, small settlements, and finally jungle. The mountain panorama was also great. The train had open windows and doors (as did the buses, by the way). The third class was very clean, but the seats were a bit narrow for our liking. We enjoyed the ride and took many photos.

In Ella, we picked up our tuk-tuk again and drove to the accommodation we had found on the Internet. The hostess of Biwon Homestay was very lovely and also recommended some sights to us. We visited the Nine Arches Bridge, a beautiful railway bridge that was crowded with tourists. After that, we had an apéro in the town center, where surprisingly many backpackers were. Dinner at our homestay was delicious and plentiful as usual. After that, I continued writing for the blog until the laptop's battery ran out.