World's End: Attempt 1

Sunrise between Bandarawela and Welimada

The road to Horton Plains National Park.

We rose at 5:15am this morning with the intention of visiting World's End. We had been advised to ensure we were there early, before the mist rolled in and all you could see was white. Din, our guesthouse owner, told us that on the bike we should get there in 40 minutes as it was only a 35km ride and then a 4km walk. Little did we know, the route Din was referring to was not that which was on our map.

We rode a 60km loop through Bandarawela, Welimada, down to Ohiya and out to the National Park. It took two and a half hours. Needless to say, as we rode towards Horton Plains National Park, we were in a cloud. The mist had won this round and it was absolutely freezing. As we contemplated our options and how lost we were we decided the best option was...breakfast. We ate our rotis and samosas roadside before continuing to the National Park Office and turning back around. Looking at the positives though...it was a very scenic ride through all kind of terrain. We got to watch a beautiful sunrise and for once the roads were peaceful as local people went quietly about cooking their breakfast on open fires and heading to work.

The road to Horton Plains National Park.

We made no mistake regarding our route home and had the guy at the National Park Office draw us a map. Good thing we did too as it rained and rained and we were happy to be taking the shortcut back to Haputale. And even happier to have invested in Gortex jackets to keep us dry.

The colder climate has messed with my system leaving me feeling pretty average. It's hard to know which part is from the weather, which is from sitting on a bike for so many hours and which is from the street food. Speaking of which, we had a fantastic lunch at Risara Restaurant once back in Haputale. Rice, dahl, bean curry, beetroot curry, coconut sambal, naan and chapati washed down with milk tea all for the equivalent of just over $2 AUD for the both of us. We asked for one serve as we weren't particularly hungry. Good thing too as there was enough food to feed an army. And that was before he offered to top our curries back up. We couldn't get through all our chapati so he put it back on the shelf to be sold to another customer. No waste here! I felt much better after lunch. Sri Lanka was all getting a bit much for a minute there. I wanted a meat pie, footpaths, English, wifi and to wash my clothes. I now know that a good curry can fix that feeling pretty efficiently.

Planning the next stage of our journey.

After three days of wrong turns and sore bums we went all out and bought a map of Sri Lanka's roads. The Lonely Planet maps had done for us what they could but it was time to move on. And for $2 AUD we were happy we did. We spent a couple of hours planning and re-planning and have decided that tomorrow we'll give World's End another go before heading toward Dalhousie. That is, if all goes to plan which considering our track record of the last few days is pretty laughable.

We've scoured the town for wifi and have decided there isn't any that works and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. We did realise though that its New Years Eve so Chris has got himself a nice warm can of Anchor beer to celebrate with. After the beer and a lay down, we went into town again, this time in search of dinner and some photos. Risara Restaurant again provided our meal only this time it was made less enjoyable by the large number of other tourists crowding it. I guess that's the price you pay when Lonely Planet gets a hold of a place.

Our usual eats: street food

Thanks Haputale. You've made us feel quite at home.

Note: many of the Tuk Tuks have profound quotes written on them along with their flashing lights, rasta colours and Che Guevara images. I'd like to share them as I come across them.

Tuk Tuk wisdom: "It never rains as much as it thunders."

 

Haputale by night

Sri Lankan kilometres accumulated on bike to date: 525km