World's End: Attempt 2

Sunrise World's End

Lauren's excited to finally be at World's End

"Is that thunder?" I questioned as I woke in the middle of the night.

"I think it's some guy with a drum," Chris replied.

We then realised it was midnight, New Year's Eve, and people were celebrating with fireworks. We stayed awake just long enough to wish each other a happy new year before dozing back off. Such party animals.

We weren't going to let the cloud beat us this morning so we were up and going by 4:30AM. We rose and headed off in the dark to Worlds End. As we wound our way up to the National Park we caught glimpses of the first sunrise of 2013. A red glow permeated the forest making it look as though it were alight. Arriving at the gate at 6:15AM, just after the gates opened, we ensured we beat both the weather and the crowds. Because we were heading on to Dalhousie this afternoon, we had all of our luggage with us. So, we took a page from the Sri Lankan's book of ingenuity and worked with what we had. We hid a bag of our clothes and our helmets in the bushes behind the toilets while we did the World's End walk. Classy.

 

 

Walking track at World's End

The walk was along a track which looked more like a rocky, and in parts rooty, riverbed than a walking trail but the scenery was nice. We even saw some deer. World's End was worth the second attempt as the views took in hillside villages, rolling mountains and huge lakes. We kept walking around to Bakers Falls, daring to descend on the incredibly steep, slippery mud track to reach the bottom of the falls before going on to the a Chimney Pool and back to where we started. Just over 8km taking us two and three quarter hours, allowing for an alfresco brekky at World's End and some photography stops. Breakfast consisted of fruit, delicious coconut biscuits and buja, which I've been snacking on all day, and which only cost 40 LKR. Darn bargain considering how much Coles charges for it back home. And I do love a bargain.

Baker's Falls World's End.

World's End

We re-loaded the bike and set off in the direction of Dalhousie. We intended to take what was called a 'minor road' on our new map. We couldn't find it and really, it was probably for the best, considering the state of what were meant to be 'major roads.' We twisted and turned through Sri Lankan farmland, even checking out the 'New Zealand Farm' where masses of Sri Lankans were congregating in their fancy saris and other sparkly attire. We figured they were celebrating the new year but who really knows. We made it onto the A7 thinking it would be a smooth, sealed stretch of road, as 'A' roads are meant to be. We were terribly wrong. In what we think was an attempt to fix the road, they had ripped the entire 40km of it up and had left it muddy, pot-holed and slippery. Much like the track at World's End. We ducked under an excavator, twisted past oncoming buses and our bones shaken, as well as our sanity, for at least two hours. Chris' history of off road motorbiking definitely came in handy today. Finally we made it to Hatton, grabbed a bite to eat and kept moving.

One of the deer at Horton Plains National Park

For the first time on our journey, the signage directing us to Adam's Peak was everywhere! So we easily made our way through Norwood and Maskeliya, almost making it to Dalhousie before being pulled up by some locals. A girl jumped out of a van and told us her brother had phoned to let her know there were two foreigners on a bike coming her way. So, her and her Dad had driven down to meet us, tell us about their guesthouse, give us their card and escort us into town. And with nowhere better to stay in town, we took them up on their offer of a 3000 LKR room including wifi, dinners, breakfasts, tea (which Chris has even started drinking!) and the opportunity to finally do some laundry. Good thing too. I'm currently wearing my last relatively clean t-shirt and my undies are being worn inside-out.

We ate dinner at our guesthouse, because it was included in the price. Fried noodles, rice and about six vegetarian curries. They had dulled down the spices a bit much for our liking but it filled the gap.

Lady carrying Tea down the road to Dalhousie.

Tuk Tuk wisdom: "Stay in love. It is life."

Sri Lankan kilometres accumulated to date: 669km