Ella to Mirissa Sri Lanka

 

We started the day in the cool mountains of Ella. Our trip concluded with a lovely beach sunset in Mirissa. It could have been remarkably hotter, but it was an overcast day with some rain. It didn't end up being that drastic of a change in environments on this tropical island nation.

Train to Ella Sri Lanka

 

That's some other people hanging out at the open door of the train, but it shows a good overview of a magical train ride. We kept hearing about taking a scenic segment of the train line to Ella. This was probably the best day of our trip to the mountain interior of Sri Lanka. It was a great way to start the first day of the new year. We're fortunate to live in this beautiful country.

 

Year's End at World's End - Horton Plains National Park Sri Lanka

 

We spent the last day of the year at the end of the world. We went before dawn to the Horton Plains National Park to arrive when it opened and hike out to the Mini World's End and Greater World End's overlooks before they were obscured by clouds. We succeeded for one by not the other.

Kandy to Nuwara Eliya Sri Lanka

 

This continues our trip through central Sri Lanka. We started with the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. We toured a tea factory and had a tea tasting in the heart of tea country. The day ended in Nuwara Eliya.

Trip to Kandy Sri Lanka

 

We hired a tour company to take us around the popular parts of Sri Lanka for a week. We started by heading to Kandy in the central mountain area for the first night. We saw an elephant sanctuary along the way and a traditional dance show on arrival in Kandy. The amazing view above was from our room after a long day of driving and seeing stuff.

Colombo Buddhist Temples

 

If you pay to enter the Seema Malaka Buddhist Temple on Biera Lake then you can use your ticket to visit the nearby Gangaramaya Temple which is also interesting. We also visited the Aśōkārāma Temple in another part of the city. I'm told it's a more typical temple. I've collected pictures of both here to compare the two.