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Given our exertions yesterday, we had opted for a lazy morning. We were moving on from Nuwera Eliya by train at lunch time. In the morning, we decided for a stroll to the other British institution - the Hill Club followed by coffee at the golf club. The Hill Club is a massive building and looks like it has been transported here from Scotland. Inside it was all panelled wood. They were reluctant to let us go inside at first, but Ken told them he had stayed there 30 years ago. He got a frosty reply of 'don't recall you sir' but we were still able to look around. At least coffee at the golf club was much easier as we were still temporary members from our previous game. Again it was served in colonial style with waiters in smart local style uniforms.
After this it was down to the train station where we found out that the train would be packed as Tuesday is a holiday and everyone is travelling up from Colombo. We had to stand for some of the journey, but the view from the train made it worthwhile. The train made it's way down through the hill with spectacular views - sometimes looking down into the valleys filled with cloud (other times you couldn't see anywhere through the rain!).
We arrived at Ella and hired a couple of tuk-tuks racing round the place trying to find somewhere to stay. We settled on a place on top of the hills, looking down the valley towards the coast with a waterfall coming down the mountain. We sat there for 30 minutes just admiring the view (and finishing off the mangoes).
The following morning we had decided to climb Ella Rock, the peak we could see from our bedroom. We set off after breakfast with two of the hotels dogs in tow. The first part of the walk was down to the railway line and then along the tracks for a couple of kilometres. We lost one of the dogs at this point - frightened off by the local dog mafia. Fran was upset as she didn't believe it would find its way home. We pressed on and turned off the tracks and into the tea planations where we started to climb. We kept getting conflicting information from the locals and people coming down about the right path to take. We then picked up a local guide who started to take us up through the woods. We reached a fork in the route and he said ' this way difficult, steep, and this way overgrown'. He recommended Fran take the overgrown route as it was easier - so 3 of us went this way with Ken opting for the steep route. What he had not told us about were the leeches in the wet parts and we were stopping every few minutes to get them off us (myself and Judi were in sandals - not the best protection). Eventually we reached the top, to find Ken and the peak - all covered in cloud so no views! Still Fran was pleased to have made it. We set off down the hill (the non leech route) and found that it would have been OK for us. We then walked along the tracks to Ella town for a cold drink and spot of well earned lunch (still with the dog!). Ken then went off to climb another hill - us sensible mortals opted for a quiet afternoon reading and looking at the view.
In the evening, we had decided to have dinner in town at a highly recommended place that also had cookery lessons. It was very misty when we set off walking down to town. Soon the mist turned to drizzle and we had discussions about turning back as it was a long way to town. Fran was positive about going on (may be because we had an umbrella) and she persuaded everybody. It was a mistake - the rain became heavier and the road became a stream. When we got to town, Judi and Ken were so wet they got a tuk-tuk up and back to get clean clothes. Still, when we all reached the restaurant, we were delighted to find the food was some of the best we had had so far - except the after affects were a little gaseous..
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