We were a bit sad to leave Ella as it had been a very relaxing place with a good atmosphere and decent hotel. Still we were off down the hill in a couple of tuk-tuks to the bus stop. We were met with the normal comments from the drivers - ;you have missed the bus, it will be very crowded, you will need to change 4 times - I will take you for an amazing price' Ignoring these we got on the bus which wound it's way down the mountain road, through very tight hairpins, all of us praying the brakes worked properly. We stopped at the Rawana falls just long enough for Fran to panic whilst I leapt out to take a photo. We arrived at a first change after an hour and then strolled over to the next bus going towards Tissa (our destination). This was an express and took us to the crossroads some 5km from Tissa. We were looking around for local transport when a minibus driver offered to take us for 200 rupees (about £1). It seemed too good to be true, but we climbed in. He was naturally trying top sell us something - he ran a local guesthouse and ran tours. It turned out he was recommended in the guide book as being a good tour guide.
We were originally going to Tissa to visit Kataragame - a holy place to Sri Lankans especially today as it was a full moon and many people visit it to pray. We had also been undecided about visiting the national parks nearby. After talking with the guy, Ken & Judi opted to go to Bandulla park to see the bird life and we all decided to go to Yala where there is the slim possibility of seeing leopards.
Ken & Judi left to see Bundella and later we went off to Kataragama. It was about an hour by bus away and we went through a police checkpoint - one of several we have been through since we reached the south. From the bus station, we walked to the main temple area - over a river where the people going to the temple did their ritual ablutions. The first set of temples was in a little compound and consisted of both Hindu and Buddhist temples as well as a nearby mosque. Both Buddhist and Hindus worship the goddess Kataragama. In this area we saw them lighting a coconut and then smashing it quite violently on a stone - apparently if it breaks cleanly your prayers will be answered - if it does not there will be all sorts of bad karma. We then walked on to the large Stupa at the end of a long road like the Mall in London. Most of the devotees were dressed in white on their way to pray. We passed a long procession of ladies, complete with band and some kind of icon that we found out later was the flag to go round the temple. This procession was then joined by the elephants. We felt a little bit like interlopers here - we were the only westerners and weren't really certain what was going on..
We headed back and met up with K&J back at the hotel. They had had a great time at Bundella - seeing crocodiles, jackals and all manner of birds. They were really surprised at the diversity of the wild life.