Haputale with Vesak

After leaving Kandy and the Jungle Tide workaway we headed a little further south to a place called Haputale. The journey by train took about 5.5 hours and as usual the scenery was awesome.

Along the way we passed through the highest point of the island, about 1500 meters above sea level, so the climate up there (and Haputale) is much more mild and it had the least humidity I've experienced so far.

Haputale isn't the the most attractive town, it has very few places to eat and isn't very popular with tourists. It was for the latter reason we decided that this would be our next destination.

As the town sits on the ridge of the mountain, the tea plantations cascade down the hills in a like a sea of green vegetation. I don't think I'll ever get tired of walking through the tea plantations. They rival any paddy field or vegetable terraces I've seen. Maybe even better.

There's a place called Lipton's Seat (named after the tea baron) near Haputale. It's a 30 minute bus ride from the town and provides a 360 degree view of the area from a great height.

Because of the elevation and time of year, the fog and mist rolls in every day around noon followed by rain and thunderstorms so it's important to get there early for the best view. I got there early and so did the fog! Unfortunately I could only see a few meters in front of me so I had to let my imagination do the work.

While we were in Haputale, the holy day of Vesak was upon us.

Vesak is held with the full moon every May. It's Buddha's birthday and people celebrate his birth, enlightenment and death.

It's one of the main Buddhist days of the year. Buddhists wear white clothes which symbolises peace, calm and purity.

Along with reading and chanting prayers throughout the day, people give free food and drinks, they name Dansala, to everyone and anyone on the street and in temples. We visited a local temple and were treated to some very tasty Dansala as well as being offered small bags of snacks on the street.

Haputale is also a good place to base yourself for further train and bus rides to other small towns.

I visited a few like Ella, which is all tourist and another base like town. I was there for about half a day and realised when I got back home I hadn't taken a single photo. That's how typically touristy it was... and Wellawaya. The worst place I've visited so far, in the middle of nowhere with terrible and expensive accommodation. Even the locals were dumbfounded as to why we were there. Thankfully it was just a stop over point for us while we headed further south. It was so bad that the only photo I can share is that of a brown river we stumbled across when wandering around....

The heavy rain and thunderstorms are now pretty much a daily event and is long lasting. At least it makes it a bit cooler.

I'm still really enjoying Sri Lanka as it continues to entertain and surprise me.