nuwara eliya or haputale/ella?

Hi there,
I am planning to visit sri lanka and my plan is to head to nuwara eliya from kandy. I would like to know's what interesting to see in nuwara eliya? I’m aware I will be passing through some tea estates, lakes, etc, along the way to nuwara eliya from kandy.
Also, we've decided not to climb adam’s peak, is it still worth it to go to hatton/dalhousie area? anything worth to stop for?
is non-guest allowed to visit tea trails bungalows? it looks really nice from the website.

Or is it better to go to haputale and ella? How long do we need to visit these 2 villages, visit the tea estates, waterfalls, little adam’s peak, ella gap, etc? we will skip horton plains.

After that, I plan to head down to galle from there.

I am undecided between nuwara eliya/hatton/Dalhousie and haputale/ella. Hope someone can help me out.
Many thanks.

Edited by: wanderingbabe

Hi,
Only my personal opinion but I'd not bother with Newara Eliya.,, Nothing ihn the town to keep you and the surrounding hills are almost always too wet for comfortable walking. Very often, cold, wet and windy.
Worth visiting the Dalhousie area even though not climbing Adams peak,?. depends on how much time you have. It's certainly a beautiful area with lots of places to explore.
http://www.slightlychilled.tv/
Try looking at that site for the guest house, Slightly Chilled. They give you a pretty good idea of whats there.

Haputale and Ella.both worth a couple of days if you enjoy walking around tea plantations, hills, water falls, etc.
As you come south on the train, Haputale comes before Ella, A couple of days there to visit Liptons Seat one day and the Diyulama Falls ( top and bottom ) the next day. then on to Ella.
Ella to visit Little Adams peak one day , maybe the Rawana Ella Falls the same day and Ella Rock the next day.
Then from Ella you can get a straight through bus down to the south coast.
Another plus for Ella and Haputale, they are on the south eastern fringe of the hill country so more likely to be dry than anywhere central in the hills.
Rod.

Agreed with Rod. I grew up in Nuwara Eliya - my dad was a superintendent ("planter") on a tea estate.

But I have to say Haputale / Ella is much nicer than Nuwara Eliya / Hatton.

NE has the little England bits down - the golf club (temporary membership is only 5 USD per day), the Hill Club (usually an amazing dinner and there's hot water in the beds), etc. But in the end it's a town.

Haputale / Ella has

Amazing views on the drive there

Belihuloya River - where you can go white water rafting and stay at the resthouse or Landa House (http://lankareviewed.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-hotel-of-2008-landa-house.html)

Stay at World's End Lodge, Lower Ohiya (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaliyaj/sets/72157605512998097/) for amazing hiking (there's a 19km hike called the devil's staircase - http://kirigalpoththa.blogspot.com/2009/01/ohiya-to-kalupahana-via-devils.html)

Tons of waterfalls

Addisham, a Jesuit monastery brought brick by brick from England

See the beautiful old temples along the way including Dowa temple with its ancient buddha statue

Visit the Ella mountain range - which looks like something out of the lord of the rings - and stay at ambiente (http://www.ambiente.lk)

I did a picasa album on this here for a friend: http://picasaweb.google.com/jaliya/ThingsToDoNearBelhuloya#

hi thanks to both rod and jaliya.
i think my time in sri lanka may be quite tight to include both haputale and ella. it looks like this and kindly let me know if this is feasible :

day 1 - arrival bandaranaike 9am. straight to anuradhapura, on the way visit pinnawela.
overnight - a'pura
day 2 - a'pura/mihintale, head to sirigaya.
overnight - sigiriya
day 3 - sigiriya, polonnaruwa
overnight - sigiriya
day 4 - dambulla, head to kandy
overnight - kandy
day 5 - kandy
overnight - kandy
day 6 - kandy to nuware eliya, hatton/dikoya/dalhousie area
overnight - ?
day 7 - head to southern coast, mirissa
overnight - mirissa
day 8 - morning whale watching, then afternoon head to galle, pass by unawatuna
overnight - galle
day 9 - galle, head to colombo
overnight - colombo
day 10 - colombo/negombo
overnight - negombo
day 11 - morning flights out

Hi,
The itinery looks fine to me but a couple of small points where I think you may change it.

Days 2 and 3,,,, Going from Anuradhapura to Sigirya and then, when going from Sigirya to Polonorua and back again, you will be going through Habarana. On one of those days, you could ride an elephant through the bush there. There's a, couple of places where they operate elephant rides of about 1 hour duration.

Also, when going from Polonorua to Sigirya, there's a place where the road bridges a small stream. Years ago a couple of local Sri Lankan guys started feeding the water monitors there. They kept up this daily chore for years and now they've managed to tempt about 8 or 10 big monitors to make it their homes. You can stop and watch the monitors get fed and get some great close up pics. The cost is whatever you feel you want to give to the guys who feed the monitors.

Day 6.. Although you don't have time to really explore Haputale or Ella, I think on this day either of those would be an ideal place to stop over.
Do you have a driver and car for this part of your trip,,,, If you do, I'd suggest that , after Newara Eliya , he drops you at Nanu Oya station, just outside Newara Eliya and you do the three hour train ride to Ella. Then your driver to collect you from Ella station and overnight stay there.
If you did stay in Ella that night, whether you came by car or train, you'd have time to walk to the tea Plantation, through the tea covered hillsides and climb Little Adams peak. .. A fantastic way to work up an apetite for dinner.

Day 8.
Any particular reason for staying in Galle over night... It's Ok to see the old Dutch fort but not really much else.
I'd stop to see the fort and then carry on to Hikkaduwa for the night and stay on the reef sheltered beach.. That would give you time, either that evening or first thing the next morning to walk to the eastern end of the reef sheltered beach and swim with the huge turtles that come in there to feed from the reef.

Rod.

hi rod, your input is really great, tks very much.
we are awaiting quotation for the car hire and haven't got any feedback yet. we were thinking, if it's over our budget, we will do it with public transport.

i will sure visits the water monitor on the way, tks for your tips. if we already visited pinnawela, is it still worth to go to habaran? or just choose either one?

i think the train ride from nanu oya is a great suggestion. if i were to hire car for the whole trip, i wld not be able to experience any train ride in sri lanka, which i heard the views are beautiful.

do you have any idea is there any bus from nuwara eliya/hatton or nearby to mirissa? what about bus from ella to mirissa? if yes, how long will they take? do you think our schedule allows us to go as far as ella and covers little adam's peak and the tea plantation there? i read there are nice waterfalls too.

the reason i'm planning to stay in galle is to break the journey and not sure where else to stay. how long do i need to cover galle? i was thinking it was nice to stay within a colonial place.
or is it better to stay in unawatuna since it's nearer to galle?

going to colombo, i have plans to stop over at kosgoda turtle hatchery, i hope to release baby turtles, do you know whether they allow visitors to do this and what is their timetables like?

also, is it possible to do all the above with public transport? i don't mind to sit for long hours as long we will be able to follow the schedule above.

many thanks again, rod, really appreciate ur reply.

Edited by: wanderingbabe

Hi,
I've sent you a PM answering this post.

Twice , when I typed the answer on this page, it all vanished when I clicked, " send".

When the site was sold off a couple of years ago, it slowed to snails pace and the new ownership promised more speed and lots of improvements. Just incase any of them read this, it hasn't happened yet.
Rod.

thanks a lot rod, i'm replying your pm, cheers.

Hi there!

Read this post and I too am wondering if there is a fairly simple way to get from hatton down to galle.....or is it necessary to go through colombo?

thanks!

Hi dleens,
From Hatton , get a bus to Bandarawella . From Bandarawella get a bus to Matara. ( might have to change at Wellawaya on that stretch ).
From Matara get a bus or train along the coast to galle. Bus is cheaper and quicker.

Rod.

thanks! just a few days left of my trip through sri lanka......a shame its ending soon :(

Oh, and i also made a trip out to arugam bay.....GREAT beach / vibe.....recommend the tsunami hotel (since 1999!) for a good place to stay. Run by a brit and they have done a good job remodeling after it was destroyed by the tsunami.