Day 10 – Hapatale to Udawalawe
Left the hotel on foot and walked to the station. One crammed stop later we were at Isalgashinna station, 1615m above sea level.
We met with Shiva and Dusha again for a walk down the organic tea plantations.
They use a mix of basil, oregano, garlic and ginger as a oil spray as natural organic pesticide. With Lemongrass as fertiliser. Fair trade have sponsored a computer suite for the kids learning.
We walked down to 993m and had lunch at Haldummulla. Someone had put tables and chairs in their lean-to at the side of the house, and lunch arrived by tuktuk. Another amazing spread, this one with banana flower curry.
I had queried earlier what the locals were chewing and had noticed the red spit marks on the pavement (no where near as much as in India). Betel. A chunk of Arica nut, strip of betel leaf, dollop of lime paste and a piece of smokey dried tobacco.
Of course our guide stopped at a stall and picked up a premake bundle of leaves and bits. I had to try. Whilst the Smokey tobacco had a rich flavour, the rest just made your saliva go into overload. It was gross.
Diyaluma is falls 628ft above sea level and is the 2nd highest waterfall in Sri Lanka.
We saw rubber tree plantations, all tapped for their precious laytex.
We were told we were staying at a jungle camp this evening. What it actually is is a beautiful enclave, in the middle of know where and within the jungle, but camp it is not! Our first floor room has panoramic windows and a balcony overlooking coconut palms, onto Kiribben Wewa lake. We’re told their maybe crocodiles in the lake.
Amusingly this super modern ‘jungle’ camp with all modern conveniences still reminded us we were in the jungle with a weird frog/toad who lived in our bathroom. Made going for a pee at night quite an adventure!
Unfortunately, after our BBQ dinner a few of us want to retire early as need to be out by 4:30am to go Leopard and Sloth spotting!
Travel Dude 