sri lanka: part 3

Well, I think it's about time I share the last of my honeymoon photos seeing as my first wedding anniversary is just around the corner!

While in the hill country town of Ella, we visited a weaving factory.  The colors were so vivid and I was in amazement watching the women work.  This was definitely a trip highlight.

 We also visited one of Sri Lanka's famous tea factories.   Again I was in complete awe watching the workers take such care in their craft.  The smell in this big rickety wooden warehouse was otherworldly.

 We left Ella by train.  This is supposedly one of the greatest train rides in the world, and we were not let down.  The hill country of Sri Lanka is like a dream.  It's simply breathtaking, and is magnified even more so when teetering slowly across stilt like bridges on an ancient railcar.

 Nearly as good as the views was the street food.  Vendors wander the cars chanting wadi, wadi, wadi and peddling fried delicacies served in newspaper and accompanied by a dried chili pepper.

We ended up in tiny town of Dalhouse which would be our base to climb Sri Pada or Adam's Peak.  We bunked with fellow climbers and tried to get some rest before we ascended the 7km high mountain.  We left about 2 am and prepared ourselves to trudge up 5200 vertical steps.

 The trip up was grueling for sure.  We stopped for tea breaks and huddled in the chilly morning air at the top waiting for sunrise.  It truly was one of the best moments of my life.  Sharing the sunrise with thousands of pilgrims of all ages, colors and faiths.  We were all there searching for something.

The climb down was unimaginably difficult.  My legs were shaking so violently that I could bare lift my feet to take the tiny steps down.  The sweet reward hours later at the bottom was breakfast waiting at our guest house.  If you ever go to Sri Lanka, you must travel out of your way and make this climb

Our final stop was the city of Kandy where we based ourselves to see the sacred Temple of the Tooth.  From here we took day trips to see the world heritage site of Sigiriya

 and Dambulla.

The last few days of our trip I got sick.  Not from food-just sick, sick.  I hid in our hotel room and was very excited to have a television after weeks without.  I curled up and watched hours on end of the BBC interrupted only by Ayurvedic decongestion treatments.

20 hours of flying and we were home sweet home.  Our trip was unforgettable.  Sri Lanka was and wasn't everything I had thought it would be.  This country and its people are anything but simple and that's how I felt about my trip.  It was trying and wonderful, beautiful and ugly, hopeful and sorrowful. It wasn't easy, but nothing worth its weight is.