Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Nuwara Eliya

Nuwara Eliya was picturesque with English bungalows and cottages, manicured lawns, pristine lakes and horse riding. The interior were like an English country side with those cute Jersey cows grazing those green grass, milk diary where one could savor fresh cream and cheese...

Its nice to see the English bungalows preserved and functional as hotels and guest houses.

English period Post office, still functional


Says "A Handyside & Co.Ltd, Derby, England" Thats how old this post box grand pa is


Horton Plains; it was a velvety green carpet. I was excited; got out of the car, ran towards it and held the wired fence; only to be thrown back :) It was an electrical fence.


A nearly abandoned railway station. 


On the way back from Horton plains; which was 35 kms from the town, the color of the sky changed from blue to pink to orange to crimson...Never seen such myriad colors on the sky ever before!! 




A pristine lake


Finally this, the speck is the moon


 Gregory Lake

A grazing ground for horses; front of the colonial hotel we stayed
The hotel; these sort of bungalows are converted to hotels now.


2 kms from the town is 'Seeta Eliya'. Tale says that Ravana kidnapped Sita and kept her here - the Ashoka vana. Its a small temple now with idols 1000 years old as per the priest.


Behind the temple was the forest and a stream/ The rocks had tiny pits. These ones are said to be Hanuman's feet :)


Incidentally, 3 kms further we came across another signboard which said is the true cave where Sita stayed. These 2 villages have debated about which one is the original one. Took a detour and had to climb 600+ steps to reach the cave. The path was weeded, the caves really didnt have any sign, no idols or temples..but the view from the top was nice; could see the hilly country of Nuwara Eliya and Ella

 The narrow, slippery and weedy path to the cave



Inside the cave - tired and down


Devon falls on the way to Ella. 



Ravana Eliya falls on the way to Ella. The water just falls on the road; nice sight to see.

33 comments:

  1. Lovely pics.
    I saw a similar post box near Thekaddy (it was green in colour)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haddock,

      The green ones are lovely too! I know there are such at GPO here in Bangalore. Should go hunting one day to take a pic

      Delete
  2. I loved the sky images. I have told you earlier too. Beautiful natural colours. Simply fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The sky was mesmerizing Neha :)

      I had to pinch myself to believe it

      Delete
  3. The sky colors are so amazing! How could they even change so many colors! What a gift from mother nature! The cave and the water falls are beautiful too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vaish,

      Yup! Its truly nature's gift and I was blessed to see that

      Delete
  4. The moon looks like the evening star. The lake looks quite magical at night.
    Why cannot we preserve things like they do in the WEST?
    Look at Ootty, Kodai, all old hill stations discovered by the British. And look at what they are now and how kept.
    The same goes with Pondicherri. The famous similarity with Parisisn town plan are the roads that bisect the other at right angles. The rest is typical Indian chaos and ill kept.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anil,

      Yes, I have the same question. Why cant we preserve whats been bestowed to us?

      Its a pity we cant!

      Delete
  5. Nice narration Insi..perfect revisit to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gorgeous ,gorgeous sky ! Had heard about Hanuman's feet. Liked Ashok - vatika picture ,infact loved all the pictures .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kavita,

      I had never ever seen the sky change so many colors in one evening

      Delete
  7. Such lovely picture. The evening sky..well captured. Loved the grandpa post box too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. chitra,

      Thank you. I had read about the post office earlier, was excited to see and feel it

      Delete
  8. Amazing photographs, especially those of the lake, moon and waterfall.

    ReplyDelete
  9. amazing place... i had been here long ago.
    I still remember my trek to the 'world's end'

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful country! The British had the habit of replicating their homeland in the tropics too. But despite the quaint charm of the British made landscapes and buildings, I can't help feeling bitter at those people.

    Nuwara Eliya is a place I should visit some day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Balan,

      Yeah, its unfortunate isnt it? Though I enjoyed the feel of the place and its serenity, I could not help feel sad and bitter for the people.

      Delete
  11. Good one…
    bangalorewithlove.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lovely pics. Enjoyed reading and seeing the pics.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi,

    Beautiful country , and pictures. Thanks for sharing , I wanted to vote on Indivine , but this post is not listed .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jayalakshmi,

      Welcome to B Log. Thanks a lot; yeah the place was nice. I am not active on Indiblogger; I have no idea why the post is not listed; thanks for your patronage :)

      Delete
  14. The picture on the Header is amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hello Insignia:) Hope you doing well.? A fellow blogger friend passed on ur id as u've been to Sri Lanka already and explored a great deal.I plan to go to Colombo this year in December. And have only three days to spare so as to travel. The places I plan to go are Sigiriya, the Elephant orphanage at Pinnawala, Dambulla Caves and if possible, Anuradhapuram or Polanaruwa. I do hope these places don’t sound gibberish to you. Is it possible I could chat for few mins tonight and have ur suggestions? Pls reply asap as I need to book my tickets. It will be really helpful. Thanks.
    Aakriti

    ReplyDelete
  16. aakriti,

    I'm on a backpacking trip. I could chat though. let me know your maid id

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to know what you thought :-) Please shoot!