Nuwara Eliya or “the City of Light” is situated in the heart of Sri Lankan Tea County , at an elevation of about 1980 meters, surrounded by mist clad mountains in the most salubrious settings. Only about 160 km from hot humid Colombo, Nuwara Eliya is amazingly called the Little England of Sri Lanka with excellent reason, the air is fresh and chilly and the flowers and greenery have a lushness that’s almost temperate. Temperatures can range from 16 degrees Celsius down to even just 3 degrees, so pack your woolies! Valleys, mountains, misty green carpeted tea estates and rolling meadows all remind you of England and so does the town architecture. Golf, horse racing and motor racing are some of the more worldly pastimes in Nuwara Eliya while the more nature loving can visit the beautiful Hakkgala Botanical Gardens, trek across the Horton Plains National Park to the aptly named World’s End which drops off breathtakingly to nearly 700 metres, marvel at sparkling waterfalls and revel in a climate that is certainly not tropical although its in the middle of Sri Lanka. For the sturdier among us there is the trek to Adam’s Peak via Pilgrims Path to reach the top of a mountain shrine said to hold the footprint of the Buddha, or Shiva or Adam….cheerfully worshipped by all respective faiths. Here from the highest point in Sri Lanka, on a mountain belonging to the Hindu God Saman, you can watch the sunrise over paradise… a truly awe-inspiring moment.
