Sri Lanka

Mirissa

Our last stop. After nearly a year of traveling this trip comes to an end. But we wanted to spend our last days in a nice place - the luck was with us... Even though driving around with a Tuk-Tuk and searching for an accommodation is not our favorite thing, but the gods were gracious to us. After only a few stops we found a beautiful place directly at the beach with a well-functioning AC. Every morning we woke up with an amazing view and the sounds of the wave. While having breakfast on the balcony the surfers in front entertained us a lot. How can we possible stand being back in Hamburg without a view like this?

We used our days to go whale watching, buggy boarding (and hitting our chins badly), swimming and relaxed a lot....

Sri Lanka was a great last country to visit and Mirissa exactly the right place for the last nights. Unfortunately, this adventure of our lives comes to an end with this last stop......

To the right you see our room at the 1st floor

Our little bed directly at the sea front

Just some average sized fruits here in Sri Lanka

Fisher boats in the sun set

Some of the last street food we had on our round the world trip
Last sun set....

Niels did it again - he pretended to be a surfer boy....

If you look very closely you see a whale in this picture - and yes that's the best picture we got if these gentle giants....


Tissamaharama/ Yala National Park - are we still in Sri Lanka or is it Africa already?

Another day of getting up way before sunrise to increase the likelihood of seeing Leopards during our safari. And it was absolutely worth it!!! We saw almost everything one can wish for: water buffalos, mongoose, elephants and of course leopards. To be precise, a leopard mother with her cub wanted to cross the road and therefore walked a whole mile next to the street so that we could see them all the time. At some point they were only around 8 meters away. We were super impressed by her actual size and beauty.

It's amazing how diverse Sri Lanka is. Let's see how the beaches will be in the south west 😉

For someone who loves animals this part of our journey was very special - who could that be? 😉

We expected to see a lot - but the amounts of elephants was breath taking

This is the famous elephant rock...

And of course there were also some monkeys. This little fellow was very interested in us

We also saw quite some interesting birds - however both of us are not the biggest bird lovers so we rather focused on other animals

Found bambi...

And there he was! Our first leopard. Directly next to the car..

And since leopard need to feed on something - there are also some buffalos 😉

And I guess another item on the menu: a wild boar 

This little fellow might not be high on the list of "to eat": a mongoose

Crocodiles might be eaten by leopard every now and than (as we learned) but most of the time these 2 fight for their pray

The secret king of the jungle...


Haputale - Teeplantation as fare as the eye can see

This adventures started with a 8 hour train ride from Colombo to Haputale. Niels convinced the train driver (with the help of some money) that he and a guy we just met, can ride in the locomotive. They had the train ride of their lives and a lot of fun while the beautiful landscape passed by.

Our first accommodation was directly situated within the tea plantations. On our first day we were wandering around the tea plantations which offered amazing views. The view was so amazing that we actually caught our first sunburn in ages but I guess the high altitude in combination with a long walk did do any good. We even had to take a small detour because our way was crossed by a rattle snake. Haputale is situated in the highlands of Sri Lanka, 1472m above sea level.

The next morning we got up at 4:30 am and went to world famous Hortons Plains. After quite a walk we arrived at a breath taking view point where the cliffs drop off 870m into the valley. The 9 km walk is quite nice but taking the entrance fee of 2.500 rupees (17€) and the transportation cost of 4.500 (30€) in consideration, it's not worth it's money - especially if you are not an early bird. There are free walks around Haputale which are free and even nicer. Before taking the train to Ella we paid a visit to another great view point: Lipton Seat. This is the place were Sir Lipton usually had his tea....

Again the train ride to Ella was amazing. This time Niels looked after our belongings and I could lean out of the train taking pictures and enjoying the fresh breeze. What an amazing way of traveling. Arriving in Ella, the bus had already left therefore, the Lushpackers (us) decided to take taxi and take advantage of the picture opportunities on the way.

View while we were "trekking" in the mountains.

Lipton’s Seat - Sir Thomas Lipton used to survey his burgeoning empire from here. Very impressive panoramic view point.

Haputale main train station. A very flowery place 😉

We took a little short-cut and went on the train tracks 😉

Niels really loved the view and we needed to stop every few meters

Our little hotel - there were hardly any other guests.

The train ride was impressive - even the locals enjoyed the view.

View from the locomotive.The boys were never as happy before.

The train was a real machine!
Passanger cabin of our train. Very comfy actually.  

Above the clouds while wondering around in the tea plantations

The nearby village was very relaxed and tranquil

View from the village