March 2015 . . . . . the first ever Rock-Awn. March 28, 2015 also happened to be mine & B-Rod’s 10th anniversary. Since I was away and DawnO was around, DawnO became the “B-Rod stand in” for our 10 year wedding anniversary celebration.
March 2025 . . . . the 7th Rock-Awn adventure. March 28, 2025 also happened to be mine and B-Rod’s 20th anniversary, and you guessed it . . . . . DawnO stood in for B-Rod for our 20 year wedding anniversary celebration. But . . . . you’ll have to read until the end to hear how we commemorated the event! 😝
After our first few days in Colombo and then our time in Galle, it was time to move on. So, we got up early in the morning hoping to catch the bus to Ella that we had heard about but couldn’t seem to officially confirm.
After asking a few people and waiting around a bit, our bus showed up and we were directed onboard trusting that we were heading in the right direction. At one point there appeared to be a frantic bus trade, but luckily the passenger sitting across from us took us under his wing and made sure we got off and got on to the bus we needed to be on.
At first we were quite excited to be on the correct bus. But . . . . after 6 hours as the bus got hotter and hotter as it filled up with more and more bodies at every stop, we were very happy to be frantically booted off.
Ella
Our first impression of Ella was not great. As we looked for a place to sit and regroup before making our way to our accommodation, we found that we had ended up in a place whose main street restaurants advertised burgers and fries or vegan specials with very little evidence of the Sri Lankan food we had previously been enjoying, and tourists far outnumbered the Sri Lankan locals. We eventually found a different story, and the one that we were looking for, when we got into the side street and where our accommodation was located.
After a few days, we eventually found our way and our place in Ella. My suspicions were later confirmed that Ella had been a super tiny town that for various reasons made the “tourist map” and grew a bit too fast for it to stay as it once was. Since we both tend to be fairly good at venturing just a little bit further to find the quieter spots, eventually Ella grew on us.
Some highlights from Ella included:
- Our chipmunk “friends” who were all around the property we stayed at. Turns out, there’s spaces for them to crawl between the roof and the ceiling above our heads. The first time we heard scurrying that sounded like it was directly above the particle board like paneling of our ceiling, we both jumped onto the bed in fetal positions, not sure what to do next. Our hosts assured us that it’s not a big deal. So, we simply dealt with it. (Though dealing with it meant loud bangs almost every morning around 5-5:30am . . . . were they fighting? mating? taunting us? . . . . and the occasional scurrying and scratching on the particle board that we never really got comfortable with)
- The Nine Arch Bridge (also called the Bridge in the Sky) This reminded me so much of the aqueducts B-Rod and I had experienced in Llangollen while narrow boating. Soooooo cool!
- Little Adam’s Peak is a popular hike in Ella. Though Ella is higher up and we weren’t melting (as much here), it still made for a sweaty climb. A handful of us went just a tad bit further than most, and we were rewarded with the same amazing views with a lot more peace and quiet.
- DawnO got sick in Ella, so she took it easy and moved slowly. At one point she thought she was ready to roll, so we made our way up to the Bandarawela Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery which required a tuk tuk ride as it was a bit out of town. It was a very cool place and she was doing pretty good. When we discovered a tour and meditation that one of the monks put on, we naturally joined. This ended up being a bit too much for DawnO. At one point she was lying on the ground not sure if she could move telling me to just go to the meditation without her. As I was figuring out how to peel her off the floor to carry her to our tuk tuk so we could head back, the monk who was giving the tour came over and directed her to a spot where she could lie down. So . . . . while poor lil’ DawnO had a nap, I continued on with the meditation.
- Ella is also home to a few tea plantations, and we made our way to a smaller one for a tour. It was interesting, but one of those moments where “travel is funny” We got to see the factory and the machines that have been used for many, many years but couldn’t take pictures for some reason and my main takeaway was that working in a tea factory would be obscenely hot (and hard)! Still it was pretty and was a good outing in the area.
After a few days, and with DawnO feeling better and more like herself again, we were ready to leave Ella and set out on the thing that we had both been looking forward to the most during our time in Sri Lanka
The Ella – Kandy Train
Some say this train route is “one of Asia’s most scenic rides” After both reading a few blog posts by other people doing the journey, we knew we wanted to do things a bit differently than most. First, we were going the opposite direction. Most people tend to go from Kandy to Ella. Next, we booked our tickets in third class. Most people tend to go with the second class option. The only “mistake” we made that didn’t make this as authentic a journey as it could have been is that we booked on the “Odyssey Train” which means the train would stop or slow down at scenic spots good for photos along the way. So instead of riding a train with locals, we were on the tourist ride. This also meant that there were no vendors that boarded the train selling snacks and chai.
Luckily for us, however, our third class tickets were the win! Because most had booked into second class, we ended up often having the third class train car all to ourselves or with a handful of other people!
The ride was as magical as we expected it would be. We hung out the windows, sat with our legs dangling from the doors, admired temples as we rolled by, saw people harvesting tea in the green fields surrounding us, took about a thousand pictures and basically happily took it all in to the point where 7 hours really did fly by!
Kandy
We felt good when we got off the train to arrive in Kandy. It felt like a city more to our liking. It felt more like an actual city than simply a place that had been built up just for tourism. We had fun in our time in Kandy and had many highlights including up making a really nice connection.
Some highlights from Kandy included:
- Temple Tourin’ . . . Kandy is actually known to have a temple loop, but I didn’t necessarily know that when we arrived. We just did what we often do and seemed to find them along the way. I found it cool how smaller Hindu temples would be inside Buddhist temples as well as Buddhist statues and relics being in Hindu temples. There were some magical moments in some of these places, but by the end . . . . . I had gotten templed out! We also left the most visited temple and the world heritage UNESCO temple (the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) closer to the end of our day. That didn’t up being the wisest of decisions! 😝
Bahirawakanda Temple – 88 feet tall Buddha that you can climb up to get a view of the city below. I LOVED this one. It was quiet when we got there, there were child monks chanting, and the environment was peaceful and serene which is probably why it was my fav.
Asgiri Maha Viharaya – Paintings, Museum & Meditation Centre. The artwork and colours of this one were so nice.
Hindu Temples – a lot of Hindu temples you can’t take pics inside, but we did get blessings which at our first place felt special.
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic – This temple was extra busy, extra strict, extra crowded, extra loud and just a lot. I appreciate that it has significance for many people and it was very beautiful, but it was difficult for me to feel the “magical” vibes here.
- after a few days of temples and city navigating, we were ready for some nature time! Fortunately there is a forest reserve right in the city and within walking distance of where we were staying. We spent a few hours here one morning and it was the perfect place to reset, recharge and at that particular time was exactly what we both needed.
- Making connections. On the day we arrived in Kandy, we walked past a place that was making fresh hoppers. We stopped to have a look and watch. A guy came out and tried to get us to come into the restaurant. As we weren’t quite ready to eat yet, we told him we’d come back later. When we did exactly that and came for supper, he was so happy and maybe somewhat surprised. Because of this we got the royal treatment! Found out his name was Mr. Nathan and had some nice chats with him and some of his staff. He was so sweet and seemed sad to see us go.
When we showed up again for supper on our last night in Kandy, it was a party for all of us and we celebrated with some jump shots! Sri Lankan people are so kind and Mr. Nathan was the best!
Eventually our time in Kandy came to an end and it was time to move on, but the day we were set to leave was going to be March 28 . . . . mine and B-Rod’s 20th Anniversary!!! How did we celebrate?!
We went for massages which unintentionally ended up being a couples massage because they placed us in the same room!
Toasted with a beer on a patio looking down into the city
Had a delicious meal made by Mr. Nathan
B-Rod . . . . . . DawnO did a good job of standing in for you once again and has requested to be stand in for our 30th as well! 😝 Happy Anniversary!! I ❤️ you!
**** see also DawnO’s take
Happy Anniversary to us/ you two!!!
Hahahaha Happy Anniversary baby 😘❤️