The end of the world...

Having reluctantly risen from our hot water bottle warmed beds at the Hill Club at 5:15am, we clambered into mini vans for another uphill drive to the entrance of Horton Plains National Park and the start of an 8km hike.

There is a great photo of Kat and me taken at a spot called World's End in Petra, so we were pleased to see on the Horton Plains map that we would again find ourselves at the end of the world... three and a half years older and this time on a different continent.

Despite the tricky terrain, I soon settled into the walk and can honestly say I enjoyed every minute. Every time I do something like this on holiday, I remember how much I enjoy it and resolve to do more of it back home. Maybe this time I will, even if only as a way of continuing to strengthen my dodgy ankles! The views from World's End were breathtaking and it made a nice contrast to the vastness of it all, to catch our breaths by Bakers Fall, tucked in amongst the trees. We even caught sight of a rather handsome stag as we wended our way back to the car park.

I was excited about what the afternoon had in store as Gemma and Helen had told me that train travel was one of the highlights of their trip to Sri Lanka last year. We were to catch the train from the highest train station in the land to Bandarawela, the location of our next hotel, dropping nearly 1000m over the course of the journey.

After some lunch nearby, we settled in at the quaint old station to await our train which is notorious for being late. Kat took the opportunity to do some sketching and had soon attracted quite a crowd of local onlookers - amusing for us, perhaps less so for her!

In the end, our train arrived just ten minutes late and we managed somehow to wedge ourselves into one of the carriages using a combination of British politeness and pointy elbows! I may not have had the best vantage point to begin with, stuck as I was trying to balance in the internal door frame of the carriage but the glimpses I did catch of the view out of the window were tantalising to say the least. What I could enjoy however was watching my passengers, including several generations of one family who were clearly on the way to join some kind of celebration, excitable and dressed in their finery. The shy smiles I coaxed from the little girls and the mischievous grin from the grandfather, made my day. With just one stop to go, they relinquished their seats and I finally got to lean out of the window and take in the shifting scenery as we descended back to lower altitude and warmer climes. All-in-all, a rather satisfying day!