Ella and Colombo

Day 136 - 11th September 14

Ella is a sleepy town in the mountains. We arrive in the afternoon and eat a vegetarian burger at the Chill Cafe while trying to book a room. We choose Samadhi Guest House Inn. It's a 10 minute walk up the hill out of town. The family is welcoming bringing us tea on arrival. Their son is in his early teens. He's a little geeky looking and clearly smart - he's keen to practice his English with us and takes on a formal tourist advisory role, recommending sites in the local area for us to visit. The beginning of the walk to little Adam's peak is only a 2 minute walk down the road so upon his recommendation we decide to rise for sunrise tomorrow morning. Our room is sparse with old throws but it's clean and functional.

Day 137 - 12th September 14

It's dark when we awake at 5 in the morning, but by the time we leave the homestay, the owners are worried we will have missed the sunrise as dawn is already seeping in. It's a pleasant walk through the tea

plantations in the morning cool. Yellow flowers bloom along the path. A pack of dogs bark angrily at us and run at our heels - but we have already been warned they are harmless. It's only a half hour walk. The panoramic view looks across to Ella's rock on one side and a verdant green valley on the opposite side, green mountains splaying into the distance.

In the afternoon we catch a bus down the road to visit the waterfall. The white water gushes from the cliffs above, but it can be seen from the roadside which crosses it so it's hardly a peaceful spot. Litter is tucked into cracks in the rocks. Groups of rowdy men are washing and wading in the water and they snap away at us with their cameras as we appear from behind the rock.

In the late afternoon, we visit a massage parlour. The 'masseuses' are

clearly untrained - they spend the 45 minutes simply rubbing our hair and backs vigorously with their hands. Elizabeth and Cliona have had a little more luck in their chosen salon. They are both laughing on their return. Elizabeth, who was having a foot massage, had a male masseur. He whispered into her ear, half an hour into the session, pointing to Cliona: 'I leave now. She has nipple rub.' After the session, he tells them there is a festival in the nearby town.

At the hostel, we meet 2 friends who have just embarked on their travelling adventure. They join us for dinner. Both are Scottish - the boy from Edinburgh and the girl from the Borders. Interestingly, he is pro Scottish independence, whereas she is violently against. We discuss the possible outcomes and repercussions. I feel surprisingly emotional at the prospect of Scotland no longer being part of the United Kingdom.

The tuk tuk driver who drove us to the restaurant is heading to the festival and he has agreed to give us a lift. His friend also has a tuk tuk and we head off in a small convoy. They park up behind the back of a petrol station and pull out a bottle of liquor and a mixer. They're clearly still teenagers and I feel awkward in this current scenario.

Families with children wrapped in coats and woollen hats are sitting along the pavement. It's a little chilly at night here and I'm glad of my

puffer jacket. It's nearing on midnight when the performers eventually arrive. They look a little exhausted, especially the younger children. A group of young boys pushing bicycles decorated with tall white feathers leads the way. It's not dissimilar to the perahera we saw in Unawatuna, just a little less prepared and rehearsed. 3 elephants painted and dressed in decorative coats are the stars of the show. One bears an octagonal structure on its back lit up with white fairy lights. It seems incredible that their owners have such control over such large animals capable of being so destructive and dangerous. A group of boys with scary masks (including the scream mask), make up one ramshackle group. They play up to our cameras attempting to intimidate us while hidden behind the protection of their masks. A group dressed like the elderly follows, wearing wrinkled masks with grey hair, their backs bent double, utilising walking stick - a bizarre addition to the festival.

Day 138 - 13th September 14

We take the train back to Colombo early in the morning. The little station at Ella feels like we are stepping back in time, with it's wooden painted sign and quaint station building. The guard on the train, dressed in a smart black uniform, waves his green flag to signify departure. On the carriages are painted their functions, in an old style font, such as the 'luggage' compartment.

It's a beautiful journey through the countryside and green tea plantations. The train chugs through Kandy, and from here it is the same views that we've already seen. It's a 9 hour train journey and we haven't thought to stock up on food. A group of Sri Lankans, one playing a drum, are singing songs in the seats in front of us. Korean tourists join them and share their own native songs, while the drummer keeps the beat. Later in the journey, they move seats to sit next to us and request us to sing 'My heart will go on' by Celine Dion. It's seems a strange choice, but the Sri Lankan men know the words by heart. I sit back and film everyone singing their hearts out.

We check into a hostel called Bed in Colombo. It's in a nice leafy part of town. The hostel itself is decorated in a modern, minimalistic style. It's very organised and well-run. They have a simple garden with white plastic garden furniture on a neat lawn. Everything is white. While Elizabeth leaves for a coffee date with a Sri Lankan rugby

player who lives in Colombo, we buy a bottle of wine to share in the garden and chat with 2 other girls who are staying here. One of the girls, who is called Ellie, is studying medicine, but has managed to take a year working abroad - she's working in a poverty stricken part of Sri Lanka.

The four of us eat Kottu in a restaurant popular with the locals, where the drumming of frantic chopping accompanies our meal. We ask two young Sri Lankan guys who have pulled up outside the restaurant in their flashy car for a bar recommendation in Colombo. By a strange coincidence, they are friends of Ellie's and they are just about to pick her up, so we join them.

Sugar 41 is a new classy rooftop bar, a popular hangout for the affluent young citizens. Ellie's friends studied in Sheffield for a year - she knows them through friends back home. One of them works in the gem business, following in the footsteps of his father, and if his car is anything to go by, he's clearly very successful. They are nice, friendly boys and they introduce us to some of their friends. We join them in an exclusive club called 'A Museum' which is in the grounds of a posh hotel. The guys have to pay a bribe for entrance. The club itself is mediocre but it's fun to have a dance. On the way back to our hostel, we stop at a restaurant open all night which serves the most mouthwateringly delicious cheese and chicken Kottu.

Day 139 - 14th September 14

Today we wander through this cosmopolitan city with its laid back ambience, window shopping in boutique shops and drinking coffee in trendy cafes. Independence square is an area of impressive white colonial architecture, dotted with palm trees. 5 years on and this city seems to have visibly recovered from the civil war which shook the country for 25 years.