Realizing the 2024 Vision Board

Manifesting Pinterest dreams in Sri Lanka's misty mountains

This year’s vision board included misty jungles, Sigiriya Rock, elephants, and the Instagram-famous Kandy to Ella train. With that in mind, I set out to achieve them all in Sri Lanka’s hill country.

Back in Colombo, my friend Lauren told me that I needed to book the Kandy to Ella train in advance because tickets sell out quickly. I was thoroughly confused that 2nd and 3rd class train tickets would be hot property, but a quick visit to TikTok answered all my questions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I shared my vision board with every other wannabe travel influencer visiting Sri Lanka. Thanks to the algorithms, we were all looking for the perfect wild and free footage of hanging out the train door to show our followers:

“This is Sri Lanka”

Tour companies were early to see the trend, and are now buying up all classes of tickets on the journey well in advance. For some reason though, no one was buying up the reverse journey of Ella to Kandy.

It’s clearly the same journey, but there was a strong preference for travelers to go through the hill country and down to the South beaches, as opposed to the reverse route. Time to go against the crowd!

Here are five “must do” rebellious route activities in the hill country, along with a few other highlights at each stop.

1. Royal Botanic Gardens in Kandy

2. Tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya

3. Elephant safari in Sigiriya

4. Rice & Curry at Matey Hut in Ella

5. Waterfall views in Ella

Let’s get started!

#1 - Landmark Highlight: Royal Botanic Gardens in Kandy.

Wow. These gardens weren’t just a highlight of Kandy, they were a highlight of the entire country. Almost 150 acres of incredible plants, including some stunning trees. Of note is the Cannonball Tree planted by King George and Queen Mary in 1901.

…and this spectacular palm tree avenue (one of many!)

You could spend several hours wandering the gardens and exploring all of the various zones. There are picnic areas (but beware of monkeys!) as well as a couple of cafés to get some relief from the heat.

In addition to the gardens, Kandy offers many other cultural activities.

If you’re not visiting during the annual Kandy Esala Perahera Festival in August, don’t miss the opportunity to experience Buddha’s tooth relic at Sri Dalada Maligawa. Yes, inside the temple is believed to be the tooth relic of Buddha themself. You can take in the spiritual aura of this very sacred space any time of day, but there are daily services at 5:30am, 9:30am and 6:30pm if you want to witness traditional rituals.

(Travel tip: You need to check your shoes before entering. Bring socks because the ground gets HOT.)

The annual festival sounds like an incredible opportunity to experience multiple days of Kandyan cultural delights, but you can still enjoy local dancing shows every evening the rest of the year.

How beautiful is traditional Kandyan dress?

#2 - Natural Beauty: Tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya.

Sri Lanka packs a bunch when it comes to cramming in varied landscapes and scenery into a relatively small island. One of the reasons why TikTokers love their train content is because they can have waterfalls, valleys, forests, and tea plantations all in the background of a relatively short three hour journey.

The tea plantations, however, are a standout — both in scale and in beauty.

It was the Scottish planter James Taylor that first introduced tea to British Ceylon (well done laddie!), but most are familiar with his merchant partner Sir Thomas Lipton. Many of the functioning factories in the hill country offer tours where you can learn about the production process and sample single origin Ceylon tea…before it goes to auction and is blended and sold around the world. Interestingly, Sri Lanka still ranks as the 3rd largest exporter of tea globally.

I went to two popular factories — the Uva Halpewatte factory in Ella, and the Pedro Tea Estate in Nuwara Eliya.

Most intriguing fact I learned?

High quality orange pekoe (long, wiry, thin leaves) classified as OPA or OP1 (pictured above beside my excited face…due to sheer volume of fancy tea) isn’t very strong or bitter, so it doesn’t need the sugar from milk to taste good.

The Tetley tea bags I’ve been drinking all my life (sorry Sir Lipton!) are classified as BOPF (Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings), and are essentially the leftover bits lower down in the sieving process, just before you end up with tea dust. Everything is saleable though, even the dust. In Sri Lanka, locals primarily drink tea dust as a strong brew, similar to instant coffee.

Perhaps one day I’ll investigate how many hours it takes to become a tea sommelier, but until then, I was mesmerized by all of the gradings and their ever increasing acronyms. Sure I can get my head around FBOPF1 (I think), but FBOPFEXSP?!?

Nuwara Eliya, also called “Little England”, has a totally different climate than most of Sri Lanka, at more than 1800 meters above sea level. Taking in the fresh and crisp morning air, I could see why the British chose it to establish a town full of all of their home comforts. There are still remnants of that period of colonization, with a golf course, race course, and private members’ club. I appreciated the effort taken to preserve some of the history, but it felt at odds with how the rest of Sri Lankans lived in the area.

#3 - Into the Wild: Elephant safari in Sigiriya.

Next up on the vision board was elephants! The thought of experiencing an elephant safari on the same island where I admired surfers only a few hours away was indeed WILD. There are actually numerous wildlife reserves in the country, but I chose an eco park in Habarana, near Sigiriya.

It did not disappoint.

We saw numerous herds over a few hours, and there weren’t many other jeeps in the park. I’m not sure what the right balance is with ethical tourism and supporting the conservation of endangered species. Although the elephants came up close to the dirt track, our jeep engine was always off when they were nearby, and we never stayed too long.

Of course the highlight of being in Sigiriya was also Sigiriya Rock itself!

I climbed both the rock fortress, as well as the neighbouring Pidurangala Rock (the next day) for views that can’t be missed!

Both climbs were very hot and sweaty, so best done as early as you can in the day.

The best part?

A RAINBOW to top off the once in a lifetime views.

#4 - Culinary Delights: Rice & Curry at Matey Hut in Ella.

I couldn’t have known when I set my 2024 vision board how many rice and curry meals I might eat this year. Turns out, I can’t keep count.

You can find rice & curry as a staple menu item at most Sri Lankan restaurants around the country. No further explanation about the type of curry (or how many!), you just order blind and get what comes. It’s an adventure every time.

Sometimes you’ll receive up to 10 small bowls of different varieties!

Lentils, beetroot, carrots, potato, jackfruit, eggplant, okra, banana…you name it, it’s a curry. There was always an incredible selection of vegetarian options, but you could also find the odd chicken or fish variety now and again.

I already mentioned the delicious dinner at Manori’s Kitchen in Ahangama, but Matey Hut in Ella was an unforgettable meal that I hit the repeat button on.

The whole experience of eating a fiery meal at the side of the road and out of a hut epitomized how amazing rice & curry can be.

(Travel tip: If you like spicy food, order “Sri Lankan spicy”…but be prepared for Matey Hut’s interpretation of this. They don’t hold back, and tears will follow even for the most experienced.)

#5 - Hidden Gem: Waterfall views in Ella.

Ella has emerged as a tourist haven, likely starting with the outdoorsy backpackers who appreciated its pretty spectacular hiking opportunities. The peaks and valleys of the region are truly impressive.

A hidden gem for me was accommodation with waterfall views at the aptly named Super View homestay. Not only was there a waterfall view from the terrace, but the local monkeys also came to visit. They might look cute, but shortly after I snapped the photo below, the cheeky bugger snapped something out of my bag.

I was also able to set up my own “home office” in the separate kitchen space (lol…yep, I’m still lugging around my second monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset, laptop stand, etc.). You can’t say that digital nomads aren’t adaptable.

Despite not taking my own advice of avoiding hikes during peak midday heat, I have good memories of climbing both Little Adam’s Peak and Ella Rock.

The influencers also can’t get enough of the nearby Nine Arch bridge, so of course I had to check it out.

Worth the hype? Debatable, because I’m not brave (read: crazy) enough to sit on the side of an active train bridge “for the ‘gram”.

I am grateful to have spent so much time in Sri Lanka trying to see as much as I could, but also taking advantage of some of the trending ‘slow travel’ mentality.

However, with pretty much all of my vision board manifested, what’s next?

Stay tuned for my #1 bucket list item of hacking the Maldives!

xoxo Heather