Sri Lanka, England and Beyond.: Ella.

Inspector 'Bloop' arrived in the village; calm descended. His uniform is immaculately presented, hair slicked and perfectly groomed. He stood with his arms tightly wrapped behind his back, firmly clasping his glasses case. His fingers tapped the case impatiently as he awaited the arrival of the bus. The busses hold a thousand stories. Everyone on board has one. Some stories come out, some remain hidden, but one thing is for sure, they all want to know ours.

On this corner, eating breakfast at "the curd shop", everything is visible. The village unfolds. Several tuk tuks lurk awaiting prospective customers. All manner of things get loaded in; people being the obvious. Far more interesting is the fact that they can be so loaded with goods (of any description, from rice to rocks) you wonder how they will move, and then a couple of people will miraculously fold themselves up and squeeze in the last remaining gap.

Everyone is on the move, busses come and go. Sometimes they don't really stop, just slow down enough for the passenger to leap on or off, taking their lives in their hands once again.

The fruit seller does his best to entice us to buy. He calls, " coconut papaya banana water...you buy!" He knows we will buy something, he grins with acknowledgement. If you arrive for breakfast early enough you see him shuffle up the street. Later in the evening he seems to struggle to stand, too many beetle nuts. The red on his lips and the spittle around his stall, a telltale sign.

The Super Relex restaurant is opposite. Here they sell all manner of items, but it's the sweet sticky buns we buy. Covered in sugar, they appeal to our bellies late in the afternoon.

There's even a small nursery. Roses, dahlias and chrysanthemum seem to be plentiful. All sold in small pots for people's gardens.

The queue for the arayuvedic clinic starts in the morning, it doesn't open till about 4 in the afternoon. The customers sit and wait all day, probably sharing stories.

There's the local dog, or at least one of them, but this one loves the tourists. I'd like to say it's just taken to me, but over the days I've seen it go with several others. I can't hold it against him. He has one of those faces that holds a thousand stories, it's his body too that tells a story. It's disfigured shape. A leg that juts out behind it, severely broken, somehow,sometime. His frame is slight and he is so skinny. He joins us for breakfast. He coils comfortably at my feet.

This corner is so busy it's surprising only one dog looks like this, perhaps the others never made it after their battle with a car, tuk tuk, truck or bus.

We choose a guest house close to the centre of town. The view from our room is everchanging. As the afternoon storms roll in Ella Rock gradually disappears, swallowed by the mist. It's a great place to sit in the afternoon and enjoy cups of tea. Appropriately named Rock View, the guest house does a great curry and I join the cook in the evening to watch as he prepares the meal. The result: a delicious feast!

Walks around Ella

I'm sitting very close to the top of Ella Rock. There's a tree that's been logged just for me. I'm sitting on the stump. It's been quite a climb to here and I'm 'stumped' literally. I've decided to sit the rest out and just enjoy being here, alone, contemplating the view. Reece climbs on. The mountain has been planted out in eucalypts, it's quite bizarre really, feels like the Australian Bush. There's very little to disturb me, a few birds call to each other. The gentle breeze flows through the trees. Somewhere way off in the distance, I'm sure I can hear some music beats floating on the breeze. I am higher than all the surrounding mountains. And so I just sit. Peace.

At the beginning of this walk we had to walk along the railway tracks for about 3 kilometres. On this part of the walk we came across a small preschool. Knowing the train was due to come, we settled at the preschool for awhile. I played with the children; hopscotch on the concrete. When we ventured inside I got out the iPad. The children clambered and climbed all over me for a better view and to touch the screen as much as possible. It was a matter of trying to hold back their hands as I tried desperately to encourage them to take turns...epic fail! Their tiny fingers, seemingly millions of them, would find their way to the screen, and, consequently close the application that I was trying to use. Actually, after quite some time (and lots of patience and hand holding on my part), they realised I would let each of them have a go, but still, ever so beautifully, little hands and fingers just couldn't keep off.

Coming down we found a more direct route. (We had traversed several tracks on the way up) the afternoon mist rolled in and down came the rain. No problems, once we were drenched it stopped!

Another walk takes us to 'Little Adams Peak'.

Climbing up little Adams peak is a small test for my fitness it's only about 350 stairs. The view is stunning and allows us to look back at the luxurious accommodation known as 98acres. We treated ourselves to one night there. The panoramic scenery from our verandah is nothing short of stunning and as the afternoon descends the cloud lifts through the valley and engulfs the mountains. The scenery changes by the second. Ella Gap stretches out in front of you, reaching out forever to the plain nearly 1000m below. At 98 Acres we are surrounded by a tea plantation. The food is good, the service, almost too keen, and the surroundings, as I've said, stunning.

Another walk takes us six kilometres down the road to Rawana Ella Falls. It's all downhill, somewhat taxing on the legs, but more so on the nervous system. This is the same winding road we traversed to get to Ella. As the bus crept its way up the hills it sounded its horn as it approached the corners. The road was narrow, with vertical drop offs and, when two large vehicles arrived at the corners at the same time it was a tight squeeze, in fact it was possible to reach out and touch the other bus! So as we walk down, there are moments when the drop off is all to close as the thought of approaching busses fills my head. Consequently I walk rather fast. Still I enjoy the view, albeit with sweaty palms!