Sri Lanka + Malaysia (2) in 2024

🐠 February 6th Strolling around Kandy Lake + Temple of the Tooth + Royal Botanical Gardens Visited the Temple of the Tooth in the morning, where removing shoes was required. There was a shoe storage service available for a fee. In the afternoon, took a tuk-tuk to the Royal Botanical Gardens, which felt very much like being in the South China Botanical Garden. The schedule for the following days was quite tight, as each attraction was far from the next, resulting in long travel times on the road. 🐬 February 7th Took a train to the Nuwara Eliya tea plantations, visited DAMRO TEA. First-class tickets were impossible to get, even when trying to buy them a day in advance. So there were only second and third-class seats available, which, aside from the price, seemed no different. Seats were on a first-come, first-served basis, just like on a bus, very crowded. After leaving the train station, took a taxi to the hotel in the tea plantation. The scenery along the way was beautiful, with lots of greenery, and the temperature was also a few degrees cooler than in Kandy. The driver offered to take us to the tea plantation and even stopped at a post office to take pictures for us, where we also wrote postcards. After returning from the tea plantation, we walked to a nearby lake and enjoyed the beautiful scenery before sunset. By the time we returned to the hotel and came back out for a walk, it had already gotten dark. A walk around the lake and then back to the hotel. We didn't visit Horton Plains here, which was a bit of a regret; The guesthouse we stayed at had a great environment, with a suite that included 2 rooms and a kitchen for cooking. The owner mentioned that Chinese people had stayed here before and would cook their meals. The owner's family was very friendly. 🐟 February 8th Took the tea plantation train, then a taxi to Mirissa Beach We got up early in the morning to take a walk nearby because the scenery was beautiful. Then we checked out and took the train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella, just to experience the tea plantation train. It was indeed inconvenient to move around with 2 suitcases. At Ella train station, we discussed taxi fares to Mirissa Beach and happened to meet a driver who was returning empty to Mirissa, so he agreed to our price. The journey of over 3 hours was hot and bumpy, but we finally arrived at Mirissa. The driver stopped at a waterfall for us to take pictures. We checked into the hotel, which was a bit run-down. After dropping off our luggage, we went to the beach for a walk and climbed a small rock to watch the sunset. In the evening, we casually ate at a roadside shop because we were exhausted from the entire journey. 🐳 February 9th Galle Old Town In the morning, we strolled along Mirissa Beach and had breakfast by the sea, enjoying the leisurely view. Then we checked out of the hotel and looked up the bus route on Google Maps. After asking locals where the bus station was, we took a bus to Galle Old Town. The bus fare was very cheap, 162 rupees per person (about ¥3.8). After getting off the bus, we took a tuk-tuk to the old town, where we found that most drivers were unwilling to go inside. Those willing to go demanded 500 rupees. We arrived at the hotel early and had to wait for a room, so we went to find lunch and then explored the old town.