On Day 2, we had several places to visit. They key one was Horton Plains, a plateau covered by montane grassland and cloud forest. It is more than 7000 feet above sea level.
In the morning, we had local breakfast in the Hill Club Restaurant.
 |
| The Hill Club Restaurant |
 |
String hoppers, curry, fried coconut and coconut
sambol breakfast at The Hill Club Restaurant |
On the way to Horton Plains, as we drove higher and higher, the visibility became poorer and poorer.
 |
On the way to Horton Plains |
In Horton Plains, we followed a 7.5 Km trekking trail and walked for 3 hours. Not only it was strenuous and torturous to complete the7.5 Km trail in 3 hours, the "Am I Next?" poster at the Visitor Centre with a picture of leopard drawn on it gave me additional mental pressure, wondering whether we would
cross the leopard’s path and who would be the "I" in the “Am I next?” poster. The 7.5 Km trekking trail is not a flat trail, not only it is rocky, it rises and falls constantly. Walking along the trail is like crossing obstacles in military training.
During trekking, we were practically walking through the cloud along the rocky nature trial and streams as if our heads were in the cloud, our feet were in the water.
 |
| Trail Head |
 |
| The Trail |
 |
| The stream |
We climbed up to the Mini World's End and World's End. We were told that at mini World's End, the plateau comes to a sudden end and plunges 880 feet (268 meters). At World's End, it plunges 2,880 feet (877 meters). By the time we reached Baker's Fall, we were so exhausted that walking down 20+ steps to take a good picture of the Baker's Fall was nearly an impossible task to do.
 |
| Mini World's End |
 |
| World's End |
On the way back from Horton Plains, we stopped by New Zealand Farm Ambawela to have fresh cheese and hot milk. Good replenishment for the energy we lost in Horton Plains.
 |
| Canteen in Ambawela Farm |
|
| Chatting with the Farm Manager (Centre) |
In the evening, we had dinner at Indian Grand - an Indian restaurant run by Grand Hotel but at a distance away from Grand Hotel. We ordered 3 dishes to share including a masala chicken dish. We expected the masala dish to be hot and spicy with thick paste-like gravy like what we get in Singapore. But it turned to be more like curry chicken. Disappointing!
We rounded up our Day 2 in the
bar of
Grand Hotel which is not far away from the Hill Club. This is a bar with many vintage movie posters hanging on the walls, giving this bar a vibrant atmosphere of the past. Anyway, though it was a hard day’s night, it did make us feel alright.
 |
| Lounge at Grand Hotel |
 |
| Vintage movie poster |
 |
| Bar at Grand Hotel |
