Why is Sri Lanka’s Horton Plains called the end of the world? Best time to travel to Sri Lanka

Everyone has his own Utopia in his heart. That place will not be mentioned easily, spoken out easily, or go there easily. Many times you will choose to go there during the most important stage of your life. There, and you find that after you go there, you become deeply obsessed with everything there. Even if it is an inconspicuous grass, you will write a beautiful story for it, just because this is the holy place in your heart. And you love it.

Sanmao once said that the desert she saw in a magazine one day evoked the nostalgia of her previous life. Many years later, when life cruelly brought her back to the place where she came from, she went without a second thought to the desert that had been in her heart for a long time - the Sahara.

It is a national park that brings together mountains, meadows, rainforests, and wilderness. I know that that inaccessible or even desolate place is the pure land I have been looking for for a long time. Suddenly, a gentle ray of multicolored light slowly rose in my heart. The seed that had been buried in my heart for a long time began to sprout in my heart, and in an instant it grew into bright green leaves.

Horton Plain is actually a plateau, with an altitude of more than 2,000 meters. To be precise, it is a national park that can be visited on foot. It is located in the central highlands. Different from ordinary parks, this is a huge natural park covered by mountains, rivers and primitive meadows, with a variety of natural landforms and rich wildlife. resource.

I am looking forward to the nine-kilometer hiking route.

At five o'clock in the morning in Nuwara Eliya, beautiful red clouds appeared on the blue sky. After I took a photo of the small flowers swaying in the wind on the fence at the entrance of the inn, I went with my companions Travel by jeep to Horton Plains.

We passed by fresh mountain tea gardens, and then passed by green grassy farms. As the vehicle moved forward, the sky gradually became brighter. The sky after sunrise was particularly blue and the clouds were as white as snow.

When the jeep began to circle the mountain road of Horton Plains, it entered another world. The mist-filled mountains were covered with ancient ferns, and the vegetation was thick and layered, as if it were coming from a mysterious place. It’s the age of dinosaurs. National treasure-level endangered plants listed as first-level protection in our country appeared in front of me in hundreds and thousands at this moment.

Alpinia cylindrica

As I slowly recovered, the vegetation on the roadside turned into clusters of rhododendron-like shrubs and strange-shaped trees, in the diffuse mist. Among them, the rhododendron-like shrubs were covered with plump dewdrops. As the car continued to drive forward, the road began to level out and the fog became thicker. Now even the bushes were gone. The vast expanse was filled with low brown grass. A little further away, nothing could be seen clearly.

It was completely unexpected to see sambar deer just outside the gates of Horton Plains. When approaching the gate, the driver slowed down and saw a sambar deer, which was as big as an ox but looked extremely docile, grazing leisurely on the grass on the side of the road with two long antlers. , it walked out of the grass and came to the road willfully, chewing something in its mouth leisurely, while looking at the vehicles in front of it, as if sizing up people. When the vehicles saw it coming out, they stopped and allowed it to look at it slowly. They never stepped forward to disturb it. After it left leisurely, the vehicles slowly moved forward. I have never seen such a harmonious and interesting picture before.

Deer grazing on the roadside

Get off the jeep and start hiking. Entering the meadow area of ??Horton Plains, it was still foggy and the temperature was low in the morning. The cold air and water mist penetrated directly into us. I wrapped myself in three layers from the inside out and still felt a little cold.

Walking through the large brown meadow, we entered a forest. The trees were shrouded in a light mist. A ray of sunlight shot in from the treetops, easily removing this layer of mist. Penetrating, showing colorful aperture under the lens. With the sunshine, the temperature begins to rise slowly.

The road across Horton Plains is sometimes flat and sometimes rugged. Before you know it, you have entered a rain forest. Suddenly, the air becomes warm and humid, and you can see lush trees on both sides of the road. The vines were entangled and the branches were so intertwined that I thought I was dreaming. Even though I knew in advance that the ecological landforms here were diverse, I was still surprised when I was actually in the hot and humid rainforest.

Continue to explore the unknown journey ahead, there will always be surprises. It was like we were walking and suddenly came to the end of the world.

I want to put aside all distractions and experience this beautiful new world here, but suddenly a thick fog rises from the bottom of the mountain, floating like a soaring cloud. In the blink of an eye, it is already in front of my eyes. It was a vast expanse of white, and suddenly nothing could be seen in the mountains and forests opposite, the houses at the foot of the mountains, and the river in the distance.

Encountering such a strange sight on an unknown journey, the shock in my heart cannot be described in words.

When the road stopped abruptly at your feet, you suddenly found yourself standing on the highest peak. One step forward was the cliff. This is the most famous scenic spot in Horton Plains - Theworld'send

(The end of the world).

Directly in front of the end of the world is a rolling mountain, with a wisp of clouds and mist lingering on the top of the mountain, as if it is within reach.

At this time, the sky is as clear as water, and the field of view is extremely broad. Nearby are the wild flowers blooming on the cliff and the trees standing on the cliff. On the opposite side are the lush mountain forests, and there are low trees in the canyon below the mountain. houses, but in the distance are large areas of flat land and rivers. This is a brand new world outside the wasteland rainforest of Horton Plains, a paradise-like existence.

The end of the world is in the center of the entire hiking route. After bidding farewell to the misty end of the world, we began to return.

After 9 a.m., the sky is getting bluer and bluer, and the temperature is getting higher and higher. After seeing the wonders at the end of the world, the next five kilometers of journey seemed far away and arduous.

We continued to walk through large areas of wilderness, running, jumping and resting freely in the wilderness; passing by clear rivers and trickling streams, we said hello to the small fish in the streams;< /p>

We passed through dense jungles, saw unknown trees and flowers, and waterfalls pouring down from the mountains. The road was long and colorful.

When the hiking journey reached the end, I was a little reluctant to leave.

It took *** more than 3 hours to walk and climb. We completed the entire hiking trip, and everyone persisted. It was pleasant and relatively relaxing. Since I usually exercise more than 10,000 steps a day, I didn’t feel particularly physically tired after walking 18,000 steps this time. I gained beautiful scenery and an energetic mind. On the way back to the hotel, I also discovered a different kind of Ceylonese character. Travel Guide

Visa

Originally it is very convenient to apply for a Sri Lanka visa. You can just apply for an electronic visa (ETA) on the official website of the Sri Lanka Immigration Bureau. Unfortunately, there is a verification code on their website because of Google. No, you need to climb over the wall to get on. Therefore, it is recommended to use a certain treasure. The original visa processing fee is 30 US dollars, and the visa can usually be issued within 24 hours. A certain treasure will be more expensive.

Air tickets

Air China, China Eastern Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines all have direct flights from the mainland to Colombo International Airport (CMB), the capital of Sri Lanka.

You can also consider connecting flights from Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and other places. Air China’s discounted round-trip ticket from Chengdu to Colombo is about 2,500 yuan, and Air Asia’s discounted connecting ticket to Kuala Lumpur is about 2,500 yuan for 4 segments.

When to go

Sri Lanka is located in the tropics and has a tropical maritime climate. It is affected by the sea breeze and is not very hot. There are no four seasons, only the rainy season and the dry season. The rainy season is from May to August each year and from November to February of the following year.

Language

Sri Lanka has its own language and writing, but English is very popular. Getting around Sri Lanka in English is enough. Sri Lankan English has an accent, so don’t blame yourself if you don’t understand it. Smile + pen and paper + body language.

Food

The main dish of Sri Lanka is "curry", which is a dark sauce containing a variety of ingredients, served with rice, cakes and other staple foods. In addition to curry, fried snacks are also common here. In addition, as a tropical island country, Sri Lanka also has high-quality and low-priced seafood and tropical fruits worth tasting.

The most typical meal in Sri Lanka is: a plate of rice with a few butterfly vegetables, mainly chicken, fish, potatoes, beans, chopped green vegetables, etc. It's rare to see a plate of vegetables. I often ask for Vegetable, but what I get is beans, which they think are vegetables.