Breakfast with monkeys

Our day started out with some Hanuman Langurs. These dark faced monkeys are one of 5 primates in Sri Lanka, 3 of those being monkeys and two are lorises. We've also seen the toque macaques in the short time we've been here. I'd love to see a loris, but I'm not sure that'll happen, I think they are much much more rare. 

The langurs were high up in a tree above the home stay. 

We left after breakfast and started our 8 mile walk around Ella and the countryside. Hiking up Little Adams Peak first, and getting some sweeping views on the way up, pictures below. 

Ella Rock, which we hiked up yesterday is pictured below. 

Bright green tea along the way. 

Near the summit. 

As always, Tom found his crew of dogs. They came out of nowhere and surrounded him. No lie.  

On the way down, we had a good view of the village where the tea pickers live. This was nestled into a valley surrounded by soaring peaks and tea fields as far as one can see.  The temple is at the closest end. Yesterday was a Poya day here, which is a religious holiday and is celebrated, thus the flags. With each full moon, a Poya is celebrated, stores, schools, and the government are closed and no alcohol is served. That is, unless you sit in the back room of a bar or restaurant, then they're sometimes willing to break the law in order to make some money. :)

Speaking of Poya days, this was the full moon rising last night over the town of Ella, it was so bright!

Next we took a walk out through more tea plantations and enjoyed the green along the way. 

This is how the locals dry sheets and blankets. I've seen plenty of clothing, towels, etc. on rooftops as well.  So, that cup of tea you're drinking may have actually had some clean laundry on it at some point in time!

We also walked past a group of women tea pickers weighing out for the day. They take the tea and dump it on a blanket attached to two branches and use a hanging scale to weigh it. The women were lined up along the road, just next to a luxury hotel sign...worlds colliding for sure, although "luxury" probably means something much different than in other parts of the world.