Being a tourist on Horton Plains Sri Lanka

its a curious and strange thing, a day in the life of a tourist sometimes. today for example we found ourselves being driven for an hour in a tuk tuk setting out in the dark, an hour before dawn. The early start was recommended because if you set out later, when you arrive at the destination viewpoint on Horton Plains, all you see is clouds. On the drive there our tuk tuk was overtaken by dozens of vehicles all heading for the same goal and all carrying occupants in considerably more comfort than myself and Sue huddled in the noisy three wheeler. As we drew closer we could see a traffic jam of more than 100 cars. At six in the morning, all waiting to get tickets for the national park. Not very environmentally friendly is it? I couldn't believe it. It was like queuing for a concert in Thetford forest but at 6 am ffs? This doesn't even happen in the Lake District. The tuk tuk fortunately could squeeze down the side of the jam  to the front of the queue of vehicles. The next step was to join a lengthy queue for tickets, which was moving at snails pace, but even when I finally got our tickets we were stymied because the tuk tuk was blocked in by a van, and unable to proceed to the trail head a couple of miles along the road. Our tuk tuk driver simply got in the van and was able to move it out of the way because the keys were in the ignition. Smart move. Then when we did start the walk, my grumpiness went up another notch. A bag check was in operation to remove all plastic and non biodegradable items. An exception was made for water bottles but even then the labels were removed. This is in a country where litter is everywhere and makes fly tip blighted Millfield in Peterborough look like Zurich. My ironyometer was off the scale. The reason for my grumpiness was that more than half of my breakfast, as packed by our hotel, was confiscated, never to be seen again. Finally we started the walk one and a half hours after arriving at the entrance! But there was yet more cause for grumpiness. Young Chinese tourists playing music on their tinny smartphone speakers. I told them to turn it off, which they did. Bird watching along the route was somewhat challenging because of all the noisy hordes, especially the Chinese and Koreans. However I did log some new for me sightings -  four lifers along the route - three of which posed for photos. The pied bush chat, the black eagle and best of all the endemic dull blue flycatcher.

. I also saw some hill swallows but they moved too quickly to be photographed. The walk was about 4 km to the viewpoint and the same back, but on a different track. So was it worth all the hassle and lost sleep? Yes. It's a place like no other I have seen on this island. Superficially it resembles Wales or Scotland. Hopefully the photos will give some idea.