Sri Lanka - Little Adam´s Peak

If you are really short of time to climb Adam´s Peak and explore Nuwara Eliya tea plantations, there is one thing you can do to substitute for both. And that is an easy hike to Little Adam´s Peak. It saves you two  days of your itinerary.

Little Adam´s Peak is located in Ella. It got it`s name after it`s big brother, the holy mountain Adam`s Peak, because of the similar shape. It is supposed to be a very popular hike, but surprisingly, we did not meet many people on our way (probably because of dark clouds accumulating above us). It is really very easy hike (we started in front of our hotel called Ella Flower Garden Resort (the picture above is from there). You walk among the tea plantations, and if you are lucky enough (we were not) you will also see teapickers along the way. We met some local kids who insisted on picture but asked for money afterwards (I guess I was not experienced travel photographer enough to see this coming).  The surroundings are spectacular, all the green hills! Once again I took hundred pictures of tea bushes :-).  It takes less than an hour to climb up and there are some stairs - climbing them we still felt the big Adam´s Peak in our legs. But it is not a challenging hike and it`s quite short, and gives you a good impression of the landscape around Ella and the view is fantastic. So absolutely worth the climb! 

There are actually two tops, and I am not sure which one is the right one. We got caught by heavy rain at the top, so we did not manage to explore both. We ran down the hill soaking wet and enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing in the restaurant. After dark, we went to explore the night life in Ella - we ended up having rotti with our guide in the local shop.

Ak nemáte dosť času liezť na Adamovu horu ani na objavovanie čajových plantáží v okolí Nuwara Eliya, je jedno miesto, ktoré vám nahradí oba tieto zážitky. A tým je Malá Adamova hora. To vám ušetrí dva dni z cestovného plánu.

Malá Adamova hora sa nachádza v Elle (kam sme sa doviezli vláčikom v minulej časti). Meno dostala po svojej veľkej sestre, svätej Adamovej hore, vďaka podobnému tvaru. Výstup na Malú Adamovu horu by mal byť celkom populárny medzi turistami, my sme však takmer nikoho nestretli (možno to bolo tým, že sa nám nad hlavami začali zaťahovať mračná). Cesta na vrchol je naozaj ľahká túra (my sme začali spred nášho hotela, to foto hore je odtiaľ). Kráčate pomedzi čajové plantáže, a pokiaľ máte šťastie (čo sme my nemali), uvidíte aj zberačky čaju. My sme stretli zopár miestnych detí, ktoré trvali na tom, aby som ich odfotila, a následne si za to vypýtali peniaze (zjavne nie som príliš scestovaná aby ma to neprekvapilo). Okolie je nádherné, všetky tie zelené kopce! Opäť som neoddolala a urobila asi sto fotiek čajových kríkov. Hore to trvá ani nie hodinu myslím, je tam aj pár schodov, na ktorých sme ešte pocítili výstup na tú skutočnú Adamovu horu. Ale nie je to nič náročné, a hlavne získate obraz o krajine v okolí Elly a výhľady sú krásne, takže rozhodne ten výšľap stojí za to! 

Vlastne sú tam vrcholy dva a ja neviem, ktorý z nich bol ten pravý. Lenže nás na vrchu zastihol hrozný lejak, takže ísť aj na ten druhý sme nestihli. Utekali sme dole premočení do nitky a zvyšok dňa sme strávili v hotelovej reštaurácii. Po zotmení sme šli objavovať nočný život v mestečku - nakoniec sme skončili spolu s naším sprievodcom na rotti v miestnom obchodíku.

Day trip - Kirchberg am Wagram

If you are looking for a nice day trip during beautiful indian summer, here is my tip. Kirchberg am Wagram is not that far from Bratislava (140 km). It is a nice austrian village, with lot of wine makers, which might be great during this period of the year. And there is this wonderful restaurant called Gut Oberstockstall. I was in Kirchberg for a location scouting in the spring, and then for a wedding with a party in this restaurant. This place is a gem and definitely worth the visit, especially in the summer when you can sit outside and enjoy the location. Unfortunately the day of the wedding was the rainiest day I ever experienced for my shootings, and we literally could not step outside, so these pictures are just from the scouting in the spring. All the pictures are from the restaurant´s yard.

Ak máte chuť na krátky jednodňový výlet, tu je tip odo mňa. Kirchberg am Wagram nie je až tak ďaleko od Bratislavy (asi 140 km). Táto rakúska dedinka je plná vinárov, čo ju momentálne robí ideálnym miestom pre vínachtivých výletníkov. A je tam skvelá reštaurácia Gut Oberstocktall. Ja som tam bola v rámci hľadania lokácií na svadobné fotenie, a potom aj samotná svadobná hostina sa konala tam. Určite to stojí za návštevu, špeciálne v lete, keď môžete sedieť vonku a kochať sa okolím reštaurácie. Bohužiaľ tá svadba sa konala snáď v najupršanejší deň tohto roku, nikdy som také zlé počasie na fotenie nemala. Doslova sa nedalo vyjsť von, takže tieto fotky sú z toho jarného hľadania. Všetky sú z okolia reštaurácie, ale samotná dedinka je tiež pekná.

Free time oriented people

 I have to admit...I am not an ambitious person when it comes to career or work. And I am definitely not a workoholic.  I like to call myself a freetime oriented person. I can shut the door of my office and stop thinking about work the next second.  Because there is so much other to think about, to plan, to do!
I love trips. For a day, for a weekend, for a week, for a month, even for ever. I love to explore, to visit, to be at any kind of place which is new to me. Just tell me, who can be happy to be back at the office after flipping through weekend pictures like this!

Are you a career oriented person or a free time oriented person :-) ?

Musím sa priznať ...čo sa týka kariéry a práce, nie som ambiciózna. A už vôbec nie som workoholik. Ja by som to nazvala človek orientovaný na voľný čas. Viem za sebou zabuchnúť dvere od kancelárie a prestať myslieť na prácu v druhej sekunde. Pretože na svete je toho toľko, na čo môžete myslieť, plánovať, robiť!
Milujem výlety. Jednodňové, víkendové, týždňové, mesačné, dokonca aj výlety navždy. Rada objavujem, navštevujem, rada som kdekoľvek, kde som ešte nebola. 
No však povedzte, kto by bol rád späť v kancelárii po tom, čo ste si pozreli fotky z víkendu ako tieto!

A čo vy? Ste orientovaní na kariéru, alebo na voľný čas?

Spring time...

No words needed...
Slová tu nie sú potrebné...

Frogs

  

This green beauty jumped right to my boy in our cottage (hope it´s not the princess). I spent the next our just watching the frog and trying to get some nice pictures. It jumped  though the lawn, climbed the tree and ended on a fence, staying there for good 3 hours without movement. 

(click on pictures to enlarge, they are much nicer that way)

 

 

And the next day this toad crossed our lawn. Yes, it is not that cute like the green one, but don´t let fool yourself  with the look. Maybe there is the real princess inside...

Easter weekend

 

 Hello dears, so how was your Easter? We spend a day on my cottage and then continued north to High Tatras. All  weekend we were trekking, relaxing in wellness, getting a massage, eating, drinking and sleeping. Perfect relaxation weekend. I also didn' t miss  the slovak Easter Monday traditions like boys chasing girls, pouring water on them and whipping them :-). Might sound weird for other nations, but I love it and if there is no water, that is no Easter for me. If you want to know more about this craziness, just let me know and I will explain.    Here are just some images from the Easter time on my cottage.

 

The origin of fruit

 

So this is one of my beauties - blossom on a peach tree which I am trying to save and get some fruit of it. The tree is not exactly covered with flowers all over, but it has few beautiful pink treasures and I really hope they manage to turn into the peaches one day. I am glad I managed to take some pictures yesterday, because it was raing almost all day and untill next time I go home, they might be gone.

 

 

On the other hand, the sour cherry tree is covered with thousands of blossoms. It is one white, beautiful smelling tree. If all of the flowers turn to cherries, I think I should start looking for a jam recipes. It is so perfect, I wish it stays like this for couple of more weeks so I can enjoy it more. Click on pictures to enlarge and see the whole beauty, looks much better that way.