I honestly don’t think I can sum up how much in love I am with Madulkelle – it is heaven.

I secretly knew this was probably going to be my favourite part of the trip so I was really excited to get there. We had arranged for our driver from our trip to Nurawa Eliya to take us up to the lodge from Kandy (for 5500rps/£23 each way) and set off early on the Friday morning. My excitement increased as the views got better and better the higher we went, and when finally caught a glimpse of one of the lodges as we turned a bend I couldn’t help but let out a squeal of happiness – it looked like everything I had hoped for. The journey took just under an hour and a half so we arrived around 10.30am. We received a Hindu welcome at the front door and shown through to the terrace at the rear of the main building, our jaws dropped at the view!

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Even though we were really quite early the staff were so accommodating and checked us in straight away while we sat trying to take in the view with a cup of tea and biscuits. We were then shown to our lodge, which are set within the tea plantation on the hillside below. Each lodge is accessed via its own private path and has a private terrace. The lodge itself oozes luxury, with beautiful furniture set within a large tent overlooking the Knuckle mountains. Its the little extra details which I love, such as a choice of loose leaf tea, and the hurricane lamps in each corner.

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We settled in for 3 days and nights of relaxation. There are lots of activities on offer, such as hiking, tours, classes and spa. We decided to do a bird watching trek, a cooking class (which I’ll cover in a separate post) and I also chose to have a massage. The rest of the time we spent relaxing by the infinity pool, gazing over the mountains.

All of our meals were served in the main building. We tended to have breakfast and dinner, with just a light lunch or snack in between. Breakfasts were potentially the hightlight, served in such style and again I sound like a broken record, but those views!

Dinner varied every night, with both Sri Lankan and western options available. I had emailed in advance mentioning Richie’s birthday, but had sort of forgotten about our conversations. But the staff had remembered and were so lovely, bringing out a cake on our first night just for him, plus setting up champagne in our lodge with a plate of fresh fruit. We felt that through our whole stay the staff were very accommodating and friendly, and also left you to your own devices so you didn’t feel like you were being pestered or watched. It was the perfect place to relax, and I was very sad to leave after our three nights. It is already made it to the list of places to go back to!

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