Horton Plains and World's End

Perched on the very edge of the hill country midway between Nuwara Eliya and Haputale, Horton Plains National Park covers a wild stretch of bleak, high-altitude moorland bounded at its southern edge by the dramatically plunging cliffs that mark the edge of the hill country including the famous World's End, where the escarpment falls sheer for the best part of a kilometer to the lowlands below. Set at an elevation of over two thousand meters, Horton Plains are a world apart from the rest of Sri Lanka: a misty and rain swept landscape dotted with beautiful patches of pristine cloud forest, whose characteristic umbrella-shaped keena trees, covered in a fine cobweb of old man's beard, turn from green to red to orange as the seasons progress. The cool, wet climate has fostered the growth of a distinctive range of flora, including various rhododendrons, bamboos, tree ferns and many endemic species of plant, making the Plains an area of great biological value and fragility, though the stands of cloud forest are now receding, possibly because of acid rain generated by motor traffic across the island. The Plains’ wildlife attractions are relatively modest. Herds of elephants formerly roamed the area, until they were all shot by colonial hunters, and though few leopards still visit the park, you'll have to be incredibly lucky to see one.The park's most visible residents are its herds of sambar deer, which can often be seen handng companionably around the entrance office waiting for handouts, while you milht see rare bear-faced (also known as purple-faced) monkeys. The P ams are also one of the best places in the island for bird watching, and an excelent place to see montage endemics such as the dull-blue flycatcher Sri Lanka bush warbler Sri Lanka whistling thrush and the pretty yellow-eared bulbul, as well as striking orange minivets.You'll probably also see beautiful lizards, some of them boasting outlandishly fluorescent gree scales, through their numbers are declininig as the result of depredations by crows, attracted to the park  by litter left by loutish visitors. Exploring the park From the entrance, a nine-kilometer circular track leads around the Plains, walk able in a few gentle hours. For the first half-kilometer, the path leads through rolling open heath land dotted with gorse and rhododendron bushes before entering a stretch of wonderful cloud forest: a tangle of stunted, grey-barked trees covered in mosses and old man's beard. Another couple of kilometers and you reach the edge of the cliffs which bound this section of the park and the first viewpoint, Small World's End, after which it's a short 250m scramble up to World's End proper. From here, the cliffs plunge almost vertically for 884m, revealing enormous views across much of the southern island: you can see the coast on a clear day - the large lake in the near distance is at Uda Walawe . There are also marvelous views along the craggy peaks which line the escarpment, including Sri Lanka’s second and third highest, Kirigalpota (2395m) and Totapolakanda (2359m), which stand at the edge of the park. Another 200m beyond World's End, the path turns inland towards Baker's fall. Ignore this turning for a moment and continue along the cliff edge for another 100m to another viewpoint from the overhanging rock ledge - it's said that no less than ten star-crossed couples have leapt to their deaths from here over the years. From here, the track loops back towards the entrance, through open plains with cloud forest set back on both sides. A couple of kilometers from World'sEnd you pass Baker's Falls (named after Samuel Baker). It's a slip­pery scramble down to the modest little falls themselves, after which you'll have to scramble back up again. The final couple of kilometers are relatively humdrum, crossing open moorland back to the entrance. About 3km further along the road past the entrance to the park, a track leads off to Poor Man's World's End, an alternative viewpoint to World's End which acquired its name since you could enjoy the view without having to pay the hefty national park fees. The tight-fisted authorities have now closed off the track, though some guides still offer to take people to the viewpoint. Obviously, if you do this it’s at your own risk, and you are, of course, technically trespassing. One other way of getting into the park without paying the fees is to do the extremely taxing walk up from Belihul Oya, at the foot of the escarpment. It's eleven very steep kilometers of walking - ask for directions locally.