Bus Rental In Nuwara Eliya Area

[SeanD]

This might sound a little odd, but does anyone know where I could rent a 40-50 seater bus for a day in Nuwara Eliya area? This would be to get from Nuwara Eliya town to Horton Plains area and back...office trip. As the party will already be in Nuwara Eliya at the time, the starting destination would be from there. The big tour operators are asking for astronomical rates due to not having any dispatch from anywhere outside of Colombo. Someone told me the CTB also has a depot that you can hire busses from, but I can't seem to locate their number.

If anyone can point me in the right direction on this, would very much appreciate a reply or a PM.

Thanks in advance

[Ripper]

i'm not too sure a bus can go up the road to horton plains though. it was such a narrow road with hairpin turns last time i was there. I'd imagine even my double cab would be difficult due to large turn radius and length.

as for buses...there is a local travel forum called "lakdasun"....loads and loads of info on travel stuff and they have very helpful bunch of folks who share info. you might wanna check that out if you haven't got any leads by now.

[SeanD]

i'm not too sure a bus can go up the road to horton plains though. it was such a narrow road with hairpin turns last time i was there. I'd imagine even my double cab would be difficult due to large turn radius and length.

as for buses...there is a local travel forum called "lakdasun"....loads and loads of info on travel stuff and they have very helpful bunch of folks who share info. you might wanna check that out if you haven't got any leads by now.

I did take a similar crew up there 3 years back and the bus made it through pattipola side...that was a bus hired out of the CTB depot there but I seem to have lost their contact details. at the time there were lots of hired busses going up there, but of course it is quite difficult. Thanks, I was checking out the lakdasun forum but didn't see anything particularly about this, will post and see if I can get something. Thanks a lot

[TharakaWi]

I don't exactly know where to hire a bus in nuwara eliya. But i am sure buses can go to horton planes. I was there few months back, and there were many buses parked out side. Both rosa and big leylands

[Ripper]

shiites...so there is another easier route there then.

last time i was there with the missus the hotel we stayed in arranged transport and they insisted a car can't make it up there and got us a jeep.

and that too had a time going up there.

good luck with lakdasun gang. i'm sure you will get a contact from them. those buggers are pretty darn good

[SeanD]

shiites...so there is another easier route there then.

last time i was there with the missus the hotel we stayed in arranged transport and they insisted a car can't make it up there and got us a jeep.

and that too had a time going up there.

good luck with lakdasun gang. i'm sure you will get a contact from them. those buggers are pretty darn good

Looks like you have taken the Kalupahana route via Devil's staircase past Bambarakanda? In fairness to the hotel, you definitely need an SUV to do that track, but that is one of the longest and hardest approaches. In fact it is downright dangerous if you don't get your timing right and get caught to the mist/rain. They probably wanted to give you the adventure route Certainly scenic but no more or less than the other approaches imo. According to the old timers, this road was in much better condition in late 60/early 70s and there actually used to be an annual motorbike 'hill climb' held there each year. Maybe someone here has more info on that. I haven't been on that route in several years but it was in pretty poor shape the last time I went, and the tar was all but destroyed.

The approach via ambewala/pattipola is the one I was referring to earlier which is probably the easiest and busses and threewheelers go up that way all the time.

Edited April 17, 2011 by SeanD

[Ripper]

Looks like you have taken the Kalupahana route via Devil's staircase past Bambarakanda? In fairness to the hotel, you definitely need an SUV to do that track, but that is one of the longest and hardest approaches. In fact it is downright dangerous if you don't get your timing right and get caught to the mist/rain. They probably wanted to give you the adventure route Certainly scenic but no more or less than the other approaches imo. According to the old timers, this road was in much better condition in late 60/early 70s and there actually used to be an annual motorbike 'hill climb' held there each year. Maybe someone here has more info on that. I haven't been on that route in several years but it was in pretty poor shape the last time I went, and the tar was all but destroyed.

The approach via ambewala/pattipola is the one I was referring to earlier which is probably the easiest and busses and threewheelers go up that way all the time.

well i've done the devils staircase side on my XR... walk in the park on a 4 stroke trail bike

not to be an ass but i really couldn't figure out why so many people feared this devils staircase thing

possibly it's a different ballgame on a 4 wheeler...must try it on the truck.

And no...the hotel jeep didn't take us on this route.

maybe it was the same route you're talking about but the roads might've been worse back then...