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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Visiting The Tea Trails In Sri Lanka

Located in the heart of the island is Sri Lanka’s hill country, home to the famous Ceylon Tea plantations. This area around Nuwara Eliya is well worth a visit and was, rather surprisingly, the highlight of my recent trip for its sheer beauty.
tea plantations
tea plantations
It offers stunning rugged scenery with dramatic mountains, plunging picturesque waterfalls and lush green carpeted hills. Reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands or areas of the Lake District, the landscape is bursting with manicured green hills and has a real sense of serenity.
I simply enjoyed looking out the car window as we drove through the area. It’s worth noting though that if you suffer from car sickness then I would definitely recommend taking some tablets before embarking on your journey through the hill country. The roads are made up of continuous hair-pin bends, which weave in and around the mountain edge, with a sheer drop to the valley floor on one side – not good for those with a queasy stomach!
However, it’s because of this that picture perfect opportunities are abound and I had to prevent myself asking for the driver to stop every 500 yards so I could take another picture. I was somewhat snap happy to say the least!
You can’t visit the hill country without doing a tour of a tea factory. There are numerous tea estates you can visit, however your driver or tour guide will doubtless pick one for you. I was taken through a factory and shown every manufacturing process – from the tea leaves being plucked, crushed, fermented, oven fired and so on. I was then shown the different grades of tea before finally being taken to a shop where the tea tasting takes place and, as predicted, I purchased a whole stash of their finest brand.
tea factory
tea factory
Whilst I normally never buy anything from a tour as I begrudge the fact it’s always expected from you, I really didn’t mind on this occasion. Tea export is crucial to Sri Lanka’s national economy and it’s part of their heritage so it just seemed wrong to walk away empty handed. Plus, every time I have my morning cuppa I remember the drive through those verdant hills and it brings it all back. Ah, memories

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