Tea Time

I dragged myself off my beautiful guest house balcony this morning to venture farther up into Hill Country. My great driver, Anura, took it very easy over the hills unlike the madman who drove me around Rajasthan. I was actually able to relax and enjoy the unfolding spectacular scenery without fearing for my life. What a treat! We rode along the Kotmale River, the longest in SL, and passed countless waterfalls, banana trees, palms, rice fields and wildlife (water buffalo and the Kingfisher birds were my favorite).

We stopped for lunch at an amazing hillside hotel, The Ramboda Falls, where we ate on the veranda watching the monkey’s play in the trees with a backdrop of two wild waterfalls. As soon as I walked into the restaurant I saw a display of E&J Gallo Sierra Valley wine. Gallo is truly global because this adorable place is in the absolute middle of no-where!

The highlight of the day was reaching tea country. Tea is the #1 agricultural export for Sri Lanka thanks to the British. The vast tea plantations are gorgeous! Everywhere you look is covered with leafy green tea bushes and colorfully dressed women (Tamil’s from Southern India) who pick the buds for $2 a day. We stopped at the Labookellie Tea Factory and I took a tour with an adorable young woman who worked in the tasting room. It’s amazing that tea is picked, dried, crushed, fermented, sorted and packaged in 24 hours! The fascinating process reminded me of winemaking complete with 12 types of tea which are classified as low- medium- or high-grown. The visit finished with a lovely cup of tea in the garden tasting room overlooking the plantation. And, a few boxes of tea are a lot easier to carry than wine bottles!

We reached Nuwara Eliya, the highest hill town at over 6,000 feet, in the early evening. Anura told me that when Sri Lankans get a holiday they head for Nuwara Eliya because it’s always cool and relaxing. He wasn’t kidding—I had to wear three shirts and wrap up in a sarong to walk into town. It was a two blanket evening!