All the T on Tea!

We left Kandy today and in the itinerary we were to catch a train for Nuwara Eliza-Dee - known locally as little Britain due to the cool climate and history. Unfortunately the land slides of November last year have stopped the train running and so we were in our bus up the steep winding roads.  

The views were gorgeous, unfortunately it was really hard to capture from the bus window.  Needless to say though that my images of tea plantations was restored…steep misty mountains covered in terraced tea bushes shining brightly.  The roads twisted and turned and glimpses of beautiful valleys with waterfalls repeated every wee while.   The roads were extremely crowded with local traffic - it is a continuation of the new year holiday over the whole week so there were lot of people touring their own country with family picnics and outings.  

We visited a tea factory of GlenLoch - started some 167 years ago by Scots who brought in machinery.  We had a lovely lady take us around the empty factory - no-one was working as it was holiday time.  You could smell the tea, but the ambience was not there - no sounds nor people made for a slightly spooky experience. After the factory we tasted a variety of tea…I purchased a little tea pack to take home to remind me….my favourite was the BPOF - Break Peco Orange Fine - the strongest tea.   Our guide explained that the tea is dried, shorted and sifted into different levels which all provide different tastes.  It is then packaged and sent to the markets in Colombo where it sells to the tea makers such as Dilmah and Lipton, who blend teas to their recipes. 

After the tour, and a turn picking tea, we continued over the mountains to reach  Nuwara Eliya - the highest community in Sri Lanka at a height of 1800 metres.    

Again the new year celebrations impacted our trip.  We did not doe the orientation walk around Nuwara Eliya as the traffic had impacted out arrival time, and in order to make the High Tea at the Grand Hotel we hopped of the bus in town and walked the 500 metres to the hotel.   The colonials attempted to make this little Britain…lush gardens and parks, a beautiful 18 hole golf course sit in the middle of town.  The post office is Tudoresque in style - complete with clock tower.  There is a clock tower square in the business district and then there is the Grand Hotel.  Walking up the hill and steps to the forecourt area we were met with a mass of luxury cars…hummers, rolls Royce’s, Ferraris, Mercedes lambourghinis…this place is a status symbol…and I can only imagine features heavily on Instagram!   There were groups of people under umbrellas listenning to music and a general party vibe happening….probably an equal mix of  Sri Lankans (but wealth ones) and tourists.

We enjoyed a High tea - including the scones and jam and cucumber sandwiches with a few different teas - English breakfast black tea; mandarin tea and then headed to our rooms - through a series of entertaining rooms, to reception and then up a grand stair case.   And then the room…..I think I got the maid’s quarters.  It was a queen bed but you nearly had to turn sideways to walk around it….they had squeezed in as much furniture as possible, but there was no floor space…and then step up to the bathroom which was nearly as big as the bedroom.  Hmmm…feeling a little cramped.  We had been told there was no AC as it was in in the cool climate area and not needed…I went looking for a fan…none there.  Opened the window but there was what I think was a kitchen exhaust fan and a long skillion metal roof outside….radiant heat hit me….so it was window closed and stuffy as…I gave in at 3 am and opened the window, put up with the noise to just get a little cool air!

Dinner was in the Thai restaurant that night….okay but overpriced and the atmosphere was ordinary.  I would visit again for a high tea experience, but really question this pick by Intrepid as a feature stay…quite disappointing.   A few of the team enjoyed a bevies or two and partied a little later into the night in the bar (which features a full size billiard table).  I opted to a reasonably time exit to bed!

It was a long trip to get to Newark Eliya and the Grand was all show and little substance.  Feeling a little flat at this point as it seems we are missing quite a few things due to the New Year Holidays (not just a day, but a week!).  

The business of Tea

It was a relatively comfortable start this morning, and the bus drove up into the mountains to a Tea plantation in Ambagasthenna village.  As we left Kandy, there was a beautiful view of the man made lake and a great overview of the hillside town.  

I have had visions of Ceylon Tea Plantations in my head for years….picturing something like the Dilmah Tea vision…..steep hills, low bushes, women picking in a misty setting.    

On our way, it officially clicked over into the Sinhalese New Year at 9.10 am….(see here) we were on the bus.  As we arrived at the Tea Plantation, fire cracker were going off…signalling the new year, and the different activities that happen - meals, gift giving etc.  

Back to my image of Ceylonese Tea plantations……This plantation was a disappointment….don't get me wrong, it was interesting but it was not the image I had in my head.  It was more jungle like, and in fact we were asked to wear leach socks to walk around as the ground and undergrowth is full of leaches!   It was not a fashion statement!

We arrived and were greeted by Mr Thilina - a man in perhaps in his early 40s wearing a ‘school old boys polo - with the neck turned up’.  He had inherited the plantation from his parents and advised it was 3rd or 4th generation.  When I asked what he had changed, he said very little - it was still run as it always had been however he had added vanilla harvesting to the mix.  

We walked up hill past workers cottages.  He explained that many of the houses have useful trees planted around them - they call nutmeg the pension tree….even when not working any more they can pick nutmeg and take it to the market to sell - the mace to perfumeries and the nutmeg to spice markets.   He showed us pepper trees, clove trees, Jack Fruit trees, coco trees and coffee trees and explained that there were planted in and around the tea bushes as they believe the flavours infuse the tea as well as providing some light filtering so that the tea bushes are not burnt.  It is the top of the bush that is bright green that is the most valuable an harvested - the tip, and the top two leaves only.  It can be harvested every seven days, and every four years they do a hard prune, and the bushes must be replaced every 7 years…with a crop of lemon grass in between being pulled out and replanted.  It was an extremely interesting few hours.  We received lovely hospitality with a cup of fresh black tea, and then for lunch we were served 34 dishes…all various curries of vegetables, fish, chicken, banana leaf, loofah, soy beans - it was really delicious.  

The afternoon was back at the hotel for free time…many indulging in a swim.  The firecrackers went on all afternoon and into the evening as the locals celebrated.  It did mean again that there was little open for us to do, so it was a sundowner by the pool helped relax me while watching the sunset and then it was an early night for me…I think the month of travel is starting to take its toll on my energy levels, so I left the young ones to it!

The road to Kandy

Today we left Dambulla to travel to Kandy which is a much higher elevation than where we have been staying so I was interested to see how things might change. Dambulla has felt quite hot - the temperature has reading low 30s and humidity 60% ish, but it has felt much hotter…standing still seems to bring a sweat. We were all looking forward to some cooler weather - particularly those who are from the Northern Hemisphere.

 

 


Our bus travelled along a main road, so I spent a lot of time just watching fields, houses, shops, road-side stalls whiz by. It seemed like the vegetation just incrementally got more rainforest like…tall trees with understory, plants with dense large dark green leaves….filtering light to the ground with hosted low lying plants. It seemed to get more tropical too.

We visited a small woodworking shop where we learned about the different types of wood available in Sri Lanka - an explanation of ebony, teak, mahogany and other forms. We were also shown how the traditional paint is made using what was called ‘the rainbow tree’. A small group of wood filings is put in a glass of water and the water turned red….adding metal, calcium carbonate turned it blue and other additions turned it purple, and yellow - this was the traditional way that colour was made to decorate frescoes and carvings in the country and on the higher end stuff is still done. The difference between acrylic and traditional is shine…the colours appear as vibrant but acrylic has a shine, while traditional is mat finish. There were some beautiful pieces and I selected some wooden discs painted in a mandala pattern…I hope to frame them in one frame to hang on the wall as a memento of the trip.

A little further down the road we came to Matale, and a local spice garden. It hosts a variety of herbal plants that are used for Ayurvedic medicine. We enjoyed explanation of aloe Vera (not local but introduced); cinnamon, sandalwood, and others. This was topped off with a demonstration and test of some creams, lotions and oils and a short massage! It was most relaxing….before being taken to the ‘pharmacy’ where you end up spending more than you expected! I have a number of bottles and jars to take home and test…along with a ‘recipe’ book.




We arrived in Kandy around 2pm - just in time to check into our rooms and then head to the bar for a quick lunch and drink. Today (13th April) is Singhalese New Years Eve and the country is mostly closed for the new year holiday. No alcohol can be served (we managed to stock up the day before)!

After a brief rest, Rob, Liarne and I went to watch the cultural dance in the Red Cross Hall. We had front row seats and were entertained for a full 60 minutes with drumming, dancing by both males and females in traditional dress - which included gymnastic displays of fast spinning and tumbling and the performance concluded with fire dancing and walking over hot coals. It was a jam packed hour - visually and aurally very stimulating….getting out into the cooler air at the conclusion was welcome!    

 

 

We then walked to the Buddhist Sri Dalad Maligawa - otherwise known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. It is an important shrine which houses a relic of Buddhas tooth, taken from his funeral pyre. The tooth is housed in a series of seven caskets - the outer dome shaped casket - from a distance looked to be silver and encrusted in jewels. There were hundreds of worshippers, dressed in white who were lining up to view the tooth housing and lay offerings and make prayers. This was upstairs, while downstairs drummer drummed and a flute like instrument were played…it was quite a moving experience - the music, smell of incense and excitement of the crowd all combined to make me feel like it was a special occasion.

    

Afterwards we walked around the temple and saw the old Parliament. 

It was then onto dinner at a local ‘fusion’ restaurant - I had coconut mango prawns - drilled and cooked in a curry sauce and served with rice. We had been told there would be no alcohol due to the holidays - however to our surprise we could order drinks. There was a lovely young man playing live music - contemporary soft rock…we convinced him to play Sweet Caroline…and all had a dance on the dance floor before heading back to flop into bed!