Up… to the Sri Lankan highlands

We were on the road again, after a good breakfast, not as sumptuous as in Negombo, but decent. Swiftly moved out of Kandy town, taking in the sights with not much traffic. The giant Buddha beamed at us from the hilltop as though conferring his blessings. We were proceeding to Nuwara Eliya, a beautiful hill-station. Greater part of our journey would be uphill, said Nuwan, and hence a little slow. A little over an hour on the road, and we reached the Stonefield Tea factory near the town of Gampola. Perched on a small hillock, we had to walk up some rough steps/path to reach the main building.

Moed into the large hall where various teas were on display and sale. Seeing that we were Tamilians, a lady staff who was Tamilian too, approached us and explained the details of the factory and types of teas. The narration is available in English and Sinhalese too through other staff members. The factory set up in 1930 is still operational, though on the day of our visit (January 15th), it was closed on account of Pongal.

Shocked to learn that the strong, dark tea we enjoy drinking is actually the cheapest form of tea with the highest component of tea dust and low on aroma, flavor and overall quality. Of course, we enjoy drinking this with milk. Sri Lankan or Ceylon tea is broadly of 3 types — 1) Black tea 2) Green tea 3) White tea. There are different blends/grades in each of these. Green tea as also White tea are always taken without milk or sugar (Totally different from our ‘garam chai’). The process of making/manufacturing Black tea involves Plucking two leaves and a bud, Withering, Rolling, Drying, Fermenting, Sifting and then Grading. The plucking is always done by hand. In case of Green tea, the process is similar except that fermentation or oxidation is not carried out, as a result it is rick in antioxidants. White tea is the costliest of the lot and the process of making it too is different. It is totally hand-made tea. The difference starts with the plucking. Only the unopened buds are plucked at dawn (Yes, at dawn and no leaves are plucked). Here again, no fermentation is done and the rolling is done individually, by hand. The tea is light, subtle and preferred by connoisseurs. We were offered 8 tea varieties to taste and then the pitch to buy some tea, ever so gently. Found the prices quite high, but still bought some packets of white tea. Steeped out after more than an hour, a few swigs of water from our bottles, some biscuits and we were away, towards Nuwara Eliya.

We were constantly moving up inclines on a winding road with lush greenery now on either side. It was a little after 12 noon, when the driver halted the vehicle, saying ‘Ramboda Falls’. Yes, we could see the falls right from the road, but this was the Lower falls or one part of the falls. The view from the High Falls or from top will be great, we were told.

The sun was high in the sky and looking at the sharp climb, all but three of us decided to stay in the van/watch the falls from below. The three of us walked to the entrance and had to buy tickets for going up — LKR 200 each. The hike started. Narrow, slippery path, moving up, now widening a bit, again narrowing, now some roughly hewn steps, up, up, we trekked. Lush greenery all round and on one side, we could see more slippery paths going down to small pools of water formed by the waterfall. People were taking a dip there, despite written warnings, not to do so.

We had been walking for about 20 minutes. One of the three had stopped midway. Checked with some people coming down on how far to the top. The reply was another 15-20 minutes. We were tired, sweaty and extremely thirsty. Decided to call it quits and began the downward trek to our van. The Bhakta Hanuman Temple, that is part of the much publicized ‘Ramayana Tours’ was some few kilometers before the Falls and the signboard pointed to an uphill climb. Wondered how, senior citizens who took the Ramayana Tour would reach the temple. Fortified with water and light snacks, we moved on. Nuwan stopped the vehicle after a while, saying we could get some grand views of the distant mountains from the small terrace adjoining a restaurant. we had decided we would have lunch at Nuwara Eliya, so just clicked some pictures quickly and moved on. We could see boards of numerous tea estates advertising visits, tea tasting, tea lounges, etc. Ha, this was big business here!

Finally, Nuwara Eliya. Though it was bright and sunny, there was a nip in the mountain air, and it added to our appetite. Ravenously hungry, we went to an Indian restaurant, where the service was really slow. Finally wound-up lunch by around, 3.30 PM and checked into our hotel, Araliya Green Hills, a hotel with old-world colonial charm. Decided we would visit Lake Gregory in the evening for some water sports, return and then enjoy the heated, indoor swimming pool of the hotel.

Evening . It was quite cold and misty now. Out came the sweaters, mufflers and windcheaters as we head for Lake Gregory that is in the center of the town. Decided to give the botanical gardens a skip and proceed for some water sports. No not the usual rowing or pedal boats, but speedboat, it will be, was the decision. Put on our lifebelts and had the entire boat to ourselves. An icy cold wind blew on our faces and as the boat lived up to its name of speedboat, whizzing across the surface of the lake and in zigzag motions, the younger kids started crying. The chill and the wild movements of the boat were a bit too much for them, but the adults enjoyed it thoroughly. Got off, took a stroll along the banks. There were large crowds and a number of small stalls selling snacks, but mainly of the non-vegetarian kind and so we had to wait for dinner at the hotel. An evening well spent outdoors, we said to ourselves as we drove back to the hotel.

Back at our hotel, the group said, the evening was young. Though I was tired, the kids enjoyed their stint in the heated pool and had to be literally dragged away for dinner. Good spread for dinner. Went off to bed with memories of a wonderful day outdoors and looking forward to the next day tour down to the plains.