The Beach Tour - Sri Lanka 2013 - Chilly Nights, Giggle Attack, Tea Plantations and a SUPER AWESOME ride!

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Nuwara Eliya is quite a bit cooler due to its high altitude at 2000m... it doesn’t seem like 12 degrees would be cold, but add high humidity and it chills you to the bone! I thought I was a hardy Canadian, but I have to say - I was thoroughly chilled, with the only way to warm up being to go for a brisk walk or snuggle under a warm blanket. As I mentioned, there was no heat in our guesthouse and hot water wasn’t the greatest either. Anyway - after we arrived - it had just finished raining, so add that to the mix - Barry had no sweater or warmer clothes with him... he decided he didn’t want to carry extra weight, so opted to shed everything at the airport in Edmonton. He had quite a few strange looks and comments in Paris let me tell you!... Anyway - Barry picked up a hoodie for a whopping $4 in town... He looked like a gangsta but at least he was now warm 😊 We headed into town for dinner (walking briskly of course) and ended up at this really nice Indian restaurant. I was really hungry and the food looked delicious! Unfortunately, almost everything (seriously!!) on the menu was made with ground cashews, so I was limited to some soup, palak paneer, rice and naan... ahh well - it was still quite good - what can you do? So, to my Indian friends, please help me out... an Indian couple was seated next to us in the restaurant... In this middle of our meal, the gentleman let out the largest belch I have heard in my life! Then his wife let one out and this continued throughout the evening... I was completely taken off guard and had the biggest giggle attack I have had in a long time - I almost spit out my beer and almost had to leave the table to calm down! Barry looked mortified of course... So my question is... I have heard that in some cultures, belching during a meal is considered polite and a compliment to the chef... I didn’t think it held true in India - so I’m curious if that is the case, and if so, which parts of India? (Just in case I go I can prepare myself with some big ones haha!)

We woke up early and headed out to do some early morning photography... It was beautiful that time in the morning... the mist covers most of the hills and the dew droplets cling to all the lush vegetation and bright flowers. You will often hear Nuwara Eliya referred to as “Little England”... from a distance It really does resemble an English country Village nestled into the hillside... Red phone booths and mailboxes are found throughout - even a brilliant gold course!... just add some crazy tuk tuks and water buffalo and you know you are not in England anymore 😊 Nuwara Eliya was “discovered” in the early 1800’s during British colonial rule.. It was the favored “Cool climate escape” for the early colonists. It became known as the spot where one could grow “English fruits and veggies”. Coffee was actually one of the first crops grown in the area, but was replaced with Tea plantations as the coffee plants all succumbed to disease. Today - the tea industry is what Nuwara Eliya is most know for... It offers stunning views of the tiered tea plants.... very cool...

After breakfast, we ventured out to Pedro Tea Estate... The factory was originally built in 1885 and is actually still filled with alot of original equipment! The tour was actually pretty cool... The estate itself is over 2000 acres, and employs over 1300 workers. Leaves are still picked by hand. We got to tour the factory when they were processing leaves - the drying or withering takes place overnight, when temps are cooler. It is done to remove excess water from the leaf and allow for some oxidation. This lasts 8-10 hours... Next the leaves are rolled into wrinkled strips.... this process ruptures the leaf allowing for a natural chemical reactions to take place which supposedly enhances the flavor of the tea. Next, the leaves go through a fermentation and sifting process - then it is fired at about 150 Celsius - this stops oxidation and fermentation and this results in the black tea that you are all familiar with. The leaves are then graded... so the size of the fired leaf, is indicative of the strength of the tea. There are actually 6 different grades - Pekoe being the biggest leaf and the lightest brew - and Dust - being the finest and strongest! Anyway - the tour was really neat - you have to wonder though - who, thousands of years ago, decided to try drying these random leaves, and steep them in water to make this wonderful drink that we all enjoy today... just odd that is all.... The rest of the day was spent wandering around town, and some walks through their parks... we actually happened to be just in time for the “Tour de Sri Lanka” to roll through town! So got to catch some of that as well 😊 Dinner last night was at the St. Andrew’s Hotel - one of the grand old heritage hotels in town... It was like stepping back in time to 100 years ago - it doesn’t look like much has changed... we enjoyed a few drinks by the fireplace before a large buffet dinner in their stunning dining room... great way to end our trip to Nuwara Eliya!

We actually set out a bit later this morning on the bikes... we left a 6am, after the sun was up... given the steep grade mountain roads, with steep cliffs, we thought we would be safe... we had about a 150m climb before the 1500m descent in to Kandy! the ride this morning, while chilly - I had to borrow Barry’s hoodie - was stunning! The mist blanketed the tea estates and the views were absolutely stunning... the traffic was fairly quiet - good thing as the roads were definitely curvy, windy and steep! After the 5km climb, the next 25km were all downhill! was awesome! Much rather go down these hills that up that is for certain! Kandy is about a 75km ride from Nuwara Eliya, so was not a bad ride at all - unfortunately it is a busy city, so getting in around 11am was a bit hectic traffic-wise... I had a bit of an accident - Barry stopped to check the map, I stopped as well, tried unsuccessfully to unclip myself from my pedals and fell off my bike... more wounded pride than actual wounds - two Sri Lankan fellows came to my aid and I cleaned myself off... some small gouges where my pedals hit my calf and bruises... anyway - now my legs look hideous - cuts an bruises to add to the red, itchy bites that i seem to have acquired in Udawalawe...(nothing to be alarmed about btw) they just look bad... We had a really tough time finding our guesthouse as there was no signage... Barry took off on his own and managed to find it after about 45 minutes... It is more of a home-stay actually - it is a grand house overlooking the city. room is pretty basic, but the rest of the house (that we have full access to) is grand!

Tomorrow we will explore all that Kandy has to offer, especially looking forward to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic - supposedly the actual tooth of Buddha, snatched from the flames of Buddha’s funeral pyre in 483 BC and smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 4th century by a princess who had hid it in her hair!!!

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Comments

[AdventureBlog]

looks like a great ride! did you rent bikes there?

[cyclingdiva]

Bikes in Sri Lanka
Hi Larry, No we actually brought our bikes with us :) Air Canada and Sri Lankan Airlines have GREAT baggage policies when it comes to bikes