THE TEA COUNTRY

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Sri Lanka is famous for it's tea and today we are off to visit the plantations in the mountains near the town of Nuwera Eliya, but before that we stopped by a place in Kandy where we can experience the ayurvedic massage, this little place that Mr. T was recommended was difficult to find, we went up and down hilly streets and asking every passers by where the hell it is, we found it and for 1 hour costs 1,500 rupees, roughly $15, I was looking forward to a good massage I have been sore from walking a lot the last couple days but all I got was a disappointment, the woman rub oil on me and just rubbed it on my muscles until it creates friction and you feel warm sensation, it was really crappy, and it was only 40 minutes, it was a full body but she did not even touch my head, afterwards I complained to the manager and told him I hated the massage and will not recommend his place to anyone, he told me he will speak to the masseuse, we left in a hurry. I think ayurvedic is supposed to cure you of ailment but the massage is meager I did not get nothing from it. Anyway moving on to Nuwera Eliya,it's a welcome respite from the heat of the cities, we climb up slowly the road is curvy and it's nauseating if you are not used to windy roads. Several small waterfalls we pass along the way, there are lots of local tourists as well as this is a long holiday weekend during the Veska celebration. Our first stop was the Blue tea house, they have a nice ground, tea plants all over, we were shown how they make the tea and all, a small woman showed us around the old facility, I saw several women processing the tea I took a photo and they wanted some money but they are whispering probably they are not supposed to as they are working, I feigned ignorance and left. Most of the tea leaf pickers are Tamil and most are women, tye are very skilled and they have to pick on an average of 2,500 kilos of leaves per day.

After sampling the tea they have which I found quite bland, we tried the light tea, it's ok but not so flavorful, apparently majority of the tea are exported abroad and the bad ones are for local consumption though a little percentage of good quality tea is also being sold locally. From here next stop is the Mackwoods plantations, it's huge! they have acres and acres of land, the plantation is uphill and the place is very busy, we got a tour as well but i wasn't listening too much I was busy taking photos, but this one is way nicer than the Blue Tea house, they have modern technology and their product is better quality, we were explained how they sort out the different flavorings, normally they pick the bud leafs, 3 leafs usually, for finer quality they pick the bud, but color is also important, all that jazz, all I care about is it's good tea! We finally got to taste their brew, I had the strong one while by buds had the light variety, it's really a nice tea, and the setting makes it more interesting to drink tea in the plantation, I felt like I left Asia, it feels like old England, rolling hills, cool temperature, foggy, English gardens.. We got pulled over again by cops for crossing the line and have to pay a fine or bribe of 500 rupees, this is probably the 5th time we paid bribe as we get pulled over on a regular basi, cops here are so corrupt.

We also visited the Ramboda waterfall where Sachil and Nish went for a swim, nice setting but the rocks are so slippery, both of them slipped, the water is cold, I was happy to just enjoy the view. We are famished by now, we stopped for some free pineapples given by people on the road as it is Veska time. We got to the town of Nuwera Eliya and we went for lunch and went for a walk, it s a pleasant town, with cool weather, they have old English style houses all over, it transport you to Europe for a moment, they have several nice hotels like the Grand Hotel and Hill hotel or something, the grounds are well manicured, English gardens with roses and all. It is now time to find a place to stay, everything is fully booked we decided to find a place outside of the town so we left Nuwera, by now the fog had set in and the road out is bad, really bad, traffic jams. The road is windy as well and we are all tired, we just want to find a place to sleep, we found one called Mount Royal hotel in this small town, we had a quick look as it is mostly full everywhere we decided to take it just for the night, the place is crap, they put us at the back building, they have 6 beds in this moldy room, at first glance it wasnt so bad so we moved our things then when we started choosing our beds we noticed cochroaches and spiders everywhere. its as if it has not been used in ages, we realized how much of a dump it was, I laid out my sleeping bag as i dont want to sleep on the sheets it feels moist, the final blow came when Mr.T lifted the bedsheets on Sachil's bed and there was a condom splattered in the mattress! We quickly packed our stuffs and told them we are leaving, they took our money already unfortunately but we did get 1,500 back and they retained 1,000 rupees, such a bad joint I swear to report them to the tourist office in Colombo. We realized now they probably did not even cleaned the rooms and the sheets were dirty, as I was so tired I did not thoroughly check at 1st, lesson learned, never judge a book by it's cover, undo the covers to see what lies beneath!

Anyway we moved on and we found a much nicer place to rest our weary heads, Prince hotel in Bandarawela 3 ,000 plus rupees a night is not bad. We slept very well, now Nishal is coughing hard,I passed it on to him now, Mr.T and I are feeling better, the brothers' turn now.Our excursion the next morning was to go on and hike in the surrounding mountains here in Bandarawela, Mr.T arranged everything for us last night while having a drink with the general manager of the hotel, the manager himself is the guide. We drove to this small village, again winding roads, twists and turns and very narrow, we arrived at town where we picked up this young man, his cousin and we made our way to this small village uphill where the manager's aunt and her family lives. They took care of us, prepared us the native breakfast of rice cake and sambal and bread. Afterwards we started our trek, we took the young man we picked up earlier as our guide to the mountains, along with a young fella who is so hyperactive, I think he is not even 10 and is going with us on this trek. They made us bring the soury grapes from their garden and some of my avocados. We walked to the start of the trail from the village,called Boralanda it's nice and pleasant the sun is out , We slowly made our way up, beautiful scenery of various plantations, tea, bananas, veggie patches, typical local scenery here.

The young man guide of us cut his foot on a rock but still would like to continue, it is a huge cut and bleeding but it didnt matter to him. Anyway we got to a point where there is a small stream, and as it was really hot I wanted to go and strip down for a swim but just as I was getting ready I saw heaps of leeches on their way up my leg from my boots! I tried to get rid of them before they get to my legs, the Manager of the hotel told me to rub soap in it, seems to work for a bit, but we left now to try and avoid it. Along the path near the streams we see lots of this pesky leeches I had my shirt off, i quickly put it on. The trek got harder as we go up the eucalyptus forest, such a nice part of the trek, tall fragrant trees dotting the landscape, everyone is slow so i went ahead and waited for them up the trail, then the guide caught up with me and we walked up to the train tracks, the train goes through the mountain, from Colombo to Kandy is the route I believe, we saw it while hiking, when we got up there it was gone.

The manager said to me since the rest of the group are slow we will not walk back down the same trail back but instead get on a bus, and this prove to be a tall task. 1st we walked and followed the train tracks and went through a dark tunnel for 1 km, it freaked me out we can't see a thing and if a train comes bye we are screwed! We made it our but then rains came and we got wet and have to run towards the station stop of Pattipola and took shelter, then went to run again to get to the bus stop but bus does not leave until 5pm ish and it is only 3pm so despite the trickle rain we , well it was decided we walk down, 6 kms! By now we are all tired and I dread to walk on the road in the rain, cars passing us by, we stopped at one Vesak booth for free coffee, then we moved on, the sun slowly came out again, the scenery is fantastic, tea plantations left and right, we were lucky to get a lift from a truck we hopped on and it was like grab on to anything to save your life! The driver is a maniac, it was a scary 15 minute ride amidst spectacular backdrop of tea plantations in the mountains, the roads are twisty I think i dislocated my shoulder a bit when we got off from grabbing on too hard on the railings in the truck!

Ok we are not done yet, we walked some more about 2 kms until we get to this small town Reandapola where we picked up a crowded bus and again as crazy as ever, we all are standing up and the driver abruptly makes his turns on the twists, I was relieved to get out of that freaking bus where we got dropped off at Welimada we walk some more to the bus stop and waited there for maybe an hour to take another bus! Kandapohula where we started from was about another 1/2 hour ride on this bus, it was full and I have to take this young boy with us on my lap to give a sitting spot to Sachil, the driver was crazy , but he knows the roads well, twists and turns did not matter to him, second nature. We stopped in this small town to pick up more passengers, the driver just left the bus turns off the engine and buys his betel nuts, it is funny that the the stop buzzer is akin to the boxing bell ring! Anyway the driver 10 minutes later got back, the bus is full again, but the bus won't start so the boys have to get out and push the damn beast, me and Sachil stayed in the bus laughing our hearts out at the situation, what more to come we wonder.. We reached our stop, we hopped on to tuk tuks and we got to the starting point in 10 minutes, we are all tired. We had a great dinner courtesy of the nice family who took us in at the beginning of the trail. I cleaned the young man's wound after dinner, and then we left to get back to the Prince hotel. We all had a shower and a beer, Carlsberg special brew and that we drank in the terrace watching stars and yellow moon above us.

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Photos

Nuwara Eliya
flower vendor

Bandarawela
dodgy hotel! found a condom under the sheets

Bora landa hike
me and our guide

Comments

[TravelKlicks]

Very Nice Indeed
carpeted cliffs with cascading waterfalls in contrast simply full of life