Tea Anyone?

As we left the Queen’s Hotel on Friday morning, another wedding! And more staff wearing facemasks. We asked why: Coronavirus. Supposedly, with so much capital structural investment in the island, eg new trains & buildings, China’s rapidly evolving tourism was making significant inroads; it has all shuddered to a halt. Everywhere, we are told the numbers of tourists are down on recent years, partly also due to the no small deterrent of the bombs around the island last Easter, with over 250 being killed by an Islamist terrorist group.

Yesterday’s train ride from Kandy to Ella really was sensational, winding it’s gentle way into the mountains. It took six hours to do the 42 miles. But even by road the journey would have been 2.5 hours. Ella, where we stay for three days, is the opposite. Tourism run amok, indeed running amok, with so many new buildings throughout the town, & yoof bars & restaurants prevailing.

Today we took part of the train journey again, going back for an hour to Haputale & then by tuk-tuk to the Lipton tea plantation at Dambatenne. We bought some Silver Tips tea  on the advice of our tuk-tuk driver as it is unavailable anywhere else in Sri Lanka, but we were unimpressed with the official Lipton’s tour – failed to go into any depth about tea or its cultivation. The tuk-tuk driver told us the tea crop (yep, leaves) is taken every seven or twelve years. Not surprising, then, that so much of these mountains are given over to tea plantations.

All due to one Thomas Lipton, who found a market in UK, then invested in the cultivation in Sri Lanka at the end of the 1890s; he is still much venerated here. We were also driven to Lipton’s Seat, on a ridge between two valleys, at one of the highest points. Stunning views were slightly marred by heat mists. Amazing tuk-tuk adventure, though, with about two hours of three-wheel travel. We decided today’s driver was the best we’ve ever experienced; he even demonstrated anticipation & patience. And he smiled for almost the whole journey, up & down the mountains.

Tomorrow marks the half-time in our holiday, although it feels we’ve done so much; time for time-out, so we’ve booked a swish (we hope) hotel for two nights in Tangalle on the south coast, to which we are due to be driven by taxi on Monday morning. A two and a half hours journey down from the mountains  is going to cost us 8,000 rupees, about £34 – negotiated down from 10,000 rupees by the Guest House owner where we are staying for three nights. That is the only positive comment we can make about this accommodation.

Half-Time