Tea Country and Hospitality, Sri Lanka Style

Tea is big business in Sri Lanka, branded as Ceylon tea, accounting for 17% of exports, and employing 5% of the population.    Textiles are the largest export at 52%--check your clothing labels. We spent three delightful days in tea country, not counting what we did in Polonnauruwa a few days ago.  Leaving Kandy, we climbed from 1,000 feet to the 3,000 feet to the city of Nuwara Eliya. (Don’t you just love these Sri Lankan names?) 

Tea factory.  Most of the upper stories are for

drying.  Then the large leaves are shredded and

fermented.

It was a beautiful climb, but for the blight of huge billboards promoting things like Sri Lankan rebar (yes, rebar) and skin care products.  Much of the tea country reminded us of wine country in Oregon.  There are large tasting rooms, well-branded plantations, and beautiful vistas.  Unlike our wine country, there are many tourist busses and vans packed with Indians and face mask-wearing Chinese. 

Tea was introduced here in the mid 1800’s after a colossal failure of the coffee crop.  The British clear cut the jungle to make way for tea, and they planted massive groves of eucalyptus trees for railroad ties, called sleepers. By the 1890’s, Lipton alone was exporting 30,000 tons to London.

Tasting room of large estate

The tea pickers, for their back breaking labor, 

make about $5 US per day, often living in 

places like this.

Nuwara Eliya is also called “Little England.”  The British planters tried to recreate home with beautiful gardens, polo grounds, golf courses, Tudor-style homes, parks, and club houses for a post-dinner brandy, cigar, and billiards game.  We were unprepared for the cool weather, similar to Oregon in the late autumn.

Bicycling around Gregory Lake Park

A feast prepared by Nadeeka, Easter's wife.

He's Singalese, She is Tamil.  Easter was such

a gracious host in spite of his busy schedule.

Easter's guest house

We stayed with Rotarian Easter Kumar and his family in a small hotel he owns.  (He had dinner at our home last October.)  It was so fun having a home-cooked meal with his family eating, our best Sri Lankan meal yet.  Like so many other hotels in Sri Lanka, he has been hard hit by the 2018 Easter bombings.  Many new hotels under construction are brick and rebar-stalled reminders of what a handful of delusional individuals can do to ruin lives way beyond those killed and injured.

We got up early for a long trip to Howards Plain National Park, 5,000 feet above sea level  We hiked eight miles among beautiful views and got to see two bull Samar deer in a 20-minute fight for dominance.  You can see a short clip of it on Instagram @Kelemenron.

Near World's End View Point

Baker Falls

Macho Samar deer.  You can see a one minute
version of this 20-minute battle on Instagram
@KelemenRon

World's End viewpoint

On the way back to town, still inside the park

We were also privileged to attend Easter’s Rotary club meeting. Just a dozen of us around some clubhouse lounge chairs, followed by fellowship with savory Sri Lankan snacks and coconut whiskey called arak. 

Rotary banner exchange before the snacks and arak

Serendipitously the next day, as we stepped off a local bus from a local botanical garden, two of the club members recognized us and took us to see a building they are renovating for fundraising.  Of course, tea and snacks followed at the local golf course.

Later that day we took a 3 hour trip on the “tea train” high into tea country to 5,000 feet before descending to Ella, where we took a car to the coast late at night.  More about that in our next post. But we will always fondly remember the warm-hearted Rotarians who gave us insights we would never have had as ordinary tourists.  What a trip!

"What We Can, While We Can!"

The caboose of the tea train to Ella

Entry to botanical gardens outside Nuwara Eliya
The gardens were started in 1850 by
homesick British planters

One of many views from the botanical garden

Tea and snacks at the country club

I think it means we are in the Ohiya station,
elevation 1,774 meters

On the "choo-choo express"

View from tea train ride. It was very hazy
due to field and rubbish burning

Matale and Kandy--More Hospitality, Temples, and Scenery

In Matale, at the entrance to the
largest Hindu temple in Sri Lanka

We wake up every day not knowing exactly what has been been planned, other than what city we might be in.  We know that it will be good, but we are learning that it is always way better than expected.

And that was the case with Matale and Kandy.  It felt refreshing to get out of the muggy climate of Monkey Camp in Polonnaruwa and into the coolness of a higher elevation at Matale.  Sri Lanka is about a third the size of Oregon, but in that small size it is packed with huge a variety of scenery, culture, and history--and always friendly and hospitable people.

Sri Lanka's largest Hindu temple

In Matale, Sri, our Rotarian host and an electrical engineer, took us to the largest Hindu temple in Sri Lanka.  That afternoon, he and Rotarian plantation owner Sanjaya led us through through pine forests and tea plantations to a 5,000 foot high mountain with an expansive view, followed by a fun dinner of local savories and coconut whiskey.  Rotarian Suthagaaran (Sutha), who hosted us the past three days, joined us.

Detail of sculptures on the tower

Saturday, Sri and his wife treated us to a dosai breakfast (one of our favorites!), then he drove us on a tortuous one-lane rough road to a waterfall for an even better view, but the last 100 meters were socked in with a chilly mist.

We also toured a spice garden and some Buddhist caves.  Long day!

Saturday evening, Sutha's mom cooked a fabulous South Indian dinner, and we were joined by another Rotarian from the Matale club, a lieutenant with the police department.  We tasted tested Jonnie Walker Extra Dark and White Label, but they ended up being more than just tastes.

Our 2,000 foot climb through tea bushes to the top

We made it.  But many tea pickers climb this
height and distance every day.

Breakfast of Champion at Sri's home

It's fun when it bounces and swings!

The mountains are cool and beautiful

A fun and tasty dinner party

At the Buddhist caves in Matale

Sunday we were privileged to observe a special ceremony at his Hindu temple, the a cultural show at the Mahatma Gandhi Center.

A special puja ceremony at Sri's Hindu temple

Then on to Kandy, where we were met by Rotarian Tissa who took us to a Buddhist monastery for a private audience with a high level Buddhist monk who got us special VIP entry passes into the venerable Temple of the Tooth, a sacred pilgrimage for Buddhists from all over the world.  It is believed to contain a tooth from Lord Buddha.

An audience with His Holiness, but
we couldn't understand a word he
said over the course of 45 minutes
with tea and snacks

Inside the museum portion of the Temple
of the Tooth

Offerings on the outside of the inner temple

The tooth is on the upper floor of the structure
on the right

The Temple of the Tooth complex

The outer area in front of the vault that
contains tooth

Our room on the corner of  The Queen Hotel,
circa 1925, overlooking the lake and the
Temple of the Tooth. Nice, but a lot of traffic noise.

View from our balcony with
Sri

Today we head up into the hill country and the high plains where the colonial British cooled off and supposedly drank a lot of gin.  We know it will good, but it will probably be much better than we expect.

(Note:  I've posted additional photos and a video on Instagram and Facebook.  If you aren't on Facebook, you can still see almost everything by simply going to Instagram and seaching for @kelemenron.)

'What We Can, While We Can!"

Elephants, Temples, Monkeys, and Scotch, Oh My!

At the Hurulu Eco Park with Sutha, our

amazing and fun host for the past three days

The past four days have been a fun blend of scenery, wildlife, food, temples, and legendary Rotarian hospitality. Normally, the words flow when I write, but not tonight.  There is just too much to describe in a coherent narrative.  So, I’ll try to tell the story in photos with expanded captions.

"What We Can, While We Can!"

On an elephant safari in

Hurulu Eco Park

A lot of other tourists had the same idea

Breakfasts (and lunches and dinners)

of curry rice with dahl and veggies

Happy hour poolside with Jonnie Walker Black 

Label, Sutha, his coworkers, at Rotarian Lakmal's 

Vaana Resort near the wildlife refuge

Offerings and wishes at the cliff side temple

at Trincomalee

The Hindu temple on

 the East Coast

at Trincomalee

On our way to Bird Island on Lake Parakarama

close to our lodging at the Primate Center,

commonly called "Monkey Camp."

We hired Sinuli, a guide with he Smithsonian 

institution, stationed at "Monkey Camp" who 

gave us fascinating insights at colonies of

monkeys who have been tracked  for 52 years in the 

ancient city of Polonnaruwa.

 Bicycling along Parakarama Sanadura Lake, dam

 built 900-1,000 years ago.

Monkey see, monkey do

The ancient city of Polonnaruwa,

built in about 1100 AD, then

later abandoned

More ruins and temples

Sitting Buddha, about 30 feet tall

Temple lizard, on steps to a temple

These were at the base of most temple or palace

entrances

More ruins. The ancient city grounds were over

five square miles.  Glad  we had bikes!

Home sweet home at Monkey Camp

It should really be called mosquito camp

We went on a short night-time walking

safari in search of the cute nocturnal

and aboreal lorises, related to lemurs

Buying mosquito coils at a local stall. Sutha works

for Unilever and oversees hundreds of employees

who sell and deliver products to these shops.

Inside the  fascinating Ancient Technology Museum.

We learned how bronze was made, the techniques

used to build temples, how they built the huge

dam, sewage systems, and more.  The docents were

so helpful.

Recycling station

Downtown  Polonnaruwa,  about 3 km from 

Monkey camp.  We  rode bikes here for lunch and 

within to the ancient city.

These are EVERYWHERE!

There are over 700,000 of them in

Sri Lanka

Our Monkey camp is on the shore

What you don't see behind our happy

faces is the 85 degree heat, the 85%

humidity, our sore bare feet, emerging

sunburns and empty stomachs.  We 

spent over 5 hours in the ancient city,

but it was well worth it.