After a lunch of crab and a wander around the outer edges of Colombo, having exhausted all we could do without getting in some mode of tuk tuk, we'd seen all we could see of the capital. Enter Shane, driver/tour operator/jack of all trades.
Despite traffic, in next to no time we'd reached the outskirts of the city and started meandering our way through fields and fields of tea. Sri Lanka's main gift to the world is tea and the British had a stronghold here once upon a time too.
As it transpired, Shane had at one point worked as a tour guide in one of the country's many tea plantations and when it came time to stop the car, he became a wealth of knowledge.
To the planting, the low wages of the workers, the climactic conditions that tea needs to thrive:
And then we zipped through the Central Highlands area, through places like Nuwara Eliya where the views were more than stunning, so much so that UNESCO dedicated it a heritage site:
Our final stop for the day was at Mackwoods Labookellie Tea Centre:
Hitting the centre at closing time meant that Shane gave us the insiders' tour:
Along with a cup of the finest peppermint:
We eventually made our way to the Tea Forest Lodge, a stunning guest house in the middle of the fields of tea and near the famous Nine Arches Bridge in Derodama. Rosa ran to find the bridge and got lost; I didn't run to find the bridge but was woken by the mooing of a particularly vociferous cow. The holiday offers different things to all of us, I suppose.
The next day we made tracks (heh) to what's boasted as one of the most scenic train rides in the world. The whole rail journey starts in the city of Ella and ends in Kandy but since we didn't want to spend seven hours on the train, we backtracked a bit and started in Ella with an endpoint in Nuwara Eliya town. The whole journey felt like something lost in the time in the best way possible:
The train boasted two sections: the air conditioned, glass windowed 'Observation Saloon' and the 'main' cabin, an open-air compartment. The Observation Saloon sat at the back of the train and much of our journey was spent darting between the left, right and back windows of the train seeking the best panoramic view.
It wasn't a particularly quick three hours but we wound, twisted and turned our way through stunning green valleys:
Upon arrival we were greeted with more old reminders:
Some of the darker side of colonialism:
Upon arrival in Nuwara Eliya, Shane greeted us again and we weaved our way through the various small-town markets and fancy hotels/cricket grounds. A quick tour, but quintessentially wonderful.
The Post Office:
Onwards!
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