Happy New Year! I hope you had time to relax over a nice cup of tea! I started off my 2016 with a cup of Nuwara Eliya tea from Sri Lanka which I picked up last New Year whilst there on holiday. It was my third trip to this beautiful island formerly known as Ceylon – the home of Ceylon tea.
This time we decided to base ourselves in the cooler climes of the Hill Country. A small group of us rented a house nestled up in the village of Ulapane, situated halfway between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. We were in the heart of tea country!
Sri Lanka is the fourth largest producer of tea in the world, mainly black tea. However it wasn’t always about tea. In the early to mid 19th century coffee was king in the then Ceylon. But devastation struck in the 1870s when a fungal disease wiped out the coffee plantations. James Taylor, a Scottish planter, is credited with kicking off the Ceylon tea industry when he started a tea plantation in Kandy in 1867.
credit: www.paofceylon.org/Tea.htm
Though it was difficult to tear ourselves away from all the lounging, the spectacular landscape beckoned. One of my favourite parts of the holiday was the train ride to Nanu Oya for Nuwara Eliya.
Even the wait at Ulapane train station was a delight. It was like stepping back in time. The timetable and fares were posted on an old wooden board. We were allowed a peek into the signal box which housed the old style levers still in use. And there was a little café across the road where we got a masala chai tea while waiting for our slightly delayed train.
The train ride took us through a magnificent landscape with tea plantations as far as the eye could see. Sometimes we were so close we could’ve reached out and picked our own! For much of the journey I was either gazing out of the windows or sat at the open train doors dangling my feet out marvelling at the passing scenery.
Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya
At Nuwara Eliya we headed straight to the Grand Hotel to soak up some old world charm and enjoy a relaxing cup of tea. Next was a quick spin around the bustling centre of town, before stopping off at Mackwoods plantation on our way back to stock up on Ceylon teas.
Though we only had a short time in Nuwara Eliya, it was worth it for the train ride and incredible scenery. The highlight of the day for me.