Continued from Spices and Kandy
From Kandy you can take a train trip into the central highlands of Sri Lanka. It lasts two to four hours depending on how far you intend to travel. The area is surprisingly densely populated with the train stopping at several major towns. The train trip is largely for commuters and locals, but of course it is a great tourist trip as well. Starting at Kandy Station, after an hour or so the train is climbing through hills and ranges of beautiful greens. The tea plantations start to emerge. The ranges peak at around 2,000 metres.
A visit to a tea factory puts some perspective on the “cuppa” you have in the morning. It is hard work all round, from the female tea pickers to the factory workers to the final packaging.
The tea country is far more extensive than one expects. It also has its fair share of rainfall. By train and then by bus we travelled through to the town of Ella, on the southern edge of the highlands.
At Ella we stayed at a hotel complex called 98 Acres. It looks out over its own tea plantation, to Little Adam’s Peak and to the plains below. We would later hike to the top of the peak, and later stop by the waterfall after which Ella is named.
Our love affair with Sri Lankan cuisine would continue. The hotel’s restaurant is built on its own “hill”, with marvellous views and high quality food. What constantly impressed us was how the Sri Lankan chefs can toss out high quality western food alongside their traditional and local local dishes. At 98 Acres they served beautiful quality pastries. And they served wonderful lamprais or lump rice, a highlands speciality. It comprises cooked rice, some curry or maybe two or three, some chutneys and condiments, all wrapped in banana leaf and then baked. When you unwrap it, a lamprais looks like a deconstructed biryani, with clearly identifiable components that are all beautifully moist and fragrant.
Continued:
For a continuation of our travels, see: Galle.