Vieraskäyttäjä
27. kesäkuuta 2025
We slowly wind our way through a breathtaking twisting mountainous road guided by Vinath who met us at the last turn off. We head to the northeastern foothills of Lanka’s highest peak Pidurutalagala, A tea factory comes into view overlooking the valley of Mandaramnuwara. And we soon realise that it is our destination. An abandoned tea factory built hundred and seventy-five years ago, during the infancy of growing tea in then Ceylon, now converted into a hotel. It is mid-day and the Sun peers out of the clouds whisking past touching the mountain ranges. Mist keeps coming in and out giving us a performance as the views open and close. Temperatures feel cool compared to hot and humid planes we left only a couple of hours ago. A lady from the plantation Tamil community welcomes us and invites us to light a lamp and places a red coloured dot of ash on our foreheads, signifying that this is an area where the majority are from the Tamil community. A community whose ancestors were brought by the British from South India to clear the lush primary forests of the hills and plant coffee first and then once coffee was wiped out to plant tea in its place. We then meet the rest of the staff all with welcoming smiling faces and eager to interact with us While the hotel has no frills, it is cosy and neatly kept. The rooms are spacious enough with views of the valley and rugged mountain peaks. We had a mix of authentic local and western cuisine during our stay lovingly prepared by Chef Morgan and his team. Sasanka, Ramesh and Randika the stewards and Dumindu in the front office were always at hand to meet our needs. Akash and the rest at housekeeping kept our rooms spotless. What is unique about the place is the mini tea factory complete with the traditional machinery to produce black tea inhouse. The flavour and aroma of the freshly manufactured tea is hard to beat. In fact, the aroma from the manufacturing process permeates across the hotel adding to the romance of the place. The affable, knowledgeable and versatile naturalist Lakshan doubles up as the person in charge of tea production and we learnt some hitherto unknown facts about growing and manufacturing of black tea from him. He is assisted by Selvaraj, the lovable teamaker. Lakshan accompanied us during our two days of travel in the vicinity experiencing the stunning views and the multitude of waterfalls. The terraced paddy fields and vegetable plots of the valley are still worked the traditional way as the slopes are too steep for machinery. All in all, the eight of us had a lovely time. “Here soars our island-summit. Here I stand In spirit, as in body once I stood Long years ago, in love with all the land, This peerless land of Beauty’s plenitude.” - From Lanka from Pidurutalagala by Walter Stanley Senior
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