The view from our room.
Our hotel, The Hideaway, in the mountains of Sri Lanka is indeed beautifully situated.
The Hideaway (our rooms have the lower balconies on the pictures).
Today we went to Lipton's seat. A place the 19th century tea magnate Lipton liked to visit and watch his tea estates from. Supposedly one of Sri Lankas best viewpoints. Our tuk-tuk guy, Darshana, picked us up at 9 as agreed yesterday. He had estimated the ride to around 1 hour but it actually took closer to 2 hours. We were happy when we eventually could exit the tuk-tuk and stretch our backs to a very impressive 360 degrees view of the surrounding tea plantations.
We hiked down to the tea factory Dambatenne, through a landscape that looked like a vast Japanese garden with well-manicured rows of tea bushes (actually trees that have been cut back), tall trees, and granite blocks. We saw many people working the tea. They pick 18 kgs of tea leaves every day for only 600 Lkr per day (3,60 Eur.) But they seemed pretty happy, chatting away with each other and greeting us with interest when we passed. It all seemed very idyllic in the sunshine. We passed by their village, consisting of very small and simple cottages with a little plot of land, where they grow vegetables. The houses looked rather well-maintained and attractive. There was even a school up there in the mountains, where we saw a lot of kids. The little children found us very interesting and amusing but their command of English allowed no more than a "Hello".
At the tea factory we were given a guided tour and were explained the procedures of tea making. We were able to buy a packet of their finest "Estate" tea (exclusively from one particular plantation).
On the way home we made a stop in Haputale and invited our tuk-tuk driver for lunch.
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