We had visited the beaches, the jungles, and some historic sites of Sri Lanka, and now it was time to visit the famous Sri Lankan tea country. We managed (albeit with much difficulty) to get some sandwiches and snacks for our train journey, and then waited patiently for our old train to arrive. We had A class air-conditioned seats, but after living in India for 15 months I have low expectations of what that means. With a 6 hour trip ahead of us, my mum was keen to know if there was a toilet on the train - yes there was but the bigger question was, would she be game to go ????
Our carriage was close to full when we got on, with a group from Mumbai and some travellers from the UK, and with little to no AC to start off I was not optimistic for the rest of the trip . Not long after we left Kandy the rain started to pour and it didn't really ease up for most of the trip. However, the AC did start to work and was very appreciated.
As we cruised along in our noisy, rattly train we got to see lots of local villagers and children running home from work and school in the rain. When the rain eased off, the carriage manager let us open the windows and hang our heads out the window like puppies. The views were spectacular, with tea bushes as far as the eye could see on flat country, hill country and even on the cliff faces. I could not imagine how difficult it must be to care for the bushes in such awkward places. It was a long trip with lots of games of Uno with Max, but we loved the spectacular scenery and seeing how the real Sri Lankans live.
Arriving in Haputale, we made the short, curvy, fast, wet, steep and crazy drive to our hotel perched on top of another large hilltop. Quick check-in and we were off for dinner, which was going well until Max went all pale and then started vomiting in the restaurant..... poor little monkey ! Early to bed for us :)
The next morning Max was feeling fighting fit, and we were all very keen to visit the 'real' Tea plantations. Our guide took us to the Dambatenne Tea Plantation which was built by Sir Thomas Lipton in 1890. The factory is a 'no photography' zone as they believe their processing is top secret and they don't want other plantations seeing there strategies. The tea making process was really great to walk through and see - although Mike, Jack and Max were not so happy with the intense tea smell.
After leaving the factory, we decided to go and visit a local kindergarten that cared for the children of the tea workers. It was quite emotional seeing these little ones being cared for with such basic conditions. But watching Jack hand out little pieces of candy and the children's big smiles, the beautiful 'hello' greetings, and the smiling faces of the children made me realise that these children were actually the lucky ones. They had 2 working parents and who were earning enough for the children to be cared for in a proper facility and were likely to have a decent future. There are a lot more that do not have such a future ahead of them. Their sweet little faces were just divine. It was very humbling to visit.
We then had a VERY long drive (6 hours) to the coast again, over to Kalutara. Once there it was time for a swim - the boys were desperate for some 'swim time'. The hotel had lots of westerners staying and we had quite a few interesting sites by the pool (my mum was busy with the camera but I have refrained from including those photos.....) We really enjoyed our stay at this hotel 'after spending a lot of time in the clouds'.
Our last day was spent relaxing at the beach and pool, and then a trip to the Turtle Hatchery in Kosgoda. They specialise in buying the eggs from the local villagers and fisherman, who would otherwise eat the eggs, and then they keep the eggs safe until hatching. Upon hatching they release 95% of them in to the ocean and the other 5% is kept for research and education. It was interesting to hear that the education of the local children was one of their main aims. If they can stop the locals from taking the eggs, the turtle populations will stop reducing at such a huge rate. We had a lovely time touching and holding the turtles and learning about their lives.
After the turtle visit we headed north towards the airport and had the pure joy of visiting a Burger King and having a 'real beef burger' - oh how we miss beef in India !! After gobbling that down we headed back to Negombo for a last visit to St Mary's church (Max need to thank St Anthony for a couple of lost and founds.....) and then on to the airport.
We have had such a wonderful holiday with my Mum and Carol - our visit to Sri Lanka wouldn't have been the same without them - we had so much fun sharing our adventure with them. We were so grateful for their easy going manor and their help with the boys - I hope we can do it all again one day somewhere else. We are a very lucky family to have them visit us.
As a recommendation, I would definitely recommend a trip to Sri Lanka but I would go for a longer period next time, as we spent way too much time in the car or train travelling. Most of there roads are single lane which makes for long travel times. Please put Sri Lanka on your 'bucket list'.
As we cruised along in our noisy, rattly train we got to see lots of local villagers and children running home from work and school in the rain. When the rain eased off, the carriage manager let us open the windows and hang our heads out the window like puppies. The views were spectacular, with tea bushes as far as the eye could see on flat country, hill country and even on the cliff faces. I could not imagine how difficult it must be to care for the bushes in such awkward places. It was a long trip with lots of games of Uno with Max, but we loved the spectacular scenery and seeing how the real Sri Lankans live.
Arriving in Haputale, we made the short, curvy, fast, wet, steep and crazy drive to our hotel perched on top of another large hilltop. Quick check-in and we were off for dinner, which was going well until Max went all pale and then started vomiting in the restaurant..... poor little monkey ! Early to bed for us :)
The next morning Max was feeling fighting fit, and we were all very keen to visit the 'real' Tea plantations. Our guide took us to the Dambatenne Tea Plantation which was built by Sir Thomas Lipton in 1890. The factory is a 'no photography' zone as they believe their processing is top secret and they don't want other plantations seeing there strategies. The tea making process was really great to walk through and see - although Mike, Jack and Max were not so happy with the intense tea smell.
After leaving the factory, we decided to go and visit a local kindergarten that cared for the children of the tea workers. It was quite emotional seeing these little ones being cared for with such basic conditions. But watching Jack hand out little pieces of candy and the children's big smiles, the beautiful 'hello' greetings, and the smiling faces of the children made me realise that these children were actually the lucky ones. They had 2 working parents and who were earning enough for the children to be cared for in a proper facility and were likely to have a decent future. There are a lot more that do not have such a future ahead of them. Their sweet little faces were just divine. It was very humbling to visit.
We then had a VERY long drive (6 hours) to the coast again, over to Kalutara. Once there it was time for a swim - the boys were desperate for some 'swim time'. The hotel had lots of westerners staying and we had quite a few interesting sites by the pool (my mum was busy with the camera but I have refrained from including those photos.....) We really enjoyed our stay at this hotel 'after spending a lot of time in the clouds'.
Our last day was spent relaxing at the beach and pool, and then a trip to the Turtle Hatchery in Kosgoda. They specialise in buying the eggs from the local villagers and fisherman, who would otherwise eat the eggs, and then they keep the eggs safe until hatching. Upon hatching they release 95% of them in to the ocean and the other 5% is kept for research and education. It was interesting to hear that the education of the local children was one of their main aims. If they can stop the locals from taking the eggs, the turtle populations will stop reducing at such a huge rate. We had a lovely time touching and holding the turtles and learning about their lives.
After the turtle visit we headed north towards the airport and had the pure joy of visiting a Burger King and having a 'real beef burger' - oh how we miss beef in India !! After gobbling that down we headed back to Negombo for a last visit to St Mary's church (Max need to thank St Anthony for a couple of lost and founds.....) and then on to the airport.
We have had such a wonderful holiday with my Mum and Carol - our visit to Sri Lanka wouldn't have been the same without them - we had so much fun sharing our adventure with them. We were so grateful for their easy going manor and their help with the boys - I hope we can do it all again one day somewhere else. We are a very lucky family to have them visit us.
As a recommendation, I would definitely recommend a trip to Sri Lanka but I would go for a longer period next time, as we spent way too much time in the car or train travelling. Most of there roads are single lane which makes for long travel times. Please put Sri Lanka on your 'bucket list'.
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| The views are just spectacular |
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| On the train |
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| Our machine..... |
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| everyone just hangs around..... |
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| the steep cliffs were crazy |
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| Tea, Tea everywhere....... |
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| Those white 'specks' are the tea pickers...... amazing ! |
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| It was incredibly foggy in the morning. |
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| The tea pickers village |
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| More tea picking |
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| Twins...... too cute. |
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| local pre-schoolers |
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| Sri Lankan storms on Kalutara Beach |
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| Some of the locals at the hotel |
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| What a beautiful turtle |
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| No many eggs at this time of year |
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| 2 weeks old |
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| This cheeky turtle gave Max a bath :) |
| our trip in Sri Lanka...... |
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