Anyone for tea?

Kandy to Nuwara Eliya

Today we headed to Nuwara Eliya in the mountains, home to tea plantations and buildings from the British colonial era. Our plan was to drive the next day from there to Nanuoya to get the train to Ella, however we had heard that the railways were on strike so weren't sure whether the train would even be running.

We stopped at the Damro tea plantation for a quick tour of the tea factory and a free cuppa. It was a very busy place as it was apparently the only factory in the area that offers a free tour. 

It was still very interesting though, we saw how the tea leaves were picked, dried, processed and packed, and also learnt about the different kinds of tea, some of which (like golden tea) we'd never heard of.

As our driver Sam was originally from Nuwara Eliya he gave us a tour of the town before taking us to our very old fashioned hotel, with a nice garden view. This was the only place we'd stayed at the didn't have air conditioning, as the weather in Nuwara Eliya is much milder than the lower parts of the country.   

We walked into town and had a drink and a snack at a "pub", in a great location with a nice beer garden but with possibly the worst drink selection and service we'd ever experienced. When we asked for the bill we waited for quite some time before K went to investigate, only to find the girl behind the register asleep! We also made the mistake of hanging around talking to someone after we paid the bill, which meant we were still there when they came to tell us that they'd forgotten to charge us for our chips.

We returned to our hotel where we ate in their very formal dining room of our hotel, in the slippers they insisted we wear at all times while inside.