The land of tea plantations, mountains and waterfalls Nuwara Eliya (Sri Lanka)
I already posted a review about my trip to Sri Lanka here http://www.turpravda.ua/lk/unavatuna/Comaran_Beach_Hotel-h34589-r76587.html but I only wrote about the hotel and Unawatuna Bay. Now I would like to tell you about my trip to Nuwara Eliya.
Nuwara Eliya is a high-altitude resort in the center of Sri Lanka, located at an altitude of 1884 m above sea level. This town is called "Little England", because. all the buildings and hotels there are in the English style, there is an Anglican church. There is a hippodrome and golf clubs. Most of all, Nuwara Eliya is famous for its endless tea plantations and beautiful waterfalls. Here you can visit tea factories, taste tea and, of course, buy tea home for gifts to family and friends.
You can get to Nuwara Eliya on your own or by buying a tour. I advise you to go for a few days, because. from the coast to go far and in one day it will be impossible to do anything. We went for two days. We ordered a minivan for seven seats with an English-speaking driver (we ordered in Unawatuna from Alexei from the Moyalanka website, it turned out 2 times cheaper than from a tour operator). We went in the middle of our vacation, just when we got sunburnt and felt we needed to give our skin a break from the beach. In Nuwara Eliya, the weather is cool, especially in the mornings and evenings (I advise you to bring something with a long sleeve), but this is a plus, because. you can take a break from the heat and take a walk for your pleasure, breathe in the fresh, invigorating mountain air.
We left Unawatuna at 8 am and after lunch were in Nuwara Eliya. On the way we made many stops for photos, snacks, swimming in the waterfall. On the way we admired the most beautiful mountain landscapes, tea plantations, waterfalls. You can swim in some waterfalls, the water is about 20-22 degrees, an unforgettable experience. Near the waterfall we met a flock of monkeys, they were sitting on pebbles and were not at all afraid of us. Also on the way we saw chipmunks and a tree on which a huge number of bats hung.
We stayed at the Sun Hill Hotel for the night, the hotel is so-so, but it’s quite enough for one night, besides it cost only $ 40 for a double room. The hotel is located not far from the hippodrome and Lake Gregory. Not a bad view of the mountains from the windows. I would like to note that all hotels in Nuwaria are made in the colonial style, which gives them a special charm.
The next morning we walked a bit around the town and went on a tour of the Macwoods tea factory. We were shown the tea plantations of this factory, explained how tea is harvested, walked through the workshops, talked about the stages of the tea-making process, and gave tea to drink in the tasting room. Then it was possible to buy tea for home and for gifts to relatives in a shop at the factory. The tea is really very tasty, fragrant and rich. And what a marvelous tea aroma we felt when we got to the workshops!! ! I immediately wanted to have a cup of tea.
The tour of the factory is free (apparently it is more than paid off by shopping in their store), conducted in English. Prices in the shop at the factory are cheaper than in Unawatuna, and the tea is much better. At home in their homeland, they then drank the purchased tea with pleasure and regretted that they had not taken more packs. By the way, if you didn’t manage to get to the factory or you didn’t buy tea, then don’t be discouraged - at the Colombo airport in the waiting room there are tea shops of almost all popular tea factories. After visiting the factory, we went to see some waterfalls and then went to Kandy.
In general, I really liked the trip to Nuwara Eliya and this is one of my most vivid memories of Sri Lanka.
