SRI LANKA

Ceylon Tea Trails
Madulkelle Tea & Eco Lodge
TEA COUNTRY
Tea is the UK’s favourite drink and to the
connoisseur its taste is redolent of the lush green
tea gardens of Sri Lanka, developed under British
rule when the island was known as Ceylon.
Today, Sri Lanka is the world’s fourth
largest tea producer. The island’s central
highlands – known as ‘Hill Country’ or ‘Up
Country’ – are filled with vivid scenes of
hillsides carpeted with carefully manicured tea
gardens. These are accompanied by scenes
of roaring waterfalls mingling with clouds and
shimmering sunlight shifting and disappearing
beneath the rising mist. Here too are to be
found the historic plantation bungalows that
were homes to the early tea barons.
Situated over 6,000 feet above sea level,
the temperature in Hill Country provides a
beautiful contrast with the often sweltering
lowlands, varying between 16C to 20C, and
providing an ideal climate for exploring, your
adventures taking you from tea plantations to
temples to ravines and waterfalls.
Today’s Tea Country centrepiece is Nuwara
Eliya, overlooked by Pidurutalagala, the tallest
mountain in Sri Lanka. In colonial days,
Nuwara Eliya was called Little England, where
Britons would immerse themselves in leisure
pastimes like polo, golf and cricket.
Today, many of the town’s buildings are
echoes of the past and visitors can wallow in
the nostalgia of bygone days. Nearby Hatton,
high up in the Hill Country, is surrounded by
vast tea estates that carpet the rolling hills
while to the south-east stands the curious
pyramidal bulk of Adam’s Peak.
Sri Lanka has a wonderfully
evocative railway system. Sample it,
with a memorable ride from Kandy up into
the Hill Country, where your chauffeur will
meet you at the station!
MADULKELLE TEA
& ECO LODGE
Set high in tea country, the Madulkelle
Tea and Eco Lodge offers revolutionary
accommodation: 18 secluded lodges made
of high quality tarpaulin canvas, the same
material used by renowned safari camps
in Africa. From your front door is one the
most breathtaking views imaginable – mist
covered mountains, lush green valleys, crystal
streams and even the occasional deer or
giant squirrel. Add to that top-class facilities
that include a magnificent pool and organic
vegetable and herb garden supplying the
dining room.
n Why we chose it: After a challenging
drive, you relax with a pot of tea in your
tranquil, luxury lodge and realise what a
heavenly spot this is.
CEYLON TEA TRAILS
Sri Lanka’s first Relais & Chateaux resort
comprises four luxurious colonial tea planters’
bungalows, Summerville, Castlereagh,
Tientsin and Norwood, all connected
by walking trails through stunning tea
gardens. Built between 1888 and 1950, the
bungalows, with 21 exquisite rooms and suites
in all, offer a taste of gracious living thanks
to butler service and period furnishings,
accompanied by gourmet meals. From here,
you can trek, bike or picnic at spectacular
locations each day in cool comfort, while the
resident Tea Planter will show you the tea
making process at first hand.
n Why we chose it: A stunning setting,
impeccable service and memorable food.
Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and
things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one
little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.
MARK TWAIN, THE INNOCENTS ABROAD/ROUGHING IT
13