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katherine's community challenge |
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Travels Around Sri Lanka |
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Sunday 9 April Today our group split up - some people were going straight home, others were travelling independently in Sri Lanka. Sue J and Sam had changed their plans and stayed on to build for a further four days. Some of us had booked three or six day extension trips - my family had treated me to the six day trip for my 50th birthday. Four of us took this option - me, Jean, Angie and Steve. At 7.00 am, we met our driver, Viki, boarded our 'luxury' bus and set off for Nuwaraeliya up in the hill country. The transfer took a total of 10 bone-shaking hours - en route we stopped at a rubber plantation and drove through tea plantations - they look just like the mental image we have of them - probably from the PG Tips packets! The tea pickers were very picturesque in their bright saris against the green of the tea bushes. The bushes are picked once a week in the dry season and more often in the monsoon - the bushes are pruned to be flat across the top - this is done every few years. We stopped at the picturesque Devon Falls which are 281 feet high and browsed in a lovely shop selling all sorts of tea in lovely boxes, caddies and even in china pigs (sorry Alison, I should have got you one!). |
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 Tapping a rubber tree |  Tea pickers at work |  Craigie Lea plantation |  Devon Falls |  A very odd tree |
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At last we arrived in Nuwaraeliya and checked into the Grand Hotel - a strange, slightly creepy place with miles of wood panelling and a very colonial feel. Nuwaraeliya, the City of Light, is 2500m above sea level and was where the British would come for the cooler weather. The garden was planted with roses, lobelia, petunias and many other flowers typical of a British garden. Jean and I took a stroll around the town. As it was holiday season, there were many events on at the racecourse and at the park - loud music blaring from speakers everywhere and hordes of people. The post office was very odd, bright pink! We cut back to the hotel across a very posh golf course. We enjoyed the drop in temperature - to a reasonable 20 degrees - but the local people were wearing woolly hats and fleeces - in our room, the hotel staff had turned on the heater! We met up with the three day extension people for dinner, after which Debbie and Sue L played snooker in a wonderful, dark-panelled room behind the bar - coached by the attendant who clearly thought Sue's game was not up to scratch! |
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 The pink post office |  The pharmacy - not quite the same as Faith Pharmacy! |  The Grand Hotel |  This one was for Dad |  The road down from Nuwaraeliya |
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Monday 10 April Today we visited the Glenloch tea factory and were shown how the tea we drink here is produced. The whole process takes 24 hours from picking the tea to the final product. Unfortunately, the factory was very dark and it was difficult to take any decent photographs. The shop was very disappointing compared to the one we saw yesterday - I wished I had bought some things there - instead I just got two small packets of best tea - which was lovely when drunk back here! |
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 Drying the green tea leaves |  Pushing the dry leaves down the chute... |  ...to the rollers |  Grading the tea leaves |  The outside of the tea factory |
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The Build ::: Project Visit ::: More info ::: Links ::: |
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