Follow scenic trails through Sri Lanka’s tea country, meeting the people and landscapes that give Ceylon tea its soul.
While Ceylon Tea is world famous as a brand and often you might see tea factory visits on many standard tour itineraries, on this experience you will be treading off the beaten path slightly as you join a local hiking guide who will share more in-depth stories about tea along the way.
You will get to learn about the techniques and patterns of planting, how tea is plucked and most importantly about the daily lifestyle of the tea estate workers and their back-breaking hard work. If you are lucky, you might be able to see the workers plucking tea.
During the hike, you will take a break to taste a typical tea estate worker’s meal/snack – Coconut Roti, Vadai & a cup of plain tea. While this for you is a delicacy by choice, for the estate workers it’s a day-to-day meal by default given their low income where a meal at a restaurant is a distant dream, sadly.
The views are stunning throughout the trail, extending into the distant mountain valleys but the mountain weather is quite unpredictable as a blanket of mist might cover the entire view within a few minutes. So, make sure to take your photos as soon as you get a clear view, otherwise you might regret it in two minutes. The hike ends in the outskirts of Haputale.
Note: The total distance of the hike is approx. 10KMs with slight elevation gains and drops. Usually, it takes around 4-5 hours in total depending on the pace you go at. Anyone with moderate fitness should be able to do this and we recommend to bring along trainers or hiking boots. A rain coat will come in handy. There might be some leeches during rainy days but not as many as in a rainforest, still it’s good to be prepared with some repellent.
For more information on how to incorporate this experience in our itineraries, please get in touch with us on sales.srilanka@khiri.com.