The morning after our "Spa Dungeon Treatment" it was time to get back on the rails, even though my greasy locks hung in limp strings and caused a strange craving for popcorn in every fellow traveler we passed.
Next destination! Nuwara Eliya.
The tone and scenery of this city is vastly different from anywhere we’ve been in Sri Lanka, yet. It is both the highest in altitude and coolest in temperature, and apparently, it is where the old British colonists enjoyed spending much of their time.
The architecture isn’t the only evidence of the former British presence. Have you ever heard of Ceylon tea? Ceylon is the name the British used to refer to Sri Lanka, and Nuwara Eliya is the high point of Sri Lanka tea production. It’s like the Napa Valley of tea production! Andrew arrives jittering with anticipation of his first real “cuppa” Ceylon tea. "We have to get to a tea plantation!” He tells me.
But first, how to get around town?
You guessed it, we have to break down and get a tuk-tuk. Our homestay hostess calls one of her relatives and we are soon paired with Neroshaun who is dressed in bright red sneakers, jeans, and aviator sun glasses. We are in from a fun ride, I think. Andrew tells Neroshaun where we want to go and he shakes his head a bit, “Do you trust me?” He asks us.
Having met only approximately three minutes ago, it's hard to say we’ve built a circle of trust, here, but for now we will allow this to be the first test. We climb into the back of the tuk-tuk, and allow Neroshaun to whisk us away at his whim wherever he thinks we should go.
“Just let me know if you ever see something you want to stop for." He instructs from the front seat. Soon, he becomes sensitive to the raise of my camera and click of the shutter - slowing or stopping to let me get the shot I need. Stop-go-stop-go, we stutter along to the staccato of my camera and Neroshaun's flowing font of information about culture and life in Nuwara Eliya and Sri Lanka generally.
Nuwara Eliya is the city with the highest altitude in all of Sri Lanka. It is considered cold country! Cold enough to grow spring vegetables like carrots, onions, herbs, and strawberries. We stop along the road to watch teams of Sri Lankans hand-hoeing fields in preparation for planting. The smell of dark, soft soil hangs in the air with the scent of flowers and tea leaves. Stands of vegetables and fresh cut flowers are propped up on the side of the road, waiting for local Sri Lankan tourists from the low lands to stop by and stock up on the freshest food to be found.
We stop at a spring welling with fresh, cold ground water. We fill up our bottles while Neroshaun tells us about the day he stopped here and found a giant Cheetah drinking from the spring. “Sri Lanka has Cheetas and Panthers everywhere in the natural jungle, but you never see them. They blend in so well. I”ve only seen two in my entire life living here.”
“But can you imagine? Seeing a cheetah at your favoriate spring well!" I say to Andrew
After climbing high into the ridges, we roll over the crest and start waltzing around switchbacks and weaving our couplet between the formation of trucks, buses, cars, and motorcycles. The air is crisp enough to bite my ears, and it’s an exhilerating ride.
Neroshaun stops every now and then to point out changing varieties of tea plants. “Black, green, white, and oolong teas are all made from the same plant - the tea tree. The tea tree, if allowed to grow would be around a 10-15 foot bush, but these never grow that big because the best leaves are plucked from the new growth. Tea pickers weave their way through the tea plants plucking at a maximum five leaves from the top.
The top leaf is usually a bud. This is dried slowly in the sun to make white tea. The nest three leaves are the “pekoe” leaves, meaning the best quality leaves. They are used for the best quality black and green tea. They are young and tender leaves and make a smooth tea that can be sipped without sugar or milk.
The fourth and fifth leaf are referred to as the “orange pekoe” and can be used for the second quality tea. Still very good, but with a darker color once brewed and more bitter tannins. These teas are best with a little sugar, preferably a cube of coconut sugar, made in Sri Lanka.
Both the pekoe leaves and the orange pekoe leaves can be made into either green or black tea. If they are going to be used for green tea, they must be picked and dried within eight hours maximum. If they are used for black tea, then they are allowed to ferment for anywhere between 18-24 hours after being picked, before they are sent to be dried.”
Neorshaun is not really a tour guide. For the most part, he just drives his tuk-tuk like a taxi, but this is what I like best. He knows these things because this is his home and he is interested in the history and the life. He’s not reading me a canned outline, he stops as the whim allows and he shows us what interests him or what he senses interests us. It's the best kind of tour there is.
We stop in the dust on the side of the road and watch as women pick leaves. They reach back and toss the leaves into their basket until it is full, then the bring the leaves to a hut to be compiled into lare bags and taken to the tea factory.
“They are very, very poor.” Neroshaun tells us. “Just recently, the government negotiated to have their wages raised to 2.50 USD per day, but it is still not enough. Sometimes, the tea factories provide housing," Neroshaun takes us to see colorful houses painted in a row. A grandmother sits outside, watching her granddaughter play.
We continue to drop down into the valley, until we reach a huge tea plantation. “You are very lucky," Neroshaun says, “this place is usually completely full of Chinese tourists who wait in long lines just to get in. But, with Covid, Chinese tourists can't come to visit Sri Lanka right now. So, you can go and you don’t have to wait so long.”
Crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling and the room is lit by sunlight from a three story wall of windows over looking the brilliant green of a mountainside entirely cultivated by tea. We are greeted at the entrance and taken through the factory to see how tea is made. There, mulched tea leaves scent the air, soft, green, and warm. It’s reminiscent to me of the smell of freshly cut grass, the feeling I feel reaching into the lawnmower bag to pull the sun heated grass from its container.
Step One: Separate the leaves for quality.
Step Two: Dry
Step Three; Mulch
Step Four: Second Dry
Step Five: Separate whole leave from crumbles from powder.
Step Six: Pack into huge bags for sale at tea auctions.
This tea is some of the most coveted in the world. It is the tea of choice for many people in China, the Middle East, Turkey, and of course the United Kingdom.
After our tour, we sit beneath the slants of afternoon light falling through the wall of windows. They serve us Orange Pekoe tea (so beautifully orange in color, but not in taste) in a creamy white Noritake China teapot. I order a ginger spice cake, and Andrew a chocolate cake to pair with his tea. It is here that I discover a deep love for ginger spice cake.
Neroshaun orders cream and sugar for his tea, and this causes the woman serving us to shake her head, “no!" But she brings him the milk and sugar anyway. “In Sri Lanka, we prefer milk tea. But we usually don't drink nice tea. We use the crumbly leftover leaves for our tea. More bitter, needs milk." Neroshaun explains. “I don't like it just plain." He mounds two spoons full of sugar and pours an ample amount of cream until the tea swirls in clouds of white syrup. “Perfect, now.” He says.
Despite the fact that we still have an overabundance of tea aboard Sonrisa, we can’t possibly leave the Napa Valley of Tea without acquiring more tea, so Andrew makes friends with one of the sales women and she loads him up with a giant basket of different qualities and variety. “I need some for sipping, some to give away as gifts, some to mix with milk and sugar, and several bags to use to make kombucha...” There.
She seems all too happy to ring him up, but Neroshaun assures us that the Chinese tourists take much more than that usually. Indeed, when we send off a picture to our Chinese sailing friends Steve and Lila Xie, Lila laughs and says "that is nothing! My Uncle has a whole shed in his yard devoted to storing his tea that he purchased in Sri Lanka.”
With this, Andrew becomes concerned that we do not have enough tea after all, and we make for a second trip to the government operated tea shop where the government sells many different companies and varieties of tea. The women in the shop are dressed in their beautiful saris, and gorgeous smiles. We buy another round of “too much tea” to fit anywhere on Sonrisa, and then we sit down to enjoy another free sample poured by one of the most beautiful ladies I’ve ever seen pour tea.
That evening, we returned to the bed and breakfast perched on the steel hillside, overlooking Nuwara Elyia. We enjoyed our evening curries, lentils, salad, and fish. Then, we retired to our room where Andrew proceeded to count his boxes of tea like a Pirate might thumb through the dabloons in his latest hard-won booty.
“A lifetime supply of real Ceylon tea, procured from the real Ceylon.” Andrew mutters as he stacks.
He’s had a good day.
