Tea Factory Christmas

Christmas Eve was spent at the Tea Factory.  Dinner was very elaborate and delicious, however a seven course fixed grown up meal doesn’t alway suit a 7 year old boy.  Claire tried and loved her dinner but William struggled.  It was mostly visual.  In general he likes his food simple and not in sophisticated forms.   William loves crab and lobster but not in a terrine.  We were able to coax him to sandwich most of his food with rolls which makes me to believe William is a picnic man.

Santa visited the kids during the night and they woke to find their stocking filled with loot.  After breakfast it was a 2 hour hike to the village and through the tea fields.  We learned how to grow the tea, pruning, plucking and which part is harvested.  It take 5 kilo of tea make one kilo of tea.  The women work about 14 hours of backbreaking plucking and stooping for $6 USD.  Very humbling.   To learn more – we also got dressed and strapped baskets to our heads and started off to the field.  In the end we only managed to pluck 600 grams of tea.  The kids earned about 7 cents each.   It is an amazing process for the pleasure of others.

Road to Nuwara Eliya

The day started wet which didn’t matter much since we were off to tea country.  Most of the roads were well paved and very comfortable.  We traveled about 1 1/2 hours to the Lavender House Tea Factory.  We toured the factory and stopped for some cakes and tea which were a welcomed break.  The surrounding area was beautiful.  Absolutely lush, rolling hills and dotted with auburn, cobalt coloured houses.   We drove to the Grand Hotel by the private club Hill Club an English Golf Club.  It was if we were transported into the English countryside.   At the Grand Hotel we stopped by the cafe for a light Indian curry and tandoori.  The kids don’t have any shortage of food they like.   I was worried food would be a problem but between the English styled pubs and naan – we are all good.   Never too far from a club sandwich or fish and chips….ah the beauty of colonial England.

Our stay in Nuwara Eliya is at the Heritance Tea Factory also run by Spence Aikens which also runs the Kandalama.   This hotel began life a tea factory but was abandoned when the Spence Aikens group took it over as a theme hotel.  The results are incredible.  It’s a difficult last 10K with broken narrow roads but you arrive at a wonderfully luxury hotel.  Because it was a tea factory the upgrades are very simple and surprisingly modern.  The grounds are impeccably kept and very English.   There’s even a maze created with hedges.  We were greated with spiced teas and a traditional greeting of a namaskar or namaste – colour to the forehead.

Dinner is smart casual tonight and we are scrambling a bit to find something suitable.  I didn’t think we would need smart casual clothes but seeing that it is the holidays I should have prepared better.  In any case the staff will be carolling to us which I’m curious about.  Wonder if it’s going to end up like the Chinese restaurant scene in “The Christmas Story”.  It is Christmas Eve and the kids will hang their stockings by the window with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas, soon will be there.

Kandy Dec 2010

A wet day in Kandy.  Not cold just wet, but we managed to see the Botanical Gardens which surprisingly had a ton of bats which were pretty active.  These orange chested flying foxes hung from the tops of the trees and chirped away like birds.  We also so the world’s largest tree a one hundred year old Java fig tree….it was more wide than high and was quite majestic.  The roots snake around like a banyan tree and it’s mossy, decaying but continues to grow.  For a country that has limited resources the Botanical Garden is worth while to see.

After lunch which included freshly roasted cashew nuts we wandered to the Temple of the Tooth.  The tooth is said to be the remaining evidence of Buddha which allows the holder of the tooth the power of rule.  Wars have been fought over this tooth….and temples created to honour it.    The temple is quite beautiful with two museums to explain it the story of the tooth but while we were there the weather turned and the rain poured down from the heavens.   Overall, the day was relaxing with us ending our day at the Queen’s hotel which may have been the place to be in its time but truthfully it’s an old colonial building that had been neglected.

Sri Lanka Christmas 2010

We started in Negombo and stayed only for the day but managed to have an early morning sail in a catamaran in the Indian Ocean after a eggs, bacon and fruit for breakfast.  The fruit here is divine.   Absolutely juicy and sweet.  I’m in papaya heaven.

The next day we drove to Dambulla and stayed at the Heritance Kandalama.  The architect was a local Sri Lankan Burgher (European descent to the Dutch East Indian Company – sounds complicated to me) gentleman named Geoffrey Bawa.  What he created was a breathtaking building that seemed like it was growing from the side of the jungle.  We were greeted by bats flying through the corridors chasing insects and greedy monkeys waiting to see who was silly enough to bring food into their rooms.   The rooms were warm and from our balcony the jungle dropped before us.

The food was fairly international with a Sinhalese corner.  Reid was definitely more courageous than me – I stuck to dishes which had onions, chilies, limes and coconut while Reid did taste the curries that looked sharp and pointy.  I thought only the Chinese ate lotus roots but discovered that the Singhalese ate a different type of lotus root that grew to about 2cm diameter.  Very beautiful, delicate and crunchy.  Great on salads.

We explored the Dambulla Cave Temples which were quite beautiful and serene.  The painted walls and reclining Buddhas were very calming.  The weather was rainy by the end of the day but the weather was warm.  The following day we hiked to the citadel in Sigiriya.  I was a bit weak in the knees hiking up.  Though we were using iron stairways and rails, the height was extraordinary and a views were spectacular.  At the top there were frescos of King Kassapa’s concubines – full-figured and bare-chested.  Sounds like most men I know – leaving records of their conquests.   The paintings were definitely worth the hike.

We later drove to Kandy and stopped by a Spice Garden which I thought was very informative.  The doctor who ran the Garden laid claim to being 12th generation of doctors to the king and they also had samples of producted they created….Ayurveda is the ancient medicines which are only developed in this small region of Sri Lanka due to the special climate which grows the necessary plants for the medicines.   It’s a holistic approach to health and yes, I bought some ointments to test out.  How can one say no to natural beauty and health.

Now in Kandy, we are staying at the Earls Regency and the kids are loving it.  The rain hasn’t stopped but the kids are having a great time watching fire walkers and local dancers.