Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

We left the extremely comfortable Villa Cassandra after a very good breakfast. Off we set for Kandy along a valley covered with finely manicured tea bushes. Most of the tea estates we passed seemed to bear Scottish sounding names. I don't know whether the Jake's are historical, or whether they just sell more tea that way.

The day was sunny and hot as we reached Ramboda falls. Here despite a notice saying 'No Barth' (sic), there were plenty of people splashing in the water. The Sri Lankans have a very cavalier attitude to spelling, generally resulting in a phonetic if not grammatical similarity to the meaning they are trying to achieve.

The next stop was the Glenloch Tea Factory. Here a delightful young Sri Lankan lady gave us a tour of the factory, explaining the various stages of tea production. Apparently all the picking is used for black tea, only the youngest leaves for green tea, and only the unopened buds for white tea. The tea is wilted, cut, sifted with the oversize being returned to the cutter, left 1.5 hours to oxidise/ferment if it is for black tea, thoroughly dried, stalk particles removed electrostatically, winnowed to remove the undersize (dust) and finally bagged.

When we got to taste a cup, it tasted just like normal, everyday, common or garden tea!

Lunch occurred in a modern light and airy roadside restaurant and was a selection of tasty rice and curries.

It was lucky that we stopped for lunch as we became entangled in one of the infamous Kandy traffic jams. It took over an hour through the heat and dust to cover just a mile or so from the outskirts to the centre.

We reached the hotel at 3pm and said goodbye to the driver. We may see him again on Saturday when we leave for Dambulla, or it may be another driver. We are staying at the venerable Casamara hotel, picked for its central location and swimming pool. It needed a revamp last century, but still seems to function well and looks aren't everything. The vintage lattice gate lift could come from a film set.