Tea for two

After a nail biting bus ride along a slippery mountain road (fortunately, going up, we were on the inside) we arrived in the quaint ex colonial hangout of Newara Eliya. A once flourishing bastion of tea plantations and British rose gardens, it has lost its oomph but still maintains some picturesque industries. Tea was introduced to Sri Lanka only in the 1800s, after a major Coffee blight wiped out the once famous Coffee plantations. Ordering a cuppa Ceylon Coffee doesn't sound quite right, does it?



At an impressive 2000 meters above sea level even a short walk is rather strenuous. Perhaps that's just us being fat slobs, but it does feel nice to have the altitude excuse for all that panting and wheezing.

Earlier today we visited a hillside Tea plantation where we met a group of worn out female pickers (haven't seen a single bloke picking leaves yet). After some very cute photos, and some handing out of Bic pens (ballpoint pens are a highly treasured commodity, for children, who need them for school) we took a bus back into town.

We also had an inspiring visit to a nearby SOS Children's Orphanage which was full of grateful and polite little munchkins playing cricket and chattering about clothes. We got a thorough tour of the impressive facilities and got an opportunity to sign the guest book and buy some handmade Christmas Cards. The orphans were mixed - boys, girls, Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims, living side by side in families of ten. On the walls, proudly placed photographs of the 'graduates' who'd gone on to marry, and some even to study at foreign universities. It seems the destructive habits of hatred and segregation, that are so visible elsewhere, are really a product of adult thinking. Shame.