Colombo, Sri Lanka

As taster days go on cruise visits, I think we manged to get an excellent idea and experience the culture and gain insight into traditions in Sri Lanka. I was lucky enough to be chosen to tour escort the day trip to the Tea Plantation. I was slightly disappointed I wouldn’t see Colombo City life, and experience the busy over fumed tuck tuck rides, but I decided I could always sample this in India, which was to be our next stop.

The comfortable coach, only a 15 seater, was waiting for us on the dock side. 13 passengers, myself, the driver and the tour guide, took off along the busy roads before joining the motorway. At least I got to see the tuck tucks following us, which I managed to take a few pics.
Once we left the motorway, to my delight, we drove an hour along windy roads, passed through small cities and towns, and witnessed day to day Sri Lankan busy life along it’s high streets and main streets. The tuck tucks and local buses were everywhere. Local people going about day to day business among-st hustle and bustle of fumes, clutter and sunshine.

After a 2 hour drive, we reached the Tea Plantation. Such lush, green, beautiful natural surroundings. Trees up and down mountain sides, tropical flowers and a very small windy road on the way into the plantation.

Once there, I was surprised to see how old and archaic the process of the tea making still was. From baskets and baskets of picked leaves, to the drying and curing of the leaves in the factory, which sadly we wern’t allowed to take a picture of, the end product of the tea, the dryness of the leaves and the beautiful aroma filled the rooms.

We were treated to tea and cake, in the tropical gardens of the managers house. Served in pristine white cups on saucers, with an atmosphere that one can only equal to colonial days gone by. Truly a memorable experience of Sri Lanka.