I left Ella about 9:30 on the morning of the 15th, taking the train about 15 miles southwest to Haputale. The hour long trip was very scenic, passing green hills and, between Bandarawela and Haputale, tea estates, with Tamil women picking tea. Haputale is situated on a ridge about 4700 feet in elevation, with plains to the south heading to the sea and rows of green hills to the north. Because of its exposed position on the ridge, it often gets fogged in, but was sunny when I arrived and stayed that way all day long.
I checked into a hotel room with excellent, though hazy, views south, and then looked around town. The town itself doesn't have much to see, other than the spectacular views. There is an old English church, with weathered gravestones. The town's population is mainly Tamil, what are called "Plantation Tamils." The ancestors of the Tamils who live in the north of the country have been on the island for one or two millennia, but the Tamils in the hills are descended from workers brought to the island by the British in the 19th century. About a million immigrated then to work first in the coffee and then the tea plantations. When the British first settled in the hills in the 1820's and 1830's, they planted coffee. But a leaf fungus devastated the industry in the 1870's, leading to its replacement by tea. Sri Lanka is now the world's second biggest tea exporter, after India.
After lunch at my hotel, with a wide view south, I walked from town west along a road for a couple of miles, climbing about 500 feet in altitude to a stone mansion completed in 1931 by a planter named Sir Thomas Villiers and named Adisham after the village where he was born in Kent. I passed tea covered hillsides for the last part of the walk. The mansion is now owned by the Benedictine Order, though they allow visitors on certain days. From the gray, somewhat forbidding mansion there were good, but hazy, views towards the hills to the north. Inside only two rooms can be visited, a sitting room with a portrait over the mantel of Villiers, and the library full of histories and biographies dating from the early 20th century. The place was packed with local people on that day, a holiday, the second day of the Vesak Poya holiday. I walked back the way I had come, much nicer in the late afternoon, and noticed a profusion of wildflowers along the road. The sky was still clear and I watched the just past full moon rise soon after dark.
The sky was clear the next morning. I just missed the 6:30 bus, which left early, heading to the Dambatene Tea Factory, about five miles to the east. I had planned to walk from there to the viewpoint called Lipton's Seat, another five miles from Dambatene. The next bus was at 7:30, so I hired a tuktuk to take me all the way to Lipton's Seat, and was later glad I didn't attempt to walk from Dambatene. The scenery on the drive in the tuktuk in the early morning sun was lovely, with tea covered hillsides, some very steep, all the way. Just after Dambatene, where the road began to ascend steeply, there were hundreds of schoolkids, most all in while, walking to school at a little past 7 in the morning. The early morning sun lit up the green tea covered hillsides.
The tuktuk dropped me off and I walked up the last bit, a little less than a mile. It felt like a steep mile, though it was only something like a 500 foot rise. The tea covered hills on the way were beautiful, with dry stone retaining walls along the road. I reached Lipton's Seat, at between 6200 and 6300 feet, according to my altimeter, and the view was great, though hazy to the south, where it dropped off to the plains. The site is named after Sir Thomas Lipton, who made Ceylon Tea (as it is still called, though the country's name was changed from Ceylon in 1972) famous. He owned this tea estate and enjoyed coming here for the view. It is the highest point on the estate.
I spent about a half hour there enjoying the views and cool morning air, and then walked down to Dambatene, a 1400 foot drop which took me a little over two hours. I enjoyed the beautiful walk down, passing tea pluckers waist or even chest deep among the tea bushes. Their hands move very fast as they pluck the leaves. Once one has two big handfuls of leaves, she stuffs the leaves into the bag on her back. They were very friendly, some posing for photographs. The sun was getting hotter as I descended and about 10 I broke out my umbrella to act as a parasol.
I reached Dambatene about 10:30 and was hot and tired. The tea factory, the largest one I have ever seen, has tours, but on arrival I was tired and just sat in the reception area, eating some cookies and drinking the last of my water. I finally got up to get some water from a little store outside just as the bus back to Haputale was getting ready to leave, so I decided to skip the factory tour (I had toured a couple of other tea factories in India) and jumped on the bus. I enjoyed the slow trip back on that rickety old bus.
Back in town, I drank a lot more water and persuaded the waiter at my hotel to prepare me an omelet, toast, fruit and tea breakfast, though it was past noon. I was still very tired and thought that would revive me. After eating I went back to my room and lay down for about an hour and a half. I was hot and, finally, it occurred to me that I might have a fever, so I took my temperature, which was 100.8. I was quite surprised to have my fever come back after four days. I took some Tylenol and spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. I didn't fall asleep, though, perhaps because of the four big cups of tea I had drunk for lunch. Before nightfall my temperature was back to normal and I felt fine, though I skipped dinner and went to bed early.
The next morning I felt fine. The view south onto the plains seemed a little clearer, though the sky was a little less clear than previous mornings. I could see the big reservoir at Uda Walawe National Park, where I had seen elephants almost two weeks earlier. I ate a good breakfast and a little after 9 took a bus a mile or so and then walked the rest of the way back to Adisham Monastery. I didn't reenter the monastery but instead took a trail through the forest further west, with ferns, big trees, and good views north over the valley below and the hills beyond. Occasionally I could see the train tracks below, hugging the ridge that I was near the top of. The path wound its way along the ridge for about two miles before descending to the train tracks at a spot with great, but again hazy, views south over the plains. Near the gap tea pluckers were at work on the steep hillside.
I walked further west along the train tracks less than a mile, passing through a short tunnel (number 36) on the way, before reaching the very small Idalgashina train station. I arrived there about the same time as a train coming the other way. The train was mostly composed of freight and tanker cars, but there were two old third class carriages at the back. I hopped on and, tired but without a fever, sat on the floor of the crowded carriage as we waited almost a half hour on a siding for a train coming the opposite direction. We finally got going about 12:30 and I stood up and enjoyed the views on the 15 minute, four or five mile trip back to Haputale.
After lunch at the hotel I spent the rest of the afternoon either relaxing on my terrace and enjoying the view or using the hotel's computer to access the internet. The sky was a bit cloudier that afternoon, but still there was none of the mist that often covers the town.
I checked into a hotel room with excellent, though hazy, views south, and then looked around town. The town itself doesn't have much to see, other than the spectacular views. There is an old English church, with weathered gravestones. The town's population is mainly Tamil, what are called "Plantation Tamils." The ancestors of the Tamils who live in the north of the country have been on the island for one or two millennia, but the Tamils in the hills are descended from workers brought to the island by the British in the 19th century. About a million immigrated then to work first in the coffee and then the tea plantations. When the British first settled in the hills in the 1820's and 1830's, they planted coffee. But a leaf fungus devastated the industry in the 1870's, leading to its replacement by tea. Sri Lanka is now the world's second biggest tea exporter, after India.
After lunch at my hotel, with a wide view south, I walked from town west along a road for a couple of miles, climbing about 500 feet in altitude to a stone mansion completed in 1931 by a planter named Sir Thomas Villiers and named Adisham after the village where he was born in Kent. I passed tea covered hillsides for the last part of the walk. The mansion is now owned by the Benedictine Order, though they allow visitors on certain days. From the gray, somewhat forbidding mansion there were good, but hazy, views towards the hills to the north. Inside only two rooms can be visited, a sitting room with a portrait over the mantel of Villiers, and the library full of histories and biographies dating from the early 20th century. The place was packed with local people on that day, a holiday, the second day of the Vesak Poya holiday. I walked back the way I had come, much nicer in the late afternoon, and noticed a profusion of wildflowers along the road. The sky was still clear and I watched the just past full moon rise soon after dark.
The sky was clear the next morning. I just missed the 6:30 bus, which left early, heading to the Dambatene Tea Factory, about five miles to the east. I had planned to walk from there to the viewpoint called Lipton's Seat, another five miles from Dambatene. The next bus was at 7:30, so I hired a tuktuk to take me all the way to Lipton's Seat, and was later glad I didn't attempt to walk from Dambatene. The scenery on the drive in the tuktuk in the early morning sun was lovely, with tea covered hillsides, some very steep, all the way. Just after Dambatene, where the road began to ascend steeply, there were hundreds of schoolkids, most all in while, walking to school at a little past 7 in the morning. The early morning sun lit up the green tea covered hillsides.
The tuktuk dropped me off and I walked up the last bit, a little less than a mile. It felt like a steep mile, though it was only something like a 500 foot rise. The tea covered hills on the way were beautiful, with dry stone retaining walls along the road. I reached Lipton's Seat, at between 6200 and 6300 feet, according to my altimeter, and the view was great, though hazy to the south, where it dropped off to the plains. The site is named after Sir Thomas Lipton, who made Ceylon Tea (as it is still called, though the country's name was changed from Ceylon in 1972) famous. He owned this tea estate and enjoyed coming here for the view. It is the highest point on the estate.
I spent about a half hour there enjoying the views and cool morning air, and then walked down to Dambatene, a 1400 foot drop which took me a little over two hours. I enjoyed the beautiful walk down, passing tea pluckers waist or even chest deep among the tea bushes. Their hands move very fast as they pluck the leaves. Once one has two big handfuls of leaves, she stuffs the leaves into the bag on her back. They were very friendly, some posing for photographs. The sun was getting hotter as I descended and about 10 I broke out my umbrella to act as a parasol.
I reached Dambatene about 10:30 and was hot and tired. The tea factory, the largest one I have ever seen, has tours, but on arrival I was tired and just sat in the reception area, eating some cookies and drinking the last of my water. I finally got up to get some water from a little store outside just as the bus back to Haputale was getting ready to leave, so I decided to skip the factory tour (I had toured a couple of other tea factories in India) and jumped on the bus. I enjoyed the slow trip back on that rickety old bus.
Back in town, I drank a lot more water and persuaded the waiter at my hotel to prepare me an omelet, toast, fruit and tea breakfast, though it was past noon. I was still very tired and thought that would revive me. After eating I went back to my room and lay down for about an hour and a half. I was hot and, finally, it occurred to me that I might have a fever, so I took my temperature, which was 100.8. I was quite surprised to have my fever come back after four days. I took some Tylenol and spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. I didn't fall asleep, though, perhaps because of the four big cups of tea I had drunk for lunch. Before nightfall my temperature was back to normal and I felt fine, though I skipped dinner and went to bed early.
The next morning I felt fine. The view south onto the plains seemed a little clearer, though the sky was a little less clear than previous mornings. I could see the big reservoir at Uda Walawe National Park, where I had seen elephants almost two weeks earlier. I ate a good breakfast and a little after 9 took a bus a mile or so and then walked the rest of the way back to Adisham Monastery. I didn't reenter the monastery but instead took a trail through the forest further west, with ferns, big trees, and good views north over the valley below and the hills beyond. Occasionally I could see the train tracks below, hugging the ridge that I was near the top of. The path wound its way along the ridge for about two miles before descending to the train tracks at a spot with great, but again hazy, views south over the plains. Near the gap tea pluckers were at work on the steep hillside.
I walked further west along the train tracks less than a mile, passing through a short tunnel (number 36) on the way, before reaching the very small Idalgashina train station. I arrived there about the same time as a train coming the other way. The train was mostly composed of freight and tanker cars, but there were two old third class carriages at the back. I hopped on and, tired but without a fever, sat on the floor of the crowded carriage as we waited almost a half hour on a siding for a train coming the opposite direction. We finally got going about 12:30 and I stood up and enjoyed the views on the 15 minute, four or five mile trip back to Haputale.
After lunch at the hotel I spent the rest of the afternoon either relaxing on my terrace and enjoying the view or using the hotel's computer to access the internet. The sky was a bit cloudier that afternoon, but still there was none of the mist that often covers the town.
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