The next day (7) in Kandy we went to a tea factory where they are still using the original 100 year old equipment for sorting and grading tea which is picked by hand. Only black tea is made in Sri Lanka and a small amount of white tea (from the bud only) which they call silver and gold tea. I bought some silver tea - it was extremely expensive and can't wait to try it when I get home
The drying tea leaves
The different grades of tea
My purchases - very artistically displayed I think
In the evening I saw a traditional dance performance which was very exciting with acrobatics, fire eating and fire walking
Day (8) involved taking a 6 hour train journey up into the mountains to see the tea plantations at Bandarawela. It was good fun, we played Yahtzee and Wizard with our friends Chad and Katherine and the views were terrific
Later that day we went for a cookery lesson and then we had to eat it - actually it was delicious!
Crushing garlic
Den making chicken curry
Grating coconut
Chad making potato curry
Katherine making aubergine curry
Coconut samba
popadoms
the final meal
Everyone tucking in
The next day (9) was a big one - a 12km walk in the hills at Haputale through tea plantations. It was a killer but the views were spectacular
A tea picker giving offerings for a safe day - they have bare feet and can be bitten by many animals which can be lethal
This man brought us all tea and biscuits at the top
The view from the top
Tea pickers
Afterwards, when we got to our hotel, I immediately booked a massage and that was wonderful too - because the next day, guess what? Yes it was another walk!
The view from the hotel overlooking Lipton's seat
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