Sri Lanka is presently the second largest producer of tea in the world. If you are a tea lover like myself you're in for a visual treat and a treat for the taste buds. Nuwara Eliya also known as 'the city of light' is a picturesque town situated in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. Located at an altitude of 1,868m, the temperature in Nuwara Eliya is much cooler than any other city in Sri Lanka making it perfect for tea plantations.
The journey time from Kandy is nearly 4 hours but worry not, there is plenty to see and do. Other than enjoying the winding roads and the waterfalls, there are umpteen number of tea factories - most of them with a tea cafe and shops where you could purchase cheap tea.
The selection is truly mind boggling; flavoured tea, variation in green teas, morning tea, afternoon tea and evening tea - who ever knew that existed? The wonderfully friendly people over the counter are very knowledgable and always happy to help should you get lost in tea heaven. I found myself buying bags of them for friends, family and of course myself.
Tip: Do not get carried away by the wonder sounding flavours. Some of them don't always work as tea so I suggest you taste them before you buy them.
Nuwara Eliya is a small town with not much to do other than enjoy a walk by the lake and take in the breathtaking views. It's always a popular getaway for locals because of it's weather. Our visit was restricted to one night at the Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya which frankly was slightly disappointing. The appearance of the Grand hotel might be deceiving as the rooms are on the smaller size with squeaky floors and extremely thin walls (we could hear the telly from our neighbours rooms). On the positives the hotel had a very good selection of breakfast - anything and everything you could think of - Sri Lankan, obviously.
The journey time from Kandy is nearly 4 hours but worry not, there is plenty to see and do. Other than enjoying the winding roads and the waterfalls, there are umpteen number of tea factories - most of them with a tea cafe and shops where you could purchase cheap tea.
The selection is truly mind boggling; flavoured tea, variation in green teas, morning tea, afternoon tea and evening tea - who ever knew that existed? The wonderfully friendly people over the counter are very knowledgable and always happy to help should you get lost in tea heaven. I found myself buying bags of them for friends, family and of course myself.
Tip: Do not get carried away by the wonder sounding flavours. Some of them don't always work as tea so I suggest you taste them before you buy them.
Nuwara Eliya is a small town with not much to do other than enjoy a walk by the lake and take in the breathtaking views. It's always a popular getaway for locals because of it's weather. Our visit was restricted to one night at the Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya which frankly was slightly disappointing. The appearance of the Grand hotel might be deceiving as the rooms are on the smaller size with squeaky floors and extremely thin walls (we could hear the telly from our neighbours rooms). On the positives the hotel had a very good selection of breakfast - anything and everything you could think of - Sri Lankan, obviously.
For fans of Indian mythology here's a little place worth visiting. You probably know the story of Ravana abducting Sita and bringing her to Sri Lanka. Now the place where Sita stayed while she was under captivity is now called the Sita Temple and is here in Nuwara Eliya. It's a small temple that has statues of lord Ram and Sita and at 10 minutes from the city centre I think it's worth a visit.
Enjoy the evening strolling around the hilly town and exploring the local markets for fresh fruit and vegetables.
