Hey there friends and family. Michael are I are back from our much anticipated, amazing 2 weeks away for what we called our 'delayed honeymoon.' Honeymoon!? Are you kidding me? But don't you like "gooo on a honeymoon" every week? Do you people ever work? Do you have a real life? Gosh you're annoying. Eye-roll. Trust me people, I know. ;)
In the spirit of LGE documentary, I wanted to share with you photos from the first leg of our trip: the tea trails of Sri Lanka. As we began planning our trip many months ago, we decided that we wanted to 1. go to the Maldives and 2. go to two different places. After looking at a map and hearing from various acquaitances who had traveled to Sri Lanka, especially the tea trails, we decided to check it out. Okay, now here is the part where I write that really cheesy and overly-used blogger cliche: "I don't even want to write this because I don't want anyone to know about it!!" But really. It was that amazing. To sum it up briefly: as compared to anywhere else we have traveled to in Asia, we got the sense that this was a place that was yet to be discovered by the greater outside world, a place yet to be ruined by an influx of tourists. This was a place still pure, authentic and naturally stunning. We didn't feel like a cattle herd of tourists being shuffled through and checking all the boxes, but truly a guest in someones home. I finally get why people get so addicted to traveling - always chasing that high, the next perfect destination.
The travel to Sri Lanka began on a late flight from Singapore to Colombo (3.5 hr) and a quick overnight stay here. Wallawwa is a super cute boutique hotel, an amazing place in itself, especially considering its only 15 min from the airport. The next morning we sat in traffic drove about 1.5 hours through Colombo to the domestic airport for our sea plane to Castlereagh Lake. The drive to Castlereagh would have been about 6+ hours on very suspect roads and winding mountainside paths and we were on our 'honeymoon' so we decided to go YOLO and take a sea plane.
Have I ever been on a sea plane? No. Have I ever been on anything other than a 'real' plane? No. Did I sweat through the entire back of my shirt? Yes. Did we hit a bump, prompting me to scream bloody murder into my headset for all of flight control to hear? YES.
After a short 30min flight and landing on the lake, we were just a short car trip to our destination: The Ceylon Tea Trails. To be clear - we didn't pick a resort after picking a location, but traveled to the location just for the resort. The Tea Trails is comprised of four different colonial era tea planters' (plantation owners') residences. There are only about 5 rooms in each so it was a very intimate, homey feel (we didn't even have room keys!).
Although you have free reign to move between them all, the bungalows are anywhere from 5-15km apart, so you kind of had to make plans to travel in-between them. We made a point to stay our first two nights at the Tientson bungalow before moving over to Norwood bungalow to mix things up.
The country is filled with these beautiful hanging pink flowers.
The bungalows still sit on working tea plantations, so we were able to enjoy the local flavors with our afternoon high tea. We are so colonial. :)
One of the biggest contributing factors to the homey feel was the fact that all food and beverage was included in the stay (and could be customized upon request!). No menus, no bills and no signing for every drink makes for a much more relaxing stay. However, one cannot relax too much after comsuming breakfast, a 3-course lunch, high tea, cocktail apps, a 4-course dinner and unlimited spirits at your disposal. Hello? I need to be in a bikini next week people.
Just behind our first bungalow was a small village in the midst of an 8-day Hindu festival, Sami Komadu (good luck finding more information than this...). It provided us with a round-the-clock soundtrack of music, drumming, and various sounds of celebration just outside our window. Upon walking up to check it out we were told we had sadly just missed the fire-walkers(!). Pics or it didn't happen, I know.
In a sea of green tea plants, the pops of color in the local wardrobe was stunning.
The locals were very welcoming, yet very intrigued by us. We tried to respectfully observe from afar, but were the subject of many hellos and much curiosity. This part of the country does not see too many regular western tourists.
Misty morning fog in the valley. The natural progression of mist to sun to rain in the mountains of Sri Lanka was like clockwork. Perfect for an afternoon siesta.
Look closely for two school girls running down the hill.
This photo is entitled, Through Michael's Persols Eyes.
I call this one, Dog Eats Rice with Cat.
Another part of our stay was a proper tea making tour. We viewed the process from hand plucking the leaves (2 shoots and bud!) to the various sorting and drying processes, to finally tasting and quality check.
The volume of production was quite impressive. We came away with a small brick of the local breakfast tea for about $1.50! Incredible. Fun fact: Sri Lanka is the world's largest exporter of tea, sending about $1.5bn worth of locally produced tea abroad every year (they keep about 25% of the annual harvest domestically).
Our second bungalow (Norwood) pictured below.
This beautiful evening Michael and I were enjoying a romantic walk through the tea trails before dinner. When we returned I had a rather annoying itch on my foot. Upon further inspection I found a ^%&$* leech(!!). I have never even seen one before, much less HAD one attached to me. Needless to say I had handful of cocktails that night and we didn't take any more evening walks for the rest of our stay. #Survivor
When we first arrived at the tea trails we noticed the most picturesque church up on a hill and overlooking the lake. We both spotted it immediately and inquired at our bungalow for further details. It turned out to be an Anglican church built in the 1800's for the local christian tea planters. Today, there are many former tea planers buried there. Many of their colonial ancestors come to visit from time to time. Since we couldn't be with our families, we thought this would be a special place to spend Easter Sunday.
Bible gifted to the church in 1879.
The family who takes care of the church were so welcoming and kind. As a congregation of only 15 members, they were very excited to share Easter with us.
Felix and his family were great. He took the time to show us around and give us a history behind the church and those buried there.
Happy Easter! God Bless!
More snaps from in and around the tea plantations. (I waited everyday for the milk bar to open, but it never did. Everyone kept telling me tomorrow - I am pretty sure they were messing with me ;)).
Many tea pluckers (who are all women) bring their children to work - they often have no other option.
My dad said that since my interest in photography has picked up, I am in less of the photos. Hi mom and dad!
After 5 days of relaxing, eating, drinking and high-tea'ing we decided to venture out of our happy place and check out the nearby city, Kandy, the second largest city in the county. Kandy is a UNESCO world heritage site and home of the sacred Buddha's Temple of the Tooth relic and subsequent elephant parade. It is also the location of a 1998 bombing following a long drawn out civil war (which has since ended). BUT today it is bustling with locals and tourists a like.
Michael's biggest wish on this trip was to take a classic Sri Lankan open-air train. With a guide, we made our way to the local station and we were off!
Chillin' - Part I (MD behind the lens for this one - one of my favs).
Cassi, take my picture sitting here! [sandals fall off feet as we start to move]. Is this what having kids is like?
Choo choooooo!
Our first stop was to the Tooth Temple relic. The history of this site is an amazing and harrowing story of how Buddha's tooth came to the Kingdom of Kandy (something about hiding it in someones hair), but I am embarrassed to say we both didn't quite get it (even with a guide). I feel like such an awful tourist when I see something really special but don't quite understand. Sucks, ya know? We read a lot about the bombing, but not as much about the history of the temple. It's amazing how much more we as people enjoy things when understand them.
Shoes off for Buddha.
Offerings for sale.
Chillin'- Part II
City life. Crazy contrast to our peaceful hillside.
You see a huge amount of police presence in the country.
Tuck-tuck convention.
Monkeys from da streets. They don't mess around.
Our time in Kandy ended with a walk through a clothing market (Michael should be happy I chose not to include any photos of him in his new sarong ;)), spice market, meat market that as a born and raised Nebraskan legit almost flipped me veg, and a crazy veggie market to end our day.
Classic Sri Lankan mini mart.
Chillin' - Part III
Chillin' - Part IV (my creeptography skills have really improved since using a long lens).
Our time in Sri Lanka went by far too fast. We are already plotting our next trip. Outside of the tea trails, many of the people we met at the resort were either going to or coming from a wildlife safari or the beachs in the south. Sri Lanka is known to have some of the most beautiful beaches in the Indian Ocean (and is at last gearing back up following the devastating tsunami in 2004). We really hope to return soon. After only a week this place already holds a special place in our hearts.
Our ride is here - gotta go. On to the next one!
XO,
CD
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