Back to Kandy for more tea experiences

We didn’t spend nearly long enough in Kandy – just one night. I’m a keen tea drinker, so on the way up we stopped at Geragama Estate Tea Factory to find out more about how tea is made.

We’d already visited the tea plantation when we made an impromptu visit to Kandy earlier in our trip, so we had a bit of an idea, but this would take us through the full process. I was also keen to do some tea tasting, which had missed out on during our earlier visit.

The tea Factory was built in 1903 and looks every bit its age. The tour is free and at the end you do in fact get to taste the tea, unfortunately you only get to try the one main kind of tea, BOPE – a kind of English Breakfast style tea.

The tearoom itself is a beautiful timber panel-lined colonial style dining area, which is in complete contrast to the old machine-filled rooms of the factory floor.

The factory looks deserted, with good reason – all the workers had gone home! Our tour was short and very personal, we were the only ones there.

And, if I’m being honest, they seemed a little surprised to see us. As though they didn’t normally do this kind of thing. The tearoom was definitely equipped to take in tourists and they had all the ingredients to serve us a cup of tea.

We stayed at Amaya Hills hotel, which is high up in the hills – more of those winding narrow roads with a long drop over the edge. By the time we arrived the clouds had settled in and we couldn’t see a thing down the mountain. A little patience, however, and we were soon rewarded with a parting of the clouds and a quick opportunity to take in the vista around us – it is certainly high.

The views were spectacular, we could see mountains all around us.

The following morning we woke to a special treat as a bride and groom, in traditional attire arrived to have their photos taken. Of course we couldn’t help ourselves, there is something about weddings the world over that makes us all stop and stare – even Adrian couldn’t help but have a good look at the wedding party. 

We made a quick stop on our way down the mountain at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Once again our guide advised us not to get a guide here, just to look around ourselves and with the extensive information provided with the ticket there wasn’t really a need for anyone to show us around.

The gardens were stunning – far too large to get around in the two hours we had, but we certainly got a decent overview.

Read more about our adventures in Sri Lanka here.

Fast Facts

We stayed at Amaya Hills Resort.

We were here for one night.

Was it long enough? It wasn’t nearly long enough, we needed at least one, probably two more nights. I needed to drink far more tea!

Highlights: Relaxing in the mountain air, sipping tea in the timber panel-lined dining room at Geragama Estate Tea Factory.

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