We didn’t spend nearly long enough in Kandy – just one night and there really is so much to see. I’m a keen tea drinker, so on the way up to our hotel we stopped at Geragama Estate Tea Factory to find out more about how tea is made.
We’d already visited the tea plantation on our first visit to Kandy, so had a bit of an idea, but this would take us through the full process. I was also keen to do some tea tasting.
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 tea room itself is a beautiful 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 is short and very personal – we are the only ones here on tour, though by the time we got to the tea rooms for our tasting there was another couple here – also from Australia.
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 up here.
The views were spectacular, we could see mountains all around us.
The following morning we awoke 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 make a quick stop on our way down the mountain at the Royal Botanical Gardens. 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 isn’t really a need for anyone to show us around here.
The gardens were stunning – far too large to get around in the two hours we had, but we certainly got a decent overview.
Fast Facts
We stayed at Amaya Hills Resort.
We were here for one night.
It wasn’t nearly long enough, we needed at least one, probably two more nights.
Highlights: Relaxing in the mountain air, sipping tea in the panel lined dining room at Geragama Estate Tea Factory.
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