Discover Nuwara Eliya, Queen of Sri Lanka's Hill Stations

"Allaaaahu Akbar! Allaaaahu Akbar!" As every morning, the amplified sound from the local mosque hovers over the sleepy town and calls the faithful to prayer. But this is not Teheran, Istanbul or Damascus - this is Nuwara Eliya, right in the heart of Sri Lanka's rolling hill country.

You don't need an alarm clock in Nuwara Eliya. Before six, just as the sun is rising, the muezzin's call will unfailingly set you on your way. As you take an early morning walk through town, the air around you seems to have emanated from a giant fridge, and every warming ray of sun on your skin is as welcome as soothing balm. The few locals that rush shivering past you hide behind thick scarves, woollen hats and fluffy wind-cheaters. Cold and crisp Nuwara Eliya is as far removed from the tropical beach paradises of Sri Lanka as you can get.

Being refreshingly different, Nuwara Eliya - often shortened to Nurelia and meaning "city of lights" - does get its fair share of the 400,000 plus tourists that visit Sri Lanka annually. Situated 1,890 metres above sea level, Nuwara Eliya is Sri Lanka's highest town and as such blessed with a temperate, invigorating climate. Nuwara Eliya is situated on a plateau measuring 6.5 kms by 2.5 kms, ringed by hills and mountains, which tempt the inveterate wanderer. The town itself is small enough to explore on foot within a few hours. All around, there are sloping tea plantations, some stretching right into the outskirts of town. Last but not least, with its numerous British-built country mansions, Nuwara Eliya has an attractive, if quaint, colonial air about it.

Nuwara Eliya was "discovered" in 1826, by a group of British officers who had lost their way while on an elephant hunt. Back then, Nuwara Eliya was a nondescript little village surrounded by thick jungle. This was rapidly to change. The officers informed the British governor of Ceylon, Sir Edward Barnes, of their find, and he in turn soon made his way to Nuwara Eliya.

Recognising its potential as a health resort, the governor built himself a residence there in 1828; soon after, he initiated the construction of a sanatorium. In no time, the healthy" reputation of Nuwara Eliya spread across the island, and the sickly and moribund began moving in. "In the eyes of the European and the invalid," wrote Sir J.E. Tennent in 1859, "Nuwara Eliya is the Elysium of Ceylon."

To facilitate travel to Nuwara Eliya, Barnes ordered a road built from Kandy, 77 kms away, which was already well connected with the capital Colombo. On its eastern end, the road was to continue to Badulla. Thus well connected, Nuwara Eliya grew by leaps and bounds. Holidaying colonial officers were simply delighted with Nuwara Eliya's climate and many built mansions, which would not have been out of place back in England. By the 1860's, Nuwara Eliya had become a little snob of a town, much more British in appearance than Ceylonese. The "City of Lights" had turned into "Little England".

To counter any threat of boredom, a horse racing track was laid out in 1875; in 1889 a golf course followed suit. In 1900, several hundred prisoners from the Boer Wars in South Africa were employed to build Victoria Park. Though somewhat neglected these days, by the 1930's and 40's the park had been steadily improved and was the showpiece of the town. Altogether 2,500 prisoners of war were held in Diyataluwa, about 50 kms south-east of Nuwara Eliya.

Rainer Krack / CPA

A Nuwara Eliya vendor selling fresh produce.

To supply fresh food for the holidaying colonialists, European vegetables were grown, such as carrots, cabbages, beans, tomatoes and potatoes, as well as strawberries and roses. The rich, black soil in the region, lying on top of alternating layers of yellow clay and gravel, combined with the cool and rainy climate, was bound to send any gardener into fits of euphoria.

Today, Nuwara Eliya has hardly lost any of its charm. Most tourists come to enjoy the clean air, soak up the quaint colonial atmosphere and visit the numerous tea estates. The latter make superb photo subjects, especially when there are scores of saree-clad tea pickers in them - from a distance they may appear like giant locusts munching their way through the greenery.

Yet, the tourist's joy is somebody else's pain: The work in the tea estates is hard and badly paid (less than 2 US$ per day); on many days there is no work (and no pay) at all. To get to the plantations, many women have to walk two or three hours through the sloping hillside. Given their meagre income, it is hardly surprising if some of the women ask a few rupees or sweets from the camera-toting tourist.

Rainer Krack / CPA

Tea plantation workers, Nuwara Eliya.

The tea pickers are almost without exception Tamils, who make up eighteen per cent of Sri Lanka's population of 19 million. Properly speaking, they should be referred to as Indian Tamils, as opposed to the Tamils living in the north and north-east of the country, who are called Ceylonese Tamils or Jaffna Tamils. The Indian Tamils are descendants of plantation workers, who the British brought over from Tamil Nadu in Southern India in the 19th and early 20th century. The Ceylonese Tamils on the other hand claim descent from Tamil warrior dynasties, who invaded Sri Lanka for the first time in 237 BC. In the following centuries, Sri Lanka was invaded, and even ruled many times by Indian Tamils - laying the foundation for an enduring hostility between the Tamils and the Sinhalese.

In the early sixties, the government of Srimavo Bandaranaike decided to "repatriate" 525,000 Indian Tamils to India, who - based on a controversial citizenship law of 1949 - were considered stateless. Another 300,000 stateless Indian Tamils were allowed to remain. The repatriation was met with strong resistance and thousands of deportees hid from the authorities. In the end, many of them succeeded in staying on.

Aside from the tea plantations, tourists can also visit some tea factories in the area. You will soon get used to the unappealing sight of these factories - they are drab two- or three-storied buildings, which somehow look like sinister boarding schools. Notwithstanding the appearance, the fresh tea smell emanating from the factories is truly enticing.

One factory open to visitors is Labookellie, 10 kms along the Nuwara Eliya-Kandy Road. While passing it by bus on your way from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya, ask the conductor to be let off there, leave your luggage in a storage room, and have a look around. You can also purchase some of Labookellie's tea, which is supposed to be among Sri Lanka's best. The tea estate is also an easy taxi ride from Nurelia.

In Nuwara Eliya, unlike many other tourist destinations, just spending time in the hotel can be sheer bliss. Aside from countless middle-class guest houses, the town boasts several top-class, mansion-type hotels, with cosy colonial-style rooms and lush, well-tended gardens. Here you can feel like a true country squire. One such place is the Grand Hotel, opened in 1891 and built in rustic Tudor style. Despite its old-world charm (including crackling fire-places in the rooms), you will also find many modern amenities, such as a shopping arcade, billiards and table-tennis rooms and a tennis court.

The most tradition-bound of Nuwara Eliya's hotels is the Hill Club. As its name implies, it was originally conceived as a club, founded in 1858 to cater for British colonial officers and coffee planters. When the club was finally on the verge of bankruptcy, it was converted into a hotel. Till today though, the Hill Club has retained much of its old-time snobbishness: Guests are required to dress smartly at all times, and after 7 p.m. the "gentlemen" must wear jackets and ties in all public areas of the hotel, the "ladies" evening gowns or similar formal dress.

Come 5 p.m. in Nuwara Eliya, the sun will rapidly disappear behind the mountains and the air will get chillier by the minute. Put on your sweater, ask the hotel staff to light the fire-place in your room, have a tea and sit back and enjoy. They don't make places like this anymore!

All About Tea

Tea history: In China, tea was possibly drunk as long as 3,000 years ago. Yet, the first historical references to tea plantations are found much later, in the records of the Tang Dynasty of the late 8th century AD. Tea was introduced to Europe in 1517 by the Portuguese, just after they had started to trade with China.

In 1667, the British East India Company ordered the first shipment of tea from China. It arrived two years later. Soon after, the British were to fall for the new drink body and soul; drinking tea became a national obsession. In the years to come, during the British Raj in India, they even adopted the Hindi word for tea, chaa. This sounded oh so fashionable: "What about a cuppa cha, my dear?"

As the consumption of tea grew beyond expectation, the first health warnings were uttered. "By the use of tea", one health-conscious critic wrote, "men seem to have lost their stature and good looks, women their beauty."

The taste of tea, too, was not to everybody's liking. After his first tea encounter in the early 17th century, the Dutchman Valentjin wondered how "reasonable persons consider as enjoyable a beverage, which tastes no better than hay water."

In the 1830's, the East India Company began growing tea on an experimental basis in Assam, India. In 1840, the first one hundred boxes of Assam tea reached Britain. About the same time, 200 tea seedlings were brought from Assam to Ceylon and planted there. In 1849, the Scotsman James Taylor started the first commercial tea plantation in Ceylon - many were to follow. Tea became a god-sent substitute for coffee, which before had been widely grown in Ceylon. After the devastating "coffee plague" of 1868, which destroyed most of the crop, the cultivation of coffee was discontinued.

Today, Sri Lanka is the world's biggest tea exporter. Following a slight slump in production in the early nineties, in 1994 the yield rose to a formidable 240 million tons - a few grammes of which you may be drinking right now.

The tea plant: Tea is made from the leaves of the tea shrub, which, correctly speaking, is a tree called Camilla. The tree can grow to a height of ten metres, but as to facilitate the harvesting of the leaves, it is regularly trimmed to the size of a shrub. The shrubs are usually kept at a height of 0.8-1.5 metres. Every 3-4 years they are cut even lower, which extends their life span. Some of today's shrubs are said to hail back to the pioneering days of tea cultivation in Sri Lanka - which makes them around 130 years old!

The first usable tea leaves are produced sometime between the third and seventh year in the life of a tea shrub. The best tea is the so-called highland tea; it is grown 1,400-2,300 m above see level, where sunny days follow cold nights, and in between there is frequent fog. The flavour also depends on the speed of growth - the slower the growth, the better the flavour. As a rule, growth is slower in the higher regions.

Tea production: More complicated than usually assumed is the picking of the tea leaves. "Two leaves and a bud" is the magical formula. Such delicately picked tea is said to be of the highest quality. In a more coarse picking method, whole branches are picked clean of their leaves and buds, resulting in a lesser product. Depending on the location of the tea plantation, the leaves are picked every one to four weeks - the higher the location of the plantation, the less the frequency.

Having collected the leaves in the baskets on their backs, the tea pickers carry them to the factory. There, the leaves are first dried in the open air; this takes 16-24 hours. Then they are rolled and crushed, which initiates the fermentation process of the tannin in the leaves. To complete the fermentation, the leaves are spread out on drying racks, which are located in a well-aired, humid and cool room. There the leaves are left for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Finally, the leaves will be dried in a special oven, then sieved and packed.

Tea grades: Depending on the quality of the leaves used, the tea is marked with different grades:
1. Broken Orange Pekoe [Cantonese pak-ho, "white under"]: Small leaves with buds.
2. Broken Pekoe: Medium-siezed leaves without buds.
3. Pekoe: Large, black and twisted leaves.
4. Pekoe Souchong [ Cantonese siu-chung, "small sort"]: Very strong black leaves.
5. Fannings: Small and grainy leaves.
6. Dust: Fine tea powder.

Excursions from Nuwara Eliya

Shantipura - Situated 4 kms west of Nuwara Eliya, this "City of Peace" is Sri Lanka's highest inhabited place (2,050 m). Take a bus from Nuwara Eliya's minibus station. North of the village you see the mountain Kikilimana (2,238 m), which can be climbed.

Pidurutalagala - This mountain, Sri Lanka's highest (2,524 m), rises just north of Nuwara Eliya. The British, as usual unable to come to grips with their colonies' languages, simply called it Mt.Pedro. You can trek along the lower reaches of the mountain, but as there is an army camp further up you may not be allowed anywhere near the peak.

Hakgala Botanical Gardens - A pleasant garden with many different trees, flowers and other plants, situated 10 kms Southeast of Nuwara Eliya. Originally, it was an experimental plantation for nutmeg, cardamom and chinchona. Take any bus towards Badulla, Bandarawela or Ella and get off right at the entrance.

Horton Plains - Situated 2,150 m above sea level, Horton Plains may remind you of Norway or the Scottish Highlands. Cool, sharp winds swish over a steppe-like, grassy and almost eerie landscape. In the evenings you may see dozens of sambhar deer. At World's End (4 kms away), the plateau drops abruptly by 1,650 m and allows spectacular views, sometimes as far as the coast. To get to Horton Plains, rent a jeep or car at Nuwara Eliya (ca. $US 35 return). Otherwise take a bus to Pattipola (22 km) and walk the remaining 10 kms (about three Hours); or take a train to Ohiya, from where you have to walk 11 kms (about three and a half hours).

Ella - A picturesque little town (1,100 m), surrounded by lush greenery - the perfect place to just do nothing. From some accommodations you get stunning views of the mountainous landscape. Especially recommended is the Tea Garden Holiday Inn, which literally has "rooms with a view" for $US 12-20. To get to Ella, take a train from Nanu Oya near Nuwara Eliya (ca. 50 kms).

Adam's Peak - This is the place to test your physical fitness: Adam's Peak is Sri Lanka's fourth highest mountain (2,243 m) and the country's holiest pilgrimage site. On the peak, you find a oversized "Footprint of the Buddha", but even non-Buddhists revere the mountain. The ascent is ideally started at about 1 or 1.30 a.m., so as to arrive in time for sunrise - a spectacular sight from the peak. To get there, take a bus from Nuwara Eliya to the twin towns of Hatton and Dikoya and change onto a bus for Dalhousie. There the 7 kms long trail begins, zig-zagging up 1, 000 m. Depending on your state of physical fitness, it may take two to four hours to reach the peak.

Kandy - With a population of around 170,000 Sri Lanka's second biggest city and the cultural centre of the hill region. For about two centuries Kandy was the capital of the island (until 1815). Visit the famous "Temple of the Tooth", or Dalada Maligawa, where what is believed to be a tooth of the Buddha is preserved and ardently revered. Then take a walk around adjacent Kandy Lake and its green surroundings, just to soak up the tranquil atmosphere.

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