Holiday Idea: Sri Lanka's Ceylon Tea Trail
Mary Lussiana revels in Sri Lanka old and new - starting in a colonial tea planters' bungalow and ending at a new resort on the island's lush southern coast
There must be only one place in the world where a breakfast table of high-altitude grown aromatic black tea, string hoppers, fish curry, dhal, pol roti and a jar of Marmite assembled together greets you upon rising. After, that is, the butler has brought you 'bed tea' and drawn your bath.
The hill country of Sri Lanka perfectly blends the tangible remains of colonial culture with local colour and charm. At any of the four - soon to be five - century old Tea Planter's bungalows, which together form Tea Trails, you can sit on the terrace at your breakfast table surrounded by lush gardens, gentle rain and shrill tropical birds and watch the steady work of the Tamil tea pickers as they move across the verdant slopes beneath you. It is all too easy to imagine the nineteenth-century existence that the British men, whose names now grace the bedroom doors, must have had and to muse on how little really has changed here compared to so many parts of the world.
Of course, the Tea Masters are one thing that has, and the pluckers will now perhaps be the great grandchildren of those that started here when tea was brought to the Island in 1867 by Scottish planter James Taylor. One of his descendants, Andrew Taylor, is based here, still in the tea business and will take you through the process from leaf to cup leaving you with a greater respect for this familiar drink than you will have arrived with. But, it is not just the tea that entrances. Kayak across Castlereagh Lake and you will be enveloped in the misty tranquillity. Walk past waterfalls and flaming red African Tulip trees, glimpse the sacred mountain of Adam's Peak soaring skywards and wind your way home to memorable dinners - one night a tea pairing of Earl Grey cured gravadlax followed by mint-crusted lamb partnered with a shot of smoky Lapsang Souchong; another a typical Cashew nut curry - as the inky dusk of the tropics falls and chanting from the temples echoes across the valley.
We flew the next day from the colonial past to Sri Lanka's future. Cape Weligama is a brand new 40 villa resort, lying low on a palm studded headland on the island's beautiful southern coast. Designed by Thai architect, Lek Bunnag, it aims, according to owner Malik Fernando 'to cater to a new breed of traveller being attracted to our country'. With the experience of Ceylon Tea Trails behind them, the Fernando family have seized the moment to expand into the hospitality market, packaging up the best local flavours to try, just in fact, as they do with their Dilmah teas. For Weligama that means, escorted bicycle rides through emerald paddy fields, walks through cinnamon plantations, whale watching expeditions, diving and snorkelling. Gemologists will come and share their knowledge; historians their past.
Cape Weligama holds its own against any of the luxurious Indian Ocean resorts that grace the glossy magazines and of which there are few here, where accommodation tends to be more home than hotel in size. The villas are laid out in clusters, some of two, others of three and share a swimming pool whilst the hotel's main half moon infinity pool, hanging over the cliff's edge, is the jewel in the crown. Generous bedrooms spill into huge bathrooms, and on in some villas to sitting rooms. Oversized pebble baths open out onto terraces from where you can watch the enormous butterflies and minute humming birds, the monitor lizards and the monkeys, whilst the ocean roars beneath you. Spa therapists drawing on local teas, cinnamon and salt come to you to pummel expertly. Your butler whisks away laundry. Local handicrafts from the many children supported by the Dilmah Foundation decorate a wall or make an umbrella stand. And then there is the breeze which blows through the resort, under the high ceilings and whirring fans, round the teak wood columns and rattan furniture imbuing the whole with a tentative sense of liberty, this new Sri Lanka, inching forward into the future.
Cox & Kings has a 7-day / 5-night trip to Sri Lanka priced from £2,355 per person including 2 nights all-inclusive at Ceylon Tea Trails and 3 nights' half-board at Cape Weligama plus flights from London to Colombo and car transfers throughout. Transfers by sea-plane can be arranged from $466 one way.
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