While in Sri Lanka I went to the picturesque town of Elkadua in the central mountains which offered these incredible views.
I had traveled there with a friend I had made while in Kandy and we planned to go to the popular Knuckles Mountain Range to do some hiking. However, when we got to Elkadua we were told that right then it was just raining too much to make the long trip into the mountains and with the overcast clouds we wouldn’t really be able to see anything! Not to mention this was the height of the leach season and they would be all over the trails.
We were determined to do some hiking around the beautiful mountain jungles and decided to just walk around the town. There wasn’t much there! The nearest store was about 15 or so minutes away by car so we decided just to follow the roads and paths we found upwards. We found an abandoned house that has not be lived in for a really long time and carefully explored it. We could tell that it used to be a very cool place to live and had incredible views of the mountains around. But with its remote location we weren’t surprised that the house now sits empty.
The street wound up the mountain and passed by houses built on impossible slopes. As usual everybody we passed was friendly and shouted “Hello!” as we passed by, no matter how far away we were!
At the top of the mountain was a tea plantation. The whole area was covered in cool clouds and mist and it was really pleasant to walk among the tea plants and look at the scenery disappear into the mist.
When we eventually wandered to the village we instantly got a lot of attention! Like most tea plantations in Sri Lanka it was mostly staffed by Tamils. An older man who probably spoke the best English of them all immediately declared the he was “our guide”, whether we wanted a guide or not! He took us up the hills to show us the ruins of the house that the British person who founded the tea plantation built. Now, the plantation is owned by the Sri Lankan government. Like most tea plantations only the women pick the tea. Each plant is picked about once a week and the women are contracted to pick a minimum amount of tea every day. They get paid extra for picking more tea. After our tour we were invited into the older gentleman's house for tea. Their houses were very sparse and while we were enjoying our tea (it had ginger in it) we were introduced to what seemed like the entire village!
Next we were taken to another house. Here we were introduced to even more people. They were eating lunch in about an hour and wanted us to join them. Unfortunately we had to leave soon to catch a bush. No problem, they just brought us food right then and there! For each meal of the day one cook prepares a meal for the entire village. Lunch is probably the most important meal and is rice and curry. What sounds like a simple meal is actually delicious feast! The picture makes the portion look small, but even I had to work to finish it. It was probably one of the most tasty meals I had while in Sri Lanka, but maybe that was because I spent all morning hiking up a mountain!
