We left our home-stay accommodation having offered our hosts gratitude for their friendly service and our best wishes for improved tourist numbers. They like many others in the tourist industry had been affected by significant numbers of cancellations, post Easter.
Our private bus dropped us off at the Peradeniya Junction Railway Station and at around 09:20 our train to Nanu Oya arrived. The train was a quite old (blue) diesel electric train with about 12 carriages and locomotives at either end.
Waiting for the train at Peradeniya Junction Railway Station
Our train arriving at Peradeniya Junction Railway Station
Although we were assigned first-class seats, we found that our dusty windows didn’t open and thus photography was going to be problematic. As a consequence, some of our group spent more time in the adjacent second-class carriage where the windows could be opened.
The train ride was sometimes bumpy and often jerky, particularly on stopping and starting at the stations dotted along the way. However, the trip was very pleasurable because of the scenery of the Hill Country through which we passed.
There were steep hillsides, deep ravines and a number of small but attractive waterfalls beside the railway line. The work in building this railway line must have been phenomenal as indicated by the numerous deep rock cuttings and tunnels.
The one scene that best epitomises the train trip is the sight of never ending tea plantations covering the landscape with many of the groves on precipitously steep and terraced hillsides.
View from train en route to Nanu Oya
View from train en route to Nanu Oya
Apart from tea plantations there were extensive pine and eucalypt forests particularly in the more mountainous regions. Along the verge of the railway line were vegetable gardens growing leeks and cabbages together with other horticultural produce.
Eucalypt plantation viewed from train en route to Nanu Oya
View from train en route to Nanu Oya
The train gained altitude climbing eventually to 1600 m and the cooler climate became very noticeable.
View from train en route to Nanu Oya
View from train en route to Nanu Oya
We left the train at Nanu Oya station and our bus was waiting ready to take us to Nuwara Eliya which is to be our centre of activities for the next three days.
Nuwara Eliya is often referred to as Sri Lanka’s “Little England” being set in a wooded valley beneath the 2524 m Mt. Pedro which is the highest peak in the country. Offering a cooler climate has resulted in Nuwara Eliya becoming a very popular holiday destination for Sri Lankans.
Before heading for our hotel we had a luncheon stop at a restaurant overlooking Lake Gregory which is a popular spot for boating and fishing enthusiasts.
We then spent an hour at the Pedro Tea Estate that was established in 1885. A guided tour through their facilities was short and very brief on actual details. This was made even more disappointing as our guide’s speech was very difficult to understand. We did see processing equipment and were told that factory produces four types of black tea, handling about 2500 kg of tea per day. We had a brief walk through a section of their nearby plantation before departing for our accommodation at the Jetwing St. Andrews.
Tea factory, Nuwara Eliya
Tea factory, Nuwara Eliya
Cup of tea at Pedro Estate
Group at Pedro tea estate, Nuwara Eliya
Our hotel has an elegant Colonial-era feel about it as evidenced by the grand interior and colourful surrounding flower gardens. A full sized billiard table is a further hint of the British influence as is the nearby golf course.
Tomorrow we have to be on the bus at 05:30 as we’re doing a long walk and the weather here is more predictable in the mornings, hence the early start. With this in mind, an early night seemed appropriate after a day of mostly travel much of which was on the train through spectacular scenery.