Tea Country

Sri Lanka’s Tea Country climbs into the central highlands, where regular rainfall and cool, consistent sunshine created ideal conditions for the tea industry the British established here in the nineteenth century. Estates around Nuwara Eliya and Ella still process tea using much the same traditional methods, and a walk through the terraced plantations, with pickers moving between the bushes, explains a great deal about how the leaf reaches a cup. The cooler climate alone makes for a welcome change of pace after the coast.