Nuware Eliya came to prominence in the 19th century when the British moved there and established first coffee and then tea plantations. Our hotel was, as its name suggests, once a tea factory and from the outside, still looks industrial. It is now a luxury hotel.
We left our hotel in Kandy at 0730 and arrived at the station to await the train.
The platform was busy with people waiting for the Kandy train. Eventually it arrived, about 15 minutes late. We were booked into a first class carriage, so had reserved seats; luxury ended there. We had read that there would be an observation carriage, but it wasn't there that day. There were a few other couples similar to us, and so we were all chatting away. John gave us a good icebreaker by trying to clean the windows so that we could take photos.
Kandy station with a train about to depart; along the route and a signal box at Peradeniya junction.
Below: at the station before departure
People along the route
Our train, clockwise: people hanging out (from the train as ir went round a bend, the guard outside the first class carriage, our carriage, a man sitting by an open door.
Scenes en route: a broken train, boys by the track, a small station and track repairs
Tea!
Our driver, Tissa, was waiting as we arrived at Nani Oya and we set off for our hotel, the Heritage Tea Factory at Nuware Eliya.
On the way, we passed not only tea, but fields of leeks, cabbages, carrots and lettuce. Alter a rest (it had been a noisy night in Kandy) we went down for dinner where the waiter explained that there would be no alcohol that evening because it was Independence Day. An odd form celebration to us.
- Pat and John on tour
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