Cup of Ceylon Black Tea – Sri Lanka

Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.

~Catherine Douzel

Pour yourself a cup of Ceylon black tea, sit down in a comfortable couch and let me take you on a journey into the Hill country in search of Sri Lanka’s tea plantations. A place that has magical properties, where tiny green leaves are gently picked by skilled hands and time transforms them into that imaginary voyage.

Our journey starts at the foot of Adams Peak, where a plantation bungalow, stooped in history and surrounded by sloping fields of green, becomes our grand home for the night. The floors are polished red, the walls are adorned with black and white photographs and the beds creak just the right amount.

There is always time for tea.

~Author unknown

Out on the porch, the sound of voices can be heard in the distance. The sun is sitting still and the high pitched sound of heat rising increases your thirst for a cup of tea. Fortunately the ceilings are lofty, allowing the struggling breeze to bring a measure of respite in the heat. The faintest smell of smoke and warm wet earth travels long with the gentle wind.

In a row of colourful garments and smiling white teeth, the tea pickers present their bounty to the foreman. Will the hard work of the day be of the right standard? We are passersby and soon the kaleidoscope of colour is a blur in the rearview mirror.

Doing nothing is respectable at tea.

~Saying quoted in Sasaki Sanmi, Sadô Saijiki

From Dalousie to Hatton, the road bends upon itself, hugging verges as its curved waistline competes with cars, trucks and buses. Onward to Nuwara Eliya, gushing waterfalls break the streamline of green. The Hill Club welcomes us for a spot of lunch (upon payment of temporary membership that is) before alighting the train at Nanuoya for Haputale.

Tea is a cup of life.

~Author unknown

The train ride scratches the surface of Horton’s Plains, plummets through clouds and disappears temporarily in tunnels. One push and we would tumble into the valleys below. The air rushing into the windows brings a shiver to my skin especially as the sun begins to run away behind the clouds. Closing your eyes for a single second would be a travesty. These tracks offer up glorious nature scenes, mile after mile without letting up.

We tumble out of the train at Haputale station and are swarmed by tuktuk drivers the minute our feet step over the threshold of the station. 30 minutes later we are in the thick of a tea plantation outside Haldummulla. This is the hill country, where tea leaves are smaller but the flavor is richer.

With a basket on their backs, the tea pickers brave the sun in search of tender leaves, with the knowledge that they will only be paid on a rate per yield. The slopes of the tea plantations are usually a hive of activity, however, Sri Lanka has been in its dry season for almost 5 months now. Lakes are retreating from their shores and with the lack of water comes the struggle for young tea leaves. Even the tea factory is on shut down.

We peer through windows in the factory and then get to experience a behind the scenes tour. The cook at our bungalow on Indulgashinna also happens to work in the factory. He knows a guy, that has a key. With every step on wooden floors, a deeper appreciation, of the hard work that goes into my daily cup, grows. All machines and processes are controlled manually, the labour of many hands.

Where there’s tea there’s hope.

~Arthur Wing Panero

Tea plantations are stuck in time. Instead of automation, the operations require human intervention. It may seem illogical in our fast-paced capitalist world. But in a country with poverty and lack of employment, this ancient thinking, creates opportunities. And that is what I see at the bottom of my cup, hope.

All quotes on tea can be viewed here.