NUWARA ELIYA TEA FACTORY

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Day 9: NUWARA ELIYA

Saturday, June 29, 2013

The idea since we planned this trip to Sri Lanka was to dedicate one of the days we were in the city of Nuwara Eliya to introduce us to the incredible world of tea.
We had read in many places countless opinions about the best tea factories, where we could see the whole process of tea making, but after much searching and searching, we chose to make our first visit in Mackwoods the best Nuwara Eliya tea factory and one of the best known in the Highlands.
** Update 2018: Ismael tells us that the factory has been renamed Dambro, although in Google Maps, it can be found by the name Mackwoods. Thank you very much for the information Ismael!
We wake up the alarm at 7 in the morning and after a good breakfast at The Trevene Hotel overlooking the garden, we asked in the same hotel in Nuwara Eliya the prices they have to make the visit to the tea factory and gives us a price of 4000 rupees, adding a stop at Ramboda Falls.

The truth is that we have seen it quite exaggerated, so we decided to go to the center and ask some tuk tuk there to see how much this same route leaves us.
And knowing the price of the hotel, it is always easier to haggle.
The initial idea, while we arrive at the center, is to start haggling for a complete itinerary, which includes a visit to the Mackwoods tea factory, continue to Ramboda Falls, stop as many times as necessary to see the tea fields and the women pickers tea and if we have time also stop at another of the best known factories in the the city of Nuwara Eliya, Pedro 's Tea.
And according to the price you give us, try to negotiate also for tomorrow's journey back to the Nanu Oya train station, from where we will take another train that will take us to Kandy.
And with this idea we come across the first tuk tuk and we don't think about it too much, we start negotiations ...
It gives us an initial price of 3500 rupees for everything and although it is still much cheaper than in the hotel, we try to negotiate only the Mackwoods tea factory and it gives us a price of 1500 rupees and although it does not include the waterfall, which is not essential For us, we do not think much more and accept the deal with a good handshake and a smile.
Here begins our day touring the tea fields of the city of Nuwara Eliya.
We have not said that Nuwara Eliya there pronounce it "nurelia" and is one of the words that has cost us the most to learn in all our travel through Sri Lanka and Maldives.
That said, we continue with the tour of the day.
Upon leaving the city of Nuwara Eliya, we enter Kandy Road, which is one of the most beautiful roads we have ever seen.
Although it is bad weather and as we enter the area of tea plantations, we notice that the fog becomes a constant in our day, the green floods our day again.

Landscapes of Nuwara Eliya

Nuwara Eliya Pictures

We will not tire of repeating that Sri Lanka It is one of the greenest countries we have ever seen. There is no area in which we have been where another color predominates.

Nuwara Eliya

As the morning progresses and we continue touring Kandy Road, making several stops at points where the landscape takes the hiccups, we are glad to come today with a jacket and boots.
The cold has entered our day to day and from what we see, it does not look like wanting to leave us!
Now we understand why we had read so many recommendations of wearing warm clothes for the Highlands.

We are still on Kandy Road ...

When we have been traveling for more than 30 minutes, we begin to see the first signs of the Mackwoods tea factory in the middle of the tea fields.

First signs that we are approaching Mackwoods !! Nuwara Eliya tea factory

After a while, we see in the distance, the famous Mackwoods tea factory among tea fields, which leave us with our mouths open.

Nuwara Eliya tea fields. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

The Mackwoods Tea Factory in the distance ... Nuwara Eliya Tea Factory

We cannot deny that the landscapes in the Highlands are spectacular.

Between tea fields. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

We parked in the parking area and the tuk tuk driver accompanies us to the entrance where a girl who will guide us in the factory facilities receives us.
In the Mackwoods tea factory there is no entrance fee and the visit is free, something to consider when choosing a factory where you can learn about the entire manufacturing process of "Sri Lankan gold".

More practical information to prepare your trip to Sri Lanka
- 10 essential places to visit in Sri Lanka
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Sri Lanka

The first part of the visit is done outside the tea factory, where it shows us several plants and where we can see that only the last 3 leaves of the branch are used and that according to the variety of tea, even the last one is even used.
From here we go to the interior area, where we see the rest of the process, from drying, to the packaging process.

Tea drying machine in Mackwoods. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

The smell inside the Nuwara Eliya tea factory It is amazing and more for people who like this drink.
It makes you want to stay here forever!

Mackwoods tea factory. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

Tea packaging in Mackwoods. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

The visit lasts about 40 minutes or so and then they pass us to the tea shop area, where they give us a good cup of tea ... mmm ... great !!

Enjoying Mackwoods Nuwara Eliya tea factory

The atmosphere and the views of the tea fields, makes us relax in such a way that when we look at the clock we see that we have been here for almost an hour!

Having tea at Mackwoods. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

The “gold” of Sri Lanka… Nuwara Eliya tea factory

The time has come to get to know first hand the tea fields of the Mackwoods tea factory!
We see that many of the visitors, most of them come in buses with organized excursions, stay at the viewpoint that is right at the entrance of the factory.

Views of the tea fields from the Mackwoods viewpoint. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

We are not going to deny that the views are very good from here, but we want to enter the fields and be able to walk them with more tranquility, so we ask permission from a girl from the factory, who tells us that we can do it without leaving a area that tells us ... and said and done!

Between tea fields. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

The sun has just risen a little, looking like it wants to welcome us to our particular tour of the tea fields of the Highlands of Sri Lanka.

Enjoying between tea fields. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

Tea fields in Mackwoods. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

Tea fields Nuwara Eliya tea factory

All along the way or in Mackwoods we have seen no women collecting tea and that is one of our goals today, so we talked to the tuk tuk boy to take us further down to the Nuwara Eliya tea factory Blue Bird to try to see them in their fields or on the road. We hope to get lucky!
In the negotiation for the new price he insists on taking us to a nearby waterfall, to Ramboda Falls and how it usually happens to us, although at this moment the visit to the waterfall has passed to the background in our intentions today, without knowing how or why, we end up accepting!
We are still not sure how they do it, but it is very clear that they use some psychological method that we do not know to make us change our mind so quickly!
For this new section, we agreed to pay 1000 rupees more than what was agreed at the beginning and we warn you that we will stop as many times as necessary along the way, to continue looking for tea pluckers from Sri Lanka.

Fog Road of Ramboda Falls

We pass the Blue Bird tea factory, to reach the Ramboda Falls area and to have closer views, the driver makes us enter a hotel, from where, we can not deny, we have a fantastic perspective.

Ramboda Falls

They invite us to sit down and have a drink, which we politely decline and ask you to take us back to our long-awaited tea fields.
In several of the stops we make on the way to admire the landscape and take pictures, we are approached by women and children asking us for money, something that we had not seen so far in Sri Lanka and that draws our attention.
Our intuition is to think that they do it because before, someone has already passed through here and has given it to them, so it causes those children to believe that this method is the fastest way to get that money.
As much as it costs us, we do not give that money to us, knowing that if we did, the only thing we will cause is to keep asking.
In these cases, we always prefer to bring school supplies, medications ... etc. that we give to a place where we know they will make good use.
The tuk tuk boy, along the way, tells us that we are having a lot of luck with the weather, even if it is cold, since until two days ago it has been raining every day almost without stopping.
No doubt we are having a lot of luck although we have not seen tea pluckers so far.
We go back to Kandy Road, this time ascending again among the infinite tea fields and the next stop we make it at the Blue Bird factory, where we decide that we will not make the visit and we will only walk through the fields that are in the surroundings, although already From afar, we see that there is no one working.

In the Blue Bird Tea Factory. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

That initially creates a bit of sadness, because we already see that we will leave without seeing them work, as happened to Mirissa with the wading fishermen.
Of course, this setback will not prevent us from enjoying our particular walk through the impressive tea fields, which continue to offer us an impressive color and a smell that got us drunk since we arrived.

Between tea fields of the Blue Bird Factory. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

Tea Fields of the Blue Bird Factory. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

The landscapes, now clearer, are impressive and the smell of green and rain is incredible!
One of the “souvenir” that we will take from Sri Lanka It will be the unmistakable smell of the Highlands.

Enjoying the incredible Tea Fields of the Blue Bird Factory

The Green of the Blue Bird Factory Tea Fields

He has to say goodbye to the Tea Fields of the Blue Bird Factory. Nuwara Eliya tea factory

From here it comes back to the city of Nuwara Eliya where we tell the tuk tuk to drop us directly at the Grand Asian, where we will eat again today!
We arrived at the Nuwara Eliya restaurant shortly before 1 noon. In the end we have been almost 5 hours in the visit of the factories and tea fields and they cost us Rs 2,500. We are not going to complain. We believe that it has been a good price, although we have to say that the boy, despite our insistence on wanting to see the tea pluckers, has not put too much effort into getting it.
We are hungry, so we ordered 4 samosas, 2 garlic naan, chiken thali and one chiken tandoori plus water.

Enjoying the Grand Asian in Nuwara Eliya

The truth is that today the food was not as good as yesterday, but we can say that it is one of the best restaurant in Nuwara Eliya. In the end we asked for coffee and tea, but after waiting more than half an hour and seeing that they didn't bring it to us, we asked for the bill directly.
All for 1720 rupees.
The waiter, seeing that we ask for the bill for the delay, brings us coffee and tea at the moment and tells us that please do not pay it, that he invites us the house for the delay.
If we can not ask anything more to this country!
When we said goodbye to the tuk tuk boy, he asked us if we went to any other place to call him and gave us his phone number.
While we were eating, we have decided that no one wins us well and that we will spend the afternoon looking for tea pluckers, even if it is the last thing we do in the city of Nuwara Eliya!
What happens is that we want to try another person, to see if we have more luck and just leave the Asian Hotel, we see a tuk tuk with an older man, who we ask for a price to go first to the Nuwara Eliya tea factory Pedro's Tea (which another boy told us would charge us Rs 600) and above all we emphasize that we want to try to see the women of tea.
We believe that the reason for our insistence is not very clear when on a normal day it is usual to see them ... but we know that today is not so!
We have toured Kandy Road, 2 tea factories and no sign of them ... so something happens ...
Before riding and half bargaining, we give him one last offer, 400 rupees if we fail to see them and we will pay him twice if we finally get it.
Mind you ... we take what it takes 😉 And with a handshake, we get back on the path of the tea fields.
The day seems to hold and even a little sun rises, something that we greatly appreciate and more when we thought that the Monsoon would affect us very much and the forecasts of the last days were very bad.
As soon as we arrive at the Pedro's Tea tea factory, at the same entrance, they tell us that the women do not work today, it has been raining until 2 days ago and part of it is weekend ... so it is impossible to see them in this factory and in the rest of the fields, they see it very difficult.
We will not tell which face we have left! And more when we ask how they see it to see them tomorrow Sunday, before leaving for Kandy and tells us that tomorrow is impossible Sunday!
If our face is a poem, our driver's is a movie. We believe that at this moment he has realized that perhaps, with us, he has not done the business of the month.
He tells us that he will go up the road to see if we are lucky, but if they have already told us this, he sees it difficult.
He asks every few meters to the local people that we are crossing and everyone tells him that we will not find them, until we meet some guys that we understand by the gestures, which say that a little higher, following the road there are a few.
Our driver tells us nothing, but suddenly he gets on a muddy road where the tuk tuk can hardly climb and we start to get stuck. He still says nothing to us and turns around and takes the road again ...
We look at each other, thinking that we have already missed the last chance, knowing that tomorrow they don't work, it was today or never. We know that it sounds drastic, but it is one of the “objectives” we had in the Highlands and the truth is that it made us excited.
Thinking about this, he turns the tuk tuk suddenly and starts up another path, crossing tea fields.
We get muddy again, he turns, looks at us and tells us that if we don't mind walking on, because this road is very difficult to continue with the tuk tuk. But at no time does he tell us or assure us that we will see tea pluckers.
We walk 5 minutes between the tea fields and there are… little dots in the distance, which are the first and most important link in the gold chain of Sri Lanka. They are the Tea Pluckers of Sri Lanka!

We have finally been able to see the tea pluckers !!

Colors among the green of the tea fields

For a moment I get excited. It seems silly but this is one of the most exciting moments of our travel through Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Tea Pluckers

Tea pluckers details

We leave our backpacks on the floor and after having a good time watching them, we ask permission to take pictures. Given his statement, we enter the tea fields around us and follow them, unable to stop looking at them.

"
Tamil women collecting tea in the fields of Nuwara Eliya

Those quick hands that select the top 3 tea leaves and quickly put them in the baskets or sacks they carry on their heads.

Images between the tea fields

There are no words to explain what we are seeing. It is one of those experiences that you have to have once in a lifetime.

Photographing tea pluckers

Tea Pluckers details

"
Tea Pluckers collecting tea in Nuwara Eliya

After a good while, absorbed by what we have in front of us, we look at our driver and see him with a smile from ear to ear, looking at us.
We approach him and he tells us that he is very happy, because he has achieved what we asked for and he sees us that we are very happy.
He asks us to take a picture with us and of course ... we make several! M. Manualanthan has become another one of those people we will think about every time we remember Sri Lanka.

With our friend M. Manualanthan

He has been our "lucky man" in Nuwara Eliya.

Enjoying an unforgettable experience!

At this time, we would like to make a subsection. Anyone could think, including us, reading this part of the story, that this joy of the driver, was caused by why we had told him that we would pay him double if we found the women tea pickers. Undoubtedly, we know that that also pleased him, but it must also be said that the amount was not to launch rockets.
And what really assures us that his interest was not purely economic, is that today, more than a month after our arrival of the trip, we have exchanged with him several photos, postcards and letters ...
In life we meet a lot of people, but there are some who do it in a special way. M. Manualanthan is one of them.
Let's continue with the diary of our day in Nuwara Eliya ...

After almost an hour watching them, we tell our lucky man that he can return us to the Nuwara Eliya hotel.

Images of tea pluckers

Tea Pluckers at Nuwara Eliya

Today we have completed the day, but before we leave, we can do nothing but turn our heads for the last time ...

Tea Pluckers at Nuwara Eliya

On the way to our hotel in Nuwara Eliya with M. Manualanthan

Upon arrival at the hotel, we pay you what was agreed and we give you a good tip, hoping that it pays the effort you have made to find them and above all, for helping us to achieve this goal.
It's almost 5 in the afternoon, so we stay in the hotel lounge of Nuwara Eliya, a good time having tea and resting, when we see a couple approaching us. When we say hello, we look surprised and see that they are the Spanish couple we were with the day we arrived in Sri Lanka at the airport.
Casualties that occur in life and never cease to surprise us!
They sit with us and we exchange opinions about the trip and some contacts we have made, since they started in the north of the country and we in the south and we have just crossed now, in the magnificent Highlands, an intermediate point in most of itineraries by Sri Lanka.
When hunger begins to tighten, we decide to go down to the city and in a exchange house right next to the Milano, a highly recommended Nuwara Eliya restaurant, we see that the rupee has risen to 168, so we change some more money and so We stayed calm for a few more days.
While here we decided to stay for dinner and we ordered some fried noodles and a nasi goreng with water and coke.
The restaurant is full of local people, something that always gives us good vibes, because it is a sign that it is a good place.
While we wait to be served, we make accounts about the money that we will need for the rest of the trip and knowing that there will not be many exchange options and here it was fine, we decided to go back down to the exchange house, to change some more cash .
Now we can have quiet dinner!
From here, by not walking up to the hotel we take a tuk tuk for 120 rupees, like last night, so that it saves us having to climb a road that is not too bright at this time of night.
We arrived at The Trevene Hotel when it's a little after 9 pm and we stayed in the lounge for a while, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi in front of a steaming cup of tea ... answering some email, catching up and above all dreaming ... dreaming ... with another new day in Sri Lanka…