Aitken Spence Travels - Tea Trails Tour in Sri Lanka

Tour Itinerary
Walk through old colonial Sri Lanka with the unique Tea Trails Tour!

Day One
Airport - Kandy
Transfer from the airport to Kandy in the early hours of the morning and experience the instant change in climate from hot and humid lowland forests to the deliciously cool crisp air of the evergreen mountain forests.

Kandy, a world heritage site and the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings is distinguished by being the only Kingdom in Southeast Asia or Africa that could not be captured by British, Portuguese or Dutch invaders. The name "Kandy" in itself conjures visions of magnificence and in this splendid setting ancient Sinhala legends, traditions and folklore are kept alive. Drive around the Kandy Lake built by the last Sinhala King, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe in 1798. Visit the Kandy Town, the bazaar, the arts and crafts centre, gem museum and a lapidary. The highlight of your visit to Kandy is a visit to the famous Temple of the Tooth Relic followed by a Cultural Show in the evening.

Spend the night at comfortable Villa Rosa and enjoy the mild relaxing climate of Kandy

Day Two
Kandy
Breakfast at Villa Rosa. And transfer from Kandy to Peradeniya.

The Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya was originally built as a pleasure garden by a Sinhala King and is the one of the most peaceful and tranquil settings on the Island. This 147acre oasis contains an amazing variety of trees, plants and flowers.

Enjoy lunch at the Royal Garden Cafeteria and thereafter visit the Tea-Museum in Hantana.

The Tea Museum at Hantana is the best place to see the memorabilia, machinery, books, pictures and objects of historical value to the Tea Industry of Sri Lanka.

Our last stop for the day is a visit to the Kandy Museum followed by dinner and overnight stay at Villa Rosa.

Day Three
Kandy – Peradeniya – Nuwara Eliya – Kandapola

Breakfast at Villa Rosa and transfer from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya.

With its invigorating mountain air and beautiful scenery, Nuwara Eliya is Sri Lanka’s most popular mountain resort destination. Set in the heart of Sri Lanka’s tea country, Nuwara Eliya boasts the world’s finest tea, Sri Lanka’s highest mountain Pidurutalagala (8282 feet above sea level) and the most beautiful 18hole golf course in South Asia.

Enjoy lunch at the spectacular old colonial Hill Club and transfer from Nuwara Eliya to Kandapola.

Enjoy a leisurely drive along picturesque lanes that climb up to 6,800 feet above sea level, revealing breathtaking views of rolling hillsides carpeted with close-cropped tea bushes to arrive at the Tea Factory Hotel at Heathersett Estate, Kandapola.

The Tea Factory Hotel is the first and only hotel in the world built from a converted tea factory building. Some of the fascinating old machinery has been restored and remains, adding an unusual and authentic tea factory atmosphere. The 60 bedrooms are on four floors called lofts where plucked tea used to be withered. Now the rooms have been converted into plush comfortable bedrooms with wall-to-wall carpeting, en suite bathrooms and a splendid view through the original wood-framed windows of the hotel’s scenic surroundings.

You will be welcomed in the age-old tradition of the Tea Plucking Community, with a yellow Pottu being placed in the centre of the your forehead. According to Hindu lore the Pottu - which is made of natural sandalwood paste - revitalises the body.

Afternoon tea with homemade cookies and cakes is served in the comfort of your bedroom, while you settle in, in preparation for relaxation and discovery.

The hotel’s resident Naturalist – a dedicated environmentalist with an enviable knowledge of the flora, fauna and history of the area – hosts an informal, pre-dinner presentation about the hotel, its colonial past, its facilities and the highlights of the Tea Trek and Trail. This serves as an introduction to the complexities of the tea production process and also of the natural wonders to be discovered close to the hotel. The presentation ends with an invitation to sample a choice of the hotel’s signature tea cocktails, or non-alcoholic mock tails. To conclude the day, a special candle-lit dinner is served in the charming environs of the Hotel’s library.

Day Four
Kandapola
Experience Hindu culture and the way of life on the plantations, whose workers trace their origins to South India, which greatly influences their lifestyle. To the strains of South Indian music, we invite you to sample an exotic breakfast of vegetarian delicacies such as Dhosai, Vadai and Idly served on a banana leaf. To make the dining experience authentic you are encouraged to sit on the floor and eat with your fingers. The meal ends with a cup of rasam - the customary after-meal beverage.

After breakfast, there is a briefing on the dynamics of tea plucking and processing, followed by a unique opportunity to dress up like the local tea pluckers, with a wraparound cloth and jacket for the ladies and a T-shirt and sarong for the gentlemen. Under the guidance of a Kangani (field supervisor) and the Naturalist, we set off to a tea field to meet the women who do the tea plucking and learn how to pluck tea straight from the bush.

Lunch is served outdoors in the “Maize” within the hotel’s garden where you are served a selection of delicious country-style curries with rice, prepared with fresh local ingredients.

After the hard work of the morning (tea plucking isn’t as easy as it looks!) enjoy a leisurely afternoon with a visit to the hotel’s Misty Mountain Spa – the only Spa that utilizes natural spring water from the mountains of Sri Lanka. Experience the Spa’s signature massages and tea treatments, or the Chinese art of reflexology. The more active can jog, go horseback riding or go on a mountain bike around the plantation and explore the terrain.

Dinner is a Special Event with an invitation to dine in a Planter’s bungalow. Experience the way planters lived in colonial Sri Lanka, with an appu (butler) on call and a menu based on true British colonial fare. The bungalow’s lounge is an ideal place to spend a quiet and relaxing evening by the fireside with a glass of wine.

Day Five
Kandapola
Visit the Koorawatte Forest Reserve at dawn for an enchanting experience! A mere 30 minute walk, the Reserve is home to 53 varieties of birds, including seven of the 23 endemic birds of Sri Lanka, which can be spotted from the bird watching trail. In addition, wild buffalo, monkey, deer and even leopard, can be seen. Partake of a sumptuous picnic breakfast, carefully packed in a wicker basket served in the woods.

Trek to the working tea factory at Hethersett where you will witness the orthodox method of manufacturing tea. The Hethersett brand of tea is regarded as one of the world’s finest high grown teas and is prized by the tea connoisseur. The quality of the tea has been maintained over the years, and the flavour today is the same as that enjoyed by the British Raj decades ago.

You are invited to participate in the manufacturing process, helping to send the withered leaf to the rolling machine and to watch the leaves being fermented for oxidisation and then fired. You can assist in the sorting of leaves according to size and in the packaging process. Then its tasting time, with the morning’s batch of manufactured tea being tasted while the expert explains each brew’s distinguishing characteristics.

Your next stop is a visit to Nuwara Eliya Town with one of Asia’s most spectacular golf courses winding through. Lunch is served in the Club House of the Golf Club and after lunch you have time to wander around the town with its bustling market place stacked with local produce, and pay a visit to the Trinity Church.

On returning to The Tea Factory Hotel in the late afternoon, high tea is served in the rose garden with scones and jam and clotted cream, English fruitcake, asparagus sandwiches, jam tarts, biscuits and cheese as the sun sets over the surrounding hills.

At dinner time Board the TCK6685 – a restored, narrow gauge railway carriage, permanently parked in the Hotel premises for a unique dining experience. There is no menu as the chef depends on the best of the day’s market fare to create a gourmet meal cooked to each guest’s personal preference to be enjoyed with a complimentary bottle of wine.

Day Six
Kandapola – Hatton
A Champagne breakfast at the Hotel’s Kenmare Restaurant provides the ideal opportunity to toast newfound friends in Sri Lanka. As a memento of this incredible tour, you will receive a pack of the finest Hethersett Pure Ceylon Tea, the very tea that you helped pluck, process and package.