Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka: sights, on the map

The towns of Nuwara Eliya, Ella, and Haputale are the main sights of the central highlands of Sri Lanka. How to get to Nuwara Eliya. The tea plantations of Sri Lanka in Nuwara Eliya, photos.

How to get to Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

After traveling along the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka and reaching the town of Tissamaharama, we started heading inland. We planned our route through Yala National Park, where we were lucky enough to meet a wild elephant walking freely along the road.

Wild elephant by roadside bushes seen from the side, Sri Lanka — A wild elephant strolling along the road

Wild elephant walking toward the camera along a road edge, Sri Lanka — A wild elephant strolling along the road

Highland Sri Lanka greeted us with great views:

Wide waterfall down a cliff among greenery, road from Tissa to Haputale — A waterfall on the way from Tissa to Haputale

Tall thin waterfall on a forested slope on the way from Tissa to Haputale — Another waterfall on the way from Tissa to Haputale

The tea plantations of Nuwara Eliya

We had planned to get to the town of Ella, but after finding a cheaper room, we stopped in the small town of Haputale, a little short of Ella. And we didn't regret it one bit. Haputale is a small, quiet, and very picturesque place at an altitude of ~ 1500 m. The air here is amazingly clean and fresh, and the views are mesmerizing. From Haputale starts a very pleasant walk to the Lipton's Seat viewpoint, which passes through numerous tea plantations.

Haze over mountains and tea slopes near Haputale — A view of the tea plantations

Hills and villages in the valley from Lipton's Seat viewpoint, Haputale — The view from the Lipton's Seat viewpoint

Woman with a cup of tea looking at mountains from Lipton's Seat, Haputale — A cup of tea at the Lipton's Seat viewpoint, Haputale

Wooded hills under clouds in the mountains near Haputale, Sri Lanka — A view of the tea plantations

We did make it to the town of Ella in the end. We didn't like the town — very dusty, noisy, and cramped. We never figured out what draws tourists to this place. After visiting the waterfalls near Ella, we returned to Haputale, and the next day we moved on to Nuwara Eliya.

Cascade of Ravana Falls among rocks and greenery near Ella — Ravana Falls, near Ella

Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, on the map

Nuwara Eliya is one of the highest towns in Sri Lanka, and as a result the temperature here is much lower (down to +5 at night). Translated from Sinhala, Nuwara Eliya means “city of lights.” Nuwara Eliya is a convenient base for visiting sights such as Horton Plains park and Adam's Peak (the story of our climb up it). The town is noisy. There is a beautiful lake on the outskirts, but the crafty Sri Lankans have fenced it off and charge white tourists 200 rupees each to get in. We visited several waterfalls in the surrounding area. From Haputale to Nuwara Eliya is only 40 kilometers, but the road was terrible, and it took us 2 hours to get there.

St Clair's Falls among green hills near Nuwara Eliya — St. Clair's Falls, not far from Nuwara Eliya

As you have probably figured out by now, the highland part of Sri Lanka is a must-visit sight of the island. The places here are mesmerizing and delightful.

From the diary · 2015

On March 15 we woke up in Tangalle. For breakfast, among other things, they served Sri Lankan yogurt, curd: it came in a clay pot under plastic wrap, natural and quite tasty.

Breakfast in Tangalle

In the morning we went to a temple built right into the rock: its halls are in caves. We also climbed up to its top.

A painted hall in a cave

Statues in the cave temple

The view from the top of the temple

Next came Tissa — a pretty green town with lots of picturesque lakes. We drove around all of them. Cows, by the way, are everywhere, even in the mountains.

The lakes of Tissa: a cow on the embankment and trees on the overgrown shore

The next morning we set off toward Ella. On the way we stopped at a temple where a lot of monkeys live, and later we saw them resting, sitting along a fence by the road. The road went through a national park, and there are a lot of peacocks in it.

Monkeys on the road to the mountains

Haputale turned out to be colder than down below, but nothing bites: there are no mosquitoes. We spent the next morning at breakfast on a balcony with a view. We could hear the cars on the road, but it didn't bother us, and we decided to stay in Haputale one more day. Although it was around 15–17 degrees in the mountains, driving around here is very pleasant.

We filmed part of the road. The houses on the slopes along it are lived in.

Driving along a mountain road among the tea bushes

There are lots of monkeys in the mountains too. We met this one on the day we drove through Ella to a waterfall after lunch.

Monkeys by the railing

On the morning of March 20 we set off for Kandy and on the way stopped at the Mackwoods tea factory. They gave us a free tour of the factory, told us how tea is made, and treated us to some. Here is what they told us there.

The view from the Mackwoods factory viewpoint

According to what we were told, 640 women pick the tea for this factory. From 5 kg of leaves you get 1 kg of tea. The smaller the leaf, the stronger the tea: large leaves make a light tea, small ones a strong tea, and in between there is also a medium one. A single bush yields tea for 45–50 years; once every five years it is pruned, and three months later it yields tea again.

We were told that the picked leaf is dried for 10–12 hours, and a third of it dries away. Then it is ground. After that, strong tea is fermented for 20 minutes — saturated with oxygen; light tea is not. Then the tea is dried once more, for 21 minutes, and packed.

Green tea, by the same account, is not popular in Sri Lanka and is hardly made anywhere. And about tea bags, it was explained to us that this isn't the worst tea picked by the roadside, but ordinary, proper tea, the same as loose-leaf — at least at proper factories. We ourselves had just bought tea bags at a supermarket: in 2015, at the exchange rate of the time, it came out the same as in Russia.

from Alexandra's diary