The Hindu Business Line : A dream getaway

The road twisted up into the hills, between banks of tea bushes and tall trees, as mists and rain swept down the mountainside. We had left Kandy, Sri Lanka's `hill capital', several hours earlier, stopping along the way to visit a tea factory and sample its brew.

By late afternoon, the seemingly never-ending drive was getting to us. Our driver, Saman, smiled broadly as we asked him for the `nth' time: "How much longer before we get to Nuwara Eliya?"

"Half-an-hour," he replied. But estimates of time and distance in Sri Lanka have this fascinating quality of being fluid. Or as Kamal Samarasinghe, our guide put it, "elastic." So, it was over an hour later that we finally arrived in Nuwara Eliya; just in time for a very late lunch and a short history lesson at the Grand Hotel.

Located some 1,880 metres above sea level, Nuwara Eliya (pronounced nur-e-liya) is Sri Lanka's main hill resort and the centre of the country's tea industry. Discovered by the British in 1818, the town was turned into a summer retreat in the late 1820s by Sir Edward Barnes, the then Governor of Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then called). In an effort to create a `little piece of England in Ceylon', the British imported English sparrows and cattle; planted daisies, petunias, hollyhocks and hydrangeas and developed orchards of apples and pears. Today, the town's many centenarian buildings with `character' such as the Grand Hotel, the exclusive Hill Club and the St Andrews hotel — our refuge for the night — help Nuwara Eliya retain much of its `Englishness'.

Meal and introductory lesson over, we piled back into our bus for the short drive to the St Andrews hotel. By the time we finished checking in, daylight had begun to fade and the nip in the air had grown sharper. But with an itinerary that required us to leave Nuwara Eliya the next morning, we were determined to explore as much of the town as we could. So, we put on the little warm clothing we had, armed ourselves with umbrellas from the hotel and set out on foot.

Through the failing light, we caught a glimpse of Nuwara Eliya's famous golf course and the adjacent Victoria Park. These sights done, we made our way to the town's central business district. Besides the usual assortment of shops and eateries, Nuwara Eliya has a market exclusively for woollens. Our walkabout ended quicker than we expected, so we popped into a Cargills supermarket before heading back to the relative warmth of St Andrews Hotel.

It was time for another history lesson with S. Ravindra, the hotel's general manager, acting as our professor. Built over a hundred years ago, the hotel has had stints as a gentlemen's club, a sanatorium for British soldiers and even a government office or kachcheri. The property's six acres include a farm, a herbarium and a specially created wetland reserve that is home to several kinds of indigenous frogs and dragonflies. The grounds also play host to colonies of black-lipped lizards, rhino-horned lizards and dwarf lizards.

One of the few surviving `cloud forests' in Sri Lanka is a few minutes' walk from the hotel and marks the beginning of the Mount Pedro forest range, which leads to Sri Lanka's highest mountain peak — Mount Pedro or Pidurutalagala. These forests are also home to over 50 kinds of wild orchids, including several that grow only in Nuwara Eliya.

Many visitors to Nuwara Eliya also choose to visit the Sita temple at Sita Eliya. Located a few kilometres from the town, the shrine is believed to be the only Sita temple in the world. According to local legend, the asura king Ravana imprisoned Sita in a cave nearby. The cave is deep inside a forest and is guarded by wild buffaloes, declared our guide.

Other popular destinations near the town include the Hakgala Botanical Garden and the Horton Plains National Park. Nuwara Eliya is also an important centre for bird watchers as a large number of migratory birds visit the town. And though we did not spot any birds during our short stay, local residents say that the best place to see the avians is the Victoria Park in the centre of town.

The next morning, on our way out of the town, we got a better view of the town's quaint public buildings, including its red brick post office built in 1894. As we drove away on the road that took us down to the plains, we couldn't help wishing we'd stayed longer in Nuwara Eliya.

Picture by the author

Fact file

Getting there: Nuwara Eliya is about 75 km from Kandy and 180 km from Colombo. Train travellers have to get off at Nanu Oya and cover the remaining 20 km to Nuwara Eliya by road.

Best time to visit: November to April is the best time;December and January are the coldest months. Do remember to pack a pullover even in April, as the nights could get cool.

Accommodation: The town has a range of accommodation, with hotels such as St Andrews, the Grand Hotel and the Glendower Hotel in the premium segment. The Gallaway Forest Lodge and the Tea Factory at Kandapola are at some distance from the town.

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