And then the sun came out!

On the final morning of our trip to Sri Lanka, the rain disappeared and the sun shone down.  And what a beautiful sight it was to see...

Tea time!

After a couple of days of pouring rain, the sky suddenly cleared.  And while the sun didn't exactly shine, the clouds did part to uncover some greyish-blue sky.

So without hesitation, we asked the hotel to arrange a guide and headed to the hills for a hike.  Joined by another couple, we didn't have to go far for some gorgeous hiking, with the lodge surrounded by lush rolling tea hills.

Tea wasn't always a major product of Sri Lanka.  In fact, Sri Lanka actually started as a leading producer of coffee but a plant disease in the mid-1800s annihilated the plants and almost destroyed the area.

A few years later in the 1860s, James Taylor launched the first tea plantation in the country and shipped 21 pounds of Ceylon Tea back to the British Commonwealth.  The tea was met with such delight that the tea industry was launched in the country.

Today, Sri Lanka is the world's 4th largest producer of tea.   And its humidity, cool temperatures and rainy climate provide a landscape that enables the production of very high quality tea.

Tea picking is done by women, supposedly because their fingers are nimbler, but likely because the men just don't want to do such hard labour.  It is a hard life.

Many of the women tea pickers are actually from India, originally brought over during the rule of the British Commonwealth with the trade passed down to the family generations that followed.

Women pick in the fields all day - looking for the two leaves-and-a-bud combo that signify “quality”.  The women pick about 50kg of tea leaves per day, pulling the leaves from the vines and storing them in the sacks on their backs until they reach 25kgs and it is time for a break.  Before their two breaks and lunch each day, they drop off their sacks for weighing and then relax for a few minutes before heading back out into the fields.

The tea pickers are largely hindu, and live in line houses with a shared toilet. Old plantations pay the women a daily wage ($2 is the norm) and provide shelter, food, education and medical care. A newer model is to pay the women by kg, though the incentive this creates results in lower quality tea as stems and rocks seem to find their way into the bags before weighing.

As we wandered through the tea fields and took in the views of the Knuckle Mountains across from us, we were amazed by the speed and precision with which these women worked, sifting through the bushes gracefully and with great focus.

On a side note, it turns out that even though we were in our hiking pants and boots, we shouldn't have shunned so quickly the leech socks the hotel offered.  Within about 15 minutes of our walk, Beth felt an itch on her leg and pulled up her pant to find a leech working away on her leg.  How had it even gotten there?! Beth handled the situation with characteristic poise and grace, not overreacting at all to the tiny animals just trying to survive with a bit of human blood. She did manage to handle the situation better than the Dutch girl that joined us on the hike, whose shorts and converse were not the ideal bushwhacking outfit - particularly evidenced by when she slipped and fell, with the whole forest floor seeming to inch its way toward her exposed flesh.

We were attacked many more times during the walk, especially as we made our way through the brush to look at some of the local trees and flora/fauna.  Geoff was attacked the worst, finding leeches on his body even after we had returned to the lodge! His love of animals does not extend to mindless blood suckers that have no central nervous system.

Although Beth was slightly traumatized by all the leeches and, for the remainder of the trip (edit: and for some days afterward), believed they might be in the bed, chairs and everywhere else around the lodge, one had to stop and think about these incredible women who work - unprotected - in the fields all day.  How much more than leeches they must encounter and endure...and how little they whine or complain. 

Eager to learn more about the full tea process, we hopped in the lodge's tuk tuk for a trip to the Hatale Tea Factory for a guided tour and a tea-tasting.

Ceylon tea is recognized as a lighter and fresher tea than those from other countries.  This is because Sri Lankan's twist the tea leaves before drying rather than cutting them as they do in India.   The twisting allows for more subtle flavours and often allows for the tea to be drunk without the need for milk.  Ceylon is the chosen tea for many of the Middle Eastern countries.

The  Hatale Factory was built in the 1930s by the British and hasn't changed much over the years, with many of the same processes and almost all of the steps done manually, especially the transfer of the leaves from drying to twirling to roasting and packaging.

After understanding the process, we sat for a tea tasting session of a variety of different teas.  All of the teas were delicious but our preference definitely trended to the lighter end.  White, green and black teas all come from the same plant but have different levels of oxidization creates the different colours and tastes.  White tea - the least oxidized - is by far the most expensive.  It was never totally clear as to why.

Although we had always know that making tea must be a complex process, we had not quite realized just how involved and time intensive the process actually is.  Will we be able to enjoy a relaxing cup of tea when we know just how much work it was to make it??  Let's brew a cup and see...

Curious Georges

We were greeted by this little guy when we went back to our tent one day.

But, in reality, we saw monkeys everywhere around the lodge...

And even in the heart of the city (and in the busiest of buildings) on our way back to Colombo!

 I think we learned who really rules this place...

When it rains, we cook!

With the unrelenting rain curtailing our planned hikes and pool lounging, we came up with a back-up plan to ensure we did at least some type of activity during our trip.

And so we arranged to take a cooking class in the lodge's kitchen.

Chandima - the lodge's charming sous-chef - was very patient during our lesson as we showed ourselves almost immediately to be fairly useless Sri Lankan cooks.

Watching us try to chop Sri Lankan banana leaves made Chandima immediately uncomfortable until he realized this was perhaps one of our more able culinary skills.  Trying to shave string beans and cut the very hard Rose Apples proved well beyond our capabilities and he was forced to take over in short order.

Luckily, Beth redeemed herself as a surprisingly good Sri Lankan eggplant crusher and Geoff was so fast on the coconut grater that the entire contraption actually flew right off the table!

We were surprised to learn that every dish we enjoyed (all vegetarian!) used the same base and process.  Start with a huge serving spoonful of garlic and onion, throw in some oil and mustard seeds, add tumeric and a hint of cumin and chili, toss in the chopped vegetables and then let simmer for about half an hour.  Every once in a while, the Chef would drip a little of the sauce onto his hand and add some additional flavourings until the rice cooking nearby was ready.

While we waited for the food to cook, Chadima took us on a quick and wet walk around Madulkelle's vegetable garden.   Although small, this garden  seemed to grow all of the fruits and vegetables one could imagine, and then some.  No wonder all the food tasted so fresh! It never ceases to amaze us how many edible plants we have never heard of.

Due to the rain, that very bumpy road to the lodge and our overly relaxed (lazy?) vacation attitude, we ate almost every meal at the lodge.

And every meal was fantastic, with a varied blend of local and international foods.

However, by the 2nd day we had already figured out that we could not possibly consume 3 meals per day, cutting it back to breakfast and dinner, with at most some soup for lunch.

Each night's dinner offered a special menu, which they updated based on what vegetables were available in the garden as well as any special requests from guests.  Our casual hint to Upul (the most tending, lovely and capable waiter) about our desire to have some of our favourites - vegetable kottu roti and stringhopper - during our visit was embraced and made it right onto the menu the very next evening...

If the scenery wasn't enough to make this lodge totally enchanting, the soulful food and creative drinks, paired with the most charming staff, made this lodge a place we would find hard to leave.

To the tea fields of Sri Lanka...

In atypical form (and perhaps a sign of just how overworked Geoff has been these days!), we decided not to try to see everything during our 5-day trip to Sri Lanka but instead visit and stay in just one place.

And this would be the tea plantations near Kandy, right in the centre of Sri Lanka.

After a quick stop at the Champagne Bar in the Dubai Emirates lounge (an unexpected treat!), we boarded our late night flight and enjoyed a restful trip before arriving at Colombo airport first thing the next morning.

The 4.5 hour drive to tea country - almost as long as the flight itself - was a far one on small, windy and heavily-trafficked roads.  But the overall drive was, for the most part, a smooth one (edit: for those of us who did not take a Gravol and pass out, the drive was not a particularly smooth one....)....with the exception of the last 15 minutes where the road was so steep and rugged that Sunny and his (t)rusty Toyota Corolla were simply not equipped to drive it.

Instead, the hotel sent their 1950s era Land Rover down to the start of it to get us!

A very bumpy and not-for-the-faint-of-heart ride later (the pathetic fallacy of the rain pouring down could not be overlooked), we arrived at the serene lodge, Madulkelle Tea and Eco Resort, feeling a little worse for wear.

However, greeted with a cup of locally-grown tea, some delicious buscuits, and some truly stunning surroundings, we felt immediately at ease as the sweet staff took care of our check-in and made us feel quickly at home. 

After lunch, the rain stopped just long enough for us to head quickly down to our "tent".  We were especially thankful for the dry skies because, after refusing the staff's help in order to get some lunch in before the kitchen closed, we realized that our key was numbered but our tent was not (listed instead as different types of birds and flora) and thus had us wandering up and down the hills searching for the lock that fit our key, before finally heading back to the lodge to secure some help.

"Robin" was a beautiful tent - with zip-down windows on all sides, a very comfortable bed and a functional (and especially wonderfully-pressured) shower and full bathroom.  The old century furniture made us feel like explorers from a different age.  But the star of the space was certainly the view.  Everywhere we looked was green and lush, with nary another tent in site.

The rain started again shortly after we made it to our room.  And it continued for most of our trip.  Lounging by the pool was certainly not going to be an option so, instead,we unzipped all of the tent windows to let in a beautiful through-breeze, made some local tea and wrapped ourselves in warm blankets to read our books, nap and embrace the total relaxation of the quiet surroundings.  This place was truly a little piece of paradise!

Life in Old Manama...

As we mostly spend our visits in the newer area of Manama, we decided to visit the older area of Muharraq to get a better sense of what life was like before the skyscrapers.

The House of Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa was built in the 1800s and was the Bahrain ruler's residence from 1869-1932.

It was also used as the centre of government during that time.

The beautiful house is designed around several courtyards that separate the family from its guests, servants and government officials.

Natural elements like the wind-towers, windows, courtyards and overall structure are designed to maximize sunlight during the day but still keep the complex cool in the summers and protected in the winters.

Instead of artwork, the walls are covered with beautiful Arabic engravings.

And although it would have been interesting to see the types of furniture that they used at that time, for some reason, these palaces never seem to showcase the furnishings.  Perhaps it is too personal?

The neighbourhood around the palace is understated, with locals living their regular days in small and quiet houses.  There is an enormous park and many neighbourhood stores, with a surprising number of hair salons and butcher shops!

Manama is working to restore much of its historic architecture in this area, creating something of a heritage village.  There is an art gallery, mosque and other wealthy homes that are being brought back to life to let visitors get a better sense of the city's history.  It will be great to go back and see it when it is done!

After a quick visit to the local souq where we were welcomed with buckets of colourful spices, pashminas galore, "designer" watches for Geoff and more stretch pants options than Beth could ever have imagined, we headed back to the hotel feeling sufficiently cultured to allow ourselves to delve into our new books while lounging by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.

Mindful of Beth's pre-dawn flight the next morning, we headed to Masso at the Palace Boutique Hotel for an early dinner.  Although the dinner did not quite live up to our last visit, the inviting and intimate courtyard and the lovely service more than made up for it and capped off a quick but super weekend away!