While a trading center along the Silk Road for over 2,000 years, Colombo, Sri Lanka was officially established by the British in 1796. Colombo is located on the west coast of Sri Lanka on the Indian Ocean. We docked at the commercial pier, so we were not allowed to walk off the ship by ourselves – we had to take shuttle buses to the entrance to the pier, so the ship was operating a modified water-shuttle process. They promised to have loads of buses and get everyone out quickly. I had little confidence in that since the ship had to deal with the local authorities, but it turned out well. I was on a ship excursion, so I didn’t have to deal with it.
I chose to go to a tea factory as Sri Lanka is known for its Ceylon tea. I never got a taste for coffee; I am a big tea drinker from way back. I used to spend time with my Irish grandmother having a cup and chatting. I have lots of good memories around a cup of tea. I was excited to go and see how the magic happens.
We drove out through the city, past industrial areas, what can only be described as slums, stores, and middle-class homes.
We reached the highway for our two-hour drive to the country and the Pitigala Tea Factory. We had a “comfort stop” about an hour into the trip, and I got out to stretch my legs. I like the “comfort stop”; I’ve heard it referred to as the “toilet”, the “pee-pee room”, and the “facilities”, among other things, and I like "comfort stop" the best.
There were several families picnicking out of the back of their cars, with kids running around, enjoying a Saturday afternoon. I met a lovely family when I asked to meet their dog Bailey, and Lhasa Apso/Shit-tsu/beagle mix that was adorable and fluffy and friendly. They were so happy to meet a visitor to their country and encouraged me to tell my family and friends to come back and see all the wonderful sights. Sri Lanka is a developing country and after they settled a long civil war in 2009, the country was on track building up their economy until the current COVID economic crisis.
As we continued, we passed into more remote and rural areas. We saw rice fields where people were harvesting their rice, water buffaloes and terns wading through the fields in search of food, families and shop owners sitting outside enjoying the day. Saturdays must be laundry days in Sri Lanka, because wherever there was a wire or fence nearby a home, they were draped with drying laundry.
Lucky explained that there are three different types of coconuts – green for drinking, brown for meat, and king for oil and drinking. He showed us examples of all three as we drove by. He told us there were monkeys all around but we didn’t see any. Lucky was very excited to show us what a red banana looked like, and made our bus stop in the middle of the road when he saw a bunch hanging in a market.
I saw a small crocodile swimming in a river lined with water lilies. I asked Lucky about them, and he said there are two types of crocodiles – marsh and estuary. The marsh crocodiles are very docile; he had even seen children swimming in the waters with them near by and no one was concerned. But the estuary crocodiles near where the rivers meet the ocean are very aggressive and will attack anything.
We passed humble huts kept tidy by owners sweeping with twig brooms. I saw so many dogs roaming free. I don’t know if they have homes or are feral, but they were not “fixed” so they probably have a large dog population. Many had mange. They were pretty mellow, laying by the street watching the cars go by, or playing together. I met one pretty girl at the port who was so sweet - she sat quietly panting and watching us with hope in her eyes. I put down a glass of water for her and she took a few dainty sips, then laid down on the ground and rolled over in demand for me to scratch her belly. Of course, I had to accommodate, but then washed my hands quickly so I didn’t bring any critters back with me.
As we approached the factory, we got a police escort through the town (if you can call two cops on a motor bike honking its little beeping horn to get people out of the way an “escort”).
We arrived to all the factory workers gathered outside to greet the three busloads of cruisers. They were so happy to see us, and this was the first time this factory had visitors like us. They had a camera crew their to document the event. I am probably starring in a promotional video as American Tourist #4.
In separate groups we walked through the farm where we learned about how they grow tea. All tea is grown in one of three altitudes – low grown (burgundy-brown color, strong flavor), mid grown (strong, rich and full-bodied flavor) and high grown (honey golden color, light and considered best tasting). Each growing area has their own conditions that are best for certain types of teas. They monitor pH and soil composition often to make sure they are producing the best plants. For the low growth plants which we saw, the tea bushes grow for a few years and then they start to harvest. They only pick the top three leaves on a shoot for tea; the leaf below that is called the mother leaf which protects the smaller leaves and lasts for about 18 months. New growth is harvested by hand every eight days, depending on the weather. They can make up to 15 different varieties of tea from a single tea plant, depending on the types of leaves used and how they mix them together.
After our outside tour, we were invited to a large reception area where we were offered tea sandwiches (which were a type of shredded salad sandwich which was surprisingly tasty), chocolate cake and bananas. We also tried some delicious freshly brewed tea. I was given a hunk of what I though was raw sugar and told to take a tiny bite before sipping the tea. It was delicious and not too sweet; it helped to bring out the flavors of the tea. I found out later that the hunk of sugar is called Jaggery, made from the syrup extracts from the kithul tree. In other southeast Asian countries it is made from sugarcane syrup. I tried to eat a red banana, but it was not yet ripe so they gave me a cute yellow one instead (all clear inside that one!).
We covered up with shoe coverings, hair nets and masks and toured the factory itself. They showed how they dry the leaves to take some of the moisture out, then the tea leaves move on to the rolling process, where they roll out the leaves and remove the stems. The leaves pass through a steam bath which was hotter than anything I have ever endured; I don’t know how the people work in there! I could barely breathe and ran to the next room not taking time for even one picture. Then we moved on to the sorting area where they sort the leaves through several belts and rollers, where they filter into these big bins to be combined into the various types of tea they produce.
No trip to a tea factory would be complete without the opportunity to taste and buy some tea. Which I did. Taste and buy. A lot of tea at a cheap price. People chuckled at me as I walked onto the bus because of the size of my shopping bag. I’m so excited to try them when I get home.
Sri Lanka is the place for gems as far back as the 4th century. We even saw some farmers strip mining their field for gems. China is buying into the business in a big way and investing in Sri Lankan infrastructure around the port. Blue sapphire, pink sapphire (or ruby), yellow sapphire, alexandrite, cat’s eye chrysoberyl, almandine, and hessonite garnet are all found here. I had a lovely time looking at all the sparkles and perusing the clothing stalls. I may have bought one or two things, but I didn’t get crazy. I tried bargaining a bit and walked away from a few deals.
I went back inside to get something to eat and shower (again; tropical humidity!). I checked out the window at one point and it was absolutely pouring outside, so I sat on my porch and watched the rain fall and the returning passengers running through the puddles to the gangway. We had a good thunder and lightning show as well. It was a wonderful day!
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