haputale

Haputale is a small town in the southeastern part of Sri Lanka's Hill Country. It can be easily accessed by train, with the train station close to the center of town. It can be said that the place is a little overlook, with very few visitors while we were there. Our main reason in going to Haputale is to see the famed Lipton's Seat, but we get to see a bit more.

Lipton's Seat

Early morning scene.

The main reason why people go to Haputale is to visit Lipton's Seat. Said to be the favorite spot of Sir Thomas Lipton to view his tea plantation, the place is named after the man behind that tea you're drinking. Perched on top of a hill, the viewpoint offers a breathtaking view of the landscape. In the early morning, the gentle touch of the sun as the mist settles in makes the scenery more sublime.

There is tea anywhere you look.

To get there, it is convenient to hire a tuk-tuk. From the center of town, it is a 17-km hair-raising trip along a narrow road winding through tea plantations, occasionally going through very steep slopes on one side and a scary drop on the other. But the views along the way of seemingly endless verdant pattern covering the hills and slopes certainly makes the trip worth-taking.

Another option is to take the bus to Dambatenne Tea Factory and walk for about two to three hours. The earliest bus leaves the town at 7 AM. Since we wanted to be there in the early morning, we opted to hire a tuk-tuk. And besides, the fair is fixed at 1500 LKR roundtrip which is pretty reasonable considering that it also includes a stop at the tea factory.

Dambatenne Tea Factory

Founded more than a century ago, Dambatenne Tea Factory one of the most famous factories to accept visitors. The factory is established by Sir Thomas Lipton himself in 1890. Today, the factory is still standing, functioning and employing about 1500 tea pickers.

The tour which costs 250 LKR per person is quite informative, especially for someone like me who has no idea about how tea is made. All of the stages from cutting, drying, fermenting, several stages of refining, and heating were explained to us while workers were hard at work. This factory produces only black tea of varying quality. They also make white tea in small amount but undergoes a different process and is really expensive.

They don't allow taking photos inside the building so here's a photo of their nice garden.

Adisham Monastery

Standing like a rarity in Haputale with its European design, Adisham or St. Benedict's Monastery was built by an English planter in 1931. The monastery is open to visitors only on weekends, Poya Days and school holidays except on Christmas and Good Friday. (Thankfully, we were there on a Sunday.) However, only a small part of the building is shown to visitors. Instead a video shows its interior and talks more about its history and the person who built it. You would need to remove your shoes before entering the building.

Photography is prohibited inside the building. Our tuk-tuk driver is a good friend of one of the staff facilitating visitors so we were given permission to take photos of the interior. But being me, I didn't take advantage of it.

It is easy to enjoy the tranquility that this place offers. Aside from the views of the mountains, they have well-mainted garden of roses and other flowers whose varying colors are truly beautiful. The entrance fee of about a dollar goes mostly to the care of this pretty garden.

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St. Andrew's Chapel

We took a leisurely walk to this tiny chapel to check if there was a mass. But the place was deserted, and the doors were locked.

More interesting than the chapel building are the tombs surrounding it. Reading the inscriptions, we found only English-sounding names. The tombs were old - some were already crumbling - giving the
church an eerie feel.