Last night there was entertainment in one of the bars - the winner of last year's Australia's Got Talent - so we went for a while. It was a very 'club' atmosphere so we lasted for only a couple of songs, but he is a good singer.
This morning we all sort of groaned at the idea of another tea plantation, but what a surprise we had! This was the home of a white tea that has taken the world by storm (who knew? ). We met the owner, Herman Gunaratne who told us his story:
Three generations ago this was a prosperous 2200 acre plantation of tea, rubber and cinnamon. The government nationalized much of the tea production and seized 1000 acres. Then his grandfather lost another 1000 acres gambling. With this much-reduced plantation Herman was looking for a way to improve his fortune. Through a series of events he figured out how to grow and process a very high quality of white tea, which was discovered by the prestigious Mariage Frieres in Paris and the rest is history.
He's a great story teller and he served us tea at his home,
then took us to the store, where we sampled about 30 or 40 types of tea.
Larry and I both liked Sapphire Bolong and others liked other flavours.
The white tea is very expensive and none of us bought it.
We also picked up a copy of his latest book: The Suicide Club and had them autographed.
On the way to the main road, we passed a shrine where Buddhist Sunday School was just letting out. The children, of whom their priest must have been at least 100, were dressed in white, as were most of the adults. this tradition started to counter British Christian Sunday School in colonial times.
The next stop was a large museum of local artifacts showing Sri Lankan history back several thousand years. The grounds also house the home of Martin Wickramasinghe, a famous author whose ideas still inform discussion here, nearly 40 years after his death.
After a stop at a wine shop, we came back to the hotel for a "hall party" lunch. Cathy and Sally-Jo headed to the spa and the rest of us to the pool; then we all relaxed until dinner.
Maria-Angelica is the latest victim of the cold that Nuwan, Cathy and Larry had earlier. For them it lasted only a day or two, so we hope it's the same for her.
All Photos of the Day
This morning we all sort of groaned at the idea of another tea plantation, but what a surprise we had! This was the home of a white tea that has taken the world by storm (who knew? ). We met the owner, Herman Gunaratne who told us his story:
Three generations ago this was a prosperous 2200 acre plantation of tea, rubber and cinnamon. The government nationalized much of the tea production and seized 1000 acres. Then his grandfather lost another 1000 acres gambling. With this much-reduced plantation Herman was looking for a way to improve his fortune. Through a series of events he figured out how to grow and process a very high quality of white tea, which was discovered by the prestigious Mariage Frieres in Paris and the rest is history.
He's a great story teller and he served us tea at his home,
then took us to the store, where we sampled about 30 or 40 types of tea.
Larry and I both liked Sapphire Bolong and others liked other flavours.
The white tea is very expensive and none of us bought it.
We also picked up a copy of his latest book: The Suicide Club and had them autographed.
The next stop was a large museum of local artifacts showing Sri Lankan history back several thousand years. The grounds also house the home of Martin Wickramasinghe, a famous author whose ideas still inform discussion here, nearly 40 years after his death.
After a stop at a wine shop, we came back to the hotel for a "hall party" lunch. Cathy and Sally-Jo headed to the spa and the rest of us to the pool; then we all relaxed until dinner.
Maria-Angelica is the latest victim of the cold that Nuwan, Cathy and Larry had earlier. For them it lasted only a day or two, so we hope it's the same for her.
All Photos of the Day
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