The Road to Little England (Nuwara Eliya)
from Kandy (100 km)
An ascent: from Kandy (500m above sea level) to Nuwara Eliya (1800m
above sea level)
Change of climate: from Mediterranean climate to salubrious climate
Terrain
Steep mountain passes snake up through the highland landscapes south of
Kandy, reaching their pinnacle in the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, where
the plateau of the
Horton Plains National Park represents the island's
last stretch of high montane forest. We drive from Kandy to
Nuwara Eliya
through the hills carpeted with the uniformly clipped bright green
bushes of
Ceylon Tea. Road as well the railway line continues through
tea-clad hills & shelves of lush green paddy fields till
Badulla.
The British legacy
It was not until the 19th century, & the coming of the British, that
wild & impenetrable rainforest gave way to the familiar, intensively
cultivated tea plantations of today. The British colonial legacy has
lingered longer here, most notably in the hill station of
Nuwara Eliya,
nicknamed "Little England". The area's greatest appeal lies in the
natural beauty of its scenery, carved by mountain streams & powerful
waterfalls, & its cool crisp air.
By rail or road
By either rail or road, the journey up into the central Highlands over
the steep mountain passes offers some spectacular views, climbing
through tea estates & passing nearby some magnificent waterfalls.
Railway line
Kandy /
Peradeniya / Gelioya / Gampola / Ulapane / Nawalapitiya / Ingurvoya / Galboda / Watawala / Rozelle / Hatton / Kotagala / Talawakele / Watagoda / Great
Western / Radella / Nanu Oya (close to Nuwara Eliya) / Parakumpara / Ambewela / Pattipola / Ohiya / Idalgashinne /
Haputale / Diyatalawa (Cantonment) /
Bandarawela / Kinigama / Heeloya /
Ella / Demodara / Uduwara / Hali-Ela /
Badulla
Three road routes
Direct yet scenic route: Kandy / Peradeniya / Gampola /
Pussellawa / Ramboda / Nuwara
Eliya
Longer yet stillmore scenic route: Kandy / Peradeniya / Gampola / Nawalapitiya / Ginigathena / Rozella / Hatton / Talawakele / Nanu
Oya / Nuwara Eliya
Both routes into the highlands start by crossing the River Mahaweli,
passing through Peradeniya & then following the river valley to the
pleasant town of Gampola, a mediaeval Sinhalese capital.
The third route and a very pretty one, is on the B39: Hanguranketa /
Riklillagaskanda / Hunasgiriya / Ragala / Nuwara Eliya
Direct route: Kandy / Peradeniya / Gampola / Pussellawa / Ramboda / Nuwara Eliya
Leaving Kandy & turning to the south, a further ascent of 1400m (4700
ft) within a range of 80km (50 miles) takes us through stunning vistas,
deep valleys & dramatic chasms-cool green slopes of the Sri Lanka's
seemingly seamless plantations of Camelia sinensis (Ceylon Tea) in the
Central highlands ridge, often shrouded in cloud, reaches its apex
across the steep & spectacular Ramboda Pass on the way to the former
British hill resort of Nuwara Eliya.
Pusselawa (45km from Kandy)
Pussellawa is a busy shopping centre & has a rest house where you can
stop for refreshments or lunch. The tea gardens begin just below
Pussellawa. The craggy hill Monaragala appears to the south. Legends
tell that this is where King Dutugamunu hid in a rock while escaping
from his father, who had him in house arrest.
Some 5km later the road passes the Helbodda Oya. By Ramboda, we have
climbed 1000m. There is a fine 100m waterfall with a twin stream on the
Puna Ela, a tributary of the Mahaweli River, just off the road which can
be seen from the bazzar. After 54km from Kandy the road climbs through a
series of hairpins to the west over Kothmale Reservoir, a large tank
created as a part of Mahaweli Development project. The area is covered
with pine trees & ferns.
Ramboda Falls hotel (58km from Kandy)
Ramboda Falls hotel near Kothmale Reservoir is down a very steep
driveway to your right. The view of the falls from here is quite
marvellous & there's a restaurant with a pleasant veranda to view them
from. There's a narrow path to the water falls. Bollywood superstar
Amitabh Bachchan once stayed here, & there are photos of him looking
pretty cool.
The 415-ha Labookellie tea estate, one of the island's largest, follows
the twisty road for miles along their hillside. The women tea pluckers
are all Tamils, descendants of labourers who migrated from Tamilnadu
during the British colonial era. Today those people too are Sri Lankans,
the citizens of Sri Lanka. The tea factory, an enormous corrugated iron
building, welcomes visitors to drop in to the delightful tea centre &
have a cup of tea. The tour is quite informative-all stages of the
process from picking, drying, oxidation & grading are shown in the
morning. There are free guided tours of the factory, available in
English, German, French & Italian, which run every 20 minutes. You are
also offered refreshments: free tea & cake! Mmmmm.
From the Labookellie Estate it is a short climb through more tea gardens
to the narrow pass above Nuwara Eliya, & the road then drops down into
the sheltered hollow in the hills now occupied by the town
Longer route
In the longer route to Nuwara Eliya, we drive next to the railway line
or close to it for much of the way. From Gampola, the B43 road branches
to the right towards Nawalapitiya & then joins the A7, the main Colombo-Nuwara
Eliya road, at the Ginigathena Mountain Pass (38km). There are
magnificent views at the top, although they are often obscured by cloud,
for the pass is one of the wettest areas of Sri Lanka. Ginigathena is a
small town with a bazzar for the tea estate workers. Ginigathena / Rozella / Hatton / Talawakale / Nanu
Oya / Nuwara Eliya
Excurions to Kitulgala for white-water rafting & nature
A right turn at Ginigathena herein takes you west on the A7 road down to
the attractively set village of Kitulgala
Excurions to Watawala
Continuing to south from Ginigathena takes us into the highlands where
the road winds through a beautiful valley, surrounded by green, vast tea
estates to Watawala (10km) & past Carolina Falls nearby, which are
spectacular in the rainy season. Then the road takes the left bank of
the Mahaweli Ganga (river) to Hatton.
Excursions Dalhousie
A couple of hours drive to the southwest from Hatton takes you to
Dalhousie, the most practical place for climbing Adam's Peak. Hatton
onwards climate is noticeably cooler. Occasionally there are views right
across the plains to Colombo & Kelaniya Valley.
Hotel Breeta's garden
Hotel Breeta's garden has been built at a scenic location at Ranjurawa,
Ginigathena along the Colombo-Hatton highway, overlooking the cascading
Aberdeen waterfall. The hotel is surrounded by beautiful mountains, and
a lush tea estate. The beautiful swimming pool herein is a rare feature
for a hotel in the hill country. The hotel has introduced an
international lunch buffet every Sunday at an attractive price, for
in-house guests and tourists travelling to Nuwara Eliya on the
Colombo-Hatton highway.
The third route
Scenic Hanguranketa was the 17th century was the mountain refuge for
Kandyan King Rajasinhe the 2nd.
Riklillagaskanda
Just a few kilometeres south at Rikillagaskada, where route B39 meets
B49, an innovative Scotsman, James Taylor, gave tea cultivation its
first shot. What a shot that was! Taylor arrived in Ceylon at the age of
16 on assignment to a coffee plantation in Deltota. Today you can visit
Loolecondera Estate where Taylor's first tea flourished 120 years ago &
buy packets of tea to take home.
The view across the Great Valley towards Hunasgiriya is spectacular.
Scenic hills of Sleeping Warrior, Brandy Rock (North Wiltshire) &
Friar's Hood (Toppigala) on the Knuckles range (KR) are seen here. There
are more tea estates cosily cradling the undulating hills of the winding
route through Ragala. The Kurundu Oya Falls drop 189 meters (630 ft)
above the Mulhalkele Bridge. Picturesque waterfalls cluster round the
town of Nuwara Eliya. The Lover's Leap falls 30 meters (100 ft) in north
of Nanu Oya.
Read More: Central Highlands,
Colombo Kandy Road