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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rochel1977" data-source="post: 18676931" data-attributes="member: 371">High country: Trains and tea <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m035_DSC_3614.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> We've now left the lowlands and taken the very steep windy road up into the mountains. We're here at the train station in Ella, where we're waiting now for the train. Meanwhile, Piper finds a few cute puppies. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m036_DSC_3599.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> I find pineapples in a tuk-tuk!! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m037_DSC_3635.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Heidi and Astro wait for the train. We're going from Ella to Nanu Oya, a very scenic four-hour route. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m038_DSC_3638.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Finn is very excited to sit & spin. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m039_DSC_3641.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> TRAIN!!!!!! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m040_DSC_3658.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Here comes our train! And what is that in his hand? Check it out -- it's a token ring! While now used as a term for network packet transfer, the term originally come from railroads. It's a simple but foolproof way of managing traffic through sections of track which are shared by multiple lines. Not very many countries still use physical tokens as part of their normal operation, but India and Sri Lanka still do. I'd always heard about these, but never seen one. So, how do you avoid a head-on collision, where you have trains in both directions on the same track? In a modern system you'd use an electric signal. But here, they use a physical token to control the single-track portion. One train passes through while carrying the token, and then once out of the shared line, physically hands it off to the next train. If you don't have the token, you're not allowed to move. This completely avoids any risk of head-on collision. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m041_DSC_3672.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> And we're on! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m042_DSC_3711.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> We had very nice second-class cars. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m043_DSC_3737.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Finn is a big train fan, and the trip was pretty awesome. He stayed awake and very into it nearly the full four hours. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m044_DSC_3800.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m045_DSC_3925.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m046_DSC_3935.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m047_DSC_3946.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m048_DSC_3955.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> There were some tourists at the train station where we got on, but we didn't see them again. Where did they go? Turns out that the train had a 1st-class section with fancy padded seats and carpets. Our was definitely the way to go for the open-air experience though. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m049_DSC_3976.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> This guy in our car brought us sweet tea to share. He's an English teacher in a local high school. Check out that awesome-looking trunk down the hall in the next car, too! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m050_DSC_3985.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m051_DSC_4054.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m052_DSC_4074.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Heidi and Astro are real rail-riders. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m053_DSC_4160.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> This is the kid of the guy who gave us the tea. You can see the first-class cars up front too. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m054_DSC_4208.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m055_DSC_4235.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Now we're passing thru the tea plantations! Holy cow - this was cool. We've gained a lot of elevation, and are nearing 6000'. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m056_DSC_4245.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Finn: "These are carrots! I'm going to tell my grandma I saw a whole field of carrots growing!!" <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m057_DSC_4253.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon) is still the world's #4 tea producer, after China, India, and Kenya (!). The tea plant is a very normal-looking bush up close -- in fact, it looks just like a ficus that you might have as an office plant. But when it covers the hillsides in dark green, it looks exceptionally beautiful. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m058_DSC_4259.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The tea pickers make around $3 US/day. The tea gets plucked, leaf-by-leaf, into the blue bags they carry on their back. And even on hot days, they're covered in long pants, to avoid the leeches... more on that later. We're just about to our destination at Nanu Oya, followed by a short drive up the hill to Nurawa Eliya, where we stay for three nights. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m059_DSC_4271.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Pulling into Nanu Oya. This is a high train -- in fact, just a few minutes back we've passed through the highest point on the entire Sri Lanka railway system (Pattipola station, 6200'). This is also broad gauge track -- 5' 6" wide, as opposed to the standard 5' 8.5" in the US -- and thus we've just come over the highest elevation broad-gauge track in the world. Interestingly, BART runs on these wide-gauge tracks -- the only major US operator today. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m060_DSC_4282.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Our guides met us at the station -- turns out you can drive the 4-hour train route in about two hours. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m061_DSC_4294.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> We've made it to Nuwara Eliya ('New England'), which is a high-elevation town (8000') at the heart of the tea plantation world in Sri Lanka. It's also somewhat strangely English, like a little UK theme park. The hotel we were at ('Glenfall Reach Hotel') was much more into impressing us with their tea and biscuits and meatloaf than making any veggie curries. This is all probably due to the British owners of a lot of the tea estates during the Ceylon era. Well, meanwhile, Finn does his best to behave in a park. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m062_DSC_4348.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> In South Africa after dark, the streets are dead: very few people are outside (black or white) because of fear of crime. It was so amazing to be able to walk outside at night past the fruit market and see dozens of people out there buying weird fruits!! Finn: "Daddy, how come everything in Sri Lanka is so small? The oranges are small and the 'nanas are also so small... it's very strange." <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m063_DSC_4376.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Astro in the Hakgala botanic garden, outside of Nuwara Eliya. This garden -- at one point the king's personal garden -- was started as an experimental garden for making first cinchona (source of quinine, the active ingredient in tonic water), and then tea. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m064_DSC_4392.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Go Astro go! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m065_DSC_4422.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> It was a very wet and active botanical garden. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m066_DSC_4460.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> I told Finn he was not allowed to touch the flowers. But then... <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m067_DSC_4480.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> This is a Buddhist country (70%). But we were a few days before Christmas, and many people were wearing Santa hats, including this family. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m068_DSC_4504.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Librarians and TSA agents take note: while waiting for Indian food in the adjacent restaurant, Finn and I have found the most amazing slide in the world. it's made out of those rolling wheels that are designed for sliding luggages and books, and are always so tempting to play with... and here you can! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m069_DSC_4512.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Around the corner from the playground is a brand new hotel, which the Sri Lankan president is opening up today. Here's part of his security detail. I don't think any of them have weapons. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m070_IMG_1932.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Security agents were actually posted all around the hotel, which is a few hundred meters from here. A lot of them stood on roofs of private homes; this one has taken over the balcony (just above the green tuk-tuk on the right). <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/i071_DSC_4549.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Tuk-tuk! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m072_DSC_5618.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Nice tuk-tuk, nice shoes! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m073_DSC_4594.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> And again! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m074_DSC_4612.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The view over Nuwara Eliya from our hotel room. The fireworks are inaugurating the new hotel (white building), which the president is visiting. The president does come to town frequently... he has a summer retreat palace here already. I believe that is a field of carrots between the hotel and ours. That makes me so happy. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m075_DSC_4681.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Just outside of Nuwara Eliya proper we visit a few tea plantations. This is the Mackwoods Labookellie factory. They grow, pick, and dry the tea here. It's then driven in a truck to Colombo (50 miles line-of-sight, but a 5 hour drive) a few times a week, where it's packaged. Most of the tea from this company goes to Russia and the middle East. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m076_DSC_4689.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Want to know where your tea comes from? This is the actual daily tea processing log at the Mackwoods factory. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m077_DSC_4695.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Tuk-tuk and tea! Still at Mackwoods. This is all tea -- for many km around. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m078_DSC_4702.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Those tea fields are so surreal and cool. And they always have a sparse but non-zero planting of trees, too. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m079_DSC_4800.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> At the Blue Field tea factory, a few miles further down the road. This building in front of us (the main factory, which is in the middle of their fields) is where all of the drying / fermenting / grinding / sifting / grading / etc happens. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m080_DSC_4723.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> And what is that building full of? Rooms like this one, used for drying the tea. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m081_DSC_4756.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> More tea-processing equipment. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m082_DSC_4778.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> This is the wood-fired furnace that dries all the tea at the Blue Field factory. This man here cleans out the furnace once a week. It's fed with rubber wood. If you like tea, thank this guy. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m083_DSC_4786.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Awesome tea machines. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m084_DSC_4835.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m085_DSC_4829.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Between South Africa and Sri Lanka, Finn has been enjoying a lot of tea. He does get it at school for snack breaks, too. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m086_DSC_4863.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Tuk-tuk driver carrying around a lot of cut grasses. He really wanted me to take a picture of him chewing on the grasses. Not sure why. (I did do so, though, before he asked me for a few rupees.) <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m087_DSC_4714.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Commercial detour! This guy ran in front of our van as we were driving down the mountain switchbacks. He tried to sell us flowers and we declined. 90 seconds later, on the next switcback, he was there again, somehow ahead of us! He'd short-cutted and waited to chase us again. And then sure enough another two minutes down... I thought we'd lost him but there he was again on the next switchback. He was running fast in the mountains and kept in pursuit, and that was worth buying a few flowers. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m088_DSC_4879.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> "Yo Finn! Hey, everyone else is taking really beautiful pictures by the waterfall. Can you do something really beautiful for me?" <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m089_IMG_1962.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Astro and I hang out in the vehicle. The distances aren't far in Sri Lanka, but roads are very windy and dense with traffic... we spent many hours in the vehicle. </blockquote>

Verification: Hath warak paha keeyada? (hatha wadikireema paha)

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