Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, Teardrop of India, Pearl of the Orient, is a mixture of East and West cultures, mostly I think because it was conquered by just about everybody. 

Spent a few days in the capitol, Colombo on the Indian Ocean, then took the train to Kandy to see the Buddha.  While the Brits were busy colonizing the place, they built a railroad to transport tea and coffee to the capitol. The Sri Lankans  maintained and expanded it and now it is ridiculously fun.  The windows open, it has ceiling fans, and you can hang out of the windows and doors. The tea walhalla comes by with sweet tea.

Went to see the Tooth Temple, so called because it has a relic of Buddha’s tooth, just like altar-stone relics in the Catholic Church. The faithful buy lotus flowers and frangipani from vendors outside.

 The building is modest from the outside, and I was unprepared for the opulence and the devotion of the Buddhists inside. The temple is their second holiest site. There were almost no Westerners and it felt a little weird to be a tourist around such reverence, but everyone smiled.  Below is a side altar. 

The temple smelled great with all the flowers. I sat outside for awhile. It was very peaceful. 

The next day, I took another train, this one a little newer but the same the same vibe. The train crept into the mountains, Palm tress giving way to pine forests and miles and miles of tea plantations.  The scenery was spectacular.  Tea fields in the distance.  

Nuwara Eliya was invented by the Brits to escape the tropical sun. The weather here is cool and gorgeous and everything still has British names. My hotel has an English garden with topiary no less  and a pub. 

Visited a tea plantation and factory today.  The tour of the facility was cool, it is an almost entirely manual operation. Ladies harvest the tea which is a back breaking job.

According  to the local news, my sisters are getting screwed by global warming among other things.  They make about $8 per day. 

I am having and blast and getting used to being called madam.
Checking out the beaches next. 

Oh, and the folks say that there is no virus here because it is too hot; it’s only for winter countries