Day Twelve: Risking life and limb in the mountains!

After a delightful breakfast we headed off on a mission to see the heights of the tea mountains. Making our way up curving roads between steep tea plantations was complicated by the presence of cows and goats who wandered untethered on the roadside. There were formal signs along the way declaring the name of each Plantation Company and the buildings contained there: Manager's bungalow, Tea Factory, Tea Lounge etc.

 I did find it very intriguing that every sign was dark green lettering on a white board and in the same lettering. It must be a colonial tradition that has continued. Each Plantation had a village within its grounds where the tea pluckers and workers lived, but more of that later.

We were on a mission to get to Pilkington Point for a panoramic view whilst the sun was shining. The journey should have been straightforward: just keep climbing along the only road to get to the top.  Instead it was an adventure!!!

It was difficult to navigate some of the roads and work out exactly where to go. Of course,  we relied on Sid and Udya's expertise but the information and maps weren't clear. They asked a guy in a very tiny village for directions and he sent us down a road which was not designed for vans - that's an understatement actually. There was very little space between very steep tea plantations on one side and huge rocks on the other. There were several times when we all breathed in as we teetered on the edge of the slope. I was wondering whether anyone would notice if I put my seatbelt on, as I contemplated the consequences of us rolling down the mountain. After a few kilometres of proceeding slowly downward Sid stopped at a tiny isolated building which proved to be the Maternal Child Health Centre and spoke to the nurse who sent us back up the road to the same tiny village perched on the mountain top. Finding a spot to turn wasn't easy and I have no idea what would have happened if a vehicle had come towards us in the opposite direction! But Udaya was as cool as a cucumber and drove slowly and skilfully: we were most impressed!

Then our 'friend' told us we would have to get into tuk tuks to get to Pilkington Point. Sid was sure this was a scam : send us down an impossible road and then rescue us by suggesting we use his friend's tuk tuks. We were determined to get there so we piled into tuk tuks and headed upwards to the Point. Kerryn and I were in the first tuk tuk and were rather alarmed to realise that the rough road consisted of two strips of concrete the perfect distance apart for cars/vans with large rocks filling the space between them. Let me just say that a tuk tuk is a three-wheeled vehicle much narrower than a car so one of the tyres was on the smooth concrete whilst the other bounced perilously on the rocks in the middle and completely unbalanced the tuk tuk!

Again we contemplated the consequences of rolling down the steep slopes and we became slightly hysterical, screaming with laughter: a totally inappropriate response I have to admit.

Our driver stopped in the middle of the road and we got out thinking we were there and then he drove away to our astonishment. As we were definitely not at a lookout, we started to walk back down the hill to be met by the others in their equally rocky tuk tuks.

By this stage we were determined to get to the Point even if it killed us, as it almost had!

We realised that the road ahead was being constructed, so to get to the Point we had to walk over large rocks which were the first level of the new road. I'm not sure what the road workers thought of us tramping over a rough unmade road. We finally arrived at Pilkington's Point only to discover that the clouds had ruined most of the view. Apparently on a clear day you can see five provinces of Sri Lanka whereas it was a little difficult to see them clearly. Sid did a great job of pointing them out anyway: just in case we ever returned I guess.

We retraced our journey and were glad to get back in the van on a decent road.  Next we visited one of Sid's 'little gems': a fascinating 500 year old Buddhist temple at Bandarawela. 

As we walked down the stairs to reach the cave temple - no shoes on, and legs and arms covered appropriately - there were lots of devotees all dressed in white, climbing up multiple sets of stairs. Many of them were our age and so there was a lot of nodding and smiling, and for them resting, so they could make it to the top of the stairs.

We entered some small rooms contoured by the shape of the cave and brightly painted with stories of Buddha's life. The faces were all different and the stories they told seemed relevant to the present. For example, one was three voluptuous women trying to tempt Buddha.

Sid led us around to the back of the temple to a small dark dusty cave. There were a few eggs lying at the entrance and when Sid told us this was a cobra cave we all suddenly realised he was talking about a live cobra!!! Cobras do feature in buddhist teachings and statues, often as protection. Fortunately there was no sign of the cobra as the cave leads into tunnels we couldn't see. The length of the tunnels is supposed to be 4-5 kms. but nobody really knows and nobody is putting their hand up to go and find out! But there were broken eggshells littering the cave when we looked more closely. At the side of the cave there was a collection of small buddhas all of whom were damaged in some way. As they are sacred objects it's bad karma to throw them in a rubbish bin so instead you can bring them to a temple and leave them there.

Finally we climbed up a rocky slope inside the temple compound to see a beautiful relief carving of a tall buddha stretching the height of a huge granite rock. Very simple, ancient and serene.

And then of course we had to climb back up the stairs: in the heat it was a challenge!

Given we had spent days driving past tea plantations covering every available piece of land despite the steep inclines, it was time to learn more.

Before we left Australia, I'd watched a Foreign Correspondent program which was a sad indictment on the way in which the tea pluckers were treated. Everyone involved, from the Plantation owners to the Government to the Fair Trade organisation, passed the buck to another player. Consequently, in the region where they filmed the episode, the tea pluckers rights were limited and access to quality housing, healthcare and education was poor. As we drove around there were clear differences in the quality of the tea pluckers housing from one Plantation to another. 

When the British took control in the early 1800s they realised the wealth available from tea/coffee/rubber plantations. To make the most of this opportunity they required a source of cheap labour.  They used kannikanniyas to organise large numbers of Tamils to be brought to the mountains from Tamil Nadu in India. These 'supervisors' were little more than people smugglers who press-ganged Tamils to leave India, and treated them so badly that about half died on the trip to the tea plantations under harsh conditions. Up until 1983 they were not considered to be citizens of Sri Lanka and yet they had lived here for generations. They're known as Estate Tamils.

We met Siva, who is actually a trekking guide, to explain the plucking and production of tea. He comes from a family who lives in the village on the plantation and generations of his family have been tea-pluckers. So he showed us around the Agarapatana Plantation: Haputale Estate where his family worked. It's a Government-owned Estate so the Managers report directly to the Government.

A couple of the tea pluckers were happy to be photographed. They wear simple saris and often don't wear shoes at all, so they can negotiate the muddy spaces between bushes.

Here's some facts and figures:

- they are provided with a house rent-free within the plantation, and can keep the house after they retire at 55.

- when they turn 55 they are given a lump sum. They can still pluck although they only get paid 500 rupiah ($2.50) per day: far less than younger tea pluckers.

- They receive their monthly pay in cash and also receive 10 kgms flour and 10 kgms. rice depending on the number of tea pluckers in each family. On this plantation they are paid 4,500 rupiah ($23) per day but only if they pluck 18 kgms of tea, which is a lot of tea -  about 4 huge bags!! They are paid much less if they do not make this target.

- the current Government is working with the Plantation owners ,and the Unions and Associations supporting the tea pluckers with a view to increasing the pay.  

- It is a very hard life because of the physical nature of the work, the isolation and the comparatively poor pay. Young people are not interested in pursuing it as a career, and the lack of committed workers is a serious problem for the industry. Mechanised tea plucking has not been a success, as yet.

Tea bushes only produce after two years: some are planted in perfect uniform rows and others by throwing seed and hoping for the best! They need to be plucked every 7 days and only the top 5 leaves are plucked for black tea. For the more expensive special tea, such as silver tea, only 3 leaves are plucked. They require pruning every 4-5 years and are pruned by one stroke of a machete per bush (it must be sharp!). After pruning it takes 6 months before they produce again.

We declined the offer to have a go at plucking because we had tried last time and we were pathetic! Balancing on muddy steep slopes dressed in heavy cotton saris and carrying a huge heavy bag to store the leaves was very challenging! After quite some time we had picked barely enough for a packet of tea so we aren't giving up our day jobs to go tea plucking.

On the way back to Koslanda we decided to walk down the road to the waterfall we had failed to reach the previous day: so much more civilised than rock hopping. The Diyaluma Falls are amongst the highest in Sri Lanka so worth seeing. 

After an eventful day we enjoyed another cocktail and a nibble,  more delicious Sri Lankan food and relaxed conversation. 

I wasn't tired so I sat on the verandah and admired the stars and a few fireflies that hovered nearby. Finally I decided to plunge into my personal plunge pool.

Just as I was wondering whether I should check the pool for uninvited guests, I saw a golden frog perched on the top of a half door leading to the pool. After a few minutes he disappeared so, before I climbed into the pool, I made sure he, or any of his friends, weren't about to join me.  

Gazing at the stars from the cool of the pool was the perfect end for the day!

Your cool and relaxed correspondent 

Dianne