This trail begins at St. Catherine, a tea plantation workers' village sitting high up on a plateau. The area is well known because of the nearby Lipton’s Seat - a vantage point from where Sir Thomas Lipton, widely known as the father of Ceylon tea, liked to survey his tea empire.
On this hike, you will pass colourful vegetable plots, a patch of Eucalyptus forest, and walk along the edge of a plateau through village homes, cultivations, and tea. Soon you will approach one of the most spectacular locations on the entire Pekoe Trail. From here try to spot one of Sri Lanka’s highest mountains, Namunukula, which means "Nine Peaks" in Sinhala. According to Wikipedia during the Ming treasure voyages of the 15th century, the Chinese fleet led by Admiral Zheng made use of this geographical feature in their navigation to Sri Lanka, as the mountain is the first visible landmark of Sri Lanka after departing Sumatra.
The descent of this stage takes you on old British-planter engineered estate roads. You pass the old Balagala Tea Planters Bungalow and walk through the Balagala village with an impressive and enormous Hindu Kovil. There are lovely forested areas here, which finally lead to the Buddhist Temple in Makulella that marks the end of the stage.
