This stage starts in the hilltown of Uda Pussellawa, a small, but lively town in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. The walk takes you along beautiful tea trails across valleys, verdant tea fields, vegetable plots, and tea factories.
Remember to stop by at Gordon’s Estate, located along the border of the Central and Uva provinces. As you descend from here prepare yourself for spectacular views of the valleys below. Continue towards Kandapola, where you are treated to more sprawling views of the Uva bowl.
On a clear day, you can easily make out the contours of Haputale, Lipton Seat, and Ella Rock, wrapping around the Uva bowl. This part of the tea country is also famous for producing vegetables, cultivating crops such as carrots or leeks.
Once you leave the colourful vegetable plots behind, you walk through a patch of cooling high-elevation rainforest teeming with wildlife, birds, monkeys, and leopards. The highest point of today’s walk is the Hethersett Estate fields and the iconic Heritance Tea Factory Hotel – a great example of how tourism can contribute to heritage conservation. This abandoned tea factory was turned into a hotel and has even been listed as one the ‘100 Best Places to Stay in the World’ by the Sunday Times UK. The trail ends in the town of Kandapola.
