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Tea Planting
Sri Lanka is well known for its tea plantations (which British people planted originally) so we headed out in Christan's tuk-tuk to one that was nearby. He was very jolly, singing away and smiling along the journey.
It took about an hour to get to the Handunugoda tea plantation and we were handed over to our tour guide who took us around the grounds. The company is known for its virgin white tea (apparently a Chinese emperor used to order virgins to cut the tips of the tea leaves with golden scissors and the whole production was untouched by human hands. Nowadays only the scissor part is true. Only a small part of the plants are used, the tips are small compared to the leaves that are used for making black & green tea.
The plantation also had rubber trees, so we could see how the sap is collected (they cut off some of the bark and catch it in a coconut bowl before sending it off to production). I also got to see the raw coffee beans from the plant for the first time (the plants don't really grow that well over here though). There were also jackfruits, cinnamon plants, black pepper (more of a fruity taste than Kampot) and different types of hibiscus flowers.
We got to sample some sapphire oolong tea, and some cake. The tea itself was quite smooth and tasted quite clean (no bitterness). After this we got shown around the factory where the black and green leaves get taken for processing. The first stage puts the leaves onto a unit that blows cold air beneath the leaves to remove 50% of the water (but never sun dried) before its left to ferment for 2 hours. The second stage takes the leaves into a machine that cuts and rolls the leaves for about 45 minutes. The third stage heats the leaves to fully dry them and the fourth separates the stalks and the leaves (the stalks are then used as compost).
After watching a short video we were then able to taste a sample of the 30 different types of tea they produce. There are some really unusual ones like the "Suicide Club Blend" that contains alcohol, and a smoked Chinese tea, that had a strong (and not nice) aftertaste. It was hard to find a favourite because they all started to taste the same after a while (and nothing to wash your mouth out with in between). I think I preferred the lemongrass and yogi (spiced) tea more than any of the others.
The tour itself was free but then you can buy from the shop. We both got some of the Oolong and Tash got some of the Virgin white tea (£10 for 50g).
After stopping off back at the guesthouse we went back out to Jungle Beach which was also nearby. The German couple from the day before said the one you get taken to isn't very nice but if you go to the one before the Stupa (there's a giant one at the top along with a pagoda) then it's much nicer. Despite walking around and up and down for an hour we could only find the crappy one (it's about 100 meters down a slope so in the sun going backwards and forwards was hard going). Before we gave up Tash found a lookout point and then we could see the other beach.
Lunch was needed before we did anymore walking. After a bland chicken sandwich, we were climbing over some rocks onto a small path, before more rocks and another path got us to last set of rocks before the beach. I was keen to avoid getting all our stuff wet like the day before so I managed to jump down between the bigger waves and end up dry.
It was worth it, not many people on the beach and it was much bigger (the first one only had space for a few deck chairs). I spent a lot of time being pulled around by the waves again although it felt much stronger than the day before.
We thought the way back might be easier as there were some steps to take backup to the road. As we got to them there were a load of macaque red faced monkeys (maybe 5 or 6) on the trees, one was eating a watermelon and another grabbed a plastic bag of rubbish and started tearing it apart. Walking to the top took longer than I expected, plus we got eaten a lot by Mosquitos (we had left the bug spray in the tuk-tuk).
I had asked Melani if I could watch my dinner being made that evening, to see if I could spot any differences with the preparation from Indian food. I had ordered fish curry, but not a lot was given away in the kitchen. Christan chopped an onion and some garlic up, put it in a pot with some fish and then added a blob of something wet and very dark red - I was told this was mustard, but on asking some more found out it was a paste that had chilli, garlic and some unnamed spices (It was also pre brought from the market). Next up was some tamarind, and 'curry powder' - They use two types, one where the spices are toasted before being ground and other is just raw spices (we used the first lot), again they didn't really tell me the combo. Some fresh curry leaves went in and after I said I wanted it to be spicy like they would make it for themselves, Christan added two good piles of crushed chilli. A bit of water went in and then a fish head, before the lid being put on and left to cook.
It was a shame I didn't see the whole lot being made, as when it came to the table we had another array of dishes to accompany it (aubergine, pumpkin, and some other veg plus popadoms). Tash had chicken curry. Again we were full to the brim and again we got a surprise dessert to try; Curd & Honey, that's made from buffalo milk and you get a treacle like substance to drop over the top of it, good to try.
Bowls of rice; 56
Monkeys; (I have lost count)
Sri Lankan curries; 6
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