Bandarawela
Bandarawela, the enchanting and contemporary
hill town located 270 kilometers from
Colombo, at a height of 1,230 meters,
is an alternative resort stay for travelers
journeying to the hills of Nuwara Eliya.
Bandarawela is an excellent base for exploring
other places in the area and for breath
taking walks. This unremarkable town is
an expanse of nature with scenery so vivid,
varied yet interesting. Though you could
beautiful destination within 8 to 9 hours
by public bus or hired transport it is
best to be seen through the train travel
which takes an hour or so extra to reach
this destination, but is sure offer you
the best scenic beauty of the mountains
and the waterfalls and the mist hovering
above the tea estates, devoid of all attractions
in the way of amusement.
During the industrious Ceylon days when
tea the biggest beverage ever invented
drove the valiant towards the hill country
of Ceylon, Bandarawela was the cross road
between the capital and hills. With the
invention of the rail these unexplored
areas of the hill country began to attract
the many travelers passing through, as
they became fascinated by the climate
and the surroundings.
Today, Bandarawela a colonial turned modern
town attracts enthusiasts who find Nuwara
Eliya too cold, too difficult to get to
or just too expensive. And sure enough,
at 1,230m it boasts the pleasant, healthy
climate that makes it the beating heart
of the Health Triangle.
Wedged into a wooded slope, the compact
commercial centre is concentrated into
a few lanes. A few minutes on foot from
the roundabout, Bandarawela’s surviving
central colonial structures and consist
of multi cultural population. Less visible,
but worth a visit, is the Mlesna Tea Centre
on Welimada Road, good for sampling the
local nectar. Tea is the primary export
of Sri Lanka. Mlesna has won many Local
and International awards for producing
the best tea in the island for many long
years.
Founded in 1993 by a Reverend is the Woodland
Network a not-for-profit self-employed
women’s group, with the commendable
desire to educate rather than just show,
runs a variety of environmentally friendly
ventures, designed to benefit local communities.
These include ecotourism activities like
long and short self-guided or escorted
hikes, as well as other small-scale social
ventures, in the immediate and adjacent
areas; food culture classes such as spice
and tea talks, cooking demonstrations,
visits to local organic farms and tea
plantations; the sale of spices, cookbooks
and handicrafts; and even special theme
programmes centred on religious heritage,
meditation, Ayurveda and more.
For all those who love out door sports
you will definitely find the stay a blessing.
You could take a short one and half hour
brisk walk through gardens and paddies
to Komarikagoda or a two-hour trip to
the Ellathota reservoir or a 90-minute
up-and-back walk to Poonagalla with fantastic
views and small villages along the way
and a long trekking down to Amunudawe
on quiet local paths past the Konthahana
Buddhist temple and through farmland that
lasts two to three hours.
Let yourself be surprised and impressed
by this unpretentious place, the self-styled
Greenest Town in Sri Lanka, so refreshingly
free of the aggravations typical of more
heavily haunted sites. By far the most
captivating part of Bandarawela is the
lush and green land around it. Bandarawela
is fertile and bountiful, tilled and terraced,
healthy and healthful. This is one and
more reason why you should make a visit
to this haven in the hill country. The
best time to plan the trip is during March
to May and also August, December or January.
