The Tea Country Trail

Sri Lanka’s first long-distance hiking trail was officially opened last month and it runs close to Jungle Tide! When complete, in three years’ time, the trail will be 300km long, winding its way through the spectacular mountain scenery of the tea country. The first stage, of around 11km, funded by the European Union and USAID, begins at the Ceylon Tea Museum, on the road between Jungle Tide and Kandy, skirts the Hanthana mountains and ends at the small town of Galaha, passing within two kilometres of Jungle Tide on the way. Stage two takes you on to Loolecondera, the estate where Ceylon tea was first produced and a favourite short day trip for our guests.

Information and stories

A feature of the trail, which will be fully waymarked, is the signage and local information. The photo above shows one near to us with information about the nearby village of Kitulmulla. More detailed information points at the start and finish of each stage tell important local stories. The first, at the Tea Museum, relates the story of the Kandyan Kings. At Galaha walkers can learn about the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which was largely filmed in the Hanthana area. And at Loolecondera visitors can learn about the pioneer Scottish planter James Taylor who brought tea to Ceylon in 1867. 

We are very excited by this trail and looking forward to welcoming trail hikers to a comfortable stay at Jungle Tide. You can either walk part of Stage 1 and walk down to Jungle Tide, picking up where you left off the following morning, or walk the whole of Stage 1 to Galaha and we will send a tuk-tuk to pick you up and take you back there the next day.

For more about the trail visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/teacountrytrail

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/sri-lanka/kandy/tea-country-trail-1-hantana-to-galaha