Kandapola to Nuwara Eliya – 10.81 km
This stage is currently under development – the stage is walkable but not yet signposted. The official opening of this stage will be announced soon.
This is the final stage of The Pekoe Trail, or perhaps it’s the first – if you are walking the trail in reverse. The trail starts at Kandapola town, a small yet busy transit town located 14 km east of the regional capital Nuwara Eliya.
Our hike started early on Tuesday morning (17.01.23) at the Pedro Tea Factory. There were Hiran Dias and Thilagar Tgr from (Team Eaglerocks/White Monkey&Dias Rest Haputale), Fazil Lee (Travel oo Grapher), me Haputale Oliver and my dogs Lucky and Browny.
At 6:17 am it was still too early to visit the Pedro tea factory. But we didn’t want to wait any longer. We shouldered our backpacks and measures the dogs on a leash.
At the beginning of the hike, a stop at Lovers Leap waterfall was a good idea. Named after an event where two lovers wanted to be together forever. It ended tragically. The way there was nice, everything around the waterfall was fenced off. If you wanted to see more, you had to climb a rock. From there you had a good view of the village around Pedro tea factory.
The trail continues through tea plantations, villages and farms. We saw the Bomburuella reservoir and moonplains, tea factories, an old warehouse, temples in the villages and along the way. We talked to the tea pickers and farmers. A farmer gave us some vegetables to cook later, once we found a suitable campsite for the night.
There were many curious looks, shouts and questions along the way. Where from? Where to go? Why walk and not take the bus? I often heard the word Nai, meaning dog. People shouted it from house to house. Everywhere people came out curious and waving, wanting to see the white man with the two dogs. Of course, we always met other dogs who greeted each other. But they all remained peaceful so that we could continue on our way.
We arrived in Kandapola around 2 p.m. A lively little town with lots of traffic, people and of course dogs. The school was just over, many students went through the city. Wherever we showed up, we immediately draw all eyes and talk to us, and especially to Lucky and Browny. Some wanted to get very close, others preferred to take a detour.
Up to Kandapola the hike took about 6 hours. Since it was still early we decided to continue hiking to the Concordia Estate. More on that and a safety warning in the next report for Pekoe Stage 21 after Uda Pussellawa.
Conclusion of this hike.
We really enjoyed the Pedro-Kandapola hiking trail. Great weather, beautiful views, friendly and curious people. My Tamil and Sinhala-speaking friends were very helpful as there were very few English-speaking people. I can only recommend this way. Much better and safer than what happened to us at the Concordia Estate that same evening. By the way, the sun was very powerful even though it was cloudy sometimes. Be aware to use suncream as protection.
