Elle, Sri Lanka Tea Ladies

Elle, Sri Lanka is tea country

Sri Lanka was once called Ceylon.

History tells us the British took the country peacefully in 1796, ruling until Sri Lanka's independence in 1948.  This is when the legacy of Ceylon Tea started.  The industry was introduced to the country in 1867 by James Taylor, a British planter who arrived in 1852,

Beautiful Tea bushes roll over the hills

We travelled to Elle, Sri Lanka to enjoy the beautiful scenery and hopefully learn about the local tea.  The first factory was all closed up.  The second factory had too many visitors, or it may have just been the end of the day.
We took a little drive to look for the ladies picking, but it was the end of the day and they seemed to be gone home.

A few ladies came up the path;

The Ladies took the time to show us their bags they used for collection of the tea leaves

More ladies came along, this time carrying bags of tea leaves

Strong backs, strong arms, tired bodies.  The ladies still gave us a smile

The roots are as deep as the soil allows

We could hear chatting in the homes after a days work

Fruit trees are scattered

The Ladies bags are plastic, I wonder if cotton bags would be cooler on their backs

Sri Lanka is one of the few countries where each tea leaf is picked by hand rather than by mechanization

The tea leaves are repacked in bigger bags and reweighed

Each lady has her bag of tea leaves weighed, and is recorded for payment

The ladies "fluffed' the tea leaves as they emptied the bags, I am not sure if this is needed or if it was for my benefit

The last ladies of the day waited for their turn

Some Ladies carried a leveling stick, to manage their progress across the tea bushes, maybe next time I will see this.

I read that the minimum working age for girls is 12

We took a walk in Ella

Bananas are very small, and very yummy

Little girls hiding from the rain

It was Friday, the mosque was busy

Little Girl with her umbrella was shy

The weather was perfect for gardening

Scarecrows are great garden watchers

Temple

Temples are abundant 

The village is very colourful.  The streets and markets busy.

Our driver Rahmath Liyawdeen has his own company FlyWings Holidays.  We enjoyed our week with Rahmath.  He is well knowledged, and helpful.