Sri Lanka Pekoe Trail Adventure

Day 1 – Arrival into Negombo

Ayubowan! Vanakkam! – Those are ‘welcome’ in Sri Lanka’s two main languages, and you’ll probably be hearing them a lot over the next 12 days as you encounter the goodhearted women and men of this wonderful isle.

Your first such encounter will be with a member of our own Camino crew, who will be waiting to greet you the second you step from the air-conditioned airport into the steamy tropical air.

Roughly an hour later, you’ll arrive at your hotel, get your first glimpse of the Indian Ocean, and set your footprints in the sun-warmed sand. Take a deep, salty breath and ground yourself for a moment because things are about to get exciting…You’re going to meet your local guide and your fellow Camino women, who will be right by your side as you trek the tea fields and monsoon forests of the Pekoe!

Accommodation: Jetwing Beach, Negombo
Included: Dinner

Day 2 – Retreat Time

It’s your first full day in Sri Lanka, so we’re not going to throw you straight onto the trail. That simply wouldn’t be in the spirit of this laid-back tropical island. Instead, rest your legs and conquer any lingering jet lag on a drive to the town of Dambulla. It’s about 4.5 hours, so get some shuteye if you like. (Or keep watch for the appearance of emerald-green mountains on the horizon – they’ll pop up around halfway through the journey.)

Tonight’s stay is a special one, to say the least. Cue Amba Yaalu Kandalama, the first hotel in the country completely operated and run by women. It’s seriously wonderful (and we’re not just talking about the infinity pool with views of Sri Lanka’s jungle-tufted central mountains here!)

If you are able to peel yourself away from the sunbeds and vistas for a bit, then we have a treat this afternoon. Spoiler alert: It could well involve open-air Jeeps and sightings of Asian elephants, purple-faced langurs and leopards in the wild. Any ideas?

Accommodation: Amba Yaalu Kandalama, Dambulla
Included: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 3 – Dambulla to Kandy

Get up just as the yellow-eared bulbuls are starting their birdsong – AKA early! Today, you’re going to be visiting one of the undisputed wonders of Sri Lanka and it’s always best to beat the crowds and dodge the hottest part of the day. That’s why you go before breakfast.

You might want to keep your eyes peeled on the 30-minute drive there because that first glimpse of the great rock fortress of Sigiriya soaring 300 meters up on a bluff is something you’ll never forget. Your next challenge is to climb all the way to the top on a precipitous route that leads through galleries of ancient frescos and walls scrawled with 1,500-year-old graffiti.

Wipe the sweat from your brow at the summit. You did it! Soak in the 360-degree panoramas of rainforests, rice paddies, and mountains that abound up there.

Later, let the mystical city of Kandy tug at your heart strings with its streets wreathed in Banyan trees. Come the evening, another challenge awaits. Don’t worry, no more high-altitude rock temples here, but rather the culinary craft of making local string hoppers – a sort of Sri Lankan noodle – from pressed rice flour. It’s no mean feat to get the perfect one!

Accommodation: Oakray Heritage Hotel, Kandy
Included: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 4 – Pekoe Trail stage 01

Wake with a few of Sri Lanka’s 245 species of butterfly fluttering around in your stomach. That feeling? It’s the excitement for your first full day of trekking.

Your boots will hit the ground at the Ceylon Tea Museum, where stage one of the Pekoe begins to snake southwards. At first, it will feel like swimming through a sea of tea bushes as you ascend the hills around Kandy. But soon you’ll be immersed in jungles that look like they’ve been plucked from the set of Indiana Jones – hold on, the jungles here actually were the set of Indiana Jones! Then you’ll be gasping with awe as views of the Katusu Konda ridge and the statue-like Knuckles Mountains rise on either side of the trail.

It’s an action-packed 12 kilometres that leaves you pinching yourself and pining for food. Luckily, we’ve lined up a Sri Lankan feast of deep-fried dahl balls and buffalo curd with treacle at Hela Bojun, a cooperative kitchen run solely by rural women.

Accommodation: Oakray Heritage Hotel, Kandy
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Tea in Sri Lanka

The story of tea growing in Sri Lanka begins with the arrival of the British – who else? Scotsman James Taylor is said to have sprinkled tea seeds on the terraces of Loolecondera in an attempt to stave off economic losses from dying coffee plants, which were the main crop at the time. Of course, they thrived, and before long Loolecondera had expanded into the first commercial tea plantation on the island. The tea of Sri Lanka is known for its bold notes, high caffeine content, and woody undertones, which it gets from the unique hot, high-altitude, high-rain climate of the Central Highlands. In most places, tea is still picked entirely by hand. Looking forward to your first brew?

Day 5 – Pekoe Trail stage 02

Fuel up at breakfast (you’ll need it!) and then lace up your boots for Pekoe part two. You’ll spend the morning conquering steep paths switchbacking through mossy forests. It’s huff and puff until you reach the tree line, which suddenly drops away to reveal a land above the canopy, where granite rocks protrude from grassy meadows. It’s worth stopping here and thinking just how far you’ve come, your Camino mates by your side. Yes, that is you clambering over a rock as Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands swirl on all sides!

The finale of the hike is the vast tea estate of Loolecondera. It’s the oldest in the country and you’ll even get to stand on the spot where Scotsman James Taylor is said to have planned out the tea fields way back in 1867.

Back in Kandy that evening, here’s hoping your legs aren’t too tired because it’s high time you get an intro into the ancient art of Kandyan dancing!

Accommodation: Oakray Heritage Hotel, Kandy
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 6 – Kandy to Hatton

Six days into your Sri Lankan hiking epic and by now you’ve trekked the same jungles as Indiana Jones, climbed to ancient Buddhist fortresses on rock bluffs, and gone in search of wild leopards. That all calls for some hard-earned rest. Swap muddy boots for steel rails this morning and put your feet up as a montage of tea plantations and pea-green mountains whizzes by your window. The train ride to Hatton isn’t considered one of the world’s best for nothing!

Take the afternoon to sip Ceylon brews beside the pool at your hotel just outside of Hatton. It’s a rather nice one  – think a mountain sanctuary with head-on views of Adam’s Peak, a sacred summit that’s said to have a footprint left by the Buddha at the top.

Accommodation: The Argyle, Hatton
Included: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 7 – Pekoe Trail stage 06

Enjoy as much spice-packed dahl and fiery sambol as you like this morning. The energy will come in handy for the 14.9-kilometre leg of the Pekoe that we’re planning today. It’s your ticket to classic Sri Lankan tea country, whisking you and your Camino pals through undulating hillsides covered in – you guessed it! – tea bushes. There are highland lakes and multi-colored Hindu shrines and even sections where you’ll walk along the train lines – it’s standard commuting for the locals! At one point, you’ll emerge onto a ridge to survey the largest continuous tea planting zone in the country.

Accommodation: The Argyle, Hatton
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 8 – Nuwara Eliya

As Hatton disappears behind the tea-covered hills, your group follows your guide higher and higher into the Central Highlands. The aim? Sri Lanka’s most altitudinous town: Nuwara Eliya. Feel the soothing mountain air and smell the pines as you step from the car, for you’re about to encounter a place that’s unlike any other on the island. It’s known as “Little England” and we think its handsome, half-timbered buildings and bijou tea stalls are best explored at your own pace.

The real treat, though, is your hotel. Yep, you’ll be staying in an opulent Elizabethan manor that was once home to an English governor. It’s no place for mud-caked boots, so put on your Sunday best and join your Camino crew for refined High Tea on the Grand Verandah come afternoon.

Accommodation: Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya
Included: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 9 – Pekoe Trail stage 14 and on to Ella

After just a single day’s break, we’ll bet you’re pining for a return to the beauty of the Pekoe Trail. So, that’s precisely the plan. Dust down the boots and forget the refinement of High Tea, because you’ll break a sweat on the path that leads up and up through the eucalyptus woodlands southwest of Nuwara Eliya. (They say this was where Sir Thomas Lipton – founder of the Lipton tea empire – would come to gaze down on his vast tracts of plantations in the late 19th century.)

At some point on the trail, there’s a good chance that your jaw will hit the tea-leaf-covered floor. Yep, one of the most incredible viewpoints on the whole Pekoe awaits around a bend here. You’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with your Camino crew as visions of the nine-peaked Namunukula mountain erupts on the horizon.

Accommodation:  The Pinnacle, Ella
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 10 – Galle

Today might be the day you bid farewell to Sri Lanka’s mountainous heart, but your Camino crew will be smiling on the morning drive. Two reasons: Your hiking is all complete, so pat yourself on the back. And it’s time to return to the stooping coconut palms, and the Indian Ocean.

Welcome to Galle, a historic fort raised on the edge of the sea by the Portuguese some five centuries ago. Sip coffee on the cobbled squares, or trace the history by walking the city’s walls above the ocean. Later, you’ll venture to a small village near Galle to meet women weavers trained in the art of Beeralu, a type of lace weaving that’ll bamboozle with its abundance of bobbins, pins, and threads. It’s so intricate and delicate – a real joy to behold!

Accommodation: The Heritage Hotel, Galle
Included: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 11 – Explore Colombo

Can you believe it’s your last full day with your Camino family? You’ve forged relationships one muddy step at a time, laughed so hard together you almost spilled your Ceylon tea, and swapped stories of past travels and travels to come over dishes of dahl and brinjal.

Luckily, there’s time to fit in one last outing together around the sights and sounds, markets and monuments of the Sri Lankan capital. Your guide has the tips that guidebooks only dream of, from the story behind the parliament building to the best spots for ethical souvenir shopping.

Then, it’s that time: The farewell meal. Yes, it’s going to be hard but try to stave off the sadness a few more hours. Over a spread of modern Sri Lankan mashups – think tuna steaks in peanut crush and coconut-infused veggie curries – you’ll reminisce and roar with laughter together one last time.

Accommodation: The Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo
Included: Breakfast and Dinner

Day 12 – Goodbye Hugs

There’ll hardly be a dry eye in the house as you share one last pot of tea with your new besties this morning. But remember, though your time on the Pekoe may have come to an end, there are more trails out there than you can shake a spicy samosa at. The only question is where’s next?

Included: Breakfast