Bandarawela .quiet town in Hill Country
Rail journey to Bandarawela is 192 kms (119 miles) and the train goes from sea level to a Summit peak of 6226 feet near Pattippok. Bandarawela is 1230 Metres (4036 feet). Because of the gradient, the sinuous route up and through the mountains and the poor state of the track and equipment, the journey takes 8 hours, but the scenery is beautiful and I had a comfortable seat with good view. Weird though, because the Observation Car is at the rear of train and seats point backward .. so you see what you might have photographed if you were looking the other way and had adequate notice. The whole Hill country area proved to be more dramatic and beautiful than I expected. Tea is grown in at least three settings .. traditional terraces with highly uniform rows which look like a maze from a distance as they wrap around hills ; some lower level beds cut into chevron shapes and finally, random plants interspersed with trees. In addition to irrigation channels there are small streams coming down from the mountains, often over smooth rock with small waterfalls - this is a striking place. The sight I enjoyed the most was the tulip tree in the midst of tea plants .. this is the African tree which grows to great heights here. Its hot orange red flowers stand out against the dark green tea plants ; hard to photograph from moving train.
The fine print
Date of travel : November 2007
Country information :
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ce.html