"Hills beyond hills, many beautiful and verdant, others huge and rocky, of extraordinary shape"
- Rev. James Cordiner, 1807

The Central Highlands of Sri Lanka offer a salubrious cool climate in complete contrast to the hot climate in the plains.

The mountain slopes are covered with acres and acres of tea with its fragrant aroma mingling with the fresh air. Nestled among the mist covered central hills in a cool basin is Nuwara Eliya, the hill resort, resembling a little English village. Road leading to this hill station winds through miles and miles of ‘green carpet' of tea bushes where tea pluckers are seen busily picking the ‘bud and two leaves’ that go to form the most popular brew in the world, the ‘Ceylon Tea’.

Waterfalls
Horton Plains
Sri Pada
Nuwara Eliya

Waterfalls
Beautiful waterfalls cascading down the mountain slopes enhance the beauty of the hill country. The geographical formation of the Island with the central highland sloping down to the coastal plains has resulted in several rivers and streams starting from the central region flowing down the hilly slopes in a radial pattern, creating beautiful waterfalls in several places in the hill country. Ramboda Falls (100 metres) is seen on the way to Nuwara Eliya. Devon (86 metres) and St. Clair's (73 metres) are two waterfalls seen close to Nuwara Eliya.

 

Horton Plains
Horton Plains is the island's last remaining montane forest 3,160 hectares in extent located in a plateau high up on the hills at an elevation above 2000 metres. A vast expanse of grassland interspersed with little streamlets and craggy trees covers the centre of the plateau providing a pleasant walk of about 5 km. leading to an awe inspiring edge called the 'World's End'. It is a sheer drop of over 800 metres sloping down further away over mist covered treetops fading into the distant sea offering a breathtaking yet the most beautiful sight in the entire country. The jungle bordering the grassland abounds with wildlife. Among the animals that can be seen are the leopard, sambhur, barking deer, wild boar and monkeys. Horton Plains is a bird watcher's paradise.

 

Sri Pada
The hill country not only provides natural beauty but also offers a sanctified place of veneration to people of all faiths atop a 2,243 metre high mountain in the southwest corner of the highlands. It is Sri Pada, which bears the footprint of the Buddha. It is also adored by people of other faiths. Christians say it is the foot print of Adam and call it Adam's peak. Thousands of pilgrims of all faiths climb this mountain during the pilgrim season (December to May). Watching the sunrise from the summit is an unforgettable sight.

 

Nuwara Eliya
In 1819, during the British colonial era, a few Britishers on a hunting expedition in the hill country spotted the site where the present day Nuwara Eliya town stands 1890 metres above sea level and decided to set up a health resort for their use. It was Sir Samuel Baker who later converted it to a holiday resort with a touch of an English village which earned it the name 'Little England' where the temperature sometimes drops down to 9°C. In the month of April every year Nuwara Eliya assumes a festive mood with thousands of holidaymakers retreating to the Hill Station to escape the busy City life. The 18 hole golf course is very popular with the locals and the foreign tourists. Hakgala Botanical Gardens a few kilometres away is an added attraction.