6 January

As Nuwara Eliya is the highest place in Sri Lanka, it was cold at night. We got one blanket from the hotel and then I had to beg them for another one for Fausto, as there was just one blanket per room. Despite the cold, we had a good night sleep and we woke up very early. We checked out, left our luggage in the hotel, took a bus to the centre (10 minutes by bus, 10 rupees per person), got breakfast and we decided to visit Mackwoods tea factory situated 20 minutes away from Nuwara Eliya. We enjoyed it a lot. We had a guide who explained to us how the tea is produced. At the end we got a free cup of tea that wasn't so great to my taste but I am not a big tea drinker. Fausto thought it was ok. The system is great, you don't buy a ticket, you just tip the guide whatever you can afford. We gave her 200 rupees, that is £1.11 for about 20 minutes and she seemed to be very happy with it. I read in a guide book that this is the cost of an entrance to another tea factory and then the guide is free.