Tea Country Trail | 10 | Nanu Oya To Talawakele

Today’s walk starts at Nanu Oya and ends at Talawakele, two mayor towns and transport hubs in the Tea Country. Nanu Oya station is the nearest to Nuwara Eliya, the largest town in the tea country. The drive to and from Nuwara Eliya takes approximately 45 minutes should you wish to stay there.

The trail starts at the train station. 200 meters up from the train station there is a road that peels off to the left. We will start descending towards the bridge you see below. Look left and you see the railway bridge. Instead of taking the route we are on locals prefer crossing the bridge over the railway line. Sri Lankan law prohibits walking on the railway line, but locals prefer to save themselves the extra 700 meters, as you do. Do as you wish but know we do not encourage or promote walking on the railway line. 

As soon as we cross the bridge we start to ascend, zig-zagging on well market tea trails. There is a tea planters bungalow to the left as we gradually ascend leaving the village behind. For a few hundred meters the trailheads in the direction of the jungle and then dog-legs back on itself. The higher we get the better the views. The views of Nanu Oya town and the tea country beyond are truly breathtaking. These tea estates, established circa 1880 bear proud names: Edinburgh and Glasgow. The elevation is approximately 1700 meters.

At the 2.4 km point, we reach the highest point of today’s walk. Take a moment to appreciate the beauty and serenity of this amazing part of the world. On a clear day, one should be able to see Adam’s Peak in the distance, and on a clear night, one would see the southern cross directly over the dimly lit path of pilgrims close to the summit.

Its’s all pretty much downhill or nearly flat all the way to Talawakele.

At the 3.6 km point, the trail mergers onto a recent tarmac road which sees very little traffic. We try to avoid tarmac roads in general but from time to time they are unavoidable and hey, your feet and knees might appreciate the smoothness of a carpeted road for 1 km. At the 4.6 km point, a trail peels off the main road towards a village. Circumvent the village following the trail and you will reach the Radella Train Station opened in 1890, exactly a 203 km train ride to Colombo! Radella is one of the highest train stations in Sri Lanka.

The next 4.5 km we descend quickly. The loss of elevation is noticeable – your ears may even pop. We descent 200 meters in barely 2 km along a well-marked, popular with locals who come and go from the train station to the tea factory and homes below.

At the 8.2 km post take the track to your right. You are approximately 10km away from the endpoint, heading west all the time. The mountain range on your right is called The Great Western Range, and the river to your left is called the Nanu Oya which is home to a series of major hydro projects as one can see along the way. The railway line we crossed at Radella traces an east-west line cutting through the slopes approximately 200 to 300 meters above you, no doubt a magnificent feat of engineering. This part of the trail is truly delightful.

At the 11.8 km mark, we leave a magnificent planters bungalow to the right. At the 12.3 km post, the trail forks up to the right and runs straight through a local village. If you prefer to stay on the asphalt road that is perfectly fine as the TCT reunites with the road later on. The official trail runs through the village and then down through tea trails to the 13.6 km post where there is a local school and we find ourselves on the tarmac road again, albeit with very little traffic at all.

At the 14.4 km post, we leave the Great Western Tea Factory on our right. You can actually “smell” you’re getting close to the factory – the unmistakable smell of fresh tea.

At the 14.9 KM post, there is a critical turn to your left. The path is very well marked. For the next few kilometers, the trail follows the contour of the Nanu Oya River on its way to Talawakele. We are well above the river and the views of the river gorge are fabulous. For the next few kilometers, the trail cuts through a eucalyptus forest before penetrating the urban surroundings of Talawakele.

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