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7,000 and 8,000 feet high. Since you start at sea level, they really con-
stitute a major change in elevation. The driver drove up the mountains.
We quickly realized that the roads had no barriers on the outer edge; if
you made a mistake, you were in for a long drop! As it became evening,
fog obscured the road. The driver had his head out the window on one
side, and I sat in the front seat opposite him with my head out of the
window also. Occasionally, we would see telephone or power poles on
the side of the mountain below the road. Finally, even the Ceylonese
driver thought that it was too dangerous to go farther, and he pulled
into a government-operated hostel. It was a simple place and we had to
sleep under mosquito netting because there was malaria in the area. In
the morning we continued on it to Nuwara Eliya. This was a resort area
that had been developed by the British tea planters in Ceylon. At eleva-
tion 6,000 feet, it was almost on the equator and was pleasant without
being hot during the day and was cool at night. There was a big, old
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with tables and seats of appropriate sizes. We had the two little girls eat
there. Janet and Richard ate with us. There was a beautiful golf course.
In one low area there was a lake surrounded by white calla lilies in full
bloom. There was even a horse racecourse. Some of the British planters
had built lovely vacation homes in the immediate area. They were unoc-
cupied at the time and servants in one home invited us to come and see
it. It was very nice with lots of beautiful woods; some of them showed
beautiful hand-carvings.

The best tea is grown at high elevations and requires slight shad-
ing. The tea plants are a species of camellia and the shrub are planted
about three feet apart over all the hillsides. The tea leaves are tiny shoots
about ¼ inch long. Longer than that, the leaves are large and would pro-
duce tea that is too strong. At the time we were there Indian women had
been imported (the Ceylonese were considered to be lazy) and they went
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tea shoots were taken to a “tea factory” where they were heated care-
fully to remove some of the moisture from the leaves.

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