Am I in beautiful Sri Lanka—or Virginia?

It’s Mount Vernon, Sri Lanka, not Virginia. One of many tea plantations all over the hill country of Sri Lanka, The colonial origins of these plantations reminds me of the cotton plantations in the South. Workers were brought in from the Tamil region in India to harvest the crop.

I got on a train to the hill country for the “world’s most beautiful train ride.” Green hills, amazing waterfalls and canyons and mountains. But it rained the whole way and the train conductor laughingly pointed out where all the sights were that we couldn’t see.

But when I arrived there was a gushing waterfall viewed from my balcony after the rain.

And more mountains to climb.Read more