Travel writer and photographer Donnie Sexton emerged from a personal tragedy to experience an educational, enriching visit to Sri Lanka, one sip of tea at a time. Read on to see what she discovered on this island country off the southeastern coast of India.

Save this article to Pinterest to help plan your own trip to experience tea in Sri Lanka. Photos by Donnie Sexton. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

Sri Lanka – An Island Immersed in Tea  

In the quiet of the evening, I often fancy a cup of tea, usually orange spice. I’ve never given any thought to where that tea comes from, or how the tea bag came to be. All that changed on a recent visit to Sri Lanka.

Losing my husband to cancer in April 2025 brought about a sense of urgency in exploring the world while I have my health, time, and resources to resume my passion for travel. Sri Lanka was calling my name, an island I found intriguing. I reached out to Blue Lanka Tours, a Sri Lankan tour company, and gave them my laundry list of what I wanted to see and explore, a budget, and a timeframe, and just like that, I was on a very long plane ride headed to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. My journey was a private tour, complete with a driver/guide, that enabled me to adapt each day to spontaneous photo stops or breaks.

STARTING MY JOURNEY WITH STEPS

The journey started with a trip to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed rock fortress of Sigiriya. This site dates to the reign of King Kasyapa (5th century), who chose the top of this massive rock as his grand palace. The climb to the top (1200 steps) was challenging in the heat of the day, but it was worth it for the far-reaching views of Sri Lanka’s lush countryside.

MORE STEPS

Not far from Sigiriya was the impressive Dambulla Cave Temple complex. Reaching this Buddhist site, which comprises five caves, was much easier, requiring only 350 steps. The caves were once inhabited by forest-dwelling monks and are covered in paintings and house over 100 Buddhist statues. They are a testament to 22 centuries of a rich spiritual and artistic legacy on the island.

TEA INFUSED INTO EVERYDAY LIFE

As we motored into the highlands of Sri Lanka, tea plantations dominated the landscape, covering the earth like tufted carpets awash in shades of emerald green. Much like the US is saturated with coffee shops and kiosks, in Sri Lanka, it was tea, available in cafes, shops, and roadside stands. There was matcha tea, milk tea, tea lattes, ice-cream flavored tea, and baked goods with tea in the ingredients. The choices were never-ending, served hot, cold, flavored, and straight up black and brisk. Tea was part of every meal, an amenity in every hotel or lodge, and served at the conclusion of a massage featuring tea-infused oil.

Tea-sampling and purchasing in Sri Lanka is available in stores, restaurants and other places.

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HISTORY OF TEA PLANTATIONS IN SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka is the fourth-largest tea exporter in the world. China is first, then India, followed by Kenya, and then Sri Lanka. This island nation, sitting in the shadow of India, was formerly a British colony known as Ceylon. Coffee plantations dotted the island, but in the 1870s, they were wiped out by a fungal disease known as coffee rust. Scotsman James Taylor, who migrated to Ceylon in 1852, is credited with launching the tea industry on the island. He learned the basics of growing tea on a visit to India, then started a tea plantation near the town of Kandy. The former coffee estates now had a viable option for survival: switching to tea cultivation.

Gaining its independence from British rule, the island changed its name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka in 1972. However, the tea is still referred to as Ceylon tea, prized for its exceptional quality and unique flavors.

A tea plantation in Sri Lanka.

TEA OPTIONS ARE PLENTIFUL

Tea comes from the plant Camellia Sinensis, a close relative of the rose family. The island produces three varieties of tea: black, green, and white tea. Black tea is the predominant product. Herbal blends and infusions, such as lemongrass, ginger, cinnamon, and hibiscus, offer consumers endless choices. White tea, with its silky texture, is made from the youngest tea buds, which require laborious plucking, contributing to its higher cost. Signs along the roads detailed the health benefits of tea – helping with sleep and stress disorders, heart health, and inflammation.

BLUEFIELD TEA PLANTATION AND FACTORY

It was a tour of the Bluefield Tea Plantation and Factory, where I learned about the intense labor and processes that go into creating the tiny tea bag that caps off my evening. Picking tea leaves by hand is traditionally a woman’s job, and they earn $5/day while picking roughly 44 pounds (20 kg) of leaves. Mechanical harvesting has been introduced in a few plantations, but selective hand-plucking ensures the best leaves are used in tea production. After plucking, the leaves are moved to the factory, where they are allowed to wither, then rolled, fermented, dried, sorted, graded, and packed.

CULTURAL DANCE PERFORMANCE 

Throughout my journey, I was never far from drinking tea. At a beautiful cultural dance show, suggested by Blue Lanka, vendors circulated with small boxes of iced tea. During the one-hour performance, I witnessed ten variations of Sri Lankan dance, with elaborate costumes, drumming, music, acrobatics by male dancers, and the finale culminating in a mesmerizing fire-eating/walking display.

SAFARI GAME DRIVE IN YALA NATIONAL PARK

Not to be missed was a game drive through one of Sri Lanka’s 26 national parks. Yala National Park, which borders the Indian Ocean, is home to 44 varieties of mammals and 215 bird species. I grabbed some iced tea before setting off on the drive to stay hydrated. Among its more famous residents is the world’s biggest concentration of leopards, which remained hidden from sight on the drive. Peacocks, spotted deer, water buffalo, elephants, and crocodiles were plentiful.

In December of 2004, a monstrous Tsunami struck the park, and some 250 people in and around the park lost their lives in the sea of water. In the Tsunami’s aftermath, it was discovered that no animals were in harm’s way, prompting a theory that the ‘sixth sense’ of animals took them out of the path of the oncoming wave.

A MAGNIFICENT PROCESSION

My trip to Sri Lanka coincided with the Kelaniya Duruthu Perahera, one of Sri Lanka’s most revered cultural and religious events, held annually in January at the historic Kelaniya Temple, about 10 km northeast of Colombo. This grand procession commemorates Lord Buddha’s first visit to the island in the 5th century B.C. The festival is nothing short of a spectacular, slow procession that starts in the evening and can go on for hours. Thousands of devotees and tourists gather to watch drummers, dancers, flag bearers, and 40 majestic elephants, draped in colorful garments, with some carrying relics on their backs. Young men cracking noise-deafening whips cleared the way for the procession to start. Tea made its presence again; this time, boxes of iced tea were handed out for free to spectators.

The celebration of Kelaniya Duruthu Perahera in Sri Lanka.

GRATEFULNESS IN SRI LANKA

Ten days of sunshine, warm temps, and plenty of tea refreshed my soul. Taking home some tea was the perfect memento not only for me but also as a gift for family and friends. Now, as I cap off my evening with a cup of tea, I’m so grateful for those women laboring over the endless task of harvesting tea leaves that ultimately brings me joy.

-Story and photos by Donnie Sexton

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Hungry for more? Read Donnie’s article about the Fighting Cholitas of Bolivia.

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