Tea, tuk-tuks and homestays: How this 300 km walking trail is empowering the women of Sri Lanka

euronews (in English)

The first of the Pekoe Trail’s 22 segments was opened in 2021, shining a light on life in Sri Lanka’s tea estates.

Transcript

00:00 When I first started doing this trail, I did the first segment and then naively I was like,

00:07 "Yeah, well, you know, it's all a tea country and mountains.

00:11 It's all going to look the same."

00:13 But boy, was I wrong.

00:15 Hi, my name is Kushne.

00:20 I work for Experience Travel Group and I host clients,

00:23 helping them explore the wonders of the Pico Trail and the hill country of Sri Lanka.

00:29 So the Pico Trail is a 300-kilometer walking trail

00:34 that starts from the hillside of Thamarkandi

00:38 and is broken up into 22 segments so that it is, you know, a digestible size.

00:44 These paths have been there forever.

00:46 So some of the routes that we take are old cart roads

00:50 that were done by the British to transport their tea in carts to the tea factories.

00:56 And some of them are these shortcuts that the tea pickers use.

01:00 Sometimes the beauty of it is that within the same trail, everything changes so much.

01:09 Because you're going through tea plantations, you're going through pine forests, eucalyptus forests.

01:16 We go through main attractions like Alder Rock or the Nine Arch Bridge.

01:22 And you pass caddy fields, which you don't really expect when you're in tea country.

01:27 I would say the trail is suitable for anyone.

01:31 And I say this because some people think I'm really fit because I do it.

01:35 But actually I do it despite the fact that I'm not fit.

01:38 It's just about knowing which one suits which person best.

01:43 My favorite is trail number 13 that goes in Hapakale, St. Patrick's.

01:49 But I do a cheap version where I take a downhill.

01:54 What we do is we take a tuk-tuk up St. Patrick's and then from there we come downhill.

02:00 And it is just so beautiful.

02:03 And the best part is, towards the end you go through a rainforest.

02:08 Which makes you wonder if it should even be there in the area.

02:12 It seems so unnatural, but then it dawns on you that these were the kind of forests

02:18 that don't need hills.

02:20 It's just that they were cut down to put up 13 gardens.

02:24 Which kind of gives you a different perspective as to what happened along the way as well.

02:28 And I feel like the trail gives opportunities in multiple ways.

02:32 One is that it shines a light on the lives of these people.

02:37 So that even the estate owners would know that now people are seeing this.

02:44 So a certain level of pressure is put on the industry at large.

02:50 Which I think is necessary.

02:53 Homes is a great way to really experience the local culture, the local life and what

03:01 everything in the Hulao is means to those people in that area.

03:04 I Live With Neighbors is one of that organizations where a number of local women

03:10 who have now done up their houses in such a way that they can really proudly welcome

03:17 guests into their house and show them their flavor of hospitality.

03:21 Which is a great way to strengthen them both financially and morally.

03:27 And it's a great example to set for their next generations as well.

03:32 For the girls growing up in those houses saying, "These are the things I can do."

03:36 There are young women coming up with their own teams and artistic entities and setting

03:42 up businesses and growing their own little empires around these areas.

03:48 Which is really uplifting to see.

03:50 And it really is changing the story of the Hulas, what's happening in these areas.

03:55 And it's very encouraging.

03:57 And the more that happens, it's like a ripple effect because you inspire more and more people.

04:03 That's what's really important.

04:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended