ABDF

The small town of Hatton and its immediate environs is one of the few Estate Tamil majority regions in Sri Lanka. In most of the Hill Country, estate Tamils make a large minority, but only in the Hatton area are they more than 50% of the population.

The region is filled with spectacular mountain scenery, with tea estates climbing the mountainsides to dizzying heights. This is the Sri Lanka tourists dream about (well, in addition to the beaches); vivid tea estates, Buddhist and Hindu temples dotting the landscape, and the romance of a train ride through lush mountain terrain. In fact the train ride from Colombo is absolutely spectacular, and a must-do for anyone visiting the island. Hatton is a tourist destination in-and-of itself, despite its small size and remote location. The town is within easy striking distance of both Adam’s Peak and World’s End, two of Sri Lanka’s most astonishing natural wonders. Adam’s Peak is a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Moslems alike and viewing the sun rise from the summit a singular experience. World’s End, located in Horton Plains National Park, is a cliff featuring a sheer drop of 3,445 feet from the highlands down into the steaming plains below.

The entire region is quite cool, relatively speaking, as most of it is more than 3,000 feet above sea level. At night it can actually get chilly. Generally, the rainy season in this part of Sri Lanka is from June through August, although the occasional shower has been known to happen at any time.

Hatton is located in Nuwara Eliya District, one of three that make up Central Province. It has a population of about 15,000 within municipal limits. There is a small downtown area that winds along the bottom of a small canyon; hillsides rear up on all sides. Many visitors find Hatton confusing and a bit disorienting. Since it is located in a small canyon, the town is not built in a grid pattern, as we in the West are accustomed to. Thus one does not get the long-distance perspective of a long straight street. Instead, Main Street twists and turns, and all the other streets form concentric rings rising up the sides of the hills. As a result, the roof of your neighbor behind you is frequently below the bottom floor of your house!

The end result of all this is that Hatton is jumbled, cramped, dusty and jangling, but in the most charming way possible.

As mentioned above, Hatton is about as deep in tea country as you can get. If you are a fan of tea, this place is paradise; numerous estates abound, many with all manner of tours and tea-related events. And teas that would cost an arm and a leg in the West are pretty cheap to buy.

If Hatton sounds like Shangri-La, you wouldn’t be too far off. Or rather, it would be if it weren’t for the many significant social and economic problems common to all developing countries. And that’s were hopefully YOU can come in and help.

Below are a few links to sites about Hatton and Nuwara Eliya District found in Wikipedia: