By Mike Watson
Next time you pour yourself a cup of tea, drink a toast to Devastating Emily. That was the lurid nickname of a leaf virus that wiped out the coffee crop in Ceylon in the 1870s. But a group of mainly Scottish pioneers weren't to be beaten. They were already growing tea - green gold. The plantations they established and the bankrupt coffee estates they bought are still producing some of the best of the world's crop.
Four thousand feet up in the centre of the country, now Sri Lanka, life has hardly changed since those days. The British connection is still strong and many plantations have British names - Blair Atholl, Brookfield, Kew and Kirkoswald. On the winding railway (designed by Brits) up to the best plantations there's even a station called Great Western.
Until recently the area was hardly a holiday region. Transport isn't easy in Sri Lanka; most people travel in crowded buses that hurtle and roar around the hairpin bends.
This is definitely not a self-drive destination and most visitors hire a car with a driver for their trip. You'd be a nervous wreck five minutes after leaving the airport, even if Sri Lankans do drive on the left (in theory). The four-hour drive from Colombo, the island's capital and site of its only international airport, can be arduous even with a skilled and friendly driver like ours.
But it's worth it. Tucked away amid the rolling, vivid green tea estates is Tea Trails, four large bungalows that were once the homes of European planters. Now tourists sample the luxurious life they once lived, complete with complementary gin and tonics, British cooking and even clotted cream high teas.
These historic buildings, with a total of 20 luxurious bedrooms and suites, have been restored by Dilmah, one of Sri Lanka's leading tea producers.
Each bungalow has its own manager, butler, chef and gardeners. They all have beautifully-kept grounds and overlook, or are close to, Castlereagh Lake, a reservoir in the Bogawantalawa Valley, known as the Golden Valley of Tea.
And there's plenty to do from your bungalow base. Activities include white water rafting, mountain biking, kayaking on the lake and treks and walks through the hillside tea plantations.
We stayed in a bungalow called Norwood and spent a fascinating morning walking through the estate for lunch at the lakeside Castlereagh bungalow.