‘The Pekoe Trail’; an adventure experience beyond tea
Walking the trail.
Sri Lanka is well-known for its rich tea plantations and thick forest reserves across the central highlands while establishing a world renowned brand for producing the best ‘Ceylon Tea’ globally. A cuppa generally narrates the story of the tea plantations, the smell of freshly plucked tea leaves and the lifestyle of the tea pluckers and their daily earnings.
‘The Pekoe Trail’ that has recently sparked interest and recognised as one of the top 20 travel experiences in the world for 2024 has proven its unique experience for travellers, hikers and trekkers. It’s a slow journey along a footpath that rural villagers often use to get through their daily routine travelling from one end to another.
The Business Times recently went on a hike and experienced 8km of trail from Deltota to Loolecondera in the Central Province by foot. The starting point of the trail was through a dense forest with little sunlight falling onto the footpath while experiencing the sounds of the wind gushing through the tall trees. Breathtaking sceneries and spots of post wild fires were seen along the trail. The footpath takes one through forests, valleys, tea estates and steep landscapes, encountering leeches, insects, snakes and leopards – all part of the trail for an adventurer. One would also feel the fresh smell of the tea leaves while passing through the estates and can witness the tea plucking while munching a ‘pol roti’ and ‘katta sambol’ at a small roadside ‘kade’.
Adventure tourists, hikers and trekkers would undoubtedly love the experience ‘The Pekoe Trail’ offers as it has its uniqueness to nature and its habitat in the upcountry highlands. A mobile app has been developed to keep track of the travellers along the trail without getting lost in the forests and estates. The trail has 22 stages each ranging between 8 and 19 km of which anyone can obtain a pass before entering the trail. The pass is issued to obtain permission from the estate owners as the trail passes through many estates and forests. At any given time the app issues passes only to 100 people to travel along one stage of the trail to minimise overcrowding. The app monitors, tracks and gives signals to estate owners if someone needs help along the trail. Hikers could also camp at designated service areas along the trail.
‘The Pekoe Trail’ Advisor, Miguel Cunat, the man behind mapping the 300 km long trail from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya knows the length and width of each stage of the trail and has mastered the art of adventure tourism. He said, “People will visit the trail eventually and its ‘slow tourism’, which takes time to travel from one end to another experiencing all what nature has to offer.”
The trail attracts more business opportunities as people have started using the footpath. There are opportunities in travel and leisure, experience curation, conservation initiatives, community development projects, bespoke merchandise, event sponsorships, and even tea and agricultural ventures. The trail is poised to open up a new lucrative segment of close-to-nature wellness travel for Sri Lanka and new footfall through some of the country’s most vibrant regions where underdeveloped communities offer novel opportunities for tourism businesses and economic development in the Central and Uva provinces. This experience attracts a global audience, offering a fertile ground for innovative new businesses to flourish.
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