The hill station of Nuwara Eliya having an altitude of 1,868 is located in Sri Lanka’s central highlands with a spectacular landscape and clement climate. This summer resort has an atmosphere that is more soothing than any other place in the subcontinent. The city’s outskirts contain a vanishing British village with rose gardens, hedges, and bungalows with red roofs. The racecourse, old post office, the English country house with its mounted fish, hunting pictures, hunting trophies and the golf course with 18 holes all make it seem perhaps more British than Britain itself.
Blessed with breathtaking views of valleys, a salubrious climate, mountains, meadows and greenery, it is quite hard to believe that Nuwara Eliya is just 180 km away from humid Colombo. The city is the main market-gardening centre of Sri Lanka as it contains a fair number of country-style houses with big gardens and vegetable plantations. Travellers are greatly attracted by the undoubtedly Victorian architecture of most structures in this city. To keep the uniqueness of the atmosphere intact, the modern buildings are also built in the same style.
Overlooking the golf ground a few metres away from the town’s bus stand, tombs of some prominent Englishmen can be seen. A tomb has been erected in memory of Sir William Rock who served Sri Lanka as a judge before dying in 1838 at the age of 64. You can see another tomb erected in memory of Ebenisher Golder Manro who was killed in 1841 by a wild buffalo at Elephant Plain. He is identified as one of Lt. John Manro’s sons.
