Thushara Krishantha (.
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That hike up to Lipton’s Seat from the Dambatenne Tea Factory was something else. We set off in the rain, about six kilometers in super cloudy weather, with mist wrapping around us the whole way. It was just wind and rain all the way to the top bitterly cold, felt like 10 or 12 degrees. Not exactly the postcard weather I’d imagined.
But even soaked and shivering, I’d tell anyone near Ella or Haputale to do this trek. Walking through those endless tea plantations is magical, and the seat itself at the summit is legendary. On a clear day, they say you can see three provinces and seven districts spread out below you. Keyword: clear day. If you go when it’s foggy, you’ll just see. well, clouds. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Funny thing is I later learned this spot wasn’t always “Lipton’s Seat.” Before the colonial tea marketing took over, locals knew it as “Lihinihela” or just that striking rocky point on the ridge. The British planters and officials actually used it as a lookout: to monitor the estates, watch for fires, and even send signals with heliographs to other hill stations. The whole “Lipton” naming came later, a 20th-century rebrand for tourism and corporate legacy. Makes you wonder what else we’re just seeing through a colonial postcard, doesn’t it?
