The town of Haputale in Sri Lanka's Hill Country will forever be etched in my memory. After a grueling hike up Adams Peak, I enjoyed yet another spectacular train ride through the Hill Country, admiring first the beauty of the tea plantations and surrounding mountains, then passing through vast green farmlands, and then finally skirting the ridgeline past magnificent waterfalls to the town of Haputale. The location of the town, perched on a ridge with lush, terraced valleys falling away on both sides, made it one of those places you could just be and feel like you were accomplishing something. Just walking from my terrific guesthouse (which felt more like a 4-star hotel) and into town was a sight to behold in itself. For once I made the short climb past adorable homes and their even more adorable occupants, I would then follow the road into town for about 1/2 kilometer, smiling to myself and everyone I passed on the road knowing that this was one of the most magnificent places I've ever visited.

I had only planned to stay a night, but I ended up staying three; still I hated to leave Haputale. The area around the town was so visually stunning, I'm not sure words could do it justice. My last morning there I joined a friendly Canadian couple for a hike not far from town. We woke up early and took the worker's bus to Dambatenne Tea Factory. Along the way I chatted with a kind old man who worked there, many times telling him how lucky he was to make this commute everyday. The views were jaw-dropping and it would only get better as we started the hike up to Lipton Seat. We started from the tea factory, built in 1890 by Sir Thomas Lipton himself. A road wound its way through a mountainside covered in tea plantations. The Dambetenne Estate covers a broad valley ringed by steep ridges and dotted with small homes and a couple of schools. It had been so cool the night before I had needed a second blanket, on account of the cloudless night which had carried over to the next day. My previous two days in Haputale had been misty with sparse cloud cover, even a little rain, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky as we started the hike; just a sea of blue. The road switch backed time and time again all the way to the ridgeline and nearly every inch in between was covered in jade green tea plants or rows of green glowing vegetables. The three of us remarked time and time again of the intense beauty of the area which was seen not only in the lush vegeatation, but also in the smiles of the many people we encountered along the way.

Tamil tea pickers worked diligently throughout the endless rows of tea plants, their colorful clothing complimenting the lush green gardens, calling to us excitedly from the fields of tea plants, "Photo, photo!" They smiled back at us with broad, white-toothed smiles, each eager for their own photo opportunity. The tea pickers (all women) ranged in age from 20-65 and some were very beautiful. The manner in which they worked would suggest hardship, toiling in the sun with a weighted bag of leaves hanging against their back supported only by a cloth headband. But as they posed for pictures, faces aglow in the morning light, their smiles radiated nothing but pride and joy. This country is amazing like that. I don't know if I've ever visited a place with such pride and genuine hospitality. Whether the women picking in the fields, the men who supervise their work, the husband and wife who invite you into their house and pluck fresh vegetables from their garden, or the schoolchildren who shout their English phrases from the schoolyard and eagerly line up for photos, this country is one beautiful moment after another and I just can't get enough of it. Combine that with views like those we enjoyed that morning and you have a country that makes me never want to leave.

The level of satisfaction that I felt that morning was something of my own nirvana. I felt it as we walked through the tea plantations on the way down from Liptons Seat; on the train ride to Ella with scenery so magnificent that my camera just couldn't stop clicking; and as I stood outside that night mesmerized by a sea of countless stars, meteors racing through the sky and fireflies flickering around my eyes. It's days like those when I realize that life is just a rollercoaster of moments; and be it ups or downs, each of those moments is so precious and fleeting that I would be a fool not to live it as if it's my last.