Pictured here is Mr. Athulla, pointing at some Aloe plants
(good for sunburn). He owns and runs Lords Spice and Herbal
Garden which has been in his family for over 12 generations.
There are loads of spice gardens on the road out of Matale,
but Ranjit, our driver cum tour guide assured us this
was one of the best - so we believed him - and it was
pretty damn good.
On our mini tour, Mr. Athulla gave us an interesting and
informative explanation of the different herbs and spices,
and their uses in cooking and Ayurvedic (traditional Indian)
Medicine. As well as an education we got delicious complimentary
cups of cocoa, spice tea and wonderful Ayurvedic massages
thrown in. Naturally, after all that good stuff we wanted
to take away samples of the goods... Fortunately Mr. Athulla
has a shop attached to the gardens where we could buy
any (or all) of the many and varied herbal remedies and
cooking spices (no pressure - honest!). We also got a
handy little leaflet with instructions on their use.
So, for any problems from Arthritis to Zits, or that extra
special curry or cup of tea, Mr. Athulla's yer man. He
even operates a mail order service. OK, OK, that's enough
free advertising...rd
To
all those who've emailed me for this guy's details, here
they are: No 3 Koongahamula, Palapathwela - Matale - Sri
Lanka - Phone 0094 66 20341 - Fax 0094 66 22777. Don't
forget to tell him I sent you!
