Matale Spice Garden & Muthumariamman Kovil

Matale is the centre of the spice trade and the A9 through it is lined with demonstration gardens showing cardamom, nutmeg, pepper vines and the cinnamon-peeling that made Ceylon worth colonising. In the town itself, the Muthumariamman kovil's 30-metre gopuram is covered in over a thousand painted figures. Be clear with drivers about commission-based selling at the gardens.