Business News
From Muddy Paths to Mountain Views: The Story of the Pekoe Trail
Arjuna Samarakoon and team pictured at the completion of the Pekoe Trail
Arjuna Nayanka Samarakoon, better known as Arj Samarakoon, has built a reputation as an investor, reform advocate, and philanthropist. For him, Sri Lanka’s most ambitious long-distance walking route, the Pekoe Trail, is not simply a path through the hills but a reminder of how persistence and preparation shape both journeys and reforms.
The Trail as a Teacher
In his Pekoe Trail Guide, Samarakoon reflects on the lessons he drew from the experience. Keeping a light pack, setting a steady pace, and learning to embrace discomfort all became reminders that progress comes step by step. He often describes how conversations with villagers along the way were just as meaningful as the sweeping views, a reminder that development is most powerful when it connects people.
A Shared Journey for Communities
As highlighted in the Daily Mirror Feature the Pekoe Trail offers more than scenery. It creates opportunities for communities across the central highlands, from tea estate workers to small guesthouse owners. Samarakoon has consistently stressed that reform is not only about policy but about real benefits for families and villages who carry Sri Lanka forward every day.
500K Steps of Endurance
The The Financial Times reports that the Pekoe Trail is now the focus of the 500K Steps campaign, aiming to raise LKR 20 million for conservation and community development. For Samarakoon, joining this effort is both personal and symbolic. Every kilometre walked represents the persistence needed to reform systems, rebuild credibility, and create opportunities.
Reform as a Long Walk
Samarakoon often frames reform as scaffolding, delivery as the building, and competitiveness as the stage where people choose to live and invest. In many ways, the Pekoe Trail reflects the same truth. It is not conquered in one stride, but by consistent steps, preparation, and resilience.
Looking Ahead
By sharing his experience on the Pekoe Trail and supporting the 500K Steps campaign, Arjuna Nayanka Samarakoon highlights that Sri Lanka’s future will not be built overnight. It will take the same qualities the trail demands — endurance, patience, and a willingness to walk together. His message is simple but powerful: progress begins when people commit to the journey, one step at a time.
Sri Lanka may give the world another refreshing beverage. Made of an original recipe, it’s brewed from some of the country’s most iconic spices, that could, in time, match the country’s best-known export, tea, thanks to the vision of the enterprising young marketing professional, Sohan Jayasena and his company mild earth
‘Wild Mist Water’ unveiled at an appropriately styled ‘quiet reveal’ in Colombo 7 a few weeks back is, in its creator Sohan Jayasena’s words, “a luxury wellness experience inspired by Sri Lanka’s botanical heritage.”
Available initially in four variants, the Wild Mist Water mixes come in canisters, and their contents must be brewed just as tea is, with each canister containing a thoughtfully curated mix of local spices that have been associated for generations with physical and mental wellbeing.
The spices that go into the mix are drawn entirely from Sri Lanka’s botanical repertoire, with each blend combining coriander seeds with carefully balanced accents of nigella, cloves, cinnamon, rosemary and lemongrass. The result is a subtle, refined infusion designed not to overwhelm the palate, but to offer a calming aroma, a smooth mouthfeel and a sense of grounding that unfolds slowly with each sip, giving its patrons a time to pause a moment of calm that is much needed in a world that never pauses or stops.
At the heart of the brand is its founder’s belief that Sri Lanka’s wellness heritage does not need exaggeration or nostalgia to be relevant to modern life, only thoughtful reinterpretation.
Business News
Araliya Group of Companies Strengthens Logistics Operations with Acquisition of 10 New Trucks from DIMO
Business News
Sri Lanka’s Largest Vehicle Investment: DIMO and Rathna Rice Pvt Ltd Complete Historic 50-Vehicle Fleet Deal
-
Business News2 years agoCeylon Cash Throws Sri Lanka’s First-Ever Crypto Halving Yacht Party for Crypto Whales
-
Business News2 years agoSri Lanka’s Piyumi Wijesekara among new NASA crew for next simulated Mars journey
-
Business News2 years agoCoca-Cola appoints Kaushali Kusumapala as first female Country Director for Sri Lanka and Maldives
-
Business News1 year agoPickMe founder Jiffry Zulfer is expected to be appointed to the ICTA board
-
Economy2 years agoIMF to work with new President AKD, welcomes creditor deal
-
Economy1 year agoIndia writes off US$100mn in debt to Sri Lanka
-
Business News2 years agoBrowns becomes world’s biggest tea exporter in deal with LIPTON
-
Life Story2 years agoWho is Livia Voigt, the world’s youngest billionaire at 19?