On the train to Ella

Two roller bags and two day-packs and two people in the back of a Sri Lankan tuk tuk at 7.45am is no mean feat let me assure you!  We arrived at Kandy railway station the recommended 45minutes before our train and headed past the antique sign board to platform 2.

  

A car trip from Kandy to Ella takes about 3 1/2 hours … but the train winds its way through national parks and towns with delicious names like Nawalapitiya, Talawakele,  Nanu Oya, and Patipola and takes double that time.

As we made our way to the platform a train came in.  I've often heard commentators talking about trains 'disgorging' their passengers, but I'd never actually seen anything I thought resembled this … until today.  I had no idea so many people could pile out of so few carriages.

Backpackers galore were congregated around the near end of the platform where the cheap seats carriages were going to be coming to a halt.  We had booked '2nd class reserved seats' on the 8.45 train to Ella so we headed to the 'far' end of the platform.  We'd chosen 2nd class seats because the windows in these carriages opened whereas 1st class was airconditioned and had sealed windows. 

Departure time came … and went.  Then there was an announcement in Sinhalese followed by something in English, of which we caught "45 minutes"  …. wait a minute, are you saying our train is running 45min late?  A friendly local confirmed that yes, indeed, the train is late.  Oh well - we just sit and wait.

The train originated in Colombo and was going to Badulla - we were just doing the Kandy to Ella section.When the train finally arrived what we saw (and sadly I don't have a photo of) was unbelievable.  The 3rd class and 2nd class 'unreserved' carriages were packed to the gunnels - people jammed in like a Tokyo metro in peakhour - and then some.  

We spotted '2nd class reserved' and made our way towards the carriage door, only to find it locked.  I then realised people were exiting/entering our carriage via the door of the 1st class carriage - and so did a whole bunch of other people.  Employing my elbows, I made my way to the door with Tony just behind me.  A group of Russians tried to push on but were turned away by the ticket checker, who spotted my ticket and waved me in.  

We got to our seats only to be bitterly disappointed that we had about 6" of window either side of a bit of wall.  That dissipated considerably when I looked down the aisle and saw the masses of great unwashed jammed into the next carriage (2nd class) facing the prospect of standing for the duration of their journey with their faces in the armpit of the strap-hanging total stranger next to them.

The guards were super vigilant about the great unwashed trying to get into our carriage. Most of them didn't make it past the entry door but in the rush at Kandy one couple from Spain (I think) did and were unceremoniously removed (despite their ever-so-polite protests) to the rear of the train when another guard came through to check tickets.

It was about 10.10am when we finally pulled out of Kandy and clattered our way out of the burbs, stopping every now and then for more people to try and jam into the unreserved carriages.  One stop, at a place called Gampola had a flood pole - yikes, the train would have been underwater in 1941.

At each stop travelling vendors would get on, selling their goodies before getting off at the next stop.  This fellow had a basket of mandarins

No such things as railway bridges or cuttings in Sri Lanka - down go the boom gates and traffic stops as the train clatters through on the single line.

From time to time the guard in our carriage (we had our own) would let us know a river or waterfall was coming up and what side of the train it was on.

The driver obviously knew which stations would have important 1st or 2nd class passengers getting on the train because when no-one was joining our carriages, the train didn't even pull up with us on the platform.  Track maintenance (in this case the replacement of sleepers) stopped momentarily as the train rolled through.

One of those obligatory photos out the train window looking back on the masses.  The people sitting with their feet out the door are doing so because there isn't room inside.

Somewhere along the way we pulled into a siding as the north-bound train came trundling past.  

 Kandy sits at about 500m above sea level and is good tea growing country.  On the way we passed through masses of tea plantations.  

Passed another waterfall and a huge tea processing factory.  This one was 3x the size of the one we'd visited the day before from Kandy.

In some of the plantations, Morning Glory vine had spread all over the tea plants giving the whole area a faint blue haze. On we went, through wide valleys and little towns.  The local flaura was changing - tall stands of pine gave way to eucalypts and we stopped again at another station to be offered more sustenance.  These strawberries worked out at under $2 AUD for a punnet.

By now we were getting into farming land - lots of terraces with crops ranging from potatoes to onions and beans on little stick tripods.

 Then it was into a thicker forest - the trees looked familiar - like something I'd see in the Blue Mountains at home - around Blackheath - then I realised we were in Rhododendron country.  Only one variety - with bright red flowers.

It got mistier and mistier which became perfectly clear at our next station.  We were at 1600m.

And finally we were in Ella, later than expected due to the delay in Kandy, and grateful we'd not been packed in with the great unwashed now spilling from the far end of the train and surging towards the exit.  I could hear yelling from over a small fence outside the station - an Ella version of a T20 cricket game was in progress on a very dusty oval below.

Waiting for the hoards to be swallowed up by the tuk tuk scrum, we found a driver and made our way over a very bumpy road to 'Master Point' - home for the next two nights.  Out onto the veranda to this view.  And the coolest bathroom of our trip so far!

Sunset wasn't very spectacular - but there you have it folks - a day on the train from Kandy to Ella (even it the slooooow internet here means its a day late)  Today we're going to check out the famous Nine Arches bridge and soak in the vibe of this cool little town.