\HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN
\NEGOMBO
\TISSAMAHARAMA
\ELLA
\KANDY
\COLOMBO
\\LINKS
\CONTACTS

 

We travelled by train from Ella to Kandy. The trip took about six hours or so, but what spectacular views! For some ridiculously cheap amount that I have forgotten, we had reserved seats in the first-class observation car at the end of the train. If you're expecting something along the lines of the Orient Express, forget it, but it was comfortable and pleasant, with comfy seats, and what scenery! I used our little digicam to take photos of the train trip, just sticking the camera out the window and snapping away. Some of my favourite shots are below. If you visit Sri Lanka, you really should ride the train at least once, and the Ella-Kandy route is great. You pass through beautiful hillcountry: tea plantations, farms and villages, with stunning vistas everywhere. We kept ourselves going with drinks from the dining car and snacks from the vendors that pass by your windows at most stops. Mango slices, pineapple chunks, and vadai (deep-fried lentil goodies) were all we needed to keep happy! Riding the rails in Sri Lanka is like stepping back into another era. Not much has changed since the 19th century, and the stations are charming.

 

MORE KANDY PHOTOS ON [PAGE 1] [PAGE 2] [PAGE 3] [PAGE 4] [PAGE 5] [PAGE 6] [PAGE 7]

A view out the window of the back of the train, complete with Euro-tourist reading guidebook. Everyone waved at us as we went by, and we all waved back. We whitey tourists are still freaks of nature in Sri Lanka. And Sri Lankans also happens to be VERY friendly. They smile more than any other people on earth.

Mynahs on the tracks at Ella. I loved the birds in Sri Lanka.

One of the many bridges over which we crossed. And some corn growing next to the tracks. Boiled corn-on-the-cob was a popular roadside treat in many parts of the country.

Real men wear sarongs!! Very sensible clothing for the stinking hot Sri Lankan weather. Now, do they go commando like the Scots do under their kilts? (No, I did NOT check!)

I think these were rice paddies before they get flooded, but I'm not sure. What am I, the Minister of Agriculture? Princess Rice Paddy? Queen of the Rice Grain?

Self-portrait of the hot and tired but happy travellers. And for the record, I do not actually have a double chin! I need caffeine. Gordon needed Three Coins beer. Lots of it. Good God, I just realized that I am starting to look like my paternal grandmother.

That doohickey is the middle is some manual train thingamabobbie that Gordon told me about. I will ask him what it is and correct this! What the hell do I know about trains? All I care about is whether or not my car has a toilet! (It did.) Me, I don't know no steenking train terminology. I just enjoyed the pretty pictures outside my window.
Incidentally, everybody walks on the tracks. They wait for the train to pass, then get right back on. Nobody seems to get squished. I think the trains are slow-moving enough that it's not an issue.

Buddhist shrine next to the tracks. Maybe you can pray that you don't get hit by a train! Or fall off the roof (see below.)

Another lovely old station. That is another tourist's head sticking out the window. No decapitations were witnessed in the photographing of this journey.

It was quite a looong train, and as you can see, people like hanging out the doorways. I even tried it myself when Gordon wasn't looking. This train wasn't even crowded by Sri Lanka standards. We saw one rush-hour train that was stuffed to the gills, with bodies hanging out every doorway, and even one passenger walking on the roof! (Yes, that was as the train was moving. If a Canadian tried that, his Dorito-inflated ass would be flat on the tracks before you could say "tunnel!")

Terraced farming. Lovely! More terraces.
A fabulous vista. And terraces. Moooore terraced farming.
One of the many tunnels through which we passed. Neat shape, huh? They were all like that, Sort of like an Easter egg with the bottom cut off.

Blatant filler. She was next to the tracks in Ella! Moooo! I took about 100 cow photos and they will be eventually be appearing on The Cow Diaries.

MORE KANDY PHOTOS ON [PAGE 1] [PAGE 2] [PAGE 3] [PAGE 4] [PAGE 5] [PAGE 6] [PAGE 7]
All photos and text copyright Natalie Rowe 2008 - Stealing brings bad karma. Don't make me set my lawyer-husband upon you!