I’m in Sri Lanka!
I started my Sri Lanka trip with a brief one night stay in Colombo, where I stayed at a really cool hostel – City Rest Fort, which has ice cream available 24/7- yup my kinda place!
The next morning, I wanted to make tracks, and so made my way to the Fort train station to get my train to Nuwara Eliya- a destination famous for its lush greenery and tea plantations. It’s just an eight hour journey from Colombo, yes I repeat EIGHT hours, argh!
Train rides in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is famous for its scenic train rides. In fact they have become something of a tourist attraction in their own right. The Kandy to Ella train ride is one of the most famous and this ride incorporated the Kandy to Nuwara Eliya part.
The quirky colonial remnants combined with stunning views have made the Sri Lanka train rides a bucket list item for every traveller. The powder blue trains make for a stunning photograph too…
The photogenic Sri Lanka trains..
Should I go second class in Sri Lanka?
I opted for a second class ticket. Travelling second and third class means you can hang out of the open doors and windows. Plus it apparently offers more of an authentic, local experience (although in actual fact there’s almost as many tourists as locals).
However, I soon wondered if I’d made a mistake. The first class carriage was almost empty, whereas second class was so packed I could barely breathe. I started to panic a bit – anyone from England knows about the Hillsborough disaster. More and more people kept getting on, no matter how full it was, squeezing past people and stepping over luggage…
Hanging out of the train doors
After being stuck under a smelly armpit I’d had enough and sidled my way to the open door and sat down, feet hanging out and hair blowing in the breeze. It felt wonderful! Yes I’ve cracked it I thought proudly…
Danger hanging out of trains…
That is until we passed a station at high speed and my foot scraped along the concrete platform. My foot thankfully remained intact, but the top of my right shoe didn’t. After this close call I was much more cautious about letting my limbs dangle out of the train…
Beautiful views on the Sri Lanka train ride
The train did indeed pass some stunning scenery en route. I definitely see why a train ride in Sri Lanka is high on the bucket list of travellers around the world.
Nuwara Eliya…
Eight hours later and I arrived at the station closest to Nuwara Eliya- Nanu Oya station. The station is a short tuk tuk ride from the centre.
Nuwara Eliya is famous for its tea plantations, and many travellers opt to do a tour of the tea plantations here. As I’d done this before in Vietnam, I gave this a miss and instead decided to visit Horton Plains National Park for a walk before heading to my next destination of Ella.
After all, sitting down on a hard train floor meant that my limbs were stiff and in need of some exercise! I met a fellow traveller who was raving about Horton Plains National Park. He seemed particularly excited about the chance of seeing deer. To be honest I can see plenty of deer in the U.K. but I didn’t want to rain on his parade. I decided to join him the next morning to see what the fuss was all about..
Horton Plains National Park
I can’t say I was jumping for joy when he said we needed to set off at 5am to beat the midday heat. Jeez I thought this was supposed to be my holiday?! This is earlier than I get up for work! But set off at 5am I did, stopping off at the ‘happy cafe’ en route for a breakfast of coffee and ahem, a pot noodle. Don’t judge me- beggars can’t be choosers!
Highlights of Horton Plains National Park
The park itself wasn’t much to write home about. It actually reminded me of the U.K. in many ways. It was also very touristy. There were a lot of fellow tourists trundling around the park, particularly Germans and Chinese. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to visit Horton Plains, but for a fairly easy three hour circular walk it’s pleasant enough.
Here’s some of the highlights of Horton Plains National Park…
Baker Falls waterfall..
Apparently this is the little world’s end…
Cool scenery… 
Getting the train to Ella
After the three hour trek I was just in time to catch my train to Ella from the nearby Pattipola train station.
Travelling third class by train to Ella…
By 10.15am I was on the third class train carriage to Ella. Despite being third class this journey was much more pleasant than the last.
It took around two hours or so and was filled with a mix of Sri Lankan locals and foreign tourists. The atmosphere was so lovely as everybody just seemed so happy and excited to be on the train.
I loved watching the people around me, particularly this man and boy…
Every time we went through a dark tunnel (of which there were many), people whooped and squealed with delight. The atmosphere was so cheery and pleasant. A far cry from the trains in the U.K. which are either home to sombre commuters or drunk and rowdy football fans.
This young woman was enjoying her ride in the open doorway so much that her family practically had to drag her away when they reached their destination!
Of course I was happy to take her place…
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