After the luxuries of the Tea Trails and a huge breakfast on the verandah, it was time to get back to reality – we were on our way to Kandy, so decided to take the 1.55pm local train. Our last piece of luxe saw us dropped off at the small station in Hatton by the Tea Trails car. We came to a station straight out of 1950’s Britain with people milling around waiting for the ticket booth to open. This should open ten minutes before the train departs, and as we waited patiently we realised that like trains all over the world, this one would be delayed. And like stations all over the world, the loo facilities aren’t up to much – but one cup of tea too many before leaving the Tea Trails saw Gill heading to the Ladies’ waiting room. Some of you may be eating whilst reading this so we will spare you the details, suffice to say it was not an experience she will forget! Finally, the ticket booth opens and Ant waits in the queue whilst Gill looks after the bags. We found ourselves back to being a “novelty” again – and were the objects of some interest all the time we were waiting. Whilst Ant was in the queue, Gill was approached by who we think was the Station Master – very official looking with gold chains, tie and pocket watch who asked had we been to Adam’s Peak. When I confirmed that we had, he said he would give us a free ticket (pilgrim price I suppose….) but Ant had just got to the front of the queue and purchased our upgraded tickets, so we missed out on that opportunity. We bought two tickets, 2nd class to Kandy (a three hour journey) for about 60p each.
The platform was full of families and businessmen, as well as schoolkids in the most amazingly clean white uniforms, toting their homework in their backpacks but with the scuffed shoes that all kids seem to have. One brave lad of about ten approached us and when Ant gave him his pen he scooted of with such joy on his face, it was worth being pen-less for the rest of the journey! Finally the train chugged into view an hour behind schedule, and we found seats in the crowded train with room for our bags. It was odd these seats were free, but what we hadn’t noticed was the grey door nearby with “LAVATORY” stencilled on it…… We settled into the journey as the train slowly made its way towards Kandy, dropping 1000 metres back down toward sea level and the tea plantations were replaced by rice paddies. The carriage was pretty ancient, with the odd strip light and non working fan hanging on wires from the ceiling. Air con was provided by no glass in the windows….. The scenery was great and it was fun to look back as the train curved around the bends to see some passengers sitting at the train doorways with their feet dangling down. We had no idea which stations we had to go through before reaching Kandy, but trusted we would know when we got there. We thought we couldn’t be too far away when we noticed a growing puddle around the bottom of our suitcases – yes, the “LAVATORY” had obviously been visited once too often…. Before we could do anything to try and sort it, the train drew into a station and there was lots of people moving about and changing trains. Luckily Ant heard the word “Kandy” and some locals told us we also had to change trains – so we quickly picked up our cases to race across the platform to join what we hoped was the Kandy bound suburban train. We got into the nearest carriage (3rd class this time), and all Gill can remember looking back was her case leaving a trail of some strange coloured liquid across the platform and then down the train carriage…. All she can say is thank God for Dettol wipes! We arrived in Kandy about 15 minutes later and managed to get off the train – a feat in itself. Obviously seats are at a premium and as we tried to negotiate ourselves and our bags down the five foot drop to the platform, locals were climbing over us to get on and find a seat – we didn’t have time to tell them to avoid the ones by that grey door….
Finally out into the sunshine, we catch a tuk tuk to take us to the Grand Dame of Kandy hotels, the Queens.
The platform was full of families and businessmen, as well as schoolkids in the most amazingly clean white uniforms, toting their homework in their backpacks but with the scuffed shoes that all kids seem to have. One brave lad of about ten approached us and when Ant gave him his pen he scooted of with such joy on his face, it was worth being pen-less for the rest of the journey! Finally the train chugged into view an hour behind schedule, and we found seats in the crowded train with room for our bags. It was odd these seats were free, but what we hadn’t noticed was the grey door nearby with “LAVATORY” stencilled on it…… We settled into the journey as the train slowly made its way towards Kandy, dropping 1000 metres back down toward sea level and the tea plantations were replaced by rice paddies. The carriage was pretty ancient, with the odd strip light and non working fan hanging on wires from the ceiling. Air con was provided by no glass in the windows….. The scenery was great and it was fun to look back as the train curved around the bends to see some passengers sitting at the train doorways with their feet dangling down. We had no idea which stations we had to go through before reaching Kandy, but trusted we would know when we got there. We thought we couldn’t be too far away when we noticed a growing puddle around the bottom of our suitcases – yes, the “LAVATORY” had obviously been visited once too often…. Before we could do anything to try and sort it, the train drew into a station and there was lots of people moving about and changing trains. Luckily Ant heard the word “Kandy” and some locals told us we also had to change trains – so we quickly picked up our cases to race across the platform to join what we hoped was the Kandy bound suburban train. We got into the nearest carriage (3rd class this time), and all Gill can remember looking back was her case leaving a trail of some strange coloured liquid across the platform and then down the train carriage…. All she can say is thank God for Dettol wipes! We arrived in Kandy about 15 minutes later and managed to get off the train – a feat in itself. Obviously seats are at a premium and as we tried to negotiate ourselves and our bags down the five foot drop to the platform, locals were climbing over us to get on and find a seat – we didn’t have time to tell them to avoid the ones by that grey door….
Finally out into the sunshine, we catch a tuk tuk to take us to the Grand Dame of Kandy hotels, the Queens.
