We turned up at Kandy station an hour before the train departed to buy our tickets, and found what we hoped was a good position to wait for the train to arrive. When the train arrived 20 minutes late the station was packed with backpackers holding cheap tickets like ours, rushing aboard trying to find a seat. I was unlucky in the battle for seats but Ben had found me one and he went to sit in a nearby doorway instead. The train set off and it was time to see if "the most beautiful train ride in the world" was worth the hype.
Forty five minutes later I was bored - I had an aisle seat you see and the guy sitting next to me was asleep against the window, snoring ... loudly. I could hardly see a thing, plus whats the point of going on a beautiful journey if you had no one to share it with. I headed off to find Ben, who was sat looking out at the passing countryside through an open door. I offered a guy sat on the floor near Ben my seat if he wanted it, he quickly accepted and I settled into the doorway with Ben, us both dangling out feet out over the edge of the train.
We spent several hours sat in the doorway, occasionally darting our legs back into the carriage when the shrubbery got too close. It's freeing, watching your feet dangling over the track whizzing by, leaning out and having the wind whip through your hair while you look down the train seeing who else is enjoying this experience with you; although it is not good for the bottom - metal flooring gets uncomfortable pretty quickly. The countryside views were pretty, but we soon realised they were much better if you sat on the other side of the train. From there you could see the rolling valleys covered in tea-plants, the train rushing through small forests before the landscape opened up again showing beautiful panoramas. On our side of the train it was mainly just views of a slope, occasionally we would glimpse small streams and views of forests below... but not often enough for it to be truely that attention grabbing.
What did grab my attention was a particular fruit hawker. I understand we were sat in a doorway and more than a bit in the way, but this particular fellow decided the best was to get past me was to step on me as I was trying to get up - at this point the train hadn't even come to a complete stop. What's more annoying, he only got off to get back on it ten minutes later when it pulled out of the station. He didn't come back on by our doorway thankfully, he may have remembered how Ben pulled him off me (noticing how this man's efforts were mainly just pushing me off of the train!)
The train had emptied out a bit four hours into the journey, so we finally managed to snag some seats together. The views were better (and so were our bottoms). It was amusing watching people hanging out of the train doors at stops, trying to get that instagram worthy photo. Was it the most beautiful journey I have been on? Perhaps. What I can say for certain that after 7 hours on any train, I am unaccountably bored. It may have been beautiful, but after a while the sun went down and it was just dark and cold. I'm glad we've checked it off of our to do list, but I won't be doing it again any time soon.
We didn't go to Ella just for the train ride, we went to climb little Adams peak and to see how tea is made at a local plantation but before I get to that, i'll tell you about the town itself. It's described as a laid back town in Sri Lanka's central highlands, so I was expecting something quaint and rural. I wasn't expecting a high-street filled with bar and restaurants, I wasn't expecting it to be completely touristy with little rustic charm what-so-ever - but once again expectations and reality had to be realigned. It wasn't a bad place, we enjoyed our time there and it is certainly convenient, any cuisine was available and there were shops on ever corner. It was also breath-taking, when you got past the main street the views of the surrounding countryside were stunning.
Our first day in Ella was unfortunately spent in bed. We must have picked up a bug from one of the many travellers we shared the train with; that or we didn't make the right choices on our train picnic snacks. Our second day we decided to go and learn about tea. I won't bore you with all the details but a lot more went into the tea manufacturing process than we'd ever thought. There's the plucking, sorting, wilting, pressing and sifting then again with the pressing and sifting... then even more pressing with a bit more sifting - our guide was very insistent on us knowing how much pressing and sifting goes into the different qualities of tea - before some fermentation, a trip to the dryer and a quality check. See it's a long process.
When we visited the factory wasn't running due to the time of year, but our guide fired up a few of the machines so we could see how it all worked. I can't even imagine how hot and noisy it would get with all their machines going at once! After the tour we headed up to the tallest level in the factory for a spot of tea-tasting while admiring the views over the surrounding tea-fields, we then made our way back home to rest up for the hike we had planned the next day.
Our homestay was up one of the steepest driveways we have ever seen, but did afford a good vantage point over the town and towards the sloping valley's sides we were to be climbing that morning. When we first arrived after the arduous train journey, with weary legs and laden down by heavy backpacks, it took every last bit of effort (and quite a lot of cursing) to make it to the front door, but as the early morning sun warmed our faces we skipped down the hill with the bare essentials thrown into a day pack, wearing our little-used hiking equipment, ready to tackle Little Adam's peak and the insta-famous 9 Arch Bridge.
We were a bit put out that on the first part of our adventure we ended up strolling along well paved flat roads, past families in flip-flops whilst Ben got some rather funny looks for his hiking sandles and white sock combination (apparently they rub his poor little feet otherwise). The gradient eventually began to increase as we wound our way up through endless tea fields and past a zip-lining centre towards the peak. It's a bit unexpected; having a 40 year old man flying 10 metres overhead screaming bloody murder when you're out for a walk, but he seemed to be having fun. However, this was where the fun ended for us.
The next 20 minutes or so was a gruelling slog up a narrow, seemingly never-ending staircase of irregular steps carved out of the hillside, whilst simultaneously having to dodge groups on their way down. We started off letting people go down while patiently waiting but after the third group ambled past without even a cursory nod of thanks we decided to push on regardless (muttering apologies under our breath). Due to our fitness levels still being pretty below par it wasn't long before we generously stopped to let more people down, whilst gasping for air and mopping our brows. The views from the top of Little Adam's peak were beautiful though. You could see the verdant landscape stretched out on every side, and even a distant waterfall in full flow on the opposite valley. We spent a peaceful half-hour perched on an overhanging rock snapping pictures and guzzling water before we were ready to head back down.
We made our descent down the stairs at a slightly better pace (gravity helping immensely) and took pleasure in seeing the red and sweaty faces of those yet to hit the summit. Our dreams of speed were shattered when we were overtaken by a 3 legged dog. Our next destination was the photogenic 9 Arches a mere 2km away, but as this part turned out to be up and down the steep valleys, over fallen trees and through a small stream it still wasn't the quickest of walks. The dense forests trapped in the heat of the now mid-day sun and little breeze could get through the thick foliage to cool us down. Half an hour later we got our first glimpse of the bridge as the trees began to thin, and the promise of open space and cooler air lifted our spirits.
As we got closer still we began to see just how popular this place was. In stark contrast to our (mainly Ben's) unstylish yet practical appearances, we were met with what seemed like a small army of wanna-be instagram models. All flawlessly made-up, sporting floppy sun-hats and long flowing summer dresses while staring whistfully off at something just out of shot. It turned out there was a car-park next to the bridge so you can get dropped off to take your pictures without having to suffer the indignity of hiking, but we both reckoned that was cheating. It was a beautiful old bridge built for a railway line which still operates one service each hour, but as it seemed all clear we ambled along the tracks to take in the views, enjoy the breeze and get a few snaps of our own.
As we made our way back to the guesthouse our thoughts turned to dinner, and as we'd made such great efforts to be healthy we thought we deserved a treat. This came in the form of a magical little dish known as Kottu Roti, consisting of noodles made of sliced uncooked flat bread (roti) pan fried together with deeply caramelised onions, blackened dried fish (optional) and a rich curry sauce, lightened by fresh scallions, carrots and coriander. There are hundreds of versions, with subtlety different textures and flavours, and I can safely say we tried each and every one of them at least once in the weeks to follow. It is by no means good for you but for exactly that reason it was so good to eat! It also tended to be the cheapest thing on most menus and was usually large enough that we could easily share one portion between the two of us, meaning our wallet remained heavy while our stomachs followed.
To balance out our almost obsessive compulsion to consume Kottu we could have, of course, climbed Ella Rock. This famous landmark draws in tourists by the thousands, those who make the climb are rewarded with stunning views over Ella Gap and pretty sore legs (most likely). As we'd seen Ella Rock and plenty of amazing views over the valley on our way to Little Adams peak, we thought we'd leave it at that - thank you very much. As the exercise portion of this trip was over and done, it was time to move on to somewhere less hilly, and where better than the beach.
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