We are sitting in the opposite direction as everyone else (and have two empty seats in front of us) so are praying we aren't sitting backwards the whole way to Kandy....only time will tell.
I've always thought a train station is great for people watching, and this station hasn't disappointed. Trains pull in on the platform next to us and their passengers use our train as a short-cut to exit rather than going up and stairs and over the platform.
We depart Colombo Fort Train station on Sunday, 29 March at 9am (dead on time) and thankfully aren’t traveling backwards. After leaving the station I’m trying to look into every single direction, there is just so much to take in. Once we get out of the city the views start to change to be more greenery – aah this is what we have come here for. Around half way the speed drops dramatically and we begin the slow process of going uphill. This means I can “hang” out the open door like a local. Camera is securely tied around my neck.
We have two stops along the way and thankfully the seats in front of us remain empty.
We pull into Kandy station dead on time at 11.31am. I join a line to find out about the train to Ella; 6.5 hours "no thanks, I'll pass". Unsurprisingly there are men right here asking us if we want a taxi or tuk tuk, within seconds we are in a taxi heading to our hotel.
After a few small hiccups with check-in, for some reason they couldn't find my reservation even though I booked directly with the hotel......we are all checked in and heading to the room.
The hotel is around 6km out of Kandy town, overlooking the river. Lovely and peaceful. A shame we are here for two nights only. As much as we could just hang by the pool we drag ourselves out and travel by tuk tuk into Kandy. After walking around part of the Lake we stop for a quick bite and a cool drink (manage to watch a bit of the World Cup Cricket Final – the Black Caps aren’t doing well L). It's another super hot day!
Kandy is a lot bigger than I had expected and given it’s a Sunday there are a lot of people around! Thank goodness for our tranquil hotel.
Our tuk tuk driver back was a tad crazy and noticed an elephant in a truck ahead of us - he decided his mission was to get to the elephant no matter what was ahead of us or coming towards us. Move over buses, cars and tuk tuks here we come!! He really wanted us to get photos of this.
Back at the hotel we enjoy bubbles on our balcony, a shame it's not in celebration of the Black Caps winning the World Cup! For dinner we head to the main restaurant for a buffet meal.
Monday, 30 March we are both wide awake before our alarms go off. We had planned yesterday three things to go to this morning, so after breakfast went looking for "our man" to hook us up with a driver. First thing we are told is the tea museum is closed on Monday's, typical! So our three things to do have reduced to two.
We drive out of Kandy through small towns to the Geragama Tea Factory where we were given a tour of the tea factory. I struggled to understand our tour guide as she kept repeating everything twice – most annoying. We learn how the tea was produced, starting with women picking the leaves to the different tea being ready for consumers. We even had the pleasure to see some of the factory in production before enjoying a fresh cup of team. The one piece of information we were given which I was surprised about was all type of tea are made from the same plant. Totally not what I expected!
We head back into Kandy and to the Royal Botanic gardens; it was one of the sights that everyone who has been to Kandy previously told me I must visit. So off we go. It’s supposedly 147 acres big, which to me seems absolutely massive!
We enjoy just wandering around, me in the shade as much as possible (it’s so hot!) and Prue getting as much sun as possible. It’s so nice and peaceful even though we aren’t the only ones around. After passing by the bamboo garden, which is overlooking a pond, we find an odd looking tree and search for its name – Cannonball Tree (also known as Couroupita guianensis). This was planted by the King and Queen back in 1901 and is still going strong. The other highlights from our wandering was the Avenue of Palms (I could have been in Miami…) and the suspension bridge. A tad scary for me when the couple in front of us started bouncing. I was amazed at how tall a lot of the trees were, definitely shows how long they have been here for.
Its bloody hot so on finding a shop that sells cold drinks we are in and join the many others chilling under a tree. With a view that we have I could spend all day here!
Time to move otherwise we will be here for the rest of the day, not that that's bad but we want to swim. We continue to wonder around making our way to the exit. Thankfully Prue spots our driver as soon as we exit, so we're off with a puff of smoke back to the hotel. Unfortunately we aren't the only ones who want to get somewhere, the local schools have just been let out for the day so there are people everywhere.
On arrival back to the hotel we are straight into our togs and straight to the pool. I got a bit sunburnt on day one so for me it's to the shade I head!
Early evening the heavens absolutely open, at one stage I'm wondering is in back in Singapore!
No bubbles this evening so we head to the bar lounge for pre-dinner drinks and are treated to our own light show, followed by bats out doing their daily exercise! For dinner we head to the a la carte restaurant.
Now the awful task of packing up begins - I'm never a fan! And it doesn't help that generous Prue has brought me gifts!
Tuesday, 31 March we are up well before our alarm - no surprise really! This morning Prue is heading back to Colombo to take her flight back to Saudi Arabia and I'm heading south down to Ella. We enjoy a leisurely breakfast on the terrace before checking out and saying goodbye....always hate that!
It's been a wonderful 3 days together - I wonder where our next adventure will take us.
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