Day 39 - Training

The train from Ella to Kandy was meant to be one of the highlights of the Sri Lankan section of this trip, and therefore was more than expected to justify the early start to our day. On the whole, it did not disappoint - while the stubborn clouds prevailed for the last few hours of the six-hour (!) trip, the train slowly carved its way through the mountains and provided miles of breathtaking scenery to those lucky enough to have an opening window.

Even though we asked for an Observation class ticket, we actually got a pair of First Class, Air Conditioned seats. As the windows in our carriage did not open, most of our neighbours rushed towards open doors or vacant second class seats so they could enjoy the view and take pictures, with a hyperactive Spanish gentleman who wielded his DSLR up and down the train for hours on end leading the way.

The First and Second Class carriages were occupied by a mixture of Sri Lankan and Foreign tourists, not far from 50-50, which is probably the highest percentage of the latter I have seen anywhere on this trip. The elder of the Sri Lankan family sat next to us also seemed overwhelmed by the amount of westerners around him and spent most of the time excitedly making friends. When it got to our turn, he informed us he knew many Portuguese people from his ten years in Saudi Arabia and that they tended to be the life and soul of the party. Upon asking Ana and I what we did for a living, he proceeded to introduce us to his two sons, one of whom a nurse and the other a prospective Engineering student. When the two guys embarrassedly ran away (a classic moment of any family trip), the gentleman asked us if we were enjoying Sri Lanka and, as we replied affirmatively, proudly admitted that his people are known around the World for their hospitality. After I excused myself to go take some pictures while precariously hanging from an open door, he moved on to the next set of tourists for more of the same - when I next ran into him, he happily announced "I've made more friends, from England!", his face beaming with the typically warm Sri Lankan smile that only reinforced his previous point.

Upon arriving in Kandy and taking care of the necessary chores, we grabbed an early dinner at the Garden Cafe, down the road from our guest house. After seven days of Sri Lankan cuisine, we seem to have settled on Kottu (the dish made of loudly chopped roti I first tried in Mirissa) as our favourite option, and this was a pretty good one. On our way to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, where we were refused entry as Ana was not covered up enough despite wearing a long tunic with her shoulders covered, we were treated to an epic sunset overlooking Kandy Lake.

Moving on to the city centre, we ended up striking conversation with a random gentleman via the customary introduction of "-Which country are you from? -Portugal! -Ahhhhh Cristiano!!!". After talking about the places we had been to in his country so far and learning that the south coast beaches have lost a considerable chunk of their beauty since the 2004 Tsunami, he told us we should check out the fruit market nearby. Seeing us wandering in the wrong direction, he walked back and took us there while saying "I don't want anything from you, I will just take you there" and after leaving us at a spice shop promptly walked off, gaining the Sri Lankan people a few more points in Ana's consideration, who correctly pointed out that in India we would have definitely parted with a few hundred rupees at this point...

While not setting the World alight, a wander around the market and the walk back to the lake were enough to overcome the disappointment from missing the Temple of the Tooth and head back home feeling like we saw a little bit of Kandy in our first few hours here. Tomorrow we will have a few more to explore the city during the day before boarding a train to Colombo. While not expecting it to be quite as picturesque as today's six-hour epic, we made sure we got second class seats just in case...

Cheers,
J-Wowww