No Fixed Abode: 2nd class reserved

Thu 27 Apr 2016 - Train to Ella

The group of Chinese staying at the hotel made their usual racket as they left early in the morning, presumably for Horton Plains - as we did yesterday.

As our train didn’t leave until 12:45 we, thankfully, had a leisurely morning ahead of us so following a late, and slightly skimpy, breakfast (we won’t be sorry to leave the hotel Green Star) we headed into town to find an ATM to get some more cash - it’s a real pain when nowhere accepts a credit card.

On our return we checked out with perfect timing to be collected by our usual tuk tuk driver and sped our way down the hill to Nanoya, where the railway station is. At one time the British had planned to build a narrow gauge railway to Nuwara Eliya bit for some reason that didn’t happen so it remains connected to the rail system by a fleet of taxis and tuk tuks - all of which, it seemed, were at the station when we arrived.

Fighting our way through the throngs of tourists, some arriving by road others from the recently arrived train from Kandy, we made our way to platform two and the specially built ‘foreign tourist waiting room’. The room itself was quite small and as a consequence the vast majority of tourists were already on the platform. This stretch of line is noted for its beauty so many people had been dropped by drivers who were going to race the train and meet them at the other end. Lucky for us as that meant the luggage racks would be empty.

When the train arrived, several minutes late, we allowed the boarding carnage to calm down before finding the, surprisingly empty, 2nd class reserved carriage, stowing our bags and settling into our roomy seats for the journey. 2nd class is most definitely better than 3rd but not as much fun (Disclaimer - Glenn much preferred 2nd class). As the train pulled out of the station we discovered, much to our dismay, that we had rear facing seats and the lovely cool breeze would not be playing onto our faces. No matter, at this altitude it was fairly cool anyway.

The accolades attributed to this stretch of line are rightly justified. The scenery was magnificent. Waterfalls, tea plantations, forests, vast vistas, tunnels, bridges - you name it, this line has it. It really is a tribute to the Victorian engineers as it winds its way around the mountainside through the varying terrain. Tea must have been some money spinner to warrant such a feat of engineering.

After two hours of picture perfect views we finally arrived at the picturesque village of Ella, set astride the saddle of Ella Gap. Once again we let the rush die down before leaving the station to find a tuk tuk driver to take us to our hotel - the Ella Ridge Resort. When we booked here many of the reviews we’d read had waxed lyrical about the ‘amazing view’ and stepping inside we understood why. The reception lobby come dining area is an open air floor with the most stunning view looking through Ella gap to the plains below, flanked by Ella hill on one side and little Adam’s peak on the other. We ordered some tea, pulled up a couple of easy chairs and just sat in admiration for a goodly while.

After some time we ordered dinner then pulled ourselves away from the view to check out our room. Total result, it had the same view through three giant picture windows. Throwing them wide open we pulled up a couple of easy chairs and set about catching up our internet based lives with a usable wifi service - the first for several days.

At the agreed time we sauntered down to the dining area to watch the last of the afternoon rain clear away and eat another tasty Sri Lankan meal. When we had finished and were considering returning to our room a lady cautiously approached our table and rather timidly said hello. That was all Yvonne needed to launch into full conversation mode and she was soon firing questions at the lady, who turned out to be the owner, an ex school teacher and the mother of the three boys who were noisily playing a game on an adjacent table. We compared child rearing tales then discussed our proposed climb of Ella rock tomorrow, which the Lonely Planet recommends you do with a guide as it is easy to get lost in the forests on its flanks. Before long we had arranged an early morning breakfast and accepted her offer of help, which we think entails showing us to the start of the climb, waiting for another guided group and following them - sneeky!

With darkness fallen we said our goodbyes and retired to our room with some rather strong Ceylon tea, to find the internet had stopped working. How are travellers supposed to cope with such inconvenience? Which is why you often have to wait two or three days for our posts.