8:41 Badulla Express

I am by no means a train aficionado, but I have been on enough of them to appreciate this relaxing mode of transportation. And those 'in the know' speak with great enthusiasm of the train trip from Kandy to Badulla.

Our journey would leave Kandy at 8:41 am for six hours of slow crawling through the hill country of central Sri Lanka. This train ride is particularly enjoyable because not much has been done to modernize the Sri Lankan rail system over the past several decades, allowing passengers to imagine what train travel was like 50 years ago. 

The sign boards, stations, and trains themselves evoke memories of past colonial times. Now through a rare slip-up in planning, we were unable to secure reservations in first or second class cars, and were left wondering what six hours of third class travel would be like. I imagined something like this.... 

...but instead we were pleasantly surprised with a nice modern car and our own reserved seats all the way through to our final destination of Ella.

This guy wasn't photo bombing us, but I'm not sure how enthusiastic he was to be stuck in a booth of foreign travellers constantly exclaiming "oooh", "aaaah", and "look at that!". So he left to find another seat shortly after the train left the station.

It didn't take very long before we were treated to the mind-blowing scenery for which this train ride is justifiably famous.

The train winds its way through countless hills blanketed in tea plantations. You might think that such a panorama would get boring after a while, but I can assure you that I could have stayed on this train for days. 

So many shades of green. 

Despite the title of the post, this is not in fact an express train, and the journey is punctuated by many stops at small stations along the way. Each one is like a time capsule, with some (like this one in my photo above), making you wonder if you're not back in 1948.

The bright green colour of the tea plants is partly due to the fact that the tea leaves are picked about every eight days, meaning the growth on top is always new and vibrant. 

Life happens along the tracks as well, and we were treated to many scenes of everyday events as we snaked our way through the countryside. These boys appeared to be going home for lunch, and the tracks were their shortcut.

I know what your thinking - 'another tea field', but there's a waterfall in this one!

This has to be the most picturesque cricket pitch in the world.

I think the kids would have been happy with just a three hour journey, but they seemed content to just look out the window and absorb the sights. Plus, after the epic Adam's Peak hike from the morning before, this was a great way to rest our tired legs.

The pickers hard at work.

There's a guy along the Skytrain tracks in Surrey who feels your pain, buddy! At least for these people, there are only four or five trains per day.

Queen of the Badulla

We finally rolled into Ella at about 3:15 pm, and while it was a long day, it was such a treat. This rail trip has been described as one of the most beautiful train rides in the world (not joking - look it up), so we felt privileged to have been able to experience it.

And we rolled into our guest house, the Sunnyside Holiday Bungalow, in time for tea. We have to kick our coffee habit for the next few days as I'm surrounded by the finest Ceylon tea you could imagine. When in Rome...