Columbo to Nuwara Eliya

4:30 a.m. came too quickly! We were off to the train station- to our $4.00 train ride from Columbo to Nuwara Eliya, the British hill town. The train left right on time at 5:45. We got great seats in the first class observation car (the A/C advertised was actually 3 fans in the ceiling of the car and opening windows). The views were spectacular.

This country is gorgeous! The 24 seats in the car filled up as we went further into the hills. The walk back to the dining car was an experience- no Caucasians- all Sri Lankans (many of them sleeping while standing up). A few tasty treats from the dining car- a veggie fried thing (with a nice kickback) and some Lemon Puff biscuits kept us going for the 7-½ hour trip. Each stop was interesting- with railroad dogs walking the tracks and people selling fruit and bread. Our car had the “track inspector”- an interesting guy whose job is “inspecting the track”. Actually, he mostly sits and talks for the entire trip- but he was a charming guy with an interest in boxing.

We got off at the station (Nanu-Oya) nearest to Nuwara Elija and our driver, Punchi, found us immediately. Being led to a brand new white Nissan “Sunny”- immaculately clean with working A/C was wonderful! Punchi spoke excellent English- and had been driving in Sri Lanka since 1971! He knew everything and everyone.

Our hotel in Nuwara Elija, the Ceybank Rest, was a beautiful old mansion formerly owned by the British governor. The ceilings were at least 20 feet high, the rooms spacious and beautiful (the floors were polished teakwood). A quick shower and we were off to explore the town. It was pretty small- we did a quick drive through and stopped at the Hill Club, an old British men’s club…another club filled with stuffed animal heads and lots of bars, including the “Mixed Bar” where women were allowed.

It was 2:00 and we hadn’t eaten- so we grabbed some “short eats” at a local restaurant—short eats are like dim-sum- a plate of miscellaneous mystery pieces put on a plate- and you only pay for what you eat. Almost everything was spicy and good- and very cheap! The town didn’t hold our attention very long- a walk through the vegetable and fish market convinced us that dinner would be fresh veggies and fish….it looked wonderful.
We grabbed a rickshaw back to the Hill Club and relaxed while the sunset before walking back to our hotel. We grabbed the PC and headed to the hotel bar- and worked on the “Burnout Beauty” spreadsheet. What an eye-opener—our India trip cost us about 3 times what we were paying – on our own- in Sri Lanka. Over dinner (a great dinner of grilled fish and crispy veggies), we vowed to try to do more and more on our own. Back to the room- it was freezing- we piled on clothes and socks and blankets to sleep.