Another early morning. We woke up because our host recommended we leave for the train at 7 am for an 8:30 train (15 min drive). Not knowing anything we listened. It was a waste. We got there and all the reserved seats were sold out (as we'd been warned) so we just got general 3rd class tickets. To explain, 1st class is pretty much only foreigners and with AC. Second class is a bit more mixed, with more seats, and third class is a bit mess though there are seats there as well. Thankfully the windows and doors are open though, so as long as you stay by a door if you don't have a seat it's not too bad heat wise.
Anyway the train was delayed so we just sat there until we finally left around 9:15.
Now started the craziness. The train came to a stop. We knew it wasn't the first stop but wow. It was already packed.
First, we had to make sure we found third class. Then everyone is crowding the doors. People are sending their bags in and out windows. In order to get in (we're traveling with two big suitcases and two backpacks - not ideal but we had to bring all our food for passover) I shoved my suitcase into a door, which in turn moved people out of the way and I walked in after it. Then I made Meir do the same, but he barely made it in. We realized piling our backpacks on the suitcases gave us a bit more space, but we were basically stuck in the doorway but avoided being too close since didn't want our stuff falling out of the train.
We traveled that way for about an hour and a half being shoved this way and that every time people came in and out. I started feeling sick from the heat and crowd, but thankfully the people in the corner moved so we were able to move our suitcases to the corner and sit on them. I half fell asleep for about ten minutes but then we got to a stop where people moved their bags out of the storage area, so we were able to put our suitcases up and out of our and everyone's way. We thought we'd be able to sit too, but everyone seemed to be saving seats for people and they didn't let us. We made it to other doors though, and I was able to sit near the door, which really helped me feel better, and though not the best, was definitely an improvement.
It was just on the floor, but I had something to lean against and just sitting with the fresh air was great.
We met a young couple from the Maldives, the wife was a disaster relief worker.
I spoke a bit with the kid who was sitting with his feet outside, and the older man sitting with him kept pointing out nice views.
With about an hour left in the ride, the kids mother came over and offered me her seat. It was so nice to sit in a real seat. A little while later Meir also got a seat after standing over 4 hours. He almost gave it up but I told him after standing so long it's not selfish to stay seated.
And we finally made it. We weren't positive where we were going and with our big bags we waited for some people to clear out (also interesting fact you give your ticket as you leave the station, not when you enter - at least for standing room)
We stopped by an atm (something else we learned is to travel with dollars or the local currency. We brought Israeli shekels and they won't change them). When we looked for a tuk tuk to take us to where we were staying, we couldn't find one. But good thing. We were standing by the street and this guy pulled up and said "Orchid Villa?" We said yes and hopped in, despite not being 100% sure this was for us.
We remembered that our booking was supposed to have a great view, but we also thought it was meant to be closed to downtown Ella. It wasn't. We climbed a hill and kept going further and further. Apparently our host had whatsapped us to say to get off the train at a different stop, but we don't have data so we never saw the message. He seemed really nice though but his English was pretty broken.
As we pulled in we saw a deer that even I was excited about! (despite growing up with deer in my backyard). We only saw it from afar but it looked like a different species than I'm used to. Speaking of animals I don't think I mentioned yet that they have this animal that seems to be a mix between a squirrel and chipmunk that you see all over.
Our idea had been to put our stuff in and go to a restaurant for dinner, as we hadn't really had a Sri Lankan meal yet, but after seeing how far we'd gone from town we realized that was unlikely.
We brought our stuff up to the room and wow. We already knew we'd chosen perfectly. It was peaceful and beautiful with a great view and a porch for sitting and meals. Our hosts came up and asked if we wanted dinner and we said yes and they asked do we eat this do we eat that is spicy okay etc. They went above and beyond. They brought us milk tea and we watched their cat try to attack a wild peacock.
View from our room
Tea never comes alone. They brought us all the holiday cakes they'd made for us to try. This country loves sweet. It's great for Meir, a bit much for me.
This is our second host to have a rottweiler who they keep tied up.
Our host, Somi, asked if we drink beer and we said yes so he said he'd go out and get for us but we decided to go along for the ride.
We went into Bandarawela and stopped for gas, but the place we stopped was out (apparently the day before gas stations were closed for the holiday so everyone was filling up) so we went to the more expensive place next door. Gas is 170 rupees / liter = $1/liter. Way cheaper than in Israel but they still consider it expensive.
From there we went to a liquor store for the beer. We got Lion beer because the local beers seem to be that or Carlsberg which we already know and don't love.
Everything was behind the counter so you have to ask for what you want, you can't really browse. We put it in the car and went to a bakery but whatever it was our host wanted wasn't available. Then he took us to the Bandarawela Hotel. One of the fanciest and a very old hotel. He spoke with the receptionists and one of them took us to check out the presidential suite. As an agent, I'd say it was a bit of a run down old 5 star hotel, but probably worth staying in for the experience. You could definitely see the old beauty in it.
We went back to the house and dinner came out. So much dinner. Cooked jack fruit (I think I prefer fresh - it also looked like meat so we got confused and double checked a few times before eating it), dahl curry, pumpkin curry (so yummy!), fish (with bones and scales - very not LeeAnn friendly but Meir enjoyed it), a huge bowl of rice, salad, a plate of fruit. It was a feast.
The Lion beer was better than we expected for a light beer.
Our hosts came up to chat. It turns out the mother is a teacher, she's been teaching 29 years, and (only making 40,000 rupees/month) and the dad works at an insurance agency. The daughter who we thought was like 15 it turns out is 21 and in university studying we think food science. Apparently it's pretty common for people to go abroad to England or Australia after graduating to start their careers, so she's debating going to England for 5 years. They asked to see our wedding photos, since they knew this was our honeymoon, and they brought up their wedding album for us to see.
They taught us a bit about Sri Lankan history, that there was a 30 year war with terrorism including bus and train bombings that ended in 1995.
They taught us a few words like anAsi- pineapple (similar to the Hebrew ananas) and estuti - thank you.
After dinner our host wrote out and explained directions to Ella Rock, where we wanted to go for sunrise the next morning. He told us it was 2.5 kilometers so we figured we'd leave an hour before sunrise and be fine. He also mapped out the rest of the day for us, so we'd come back, have breakfast, head into Ella to climb Little Adam's Peak, see the 9 Arches Bridge, go to a tea plantation and a waterfall.
The best laid plans right?
We asked for a flashlight (torch) for the morning walk, showered (cold showers - the power went out which supplied the hot water) and set an alarm for 4:45 am.
(Sorry this post was a bit all over the place!)
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