Toy Train to Ella

The best bit about Ella is the train journey there.  We were meant to have 2nd class tickets on this train but somehow ended up with 3rd class. (Only 2nd or 3rd class is available on this train).  As we watched the platform fill up with prospective passengers I began to wonder whether we would get a seat on the train for this 3 hour journey.  I wondered if our extensive  experience of many years of commuting to London on packed trains and tubes would come in useful today.  It did!  As the train pulled into the station we quickly worked out where the carriage door would be and manoeuvred ourselves in front of it.  From our last experience of the Columbo to Kandy train, we realised that politely queuing and letting passengers get off the train first is not the system here.  So in Sri Lankan style I squeezed myself on to the train as other passengers were squeezing themselves off and quickly managed to secure some seats for John and I.  I knew those commuting skills would come in useful one day.

Ella Train

The train itself is like a little blue toy train from Thomas The Tank Engine.  It was such a pleasure to see it winding its way through the beautiful countryside before reaching the little town of Ella. 

Actually Ella is more like a little village of hickelty pickelty houses,  cafes and shops. It is also a bit of a back packer haven so given we are in fact back packers we decided  to join the other backpackers in a local bar and sample the local tipple - Arrack , which is a 33% proof alcoholic drink fermented from the flowers of coconuts and went down very well when mixed with the other popular drink of Ginger Beer.

 

Arrack and Snacks

 

 

 

Chilling with friends

 

Feeling relaxed after a few drinks we returned to our little guest house on the hill which not only had spectacular views, it also had the best home cooked food.  We feasted on delicious home made vegetable curries, dhal, and rice.

View from our guest house

Ella

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