My trip to Kandy

Big Drop
Originally uploaded by Rob@SFU.

I wasn't feeling well Saturday so I stayed in town but wanted to get away Sunday so I headed to the train station after breakfast to see where the trains would take me...

As the train pulled into the station a mob literally sprinted for the train and I realized either run or stand for four or five hours so I sprinted down the track but noticed that the crowd was all congested around the first two cars so I managed to move around behind them and went to the five car or so and board the train. It was a third class carriage so I headed unobstructed through the train towards to second class carriages where all the mayhem was. I grabbed the first two seats I saw in the carriage as people were starting to crawl in the windows and get through from the other carriages. I sat down and held both seats while the people fought and pushed for seats, leaving me with my two seats alone. I then noticed a lady I had heard yell “Oh Sh$t” when the crowds started to run and pointed to the seat to see if she wanted it, she was quite happy to have a place to sit. She was a grad student from Tulane University working in Galle and on her way to Kandy to take a course. We had a nice chat for the journey about NGO’s and developing countries as she’s also worked in Gabon with the Peace Corps. Arrived in Kandy in the early afternoon and sought out a bit of food first. I bought some pastries from a bakery and had to laugh at the “bag” I got with the pastries, it was two government documents recycled by gluing the three sides into a bag. I opened the bag and could see that a couple of companies had imported some fabric and how much they paid in duties etc.. I wonder if it’s like a lottery and if you get documents with your name on them you win something. Laura wasn’t too happy with the FOI/POP issues. I rented a tuk-tuk for an hour and had him drive me around town to see the sites and was surprised how small Kandy was, it is a lot smaller than Colombo. Like Vancouver it is is limited in how much it can grow as it is surrounded by large hills and a lake. The hills are beautiful and lush green forests grow up the sides only interrupted now and again by a hotel or house that commands the view. Some places are perched on the side of the hill with the use of stilts and I wonder what it is like in the rainy season with mud slides. Parts of the rail journey are also like that. On the one side of the train is a steep rock cliff going up and on the other side it falls away a few feet away from the train. It provides you with an incredible view of the paddy fields down below and into the distance. In a few places there are waterfalls that fall along the tracks however these are often used by the locals for bathing and cleaning and the area was often quite littered which was a shame.

I was told the train left at 4:10 and raced back to be there in time to get a seat and was happy to see the train sitting there quite empty when I arrived. I fell asleep waiting for the train and it slowly filled up. At about 5:30 I was still waiting and could see sparks coming from under the train where they were welding or grinding something, I hoped it wasn’t the brakes as it was a 300 to 400M drop we would make over a short length of the trip just outside of Kandy. The train finally left at 6:30 and I got home rather late and sore, but an enjoyable day away from the city.

Today we were told that he study centre at Batticaloa is quite active regardless of the strike so it was suggested we go for a visit. Hopefully that will work out, I will have seen the north/west/south and east coasts as well as the central region J That’s it for now, Rob