TRAIN FROM NUWARA ELIYA TO KANDY

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Day 10: NUWARA ELIYA - KANDY

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Today the alarm rings again a little later, something strange in our travels, but to which lately we are taking the taste. Shortly before 8 in the morning we are having breakfast at The Trevene Hotel, preparing to spend the rest of the morning visiting what is left of the city, before going to the Nanu Oya train station, to catch the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy at 13.50h noon.
This will be our second journey on one of the most beautiful train routes in the world.
We also booked this ticket at Ella at Observatory Saloon.
Now, seeing it in the distance, it might have been better to book first class, where there were seats at an earlier time and that would have allowed us to know a little more about the Nuwara Eliya city and at the same time arrive before Kandy.

But hey, we already have reservations in our possession for a long time and we don't want to waste time going to Nanu Oya station to see if tickets can be changed, so we take the morning with peace of mind and the first thing we do after breakfast is to go to the entrance of Victoria Park, where we pay 300 rupees per person to enter. As an observation we will say that they pay 40 rupees ... Something that, although we often read reviews, we found very correct.
Our purchasing power and our standard of living is higher, right? Well then we have to pay more ...
They are the ones who pay taxes and keep it, what if? Well, the logical thing is to pay less ...
Although it is also true that the same thing would have to happen to us in Spain and that they would charge us less to enter museums, churches ... etc.
Well, leaving this comment behind, we continue with the visit of Victoria Park 😉
Upon entering, we see that it is a lung within what is Nuwara Eliya city.

Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya

It is very careful, very clean and it is a pleasure to walk along the paths that lead to small benches in the shade of the trees.

Corners of Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya

Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya

We take a couple of laps around the site and take the opportunity to rest in one of the many benches there are.
More than resting, because the truth is that today we are not tired, we take the opportunity to observe. What we like so much and we have not had almost time to do these last days of the trip.
Here we notice a lot the difference with the people of the south of Sri Lanka, there everyone smiled as they passed by and greeted us when we met them.
Here people are more closed. They don't look you in the eye. And although it is still very kind people, we see that the behavior abroad changes completely.
After a good while we leave Victoria Park and go for a walk around Nuwara Eliya.
Our surprise comes when we find a shoot of a 70's video clip, just in front of the famous Nuwara Eliya Post Office.

Watching the filming of a video clip in Nuwara Eliya

Here we have a good time watching the show of shots, dances and others, while we take pictures to immortalize the moment. Who knows if in a few years they won't be famous!

Nuwara Eliya streets

From here we go directly to one of the supermarkets where we stock up on food and drink for lunch, snack and possibly dinner that we will have to do at the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy.
You can see the price change according to what items, such as pringgles potatoes ... 420 rupees the package!

Details of a Nuwara Eliya supermarket

The rest of the things, they have a very cheap price, very good cookie packages for 50 rupees, cupcakes for 100 rupees the package of 6 ...
With the backpacks full, we went out to the street ready to negotiate a tuk tuk this time to take us to the Nuwara Eliya hotel to look for the backpacks and then take us to the Nanu Oya station.
Now we know what the last stretch of road to the station is like and since it has not rained much this last day, we can know that we will arrive with a tuk tuk and we will not need a taxi.
The day we arrived we got it for 300 rupees, but of course I had gone down the worst road in the world and was waiting for tourists. Having to go back up yes or yes, it was clear that he preferred to do it by earning something, so we got a good price.

More practical information to prepare your trip to Sri Lanka
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Now it is impossible. After haggling for a good while, the maximum we get down is to 700 rupees for doing both routes. For a few rupees we do not feel like trying again with another tuk tuk, so we take it and get on our way to Le Trevene, our hotel in Nuwara Eliya, where we pick up our backpacks and then we set off to Nanu station Oya, by the almost forgotten road of potholes, water, mud…
When we leave Nuwara Eliya, we begin to cross tea fields, which seem to say goodbye to us with the best smile. The sun has risen and they show us their prettiest image. Some images we know, we will never forget.
We arrive at Nanu Oya station in 40 minutes, so we have time to eat at one of the banks of the station and stroll around for a while until our time comes train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy.

Resting at Nanu Oya train station waiting for the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

We have asked one of the reviewers several times at the station, because we saw a lot of people waiting and it was on another train, which was going in the opposite direction, towards Ella and that was coming 2 hours late! We are lucky that even with trains we have not had delays.

Nanu Oya train station. Train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

This time the Observatori Saloon goes full, but this time the only foreigners are us. We have problems even to place our backpacks, because the luggage carriers are complete.

Observatory Saloon on the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

We observe before the train starts, that almost the entire car is from a group of locals that carry a guide and go together. The truth is that they are making a lot of fuss, something we try to forget and just start ... we think about the great train ride that awaits us!
This time the journey through the Highlands is between small villages and tea plantations.
It is an impressive journey that should not be missed by anyone traveling to Sri Lanka.

Landscapes of the train route from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

Now we understand why it is considered one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world.

Landscapes of the train route from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

Stunning scenery of the train journey from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

Some of the images that we will always take with us of this journey in train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy These are some of the stops the train makes at the different stations.

Looks at one of the stops that makes the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

One of the stops that makes the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

Detail of one of the stops that makes the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

In the middle of the journey it starts to rain and although some drops come in, we leave the windows open because the smell of wet tea and the views are spectacular.

It starts to rain!!

There comes a time when the rain is so intense that we have to close the windows because we are getting soaked.
At this point, we think again of the usual hope that the days we are in Kandy, the time of that respite that has given us so far.

Details of the Observatory Saloon on the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

The rain takes longer than expected to abate, but at the time it does, we reopen the windows and return to surround ourselves with that green color to which we are already accustomed Sri Lanka.

Landscapes on the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

Stunning views from the train from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

We continue the trip with some background songs, improvised by the group of locals that go in our Observatory Saloon wagon and when it's 6 pm, we see that we stop at a station called Peridiyama.

Approaching the Soliciyama station ...

I look at the name several times and the name sounds so loud that I say that Roger asks the reviewer quickly if this station is Kandy's and from the window a man who is at the station, hears me Kandy's name and on top of seeing me as a foreigner and making me freaks out yells at me to run we're in Kandy!!
Feet so I love you !! Roger also runs back, saying that the reviewer has confirmed that Peridayima is Kandy's station.
He has to run taking the backpacks and getting off the train in a hurry. Lucky that the name sounded to me, that if I don't see myself arriving in Colombo.
That is to think that the journey was almost 6 hours, when in reality it is just over 4 hours.
The man who has notified me at the station where we were, is waiting for us and just seeing us appear with the backpacks, he tells us he has a tuk tuk and offers to take us to our hotel in Kandy.
As we are not sure how far we are from KandyWe don't know exactly how much it can cost us or how much we can haggle.
We ask him and trusting that he will not deceive us, he does not say that we are about 10 kilometers away and by giving him the name of the hotel and telling him that it is on the outskirts of Kandy on the mountain, he tells us that he cannot lose 1500 rupees.
After a while of bargaining we reached an agreement of 700 rupees, but we have no way to lower more, so we interpret that it is a good price.
As soon as you leave Peridayima station, we see a sign indicating that Kandy is 7 kilometers away and knowing that the Skydale hotel is on the outskirts of the city of Kandy, we assume that the price is correct.
We can not complain! 😉
It begins to get dark in the journey from Peridayima to Kandy and when we enter the city the driver begins to point us out and explain everything we are seeing and that we have read so much about it: The famous Kandy Lake, the Temple of the Tooth of Buddha.
At this time everything is illuminated and although we are tired and want to reach our hotel in Kandy, the Skydale, this city is already surprising us.

It is on the outskirts of the city, on one of the hills surrounding the lake and the driver has to call the hotel several times to ask where he is, because he does not know exactly how to locate it.
Once they give some explanations, we reach the end of the lake and begin to climb some huge sloping roads that never seem to end.
In the end, after just over half an hour we arrived at the best hotel in Sri Lanka and we pay the driver what was agreed, plus a good tip for the effort.
As soon as we open the door of Skydale, we remain with our mouths open.
The reception has incredible views and that is at night and we only see the lighting, but only with a few minutes, we already intuit that this accommodation in Kandy it will be amazing!
It is far from the city, but seeing it is the best option we have been able to choose.
After checking and chatting with the hotel staff for a while, we go to the room to rest, that tomorrow we have a full day.
If the views from the room at night are impressive, we imagine how they will be tomorrow ...