Kandy is Dandy, Until...
- Apr 14, 2020
- 3 min read
To fly, or not to fly...that is the question. One we will ask ourselves over and over during the course of our brief stay in Sri Lanka.
The story really starts on March 11, having arrived in Bangkok from Siem Reap. We were planning to spend our 2-day pit stop out on the town, getting a taste of nightlife in Thailand before a relaxing month-long stay in peaceful Sri Lanka, which also happened to have 0 Co-vid cases. Then, the travel notice came through - the island's first case. Shortly after, all Visas on Arrival were suspended.
Up until now, we joked about how lucky we were to outrun border closures, flight cancellations, tourist attraction shutdowns, all in response to the threat of the virus. It seemed our luck was running out. We spent both days in Thailand in our small hostel room, panicking about whether to go to Sri Lanka at all, if we would even be allowed in, all while trying to contact the embassy. Many panicked calls and emails later (why is it still so hard to figure out how to dial outside the country), we were assured that we would be allowed in Sri Lanka, as we already had approved visas.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
On March 13, we left for the airport shortly before 5AM, and arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka around 10AM. Folks from European countries and China were being pulled from the immigration line for further evaluation. A mixup with my health declaration form caused Steven and me to be separated briefly, as I searched for someone to give me the correct form. Once the both of us were through security, we made our way to a public bus that would take us to the train station to catch a train to Kandy, the cultural capital of the country. The train was overcrowded, with only 3rd class seats available. We paid a whopping $1.30 for what would become a 5 hour standing-room-only train ride. The next train wasn’t coming for another 8 hours. Now or never!
We boarded the train, packed like sardines mostly with locals, plus other weary travelers, hawkers carrying fruits, samosas, beverages, and entire families crammed into lilliputian seats. As smelly, sweaty, cramped, and loud as this experience was, I loved every minute of it. Ironically, I had been telling Steven just a couple days earlier that I wasn’t feeling challenged enough by our trip - I wanted to be ‘out of my comfort zone’. Challenge accepted, said the universe.
With a newfound understanding of sweat under our belts, we disembarked the train at around 4PM. We walked with our packs about 30 minutes to our homestay, which of course was located on a hill atop the town of Kandy, and an additional 80 steep steps up and adjacent to a nature sanctuary. Look - a monkey! (Just kidding..it's a scarecrow to ward off real ones!)
The next morning we took our first breakfast on the terrace, greeted (more like harangued) by the property's hungry monkeys.
The Quiet Side of Kandy
We spent our three days in Kandy laying low around the city and circling the local Lake Kandy - which is rumored to house the remains of protesters who contested this landmark’s construction. Spooky.
Train Ride to Ella
On March 17, we headed for the Kandy train station to take ‘the most beautiful train ride in the world’ according to many traveler bloggers, at least. We were both a bit uneasy about taking public transport, but mutually agreed that heading for a more remote area of the country was the right decision. Little did we know that just one day later, Sri Lanka would cease all payment for train tickets to avoid hand-to-hand transactions that could spread the virus. I loved how the light cast shadows on the trains and platform benches.
The train ride, which lasted about 7-8 hours and took us through the heart of Sri Lanka's well preserved tropical landscape, was just gorgeous. The pictures don't do it justice.
Under Our Umbr-Ella-Ella-Ella
After a long day of travel, we reached Ella, which would turn out to be our final destination in Sri Lanka. We kicked off our next homestay with a pot of tea in the midst of a beautiful rainstorm that - at least momentarily - washed away all my worries.
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