Riding the Iron Demon
By Train to Nuwara Eliya
"As the train mounts, higher and higher, the scene changes. Mighty crags begin to frown above, sheer precipices can be seen below, the line zigzags sharply, and the wild beauty of the landscape increases. Away in the distance the mountains are veiled in soft purple mist, dark patches of jungle on their sides. Waterfalls dash, foaming, into the depths below" - Claire Rettie, Things Seen in Ceyion (1929).
It was Saturday, 9.30am. On platform three at Colombo Fort station the train known as the Udaratamenike was awaiting her departure into the hill country to the town of Badulla. Having boarded I progressed to the observation car. I was excited yet apprehensive, for I was travelling on a train in Sri Lanka after more than 20 years. Running through my mind were the snags associated with train travel, especially delays. As it was, the estimated time for the 128km journey was 6 hours!
It was Saturday, 9.30am. On platform three at Colombo Fort station the train known as the Udaratamenike was awaiting her departure into the hill country to the town of Badulla. Having boarded I progressed to the observation car. I was excited yet apprehensive, for I was travelling on a train in Sri Lanka after more than 20 years. Running through my mind were the snags associated with train travel, especially delays. As it was, the estimated time for the 128km journey was 6 hours!My destination was not Badulla but the well- known hill station of Nuwara Eliya, which is bypassed by the rail network. Visitors to the town must alight at Nanu Oya, the closest station, and make a 20-minute journey by road - usually in a taxi.
At 9.40, with a bellow of its horn and a heave of its ageing body, the Udaratamenike chugged out of the station 10 minutes late. Finally I was off after several abortive attempts. I had almost not made it this time too. The day before I had checked my ticket to find it had an incorrect destination and travel date. Only on the morning of my departure was the error rectified.
It is imperative to book your ticket exactly 10 days I in advance of the travel date. Trying to book even I one day ahead of the 10 will not get you a ticket; I a day less and you will not be issued with a ticket I either as all would be sold out! My journey had I been delayed by more than three weeks because I of these quirks.
I settled into my seat and was hot surprised to find the 44-seat carriage almost full. I could tell that most if one side of the carriage was taken by up three generations of single family.I peered through the window and was met by an uncompromising vie of urban sprawl building sites, industrial estates and slums filled my window frame. Not too long into our journey and we had past Maradana station where Sri Lanka's first railway workshop was opened in 1884, 20 years after the railways commenced in 1864.
The train stopped briefly at Ragama, Veyangoda and Polgahawela, which are adjacent to busy roads and not pretty places.The track was a straight line as far as the eye could see and the Udaratamenike was driven hard by an enthusiastic driver to make the most of this dear run. Her diesel engine working to capacity, she confidently swallowed up the kilometres while her passengers bounced up and down in their seats and caught glimpses of banana and coconut palms, paddy fields, and grazing cows and water buffalo whizzing past.
This vista reminded me of a description of this journey made by an Englishwoman, Claire Rettie, in 1929: 'The journey by rail from Colombo is fascinating. At first the train passes through low country with native villages dotted about; or by groups of thatched huts, the owners of which are busy on the terraces of the vivid green paddy fields. One or two Sinhalese may be seen in terrifying positions on the tall Palmyra palms, from which they extract sap to boil down and crystallise into a coarse sugar, others are gathering arecanuts, to mix with lime and betel leaf; this mixture they chew. Some of the men may be cutting the huge leaves from talipot palms, to thatch their huts; while their women gather oranges limes, and fresh coconuts, to sell to thirsty passengers..".
Those were the days when certain villagers considered the "smoke-spewing, banshee- wailing, fearsome black thing that hissed like a thousand cobras"a Yakada Yaka, or Iron Demon,! as immortalised in Carl Muiler 1994 novel of tee same name.
Gampola and Nawalapitiya were the next stations. There were changes to the environment. AltHough the scenery - with houses, sheds andl shops, and the vegetation dominated by banana, jak and coconut - the terrain was becoming rocky and the lack of cars and lessening pollution was striking. Then there were Rambukkana and Kadugannawa. Between them is unmistakeable Bible Rock, always capable on becoming a topic of conversation despite the number of times one has seen it.
The air quality of the hills was excellent. From this point the Journey became an uplifting experience, although I wish It had been the same with toilet use. Attempting to walk to the toilet while the train is moving Is a challenge as you end up being buffeted from side to side between the seats. Using the toilet In these conditions is even more of a challenge unless it is attempted when the train makes Its long stops at the larger stations of Nawalapltiya and Hatton.
These stops make you feel hungry given the plethora of vendors with baskets of snacks, fruit or basins filled with prawn vadai - a fried lentil cake with a prawn strategically placed to make you salivate, however, unless your stomach is compatible with street food it is best to stay away from it and eat in the train's restaurant instead.
The viev is simply beautiful as the train makega its way through Inguruoya, Watawala - where the rainfall is highest in Sri Lanka - lhala Watawala and Rozelle. It even becomes awesome, such as when the train winds its way past Kotagala, where we went through the longest tunnel on the journey. During the dark interlude my travel companions even howled Then come Talawakelle and Watagoda, where newly-planted tea slopes clash with roofed sheds.
Along most of the stretch to Nanu Oya are lush valleys, their slopes planted with tea bushes the earth on occasion fed by rivers. There are tea factories and roads with passing vehicle that look like toys from afar. On highel ground are places of worship - Hindu koviij - with flags fluttering in the gentle breezJ Among the bushes are tea pluckers, their trademark cane baskets replaced by whit plastic bags, sometimes sitting in group no doubt sipping plain tea. Between Great Western, Radella and Nanu Oya the track hugs the jagged rock face a few meters from where it drops away into the valley below. As the train traveled at speed, perched on the edge of the valley, I felt I was truly on top of the world.