If you heard rumors that it’s not easy to get a seat on the train leaving from Kandy to Ella and need to know if they are true or not. They are true. I think the only way to somehow guarantee a better experience is to travel from and to less famous towns and to split up the journey in at least two days but if I would do it again I would probably take a whole week to explore the whole region crossed by this railroad.
Warning: count your change when buying a train ticket from Kandy to Ella! Many tourists come straight from the airport to Kandy, just to get a ticket for this train. The tourists, like us, don’t always have small change and have to pay with a 5000 note. We only got change back for 4000. I noticed and went back. The man at the counter, recounted our change and suddenly there was an extra bank note of 1000. A true magician!
The train ride is very scenic but in my opnion should not be your main attraction of visiting the hill county of Sri Lanka. Really, take my advice and split up that long train ride and consider doing a part by bus or taxi.
We had our guesthouse booked in Nuwara eliya. Herefor we got of the train at Nanuoya and took a tuk tuk to the city center.
It was raining a lot when we arrived and didn’t stop untill late at night, so all we could do was staying at our guesthouse. Luckily, the owners of Pedro View Homestay were super friendly and we had a good long conversation with them. Also their dinner was superb!
Since we couldn’t see anything of Nuwara eliya on our arrival, we still had a lot to do the next morning. We started with a visit of the Pedro Tea Factory.
