Break day one

I just returned from the most action packed break I have ever had.

 

Below is a few stories and attached are some pictures to help along the imagination.

 

On the 22^nd of April, Caroline and I departed from the ship (still in Dry Dock) to go and meet Lenhert and Eileen at the train station. At that point, all I knew was that we were meeting at the train station and eventually we would make our way down to Galle. So at 0945 we caught the train up to Hatton. I had now idea about Hatton and I had no idea what was in store. We did not even have any accommodation booked on the other side! On the train, we were booked into third class tickets. (In Sri Lanka that is the best, in South Africa it’s the other way around). I made some friends with a bunch of 10 year olds who couldn’t stop staring. So I started taking pictures of them hanging out the window and they in turn to pictures of me on their phones. Once I showed them we talked a bit about South Africa (and our embarrassing display at the recent CWC), the rice paddies and what they were doing on the train. (It was Easter weekend so they headed up to spend it with family).

I loved being on the train. It brought back SO MANY memories from when I was a child. [Our family used to catch the ‘sleep train’ and head to the coast for the weekend. We did this about 3 times I can remember and it was always a highlight.] Sitting on this train made me miss my dad so much. He loves trains so I spent the majority of the day taking pictures of random train bits. J I hope to mail this to him so he can see this too.

The closer we got to Hatton (located in the ‘Hill Country’) the cooler it got. Some of the pictures attached shows the beautiful clouds we saw that day. Travelling with Lenhert naturally meant that it would NOT be dull at all. He was hanging out the train pulling faces – being Lenhert. J Once we arrived in Hatton the rain poured down and we were stuck at the train station. Lonely planet (affectionately known now as LP) helped us identify some places to stay. We had a taxi driver with other ideas. Eventually out of desperation and tiredness (the train ride took around 6 hours) we booked into the first place we came across that had empty beds. MISTAKE! This place was not the cleanest, best place. We spent the next 6 hours playing cards and in-between taking a break to have the biggest plate of rice this side of Taiwan! During this 6 hour card-a-thon I was able to learn the art of shuffling from the master herself. Caroline took me under her wing and helped to learn this much needed skill. J At around 23:00 that evening we went up to our rooms to spend the night shivering in bed. Yes…it was cold. We came prepared for the hot weather we were experiencing in Colombo…not the cold Hatton weather. Since this hotel/motel/inn is situated so close to the railway station sleep was constantly interrupted by the sound of speeding trains and unsafe busses. What a short night! Add to that the mosquitoes and we have ourselves a guaranteed night of sleeplessness!

 

Day two to follow