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TRAIN JOURNEYS IN SRI LANKA

TRAIN JOURNEYS IN SRI LANKA

There are train rides, then there are Sri Lankan train rides. The teardrop island in the Laccadive Sea may be small, but it packs in some of the world’s most thrilling rail journeys. You could find yourself rattling past suburbs with a fellow commuter dozing on your shoulder or perhaps weaving in and out of emerald-green tea gardens and thickets of tropical rainforest while tucking into a packed-to-go meal of curry and rice; sometimes both in the same journey.

The steam trains that once transported tea and spices along these weaving rail lines have mostly vanished, but the colourful diesel locos that replaced them offer the same evocative transect through the Sri Lankan landscape. If you’re a lover of travel by locomotive, make sure you book tickets (in advance!) for one of these four epic train journeys around Sri Lanka.

Colombo to Kandy

The one rail journey that features on almost every Sri Lankan itinerary, the three-hour trip from Colombo to Kandy will whisk you away from the big city sprawl to the genteel greenery of Sri Lanka’s spiritual capital, home to the legendary Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, enshrining what’s claimed to be a genuine tooth of Buddha.

On the way, you’ll rattle past rolling hills, paddy fields, lush stands of tropical forest, palm trees waving like giant hands, and miniature village train stations with tin roofs and station attendants standing to attention in immaculate uniforms. You’ll also feel the air cool as you leave the baking coastal plain for the more pleasant climate of the hills.

The Colombo to Kandy line was the first major route established by the newly formed Ceylon Government Railway in the 1860s, slicing through the forested hills inland from the capital to bring tea and coffee down to the coast, to further the economic ambitions of the British Empire.

Today, travelers ride in the opposite direction, on a journey that serves as the perfect introduction to Sri Lankan train travel, and offers by far the most atmospheric and enjoyable way to reach the Hill Country from Colombo.

Kandy to Badulla  The trip from Colombo to Kandy is just a warm up for Sri Lanka’s most spectacular train ride: the British-era Main Line, built as a conduit for Sri Lanka’s most famous export – tea.

The journey from Kandy to Badulla takes seven to eight hours, and carves through Sri Lanka’s tea country, passing swirling, curling plantations that appear hollowed into the hilly green landscape like the enormous fingerprints of a giant. Tidy fringes of lemongrass and canna bushes provide an ornamental trim around the edges, while tea-pickers in rainbow saris create vivid flashes of colour amongst the emerald sea. To make the most of the views, stake out a vantage point in one of the open train doorways, with your feet dangling above the track.

The final stage from Ella to Badulla is perhaps the most dramatic section of the journey, with some spectacular feats of 19th-century engineering carrying the train across valleys and ravines and around problem outcrops.

Just north of Ella, the tracks curve over the brick-and-stone Nine Arch Bridge before tackling the Demodara Loop, where the line circles a hilltop and passes back under itself. Many travelers end the journey at Ella and hike to viewpoints around the bridge, for one of Sri Lanka’s most popular photo opportunities.

Colombo to Galle 

The rail line meets the shore just south of Galle Face Green, a large urban park on the outskirts of the capital, and follows it for almost the entire length of the journey. If the lure of the big blue gets too much, passengers can hop off the train at beachside towns including Moragalla (via Hettimulla station), with snorkeling opportunities amidst coral reefs, or Hikkaduwa, where surfers ride the swells and sip smoothies in shorefront cafes.

Whether you choose to temporarily alight or not, make sure you sample the wares of vendors who join the carriages at tiny rural stations. Grab some buttered sweetcorn, sliced fruit or packaged curry and rice and take in the bucolic scenes of coastal life – from children and dogs splashing in the surf to stilt fishermen sat atop their wooden perch – all the way to Galle.

Anuradhapura to Jaffna

The rail line to the far north of Sri Lanka was severed by fighting between southern Buddhists and Hindu Tamils during Sri Lanka’s long civil war. When the last Yal Devi Express rolled into Jaffna on 13 June 1990, it was marooned by bombing. Empty carriages were repurposed into military bunkers, tracks were ripped up for scrap metal and stations fell into ruin. For 25 years, rail travel to Sri Lanka’s Hindu north was a distant memory.

And then, in 2014, the shrill whistle of locomotives returned to the north as the Yal Devi Express rumbled back into Jaffna, on gleaming new tracks, for the first time in a generation. Today, the three-and-a-half-hour ride from the ancient Buddhist city at Anuradhapura to Jaffna offers a window onto a different Sri Lanka. You’ll leave the gleaming white dagobas (stupas) behind at Anuradhapura, and in their place multi-hued kovils (temples) start to colour the countryside as you steam into Sri Lanka’s Hindu north. You'll also leave behind Sri Lanka's major tourist crowds, with international visitors short on time skipping the splendours of the island's northern coast.

On the final approach to Jaffna, the landscape flattens out, and patches of water and saltpans appear as the train crosses Elephant Pass – the heavily militarized bottleneck guarding the entrance to the Jaffna peninsula. Tall palmyra palms rise over a landscape that still bears the scars of war, but also green shoots of rejuvenation, as villages and townships pick themselves up after decades of conflict. Waiting at the end is Jaffna itself, a vibrant Hindu city with a colonial heart – an easy leaping-off point for some of Sri Lanka’s most idyllic, unspoiled islands and beaches.

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    "We highly appreciated Cyril as our chauffeur guide. We can easily speak with him about any subject. We learnt a lot about Sri Lanka' s culture, history and way of life. He arrange everything we asked. In the airport on arrval his welcome is marvelous. His English language is superb and very clear. His knowledge and expanation about the sites are unique. More than the all he is very friendly and punctual. We will recommend him all the people who willing to come to Sri Lanka." COMBE MARTIAL AND WILD EMMANUEL FROM FRANCE

    "Dear Cyril, Sincerest apologies for this delayed email --- reason being that I had been extremely busy with work & travel, since returning from Sri Lanka and just got a breather now, to download our photos and catch up with private matters. Hope this email finds you & family, in the best of health & spirits. Your granddaughter must be keeping you busy and giving you & Mrs. Baddegama immense joy. At this end, we are doing fine. Nikhita is back at school, now in Grade 7 and havi..." Pradeep Kumar Menon - Singapore

    "Thank you so much for wonderful Sri Lanka trip.We had a great time. The trip was very relaxing as well as fun. My daughter MAHI who lovingly started calling you "Cyril Dada"(grand farther) Had a memorable trip. She cannot stop talking about elephants. Our trip to Sri Lanka will be full of great memories, its because of you. Thank you for showing us your beautiful country the way we wanted, eating local food, lots of King coconut and Corn stops. We will be surely coming back  to see rest o..." Mithil Patel

    "  Hi Cyril   We have had a fabulous holiday driven and guided by Cyril from CYRIL TOURS. Hotel recommendations were perfect and knowledge supertb. We would happy to introduce CYRIL TOURS to our frieinds and relatives. Thank you for the photos you are taken and send to us, they are a great reminder of our amazing experience in Sri Lanka.   We had a truly memorable time and we are grateful to you for all your knowledge and guidance throughout our trip, it would not have been..." Mr. Richard & Mrs. Bridget Simson and family from

    "Dear Cyril, Thank you for truly amazing oneweek tour your beautiful country.We have seen so many amazing sites in such a short space of time. From Sigiriya to beautiful temples, Scenic tea gardens of Nuwaraeliya the colonial land ark hotel Mount Lavinia. We have seen so much more. You have made this an utterly memorable holiday with your expert knowledge, amazing, facinating stories, patience, careful+safe drivingand your unforgetable smile. We will cetainly recommonding your tours to all of fr..." Sara Kitson - UK

    "Cyril is one of the best experienced person in the industry" Ahamed Anver

    "Hello my dear friend Mr. Cyril We are all fine dear, I have visited Sri Lanka and I loved the country, Insha’Allah I will visit again your country, it is amazing place. This is the first  day at work , really I enjoy the tour to sri lanka with my  family  and it was very nice and  I wish  to go again to sri lanka and of course you were very good and polite and respectable guy  -thanks  a lot  for every thing and  I wish you ..." Nasser Mohamed from Oman

    "Thank you so much for your great service and making our honeymoon in Sri Lanka, so special and joyful. Best regards from Yuffa and Elad Abbo – Israel- 10 July 2008 " Yuffa and Elad Abbo - Israel

    "Cyril Tours is a very good agency. Because we did use it from 01st of March to 14 March 2013. From the start till end of our emails, he has (Mr.Cyril) given all required details. Also he send us very detailed itinerary with pictures. Actually no need guide after go through it.Cyril Tours is not a big agency. He was a guide in Sri Lanka more than 26 years. Many clients recommend him to their friends and to relatives who want to visit Sri Lanka.They asked from him to travel, that is why he be..." John and Mary from Canada

    "(10 days). Before the trip I did a lot of research here on the site and other sites on the tour options and after checking in we decided to go with a guide attached. Choice in was not easy and I started Travels "correspondence with more than ten guides to staying with the" chosen ". No doubt it was an excellent choice! Before Asbury on our guide, I wanted to note that after the visit, I understand the importance of taking guide (driver) suite. Roads and driving in Sri Lanka ..." Corey

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