There’s a train from Kandy that scenically winds its way up and down Sri Lanka’s Hill country. The views of the tea plantations in the steep valleys are fantastic, but the train isn’t - it’s so packed with people that it makes the Tokyo metro look like a golf course. I am amazed that nobody fell out the open doors. I managed to get half a seat after standing, pressed to other people, for three hours.
Interestingly, most tourists here are French. I met one today who lives just down the road from my old apartment in Marseille. I speak more French here than English.
The town of Ella, my destination today, is just a sleepy little village in the mountains where two roads meet. There are a few simple guesthouses, most with only a few rooms; mine has two. Regrettably most of them serve western food, who comes to Asia to eat pizza?
