Sunday 2nd February - One's on the way

Now republished with missing photos.


We wake up and open the curtains, quickly closing them again as the sun is shining directly into our room. Barely 7 am and we need the a/c. Breakfast is booked for eight so we get ourselves ready for the day. Hoteliers are getting cleverer. Rooms these days all have energy saving devices which means that the power goes off when you are out and you can't charge batteries or the like. Some of these can be defeated with an expired credit card, others need a teaspoon. We have come across a more fiendish design here in Sri Lanka but this morning we finally crack it using a comb.

Breakfast is served on a terrace, on the floor below us. We can look up at our balcony and are reassured by its solid construction. We have ordered Western breakfast as spicy food first thing is a bit much for us. From the items delivered we are able to assemble improvised egg hoppers with some rather tasty, but not spicy, dal. We are less impressed with the jam portions provided. Strawberry flavoured Melon Jam it says on the packet.

Today there are jobs to do. We need to get our laundry in, buy some batteries and get a 4G data top up for D's Sri Lankan SIM card. A call to the laundry down the hill confirms that they are open today. This place is a serious laundry. No counting sweaty undies over the counter, they weigh your bag and charge accordingly. A big wash is going to cost a few pennies over £2. Our host has told us where to go for the top up. We would never have guessed the pharmacy counter of the supermarket but a Gb top up is achieved without fuss for around 82p. When the UK economy gets to be the size of Sri Lanka's we hope that we will be able to enjoy these prices.

As many of you will know immense planning and research goes into each Radinja trip, usually starting on the flight home from the previous one. One thing D was not expecting to find before doing this research is that the Sri Lankan National Railway Museum is in a town call Kadugannawa, about eight miles west of Kandy. It is open on Sundays and accessible by bus. D gets a crash course in the pronunciation of the place name over breakfast.

R feigns illness in order to avoid this treat so, after the errands are done, D steps out alone for the bus station. There seem to be several of these but the correct one is found without too much difficulty. An important looking chap is asked about the correct bus and instructs an underling to take me to it. He points at a bus in a dark recess near the back of the bus station. There is nobody else aboard and I start to wonder if I am the victim of a practical joke. Then it fills up and a couple of customers confirm that it will be going to Kadugannawa. 

At 10 am the engine fires up and the bus is manoeuvred out of the bus station. As we exit the building a youth with a bucket of samosas jumps on at the front and trots along the aisle without takers before exiting the rear as we slow for a roundabout. D has occupied the seat behind the rear door which has a bit more legroom and which provides a view of everything that happens. At the first proper stop a chap gets on with a large tambourine and a portable PA system. He stands in the aisle and chants/sings while banging his instrument. Nobody pays any attention. The conductor gets D's destination first time so the lessons paid off. The journey is stop start with customers coming and going. After 50 minutes we arrive at Kadugannawa. The Railway Museum has external exhibits, easily visible from the road so this is definitely the right place. First stop is the station to get a ticket back to Kandy. The booking clerk says "Next train 13.10". That should do nicely. The train fare is 25 rupees, compared with 48 on the bus. The Museum is in the former goods shed which looks to be well maintained.

Inside there is a security guard, a lady manning reception and two other ladies busy with paperwork. D hands over 500 rupees and invited to ask any questions that he might have. The first question is to check that photography is permitted, which it is. The interior of the goods shed is well lit and has mainly items of equipment on display. These are clearly labelled but have no explanations as to what they are used for. There are some bits of kit on display that are still used for track maintenance on the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway. There is a nice collection of brass loco builders' plates including examples from Hunslet, Kitsons, North British and Beyer Peacock. There is also a model railway ( not working) which features an under size replica of the Nine Arch Bridge.

The larger vehicles are stored outside and suffering from the tropical climate. One is a railcar, badged as belonging to the Chief Mechanical Engineer's Department and laid out as a lecture hall with a large screen at one end. There is a remote control lying on a chair and D presses play. A video on the history of Sri Lanka's railways with English subtitles starts up. Halfway through the lady from reception arrives. She was going to offer to play the video and D has to apologise for stealing her thunder. There are a couple of 2'6" diesels outside from Sri Lanka's only narrow gauge line, the Kelani Valley system which was converted to 5'6" in the 1990s.

Another slightly crumbling railcar houses the cafe. A splendid cup of black tea was provided for 50 rupees and the a/c was switched on in honour of D's presence. A visitor's book was produced and comment invited. D sat down while trying to think of something suitable to write. A chap approached and asked D if it would be OK to take a picture. "But why?" It turns out that the chap is another employee putting together snaps of people having fun at the museum. If this picture helps them all keep their jobs then it will be worth it.

D has noticed that nobody bothers using the footbridge to access the station, but instead they cut through the museum grounds, walk across the tracks and use a handily placed square of stone as a step up to the platform. Kadugannawa station is basically an island platform with loops parallel to the platform lines on both sides. For a railway that only runs very occasional steam specials the provision of water columns is quite extraordinary. There are three, all looking well maintained. There is also a splendid signal box, although the token instruments are in the stationmaster's office.

D walks around getting photos and falls into conversation with a young Buddhist monk. We talk about how the Sri Lankan climate differs from Scotland, Corona virus, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth and then he asks about immediate travel plans. When told that the plan is to get the 13.10 to Kandy he says that the 13.10 goes to Badulla, bypassing Kandy. The Kandy train follows at 13.25. At this point telegraph bells begin to ring and levers get pulled in the signal box. A train appears heading in the direction of Kandy. Enquiries at the Stationmaster's office establish that the priest is quite right and a serious error is averted. When D returns to thank him he has disappeared. Soon the correct train appears and D is able to bag a door in the third class coach behind the lead power car. R has been contacted, is feeling better and will meet D at the station. There is a long wait to cross a westbound train at a small station and then we get a clear run into Kandy. The young priest has reappeared in one of the'Reserved for Clergy' seats in the coach. He wasn't there earlier. 

R is found at the station and we go to find out if there are left luggage facilities available for our departure day. We are directed to the Parcels Office. There are two of these, one marked Incoming and the other Outgoing. Inevitably we try the wrong one first but at the right one they confirm that we can leave our luggage anytime after 7 am .

Kandy is a World Heritage City so we decide to get a bit of that. We don't quite feel up to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth, but a walk round the lake sounds good. On the way we stop for lime sodas at the Kandy Muslim Hotel, justifiably recommended in LP. The lake is really a tank, the giveaway being that you have to walk uphill to get to it. This is the first place in Sri Lanka that we have encountered pushy touts. Not in the same league as Connaught Place in Delhi or Kolkata's New Market but still a bit annoying. We walk a well maintained path between the lake and the fenced off Sacred Tooth complex. The latter looks like a bit of a cultural grueller with several different temples and museums to visit.

We stroll along the path, enjoying the scenery and the breeze until a crow craps on D's new Tilley hat. We take this as a sign and retrace our steps. LP highly recommends a watering hole called the Royal Hotel and Bar. It is a couple of blocks away so we walk round there. "Not open until 5.30" says the doorman. It is 4 pm and we are hot and sweaty so we take an auto back to our eyrie in the sky where we can drink tea and freshen up.

LP gives the Royal such a good write up that we decide that we cannot miss it. The extra auto ride was well worth the expense. A wonderful colonial era building, with a balcony around a courtyard. LP says the drinks are expensive but they can't have been to Tissa or the Dutch Hospital in Colombo Fort recently. The place just reeks of Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene. The only downside is the music - nonstop Country & Western. Most of it is bland cover versions but there are a couple that make the blood run out of the speakers. We enjoy our drinks but give up waiting for the Blues Brothers to come on the soundtrack.

R's tum has been a bit delicate today so we opt out of spicy food and head for the Empire Cafe where we share a Mezze and a Tuna wrap. Both very good.

We shall leave you tonight with this classic.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ADGTUCzBzIQ

One's on the way by Loretta Lynn.