Nine Arch Bridge

Nine Arch Bridge

As you would already know, train journeys in Sri Lanka are unimaginable.This engineering marvel is built at 3100m above sea level adds more value to those train rides. Built entirely out of brick, rock and cement; without a single piece of steel; the bridge has stood solid from 1921.  

Which is almost 100 years!! 

Lack of steel due the World War 1 was the main reason for it to be built without steal.  

This amazing bridge spans 90 meters with a height of 24 meters and it is more picturesque due to its location (amidst the tea plantations in the middle of a thick jungle). 

  Access to the place is not too hard. There are two options (I took the first one):

1. You can walk along the rail tracks from Ella towards Demodara.
2. You can take the road from Ella Town and get tot he bridge ( You will be passing the path the Mini Adams Peak and the hotel 98 Acres) 

If you take a tuk from the Ella town it would only cost you around 200 rupees ($1.5). This is in 2018 so prices may rise a bit if you are reading on a later date. 

Best times to go is when a train is passing. You can check the train schedule in the link given below (look for trains either leaving Ella towards Demodara or the other way around). 

https://eservices.railway.gov.lk/schedule/searchTrain.action?lang=en

Hidden Story about the origin of the Bridge 

The construction of this  bridge was given to a person call P.K. Appuhami living in Kappatipola in Melimada.

According to one of his grand sons now living in this house, P.K. Appuhami was born in 1870 and has been popular drummer and a devil dancer. One day he has lost a drumming competition to another drummer during a thovil ceremony and has returned home in the traditional devil costume.

At that time the railway was being constructed and and the Britisher who saw him in the costume got frightened seeing him near Ohiya Railway Station. But later a relationship was built up between them and Appuhami has helped the construction of the railway by supplying labor to the Britisher.

When the construction reached gap between two hills the British engineers got worried due to a quagmire at the bottom of this gap.  Securely anchoring the columns of a bridge to the ground was issue.  Appuhami by this time has secured the trust of the engineers by then and requested to hand over the construction of this massive bridge to him. After rejecting the first time, they finally agreed to hand over this mammoth task to Appuhami.

He has started work around 1913 and got his men to topple large rocks to this gap until they filled up the bottom and then he has built the brick columns on this rock bed. He has completed the work within about an year and the cost of construction was so low, that the Britishers were unsure of the structural integrity of the bridge.

Appuhami assured that he will lie down under the bridge on the first train voyage across this and he is said to kept to the promise when the railway line was first commissioned.

Based on forklore in the area it is said that the English offered the balance payment and he carried four cart full of siver coins from Colombo and that he provided meals for the Parabedda and Puranwela villagers for 2 days and also gave them one silver coin each.

(This story was published on a Sri Lankan Newspaper - Maubima) 

STANDING ON THE BRIDGE IS RISKY!SPECIALLY IF IT IS A RAIN DAY, IT COULD BE REALLY SLIPPERY!








IF you are interested on knowing how to get to Ella from Kandy or Colombo, please read my previous blog:

http://chamalthecamel.blogspot.com/2017/12/ella-to-kandy-worlds-most-beautiful.html

ELLA TO KANDY: World's most beautiful train ride

The train journey from Ella to Kandy is known to be one of the most scenic, adventurous train rides in the world. If you do the full distance from Badulla to Colombo it would take about 10 hours (7 hours to Kandy). I took the first place train and it was only $8 (Rs.1250) for the full distance and if you travel 2nd or 3rd class it will be only about $3/4 per person. 

Taking the train in Sri Lanka is the most comfortable way to travel. You don’t have to deal with the traffic on the main roads, can walk around whenever you want, go to the toilet, have some food, meet other travelers, read, listen to music, relax and watch the landscape go by peacefully outside (hoping on the foot board is the gives the best feeling but it is very risky at the same time, so don’t do it unless you are a pro).

How to get tickets for the Train

There are few options: You can prebook online through your mobile service providers (local) or go to the station on an early date and get your tickets. If you are not too worries about standing in the train just walk into the train before the train arrives and get your ticket, you are good to go!  You won’t feel

left out as a tourist but if you are a local there is a high possibility of you being the only local in the Ella station. You can walk and hop from carriage to carriage, eat local food and talk to people who are always very nice and helpful. I usually spend most of the time in the open doorways and enjoy the beautiful landscape and the cold wind. Don’t look down if you are afraid of heights 😉 There is a blue train and a red train. If you want to take cool pictures i would recommend the blue train. 

You can check the train schedule here and it’s pretty accurate:  

http://slr.malindaprasad.com/?from=ELL&to=KDT&date=2017-12-06&singlebutton=

The scenes from the train on both the sides are breathtaking!

The train cuts through the mountains and it may look like a green carpet of tea bushes rolling in the sky with the mist, with colorful sari-dressed tea pickers waving and smiling at you.  Suddenly if you here children screaming in the front carriages should you be scared? Answer is no, it’s just a tunnel and kids love the echo.

Like I mentioned earlier hanging on the door gives you the best feeling and the best view but be really careful. Not only you can fall but if you lean out at the wrong time you can get hit by trees and tunnels that come very close to the train. 

Night Mail 

Do you have a hectic schedule but still want to do the train to Ella and also spend a night there and visit all the places? In that case you can take the night mail from Colombo to Ella so that you travel at

night and will reach there by morning. The night mail doesn't go via Kandy so in my case i went to Peradeniya (15 mins from Kandy) to catch the night mail. Train left the Peradeniya Junction at 11 pm and reached Ella around 6.30 am. You wont be able to see anything so sleeping would be the best option, and also make you sure you take a hoodie or a blanket as it gets really cold.  This way you can go around Ella all day, then spend the night and early next morning before you take the scenic blue train back to Kandy. 

Following link would give you a better idea about the night mail:

http://podimenike.blogspot.com/2012/08/night-mail-badulla.html

Tourist Opinions on the Train Ride

Cindy Ribaucourt (Belgium) -  I was travelling with my friend Thaïssa Moonen from home. It was amazing.  A little bit of danger travelling on the foot board but the best thing to do in Sri Lanka. Open doors and beautiful people who became friends for life.  Sri Lanka was so amazing, we are here in Bangkok saying that we wanna go back! 😢 

  

Diala Sayed (Lebanon) - Well my friend and I booed the 2nd class tickets, however we mistakenly hopped on the 3rd class cabin and we can to realize that when we reached destination. However that turned to be the best mistake ever as we got to meet locals who were very friendly and offered us there seats to rest a bit every now and then during the 7 hour train ride. They also shared the local food they brought on board. Not to mention the breathtaking sceneries and vibes. Time actually flied because there was so much going on! 

Júlia Mendonca ( Brazil) -  The train ride is insane full of

 people. Never think that possible to fit many people in a single space - and i am only talking about the door way. I took it on a weekend so that's one reason why it was packed with locals, and i was very happy to be next to 3 little girls. This was their first train ride! This was a great experience

Anne Sofie Lillienskjold Olsen (Denmark) -  It was an amazing train ride! The view was incredible! I personally think its cheaper and a way bigger experience to travel on 3rd class rather than 2nd class. 

   

Jordan Thomas (USA) -  haha I really enjoyed it. We connected with some people from France who were heading to Nuwara Eliya . The most beautiful part was once we were riding along the river and then saw some waterfalls. The rolling hills of the country side was amazing and the temperature was most dope haha 

                     

Jessica Chaplin (England) - Since we visited Horton Planes and other places we didnt do the train all the way from Ella to Kandy, we only did smaller ones. The trains were great and looking forward to come back! So different to anywhere else i have ever been in the world..... everyone seems to play instruments on the train. People are so friendly, unlike in London where we just have people with miserable faces to look at. 😂The temptation to lean out of the door is too much to resist. Do you get many people dying from falling out? 

Lesley Murphy (USA) - That ‘holy shit I’m hanging out of a

moving train’ face😅 The ride from Ella to Kandy has been dubbed the most beautiful train ride in the world🚂🌏I  put that claim to the test as I rode like this, hanging outside like a crazy person, the entire 7 hour journey watching the landscapes pass me by...suspended between two places✨The best part? It cost me $2."

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Enjoy the Photos! :) 

Colombo - Kandy Train Ride!

Colombo to Kandy

If it is Friday evening I hope you have reserved your ticket at least 10 days prior to the journey or you will be out of luck (there are two intercity trains on Friday and Saturday evenings that leaves Colombo at 3.35 pm and the other one around 5.30 pm). When the train makes a slight right at Polgahawela you know everything is going to be perfect for the next couple of days. Skyscrapers will disappear into the mountains of Alagalla and Kadugannawa. The wind will get cooler, calmer and it will smell like something you know. Stressed faces will change into happy faces as you see the signs of home. Kandy here we come!

The intercity train will only stop at the Peradeniya Junction and Kandy and will take less than three hours to complete the journey compared to the 4/5 hour bus ride in the traffic. There are other express trains which stops at other stations and reaches Kandy in less than four hours, and still beat any bus. This journey is a cheap thrill as the entire trip would only cost you between $1 - $5. Where else in this world can you find such an adventurous trip for so cheap? The key thing is to buy your tickets ahead as there are only limited number of tickets. There won't be any vendors on the intercity trains so it is better to buy whatever you need before the journey begins.  Sit back, relax and enjoy the epic surroundings of the highlands as some of the views will remain in your memory for a lifetime.  


Following Link will guide you through the train schedule:
https://eservices.railway.gov.lk/schedule/searchTrain.action?lang=en

Kandy to Colombo

This isn't a joy ride for many people as they are either heading to work or the tourists have finished their holidays and headed back to the airport. It may not be the happiest ride but if you are planning on taking a Sunday evening or Monday intercity you definitely should reserve ticket at least 10 days prior to your journey. There are two trains that i usually take, one leaves at 5.50 am and the other one leaves at 6.10 am. First hour of the ride is beautiful just as this photo. Then strikes reality as the train passes the thick forest into the concrete jungle, as you realize that you will be working for the next five days or your holiday is over and you will be heading back home and back to reality. The intercity train stops only at Maradana and Colombo Fort. Try to enjoy the train ride and think of all the good memories you had, you will be back on holiday mode soon! 

If you are a tourist and you have a couple of days before heading back to the airport following are some of the cities you pass by on your way to Colombo.

Gampaha - is one of Sri Lanka’s premier Ayurveda centers and is a great place to get some of the islands indigenous medical treatment. The town also has an attractive botanical garden where the first ever rubber tree was planted in Sri Lanka.
  
Kelaniya - the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara (temple) has some of Sri Lanka’s finest paintings and sculptors by Solias Mendis. For those lucky enough to be passing through in December and January the Duruthu perehara is a stunning collection of colour and noise.

Too Strong for Too Long: Holidays in Mediwaka

Call it home or heaven, it won’t make a difference. Mediwaka is located about an hour away from Kandy and the beauty of it is seen as soon as you pass the Victoria reservoir and enter the Hunnasgiriya mountain range. Just as in many other places in the country, people in Mediwaka possess a warm and friendly nature reflected in persistent smiling faces and eagerness to help anyone who is new to the area. Don’t say no if someone invites you for a cup of tea or a meal because in they take their hospitality pretty serious.

Few of the cousins

Our parents, grandparents & great grand parents lived in this beautiful place. Even though our generation did not grow up here, we were always taught about the beauty of the village and the rich culture as we spent most of our childhood holidays in Mediwaka. We were not forced to go, but it was just a go to choice for me and my cousins. Our parents always had a hard time making us come back home.

Even though it was our vacation we were on a routine. We wake up early in the morning and leave our grandparent’s house to meet our friends at the ground nearby to play cricket till the evening. The tamarind tree next to the ground serves many hungry stomachs. Then we run across the paddy fields and jump into a stream and play until it gets dark. Sometimes we had bonfire’s (more like setting things on fire) or else we went back to our grandparents’ house for dinner and sleep on the main hall listening to each other’s horror stories.

Those were the best days of our lives. We were lucky to have a childhood that wasnt about going to tuition classes or playing on the computers and phone. We didn't even know what social media was back in the day.

Great Grand Mother and Son

We did not have cameras, Facebook or snap chat to document these memories but it’s all stuck in our heads and no can erase it.  Luckily we still go at least once or twice a year to this beautiful Village along with friends and family who lives all over the world. It sure is a beautiful world. 

Following are some photos taken during are recent visits. 

More Picturesa of Mediwaka

Old School which is abandoned at the moment

Waterfall located about a kilometer away from our grandparents' house

    

One side of the village

                         

Sri Lanka's First Tea Estate - Part 1 ( James Taylor's Story)

James Taylor's Story

Loolkandura Estate in the Kandy district is the first tea plantation in Sri Lanka, started in 1867 by then 21 year old English planter James Taylor. He was a big made man who weighed 246 pounds with a long beard who planted the first few tea plants in the veranda of his log cabin. The tea leaf was hand rolled on a table and sold for Rs.1.50 at the local market. Later on Ceylon Tea became so popular that large foreign companies bought over Loolkandura (Loolecondera) as Taylor himself was dismissed in 1891. An year later Taylor died due to illness. Twenty Four men carried his coffin to the Mahayyawa Cemetery in Kandy.  James Taylor lived and died in this beautiful tea estate that we are about to explore. 

It was my friend Jordan's first weekend in Kandy and both of us wanted to hike some nice mountain but with rain only had a few options left. So we got into a Bus from Thennekumubura and ended up with  Loolkandura after 3 bus rides and 3 hours later.  Then we had to walk about 4km's to get to the tea plantation. It was a curvy road uphill but the cold wind and the mist made it fully worth walking as took a break or two to just sit and enjoy the beautiful landscapes.

Ruins of James Taylor's Cottage, Taylor's Seat and Well were some main attractions in the tea plantation. Instead of making a turn first we kept walking until we reached a thick forest and according to locals it wasnt safe to enter due to leopards. The sights were beautiful so we didnt mind walking back.  Taylor's Seat is a rock chair where James Taylor used to relax and look at the surrounding mountain rage of Hunnasgiryia, Knuckles, Thoppigala, Brandygala and also the Victoria Reservoir.  Following are some photos of the Seat, Well and the path. 

Weight Check or Life Check?

I visited my Alma mater Trinity College last week to meet some of my old teachers and friends. I got down from the bus and walked to school along the lake and down Trincomalee Street. This is about 1.5 kilometers of walking that I used to do every morning. There were many regular faces that i used to see either walking to school or getting ready to start their daily business. The school uniforms were the same but the faces have changed and so were the businessmen. Surprisingly one of the vendors who had a unique business was still going strong for over 10 years. The only thing that has changed about him is the price of his service, it has Doubled! You must be thinking that he is a millionaire by now, but he is not! 
This is a full time job for a man who has a family. You can pay 10 rupees and get your weight checked.  This person has been there for the longest time I've known. Even if 100 people use his service daily he would only make 1000 rupees, and that's less than 10 dollars. Are you spending that much money just on a meal? or twice the amount on clothes? still complaining about the things that your parents didn't give you? No. We don't always get what we want. But consider this: There are people who will never have, what you have right now.✌️.