Colombo, Sri Lanka

So here is my 2nd best train ride story ever. (It will be hard to top the story of getting left off the train in Siberia).

We woke up at 4am to catch our 5am train from Anuradhapura to Colombo. That's not nearly as bad as it sounds as we've been in bed by 9pm most nights.

Our tuktuk driver drove us over to the train station at 4:30am. The station was crowded with locals, lined up to buy tickets. It was likely the busiest travel day of the year, a combination of Christmas and Poya, the full moon celebration. Otherwise we would have had no issues getting 1st class tickets and seats.

The platform was crowded, with people staking out their spots on the platform edge. Heather and I discussed our strategy - Heather would jump in first and grab seats, and I would follow with both our packs. I had had some experience boarding crowded trains traveling hard seat with Gerry through China years ago, for Heather it was fairly new.

The train pulled into the station on time. People jumped into the open doorways well before the train stopped. Next thing I knew, Heather had jumped on too. I had to wait another 10 seconds for the train to stop, shuffling down the platform to get on the same car that Heather boarded.

It was madness on the train, as people pushed through in both directions trying to find seats and/or join their family and friends that had grabbed and saved seats.

Unfortunately after getting on the train, Heather had turned left into the 3rd class car instead of right into the 2nd class. By the time she realized (just a few seconds) and turned around it was too late - all the seats were gone.

So we situated ourselves in the middle of the car, with the hope that it would just be crowded at the doorways. At least we had space on the luggage racks for our big packs, plus two bags of souvenirs, and Heather's foam roller (which fit perfectly in a canvas bag that she got at Winners).

We settled in standing up for the scheduled five hours to Colombo. It was okay for the first couple hours. The sun was yet to rise so it was cooler. We had a couple Snickers bars as our breakfast.

I had offlined the full train route in Google Maps (this option just appeared yesterday on the iPhone app). But I couldn't access any satellites through the metal train top, so while we had a map, it was hard to tell where we were. The train station signs weren't visible through the windows as we were standing.

Every 20 minutes or so we stopped at a station and more people boarded. By 8am, the aisles were full, and people started crowding into the space between the seats. The etiquette we observed was that kids were always allowed to go the windows, standing in the floor space in front of seats, the seated passengers becoming their uncle or auntie. If someone gave up their seat (eg to a parent with a baby) then they got dibs on the floor space. The advantage of the floor space in between the seats is that by etiquette that was limited to one adult.

In the aisle proper, it was as many people that could fit. By 9am, it was so crowded I couldn't move my feet to adjust them. It wasn't always possible to reach a handhold for balance, so we just held onto each other.

More people boarded. The rack space was at a premium, and another passenger adjusted our smaller bags to fit theirs. It was a few seats down so we couldn't reach to make sure ours were still secure. It only looked like foam roller might fall - but it was light so wouldn't hurt anyone.

About 20 minutes later we heard half the car gasp. We looked around, and realized that the foam roller had fallen, bounced off someone's head, and right out the open window.

We knew it was just a foam roller and easily replaceable, but the other passengers didn't. They thought a valuable luggage belonging to the westerners had just been lost. Heather had actually debated leaving the roller behind in the hotel, as we were near the end of the trip and it's a nuisance to cart through airports as carry on. So we weren't concerned at all about the loss, it was sort of funny. The only part Heather wanted was the bag, as she hadn't seen anything similar anywhere.

By 10am (the train was running about an hour late) it was so crowded I didn't need hand holds for balance - I was so squished up against the other passengers that there was nowhere to fall over.

There was an excited conversation on the car near where the foam roller had fallen out the window, and then one of the passengers declared, 'they have found your luggage'. The guy asked us to write our address, and then it would be delivered!

We had thought most people would get off the train at Colombo, making it easier to get all our stuff. But most people stayed on the train. Just before Colombo, a couple other passengers who were disembarking told us to get ready and push for the door.

So we pushed and were pushed through the crowd to the door as the train stopped at Colombo. I'm still not clear on how we got off the train with all our stuff. It was almost like we body surfed to the exit, pointing out our luggage on the racks along the way, which other passengers added to the flowing current and they floated beside us until we popped out the door. It was like magic.

There were as many people on the platform waiting to board as were already on the train, including lots of backpackers. I didn't see how they could all fit.

We got our packs together and got a tuktuk to our hotel (Taru Villas Lake Lodge). We had splurged on an upgraded room as it was the last stop on our trip, which looked even better after the train ride.

Had lunch, cleaned up, and then went into Colombo Fort for a couple hours. Most places were closed today (Dec 24) because of Poya, and everything is closed Dec 25 for Christmas.

By law, alcohol isn't served on either Poya or Christmas (amongst other days). Hotels can get around this by stocking your mini bar to order, as long as you drink in your room. Our room had a nice patio and garden area, so that worked for us :)

Had dinner at the hotel (most restaurants were closed), a long ways away from our train ride experience.