Bit of a fiasco day today.
All we had to do was get to Makumbura – the transit hub whence we have a bus booked to take us to Ella on the morrer. Started out heading up the coast on the slow train to Colombo. Not that it was that slow – just that it stopped at every one horse town en route. But it was a pleasant enough journey, and it was a nice day to be going along beach after beach. Plus, in passing, local habitation along the track – everything from tin shacks held together with string to some quite substantial properties.
It was in Colombo that things went a bit pear shaped. We got tickets for Makumbura, and were pointed towards platform 1. Just to be sure, I asked a guy on the train, who confirmed. We sat on the train 20 minutes waiting for the due time, then another ten or so, till eventually the train pulled out. V, playing Mrs control-freak, was tracking our progress on Google. We seemed to be heading north. “I’m sure it’ll swing around at some point. The guy said one, the bloke confirmed…”
20 minutes later it became pretty clear we were indeed on the wrong train. We got off at the next stop, and I said all we had to do was get the next train back to Colombo, then find the right train and all will be well. Virle had other ideas. Checking on her app, she found we could have a tuk tuk pick us up in five minutes and take us all the way, for 2,800 – about seven quid. Let’s do it. So we did. And it all went well. An hour or so’s juddering along the manic highway, and we arrived. Tight, fraught, but fine. Then out for a quick (and very tasty) meal – far more than we could eat, as per, for a tad over £3 all in. We encountered the flashing Buddha on the way back – a bystander laughing her head off at my filming. And now we’re going to take some proper chill time – an hour’s Fargo, then bed.