Our journey from Sigiriya to historic Galle was a tale of two trains – one a nostalgic throwback, the other a test of endurance.
We began our day by heading to Habarana train station. Habarana, like many stations in Sri Lanka, felt like stepping back in time. The ticketing process was entirely manual, with a gentleman appearing just before departure to issue tickets – cash only, of course! Another employee manually lowered the crossing barrier.
Our previous train journeys in second class had been comfortable, but this 5.5 hour trip to Colombo was a different story. The seats were grimy, and the heat was stifling. We were thankful to finally pull into Colombo, an hour behind schedule, which meant we missed our connection.
Luckily, we only had an hour's wait before boarding a new second-class carriage to Galle. This train was a marked improvement, and we settled in for the final leg of our journey along the coast.
Galle city is a UNESCO heritage site, and we found it quiet charming. The city has a distinctly upmarket feel for visiting tourists with lots of colonial architecture to see.
We stayed in a lovely guesthouse called Villa Aroshina, which also boasts a cookery school. George laughed at the irony, knowing my kitchen prowess is...let's just say, not my forte.
