You may catch a train (or maybe even multiple trains) everyday on an all-too-often awful commute and it may have put you off any such travel forever, but it’s time to pack up your prejudice because this is no ordinary rail journey. This is a scenic sojourn. In fact, it’s so good that it’s up there as one of the worlds most picturesque. An authentic, back to basics, A to B railway ride that offers views to end all views. So, wave goodbye to London’s concrete jungle and hello Sri Lanka’s pretty pastoral settings, because as you chug your way from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya’s nearby Nanu Oya attention-grabbing vistas would be an understatement.
Picture windows? Tick. The ability to lean out of the moving train’s open door? Tick. Ok, so that second point isn’t advisable. In fact, we strongly hope that you’re not that reckless. Even if Instagram would have you thinking that risking life and limb was practically mandatory to get that gem of a shot. The train in question is striking in itself. Rocking a very instagrammable blue (da ba dee da ba daa), the old school aesthetics have you wowed before you even board. And when we say old school, we mean it. This railway was built by the Brits back in 1864 – quite a remarkable achievement at the time considering the lack of infrastructure in place – as a means of transporting the tea and crops grown in the hill country to the big cities. Now, although still very much used by locals, this is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions. So basically, you’d be mad to miss it.
