Kot je znano, naj bi bil nakup vozovnic za kultno vožnjo od Kandya do Nuwara Eliye oziroma do Elle, vedno pravi izziv. Vlaki so vseskozi polni in sedeži rezervirani že par dni vnaprej vnaprej. Kot so nama sporočili domačini ter zaposleni na železniški postaji, naj bi bil nakup možen samo isti dan, eno uro pred odhodom. Tako je vsakodnevno pred okencem ogromna kolona turistov, ki upajo, da bodo še lahko med tistimi srečneži, ki bodo na vlaku dobili svoj sedež. Midva sva k sreči bila med njimi in si privoščila celo malce več – ter za dve karti odštela 800 Rs (rezervirana sedeža, tretji razred).
As is known, the purchase ticket for a famous journey from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya and to Ella should be a real challenge. The trains are always full and the seats reserved for a couple of days in advance. As the locals and staff at the train station informed us, it is only possible to buy a ticket on the same day, one hour before departure. On a daily basis is a huge crowd of tourist at the tickets window, who hope to be still among those lucky enough to be on the next train to Nuwara Eliya. We were lucky enough to be among them and we afford a little more, so we bought two tickets (reserved seat, third class) and paid Rs 800.
The relatively short drive from Polonnaruwa to Kandy should last somewhere around three hours, but they flew one after another and we were not even close. After five hours that we spend driving on the steep, winding roads and breaking through the roadblock (work on the road, along the road and elsewhere), we finally get to Kandy, where we came across the real traffic chaos. People drive like maniacs here, they don’t obey the rules at all. Crazy. The owner of our guesthouse explained us that this kind of chaos last for at least two weeks, because of all kinds of roadblocks.
Kandy is a real transport hub for trains and buses, which is reflected in the number of tourists. Compared with Polonnaruwa, Kandy seems like a completely new world, a lot of people, bakeries, shops – they even have one true European shopping centre. For locals Kandy is the most holy place because of the temple, where is kept a tooth of the Buddha, which is considered for holy sacred relic of Buddhism. For the tourists are in addition to the temple with its surroundings, interesting also the Royal Botanical Garden and the elephant orphanage in the near Pinnewala.
Relativno kratka vožnja iz Polonnaruwe do Kandyja naj bi trajala nekje tri ure, a ure so letele ena za drugo, midva pa nisva bila niti blizu. Po nekje petih urah, ki smo jih porabili za vožnjo po strmih, vijugastih cestah in za prebijanje preko cestnih zapor (delo na cesti, ob cesti, pa še kje), le prideva do Kandyja, kjer pa naju je čakal pravi prometni kaos. Definitivno že noben ni več vedel kdo ima prednost in kdo ne, če bi bilo možno bi vsi vozili en čez drugega. Grozno. Lastnica najinega guesthouse-a nama je kasneje pojasnila, da takšen kaos traja že vsaj dva tedna zaradi takšnih in drugačnih cestnih blokad.
Kandy je res pravo prometno središče tako za vlake kot tudi avtobuse, kar se pozna tudi po številu turistov. V primerjavi s Polonnaruwo se nama je Kandy zdel kot čisto novi svet, ogromno ljudi, pekarn, trgovinic – imajo celo tudi pravi evropejski šoping center. Za domačine je Kandy najbolj sveto mesto, saj tu stoji tempelj v katerem naj bi hranili zob Bude, ki velja za sveto relikvijo budizma. Za turiste pa so poleg templja z okolico, umetnega jezera z otočkom zanimivi še Royal Botanical garden in slonja sirotišnica v bližnji Pinnewali.
What could be better than starting the day with Slovenian words from random Sri Lankan local guy in the middle of Polonnaruwa? This and that the same guy – as soon as you step out of the bus – show you a business card of our guesthouse, which we booked in advance. Well, in the end, we got even a free shuttle service. Great! 🙂
Polonnaruwa was the medieval capital city and the main commercial crossing of Sri Lanka, where were traded the rarest and most valuable goods. About this, testify the ruins and archaeological museum in the middle of the city. Ruins are located in a large fenced park, which extends over almost the entire old part of town.
Kaj je lepšega, kot začeti dan s slovenskimi besedami šrilanškega domačina sredi Polonnaruwe? To, da ti ta isti domačin, takoj, ko stopiš iz avtobusa – pokaže še vizitko najinega guesthousa, katerega sva rezervirala že vnaprej. No, povrhu vsega, sva dobila še brezplačen prevoz. Super 🙂
Polonnaruwa je bila srednjeveška pretolnica Šri Lanke in glavno trgovsko križišče, kjer se je trgovalo z najredkejšimi in najdragocenejšimi dobrinami. O vsem tem pričajo ruševine in arheološki muzej sredi mesta. Ruševine se nahajajo v velikem zagrajenem parku, ki se razteza skoraj čez celotni stari del mesta.
In our heads still echoes the rhythm of Indian or Sri Lankan music, which was played for five hours from two large speakers above our heads, during the ride with local bus from Colombo to Dambulla. We were worried with this route, because everyone we asked about it, they recommend different one. Some say that it is better to go to Kandy by train and then to Dambulla by bus, while others would hire a car and driver (which is of course extremely expensive). Thankfully, we insist with our plan and soon found out that we chose the best way. Especially if we tell you, that we spend only 174 rupees (a little more than one euro) for 170 km long ride, which last more than 5 hours.
V najinih glavah še vedno odmeva ritem indijske oz. šrilanške glasbe, ki je pet ur odmevala iz velikega zvočnika nad najinima glavama v lokalnem avtobusu, med vožnjo iz Colomba v Dambullo. S to potjo sva si malce belila glave, saj nama je vsak priporočal drugače. Nekateri pravijo, da je bolje do Kandyja z vlakom in nato naprej do Dambulle z avtobusom, spet drugi pa bi najeli avto in šoferja (kar je seveda izjemno drago). K sreči sva vztrajala pri svojem in takoj ugotovila, da sva izbrala najboljši način. Sploh če vam izdava še podatek, da vožnja dolga 170 km, stane le 174 rupij oziroma dober evro po osebi. Traja pa dobrih 5 ur, kar je precej.
We can again confirm that every trip is unique. Even before we boarded on a plane in Ljubljana, we met a woman with Indian roots from Fiji, who is married to Slovenian man. Personified multiculturalism… she accompanied us all the way to Abu Dhabi and entrusted us her whole life story, where the things have almost turned upside down for us. Already at the Brnik airport, clerk at the counter failed to check us for a flight from Abu Dhabi to Colombo, but she didn’t told us why. However, when we want to check in at Abu Dhabi (where we were already abnormal late), we were informed that our flight is unfortunately full. Ok, now we know the reason why that clerk couldn’t check us in…
Now what…? We where lost, we didn’t know what to do. The airline immediately offered us accommodation and the flight the next day in the late afternoon, but things then changed in last moment. Five minutes before the end of boarding, we get tickets in our hands, for a famous business class, where is space for only a handful of people. Oh yeah, you should see look on four Slovenian tourists, when a young couple in sweatsuits sit on those luxurious seats 😀 of course we didn’t buy those by ourselves, we got those from a friendly employee at the airport…
Zopet lahko potrdiva, da te vsako potovanje vedno znova preseneti. Še preden sva se vkrcala na letalo v Ljubljani, sva spoznala žensko z indijskimi koreninami s Fiji-ja, ki je poročena s Slovencem. Poosebljena multikulturnost… spremljala naju je vse do Abu Dhabija in zaupala celotno življenjsko zgodbo, kjer pa so se nama stvari skorajda obrnile na glavo. Že na Brnikih nama uslužbenka na okencu nikakor ni uspela čekirati leta iz Abu Dhabija v Colombo, ampak zato ni navedla nekega tehtnega razloga. Ko pa sva ponoven “check in” želela opraviti v Abu Dhabiju (kjer sva bila že tako ali tako nenormalno pozna) so nama sporočili, da je najin let na žalost poln. Aha, tukaj torej tiči zajec..
Kaj pa zdaj? Ja, prav nič nama ni bilo jasno. Letalska družba nama je v zameno takoj ponudila prenočišče in let v naslednjem dnevu pozno popoldne, vendar pa so se stvari zadnji trenutek spremenile. Pet minut pred koncem vkrcavanja so se v najinih rokah čudežno pojavile karte za sloviti poslovni razred, kjer je na letalu prostora le za peščico ljudi. Oh ja, kaj češ lepšega, kot neverjetne zavistne poglede 4ih slovenskih turistov in besede kot so – vidva si pa privoščita 😀 seveda sva jih z veseljem pospremila zgolj z zadovoljnim nasmehom do ušes 🙂 …kart seveda nisva kupila sama, ampak nama jih je uredil delavec na letališču…