| Year and Month | May, 2013 |
| Number of Days | One Day Trip |
| Crew | 8 persons |
| Accommodation | N/A |
| Transport | Train |
| Activities | Enjoying the train ride |
| Weather | Clear sky and mist (just passing Ohiya) |
| Route | Bandarawela -> Haputale -> Idalgashinna -> Ohiya -> Pattipola – Return by the goods train |
| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
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| Author | Prashastha |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
We got into the ‘Podi Menike’ train at Kinigama Railway Station.
Here comes the Podi Menike
We bought 2nd class tickets. But, there were no 2nd class seats available for us to sit. So we found our own 1st class seats at one of the doors. We passed though Bandarawela, Diyathalawa, Haputale, Idalgashinna and Ohiya to reach Pattipola. As we sat at the door, we could see everything outside. The views were very beautiful.
 Far….. Far away |
 This way…….. |
 …… and that way |
Just passing through the Summit Tunnel to the other side it became cold.
We got off the train at Pattipola Railway Station
We checked the timings of the trains towards Bandarawela as we had planned to return back home also by train. As we had some time we decided to walk a bit towards the Hortain Plains.
It was a short walk but, all of us enjoyed it. We had breakfast sitting on a tree trunk near a stream.
Cold!
While walking my ‘Boss’ showed us some kind of yellow coloured wild berries. We ate them but I did not find them tasty. My aunt liked them and had a lot of them.
Yellow and Green……
While walking back towards the Station ‘Boss’ showed us some red coloured berries that grew on a plant at ground level. He was not sure if those fruits could be eaten or the name. He took the fruits to the railway station and asked a person working their whether they could be eaten. We were told that they call it wild strawberries and could be eaten. I had one of them but, it was tasteless.
Blood Red……
A few minutes after reaching the railway station the Goods Train running towards Badulla arrived. This train has only 3rd class compartments. So again we found our own 1st class seats near a door.
 788 |
 Through the forest |
Tied with a plastic strip!!!!!!!!!!!!
At Ohiya we had to wait for several minutes until the Udarata Menike train from Badulla and heading to Colombo arrived.
S12 Approaching
We had a chat with some children on the other train and shared ‘Milo’ with them
For you….
Just after the Udarata Menike left our train started to move.
Signal down…. Green flag out…. permitted to GO
At Haputale, our train stopped on a track away from the platform and we had to wait for another train running from Badulla to Colombo. We had to wait for a long period of time as the engine and the oil tankers of the Goods Train were detached for stunting. The oil tankers were moved to the fuel shed area.
 A load of diesel |
 “දැන් යමු නේද?” |
The pilot of the train did exactly as my mother requested and as soon as the engine was reconnected to the rest of the train and we started moving.
Once we got off the train we walked along the rail line and through a tunnel and reached home safely.