Hatton to Galboda Rail Hike

Year and Month	April, 2019
Number of Days	One
Crew	Thinuwan and Myself
Accommodation	Previous day night at Sri Neegridharama temple, Hatton
Transport	Public transport
Activities	Rail hike (22 km) & Photography
Weather	Excellent but, rain in last 30 min
Route	Hatton -> Rozella (7.08Km) -> Ihala Watawala (3.58Km) -> Watawala (1.88Km) > Galboda (9.4Km)
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Start the journey as early as possible. Take enough water & jeewani. You will come across few water streams in rainy season. Walking along rail track is a punishable offence. Shoes are recommended. Not recommended for people with vision & hearing impairment. Try & walk always on the side walk. Get information about train schedule from stations & workers. Talk with locals & workers, don’t ignore them. Switch off your phone if possible During the rail hike keep your eyes & ears fully open Don’t carry (minimize) plastic & polythene items. Make sure to bring back everything you took
Author	Chamara
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Hatton to Galboda Rail Hike – 22 Km

We came from Haputhale to Hatton last night but couldn’t find a place to stay as all the guest houses were fully booked due to Sripada season. Fortunately, chief priest of Sri Neegrodharamaya temple kind enough to provide us the accommodation facilities till tomorrow morning. After having our breakfast from temple we walked about 100m to Hatton station which is the starting point of our rail hike with the intention to walk up to Nawalapitiya. Rail hike was not a part of our three day plan but things were changed when we were at Balathuduwa Mountain yesterday. The bad weather condition prevailed in Belihuloya & Kalupahana areas, compelled us to postpone another hike hence, we opted to do a rail hike from Hatton towards Nawalapitiya.

During the walk we were treated by railway workers as it was Sinhala Hindu New Year season. Though we planned to walk up to Nawalapitiya, it was started to rain 2 km before Galboda station. Only Thinuwan had a rain cover and we realized that it is difficult to walk under heavy rain even wearing a rain coat so that, we decided to conclude the journey at Galboda station. We could catch Podi Manlike train arrived to Galboda around 2.30 pm to reach Colombo Fort.