On Saturday, I decided on a day trip to Haputale instead of Nuwara Eliya, that is, the largest tea plantation and possibly Lipton's Seat (amazing view, probably covered by clouds after 8 am; doable by bus then on foot, also free) instead of Little England and World's End (amazing view, probably covered by clouds after 8 am; need to rent a car / jeep). Below is a picture of the view from the train and the train ticket:
A legkorabbi vonattal is csak delutanra ertem Haputaleba, igy a felhoket garantalni lehetett. Rossz ido miatt a vonat meg tobbet is kesett es mire a DambatenneTeagyarhoz indulo buszon ultem, mar nagyon mehetnekem volt, mert csak nehany oram maradt naplementeig, ami nem eleg a fel- es leuthoz is. Aztan a buszjegyarus srac lehajtott egy kis tv-t a buszon es egy sri lankai ska rockzenekar koncertjet bekapcsolta - ez annyira tetszett, hogy teljesen lenyugodtam. Sri Lankan nehez idegesnek lenni, nagyon laza hely :) Volt egy kis piac is a teagyar elott, lekaptam a halarus csavot (meg a hatterben a kodot...).
Taking the earliest train in the morning I could still only get to Haputale by the afternoon so clouds were pretty much guaranteed. Due to bad weather the train was delayed further and by the time I was on the bus to Dambatenne Plantation and Tea Factory, I only had a few hours daylight left so I was anxious to leave. Then the ticket boy on the bus turned on a tv with the recorded gig of some Sri Lankan ska rock band which put me in a better mood - it's hard to stay anxious in Sri Lanka :) There was also a little market going on, took a quick picture of this guy selling fish (note the fog in the background...):
The plantation was amazing even if I missed the tea pluckers; quiet and peaceful, vast and deep green.
A teafold igy is gyonyoru volt, akkor is ha a teaszedo emberekrol lemaradtam. Melyzold cserjek a hatalmas foldeket, csendes es bekes, a kodben alig hallani valamit...
Egy oriasi felho elkezdte betakarni a dombokat, ugyhogy elindultam visszafele es ezuttal a teaszedok kis telepulesen mentem keresztul; egy hindu templom alatt kerestem menedeket az eso elol (a teaszedok altalaban tamilok, akik hinduk; a tulajdonosok altalaban muszlimok). A hindu imadat akkortajt kezdodott, amikor odaertem, a gyerkocok modellt alltak.
A massive cloud came in so I started heading back and took a detour into the tiny village of the plantation workers; went to the Hindu temple (plantation workers are usually Tamils and therefore Hindus; the owners around this area are mostly Muslim) to take shelter from the downpour and met the village kids who loved being photographed.
Mire visszaertem a teagyarhoz, ahonnan a buszom indult, ronggya aztam! Nem akartam bemenni a gyarba, mert elaztattam volna ott mindent...
Once back where the bus dropped me, I took shelter in the doorway of the factory - didn't want to go in as I didn't want to miss the bus and I was also quite wet and didn't feel like soaking the place.
Egy ott dolgozo ember megosztotta velem a ketelyeit, hogy ma mar nem lesz tobb busz az eso miatt. Korbekerdezett mindenkit, hogy lattak-e buszt jonni, de senki nem adott pozitiv valaszt. Vegul talalt nekem valakit, aki kocsival indult vissza Hapulateba es felajanlott egy fuvart. Kiderult, hogy a teagyar igazgatojahoz van szerencsem! Idoben leertem a faluba tehat, ittam egy csesze teat es indultam a vonathoz.
A guy who worked there got to chatting with me and thought there were no more buses that evening, due to the rain. He asked everyone if they knew about buses; no one did. In the end he found a guy going down to the village who gave me a lift. Turned out to be the director of the tea factory (the biggest one in SL mind you)! I had plenty time in Haputale where there is not much to do. I had a cup of tea :)
Kandybe az ejszakai vonattal mentem, kiprobaltam a harmadosztalyt, ami tele volt tivornyazo munkasokkal meg tinikkel, utottek-vagtak a vonat oldalat, enekeltek, doboltak, beszelgettek... Nagy elet volt ott.
Talalkoztam egy muvesszel, aki zoldsegbol es gyumolcsbol keszit kreaciokat, emellett tud cukorbol hattyut es jegbol akarmit is faragni es fest is. Nala volt a portfolioja, Colomboba igyekezett munkaugyben.
Took the night train back to Kandy and travelled in 3rd class with teenagers and workers who partied hard, banging the doors and walls of the carriages, singing and chatting - it was an experience.
Met an artist who makes decorations from fruits and vegetables, ice and sugar... Amazing. He had his portfolio with him and showed me pictures of him teaching food decoration and some of his creations. Pretty amazing stuff.
Then around 2 am, everyone was asleep, limbs hanging out from everywhere and only the guy selling coffee (he pronounced it as "gopi, gopi, gopi"!) moving up and down the carriages.
Hajnali 4-re ertem Kandybe, hazasetaltam a szokatlanul csendes es friss, szennymentes varoson, kutyakat kerulgetve az uton es a jardan is es bedoltem az agyamba...
Got back to Kandy at 4 am, walked home in an unusually quiet and fresh, non-polluted town, swerving dogs on the footpath and falling into my bed...
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