Well, I am not sure when my passion for travel started, but I always loved geography. I used to look at my mum's university geography books and loved learning about countries in Social Studies at school. I suppose my first journey must have been a fantastic experience for me to get addicted to travelling all these years later. Then again, who wouldn't love travelling through Sri Lankan Hill country? My very first travel memories were when we used to travel to Bandarawela to see my grandparents. Travelling to Bandarawela by train is a must if you are visiting Sri Lanka. The Colombo-Badulla line is, in my opinion, the most scenic railway line. Some might say, train journeys through Swiss Alps are the best ones, but for me, well what can I say? I am biased!!! It goes through the tea plantations, misty mountains and valleys. The weather would change in a minute, from sunny to rainy to foggy and back to sunny. Our journey always started with a bus trip to Gampola or Peradeniya, from Matale. Then the rush to get from the bus stand to the railway station, avoiding the crowd and most of the time in heavy rain. Mum used to grab all of us along with all the bags and make her way to the station as she searched for dad amongst the crowd. His walking always felt like running, especially if he was in a hurry. As the train curved along the track, we would stick our heads out to see if we could see the last carriage. When we got off at Bandarawela, we used run behind our dad along the railway track to the temple house. As you entered the house, after climbing the steep temple steps, you could hear our grandma’s greeting - “vaa Gopala” (Come in Gopal), inviting us in with tumblers full of coffee and face full of smile. Then the ritual of running to the side gates of the temple every time we heard the train whistle in the distance to see the train go past the temple and waving to the passengers. Our uncle used to take to the shops. By 4 o’clock, we would be complaining about how cold it is and get our sweaters. It’s the same in the morning, wearing our sweaters and drinking our grandmother’s cups of coffee (yes cups! She never gave A CUP of coffee, it was always 2 cups full) and looking out to see if we can see anything on the surrounding mountains past the fog. Our aunt lived in Craig Estate, about an hour’s journey through another bendy, narrow, mountainous road. She would come in her van and take us there. I used stand at the top of the temple steps and watch the van all the way from the top of the hill for at least half an hour, until the van reached us. I liked going there as they had two trees sculptured like a peacock and ‘vel’ (spear) outside their temple. Oh and she had a vegetable patch. When I say a vegetable patch, it was the size of a town! Fresh chilies, beans, leeks and cabbage…. We always went back home with double the bags we came with... Thank God we weren’t travelling with RyanAir! I remember when my aunt got married, the whole wedding party got on the train to go to Hatton, as her husband’s family lived there. Dad had a big family and they all lived in towns along this famous railway line. So, it meant every time we went to see the grandparents, we would make several pit stops along the way.
By 1983, the family had left Bandarawela, but my aunty was still living in Craig Estate. The last journey we made to her house as a family was in 1989, but this time mum wasn’t with us, and dad went to say his goodbyes as he was leaving for London. She died, not soon after that, and uncle moved to somewhere along the East coast. But the memories stayed…. In 2017, I went to see if the sculptured trees are still there. Yes! They are still there!! I took my husband and the kids on the same journey along that railway line in 2010…. Walked along the railway tracks, saw the train go past the temple and waved to the passengers.
I always call Matale my home, never thought about Bandarawela as my home even though I have fond memories of my travels. However, Bandarawela came back to me last year, when my cousin got married. His wife’s family lives there, serving the same temple my grandfather and uncle served until 30 years ago. I think, my mum’s family gave their daughter to Bandarawela 47 years ago only to gain another daughter after all these years.
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