I made an executive decision. I needed an out. While logistically realizing that I had been working around the clock in a climate that is not very supportive of such ideas, I had not realized that emotional implications. I was getting very frustrated with Sri Lanka. When the internet dropped into total failure at the end of the week, I decided it was time to leave Seeduwa. I was in a Sri Lanka, it was time to do something!

I informed Kara that we were going to Kandy, and the next morning at 9AM we caught a bus for the Colombo train station. Dad would be proud, as should everyone else. This was my luggage. I slipped it in Kara’s backpack, tucked a book under my arm and we were off. An hour later we had boarded a 2nd class train for a long 3 hour mountain assent.

Kandy is in the central part of Sri Lanka, about 115km inland, and has a population of about 120,000. The geography is predominantly hilled, with endless houses tucked around ever ridge and in every valley. Supposedly locals refer to it as Maha Nuwara (Great City), but I never saw any evidence of it. Both the boys, however, seemed very excited at my choice for a weekend jaunt.

As we boarded the very crowded train, it was clear that a seat was not in our future. A little frustrated at the prospect of standing for 3 hours, neither Kara nor I had any clue as to our good fortune. Soon after the train started, a very kind man invited me to sit on the floor of the car next to him, as he sat, feet dangling out the train car door. He began pointing out the towns we were passing, and we quickly took to finding them on my map, tracing the route across the rice patties towards the mountainous center of the island. It was only a matter of time before he invited Kara, surely presuming she was my wife and that we were the strangest looking couple he had ever seen, to take his place and sit next to me. Feet dangling out of the train door, we would lean out with childlike glee, urging the train to faster speeds and greater heights.