We took a train trip today. Wait a minute…at train? I thought it was a cruise… Today’s outing involved a train and some elephants. Quite a combination, and now that I have your attention, let me explain.

As world cruisers, we have a few additional perks over and above what the “segment people” have. One of these was that night at the opera in Sydney that I told you about several weeks ago. Well, today was another. We were taken by train from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage in the interior of the country. The train ride itself was one of the most interesting parts of the trip. If you have ever traveled by train then you know that just getting from the train station out of the city can tell you a lot about a city’s underbelly. Colombo is no different.

A city of over a million and the capital of Sri Lanka makes for some interesting sights. Right in the city center at the station, there were the usual large office and residential buildings, along with the standard motley collection of shops, stalls, food stands, and retail outlets. Once underway, however, it became clear that Sri Lanka has a long way to go to properly house and feed its people. Most of what we saw until we reached the countryside were tin-roofed shacks – almost all of which had either TV antennas or dish receivers attached and electricity. We can’t vouch for running water however. Unfortunately, due to the movement of the train, I couldn’t get any decent pictures. In any event, it was not a pretty picture.

 The train was very nice. It had air conditioning, clean toilets, and they served wholesome snacks along the way. This was in stark contrast to the trains we saw loading as we waited on the platform. They were open cars, very crowded, noisy, and frankly a little rank nasally. It turned out that the cruise line has chartered our train. Whew! The ride was just a bit bumpy, however, and we started and stopped quite few times – rather abruptly. After the first few of these jolts, our guide smilingly informed us that there was a “small derailment” up ahead that was causing the lurching, but “no worries” we are moving right along… We immediately thought of the line from the Most Wonderful Marigold Hotel where the retirees first see the run-down place and are told “no worries”…

Once we got out of the city and into the countryside and past the derailment – not us fortunately – we were happy for the experience. We had an opportunity to see a better slice of typical Sri Lankan rural life, including cattle, water buffalo, rice paddies, and only slightly more substantial housing. The Sri Lankan countryside is fairly flat until you get about 50-60 Km inland. Then it becomes foothills. Sri Lanka is not a volcanic island, but was part of Gondwanaland in geologic terms, so it does not have the lush forests and jagged peaks of many of the other islands we have visited. We saw mostly rice paddies, banana plantations (the island boasts 22 varieties of bananas), and other farms. There was very little else outside of the towns and cities. The major means of transportation are trains, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, bicycles, and by foot. Whole families can fit on one motorbike.

At Pinnawela we off-loaded from the train and were bussed to the Orphanage. This particular orphanage began with about six small elephants that had been orphaned in the wild and has grown to about 60 currently. They range from several-month old babies to full grown bulls and cows. We were a little disappointed that many of them were chained rather than simply allowed to graze in their pens. They also had a demonstration of bottle-feeding the babies, but the crowd was so great that we only saw it from the fringe. The mahouts were taking money from people for the privilege of holding the bottle. Money that we had no doubt remained in the pockets of the mahouts rather than going to the organization. The babies guzzled a half-gallon bottle in about 10-15 seconds! Sort of reminds me of some of my friends during my college days…

After a short time observing the elephants, we were led to a riverside restaurant for a sumptuous buffet lunch. The dishes on offer included a number of Sri Lanka specialties as well as Indian and a few western style. The Sri Lanka differed from the Indian in the degree of heat from the spices and chilies. If you are a fan of heat, you will love Sri Lankan cuisine. Fortunately, I am one and it was delicious!

As we were finishing lunch, the mahouts were bringing the elephants to the river for their daily baths. The first two or three had the leg chains and were tethered to rings in the riverbank rocks. We thought that would be it – as a sort of show for the diners – but then came about 20-30 more for a group bath. The entire bathing routine lasted about an hour and then the elephants were led back to the orphanage. We later found out that many of these animals are not able to be returned to the wild and wind up in zoos and private reserves. That strikes a sour note with us, but I will not go into the politics of it here. Suffice it to say that we were pleased with the opportunity to see these magnificent animals up closer than we might have otherwise, but were quite saddened to know that even the best intentions cannot always be met.

 

After lunch and a short round of retail therapy, we got back on the bus and returned to the train station for the return trip to Colombo. We had a treat in store for us as the return train was one of Sri Lanka’s preserved turn-of-the-century trains – the “Viceroy.” The exterior was typical wood and iron work and the interior was plusher than the modern train we came out on. The seats were more comfortable and there were individual tables for reading or water glasses, etc. The ride was also much smoother. Interesting!

Tomorrow we have a day at sea and at about noon we enter pirate waters. No joke!

A few days ago we received a sheet in the daily program giving us instructions and the Captain had a briefing to assure us that the cruise line has been plying these waters for many years and has had no incidents. Of course, the added naval escort and recently-acquired temporary armed guards aboard may have something to do with that… In any event, we will be sure to tell you if we run across any pirates.

Incidentally, I may not have told you our captain’s name. He is a long-time veteran cruise ship and cargo captain named Angelo P. Cosario. Corsario means “pirate” in Italian…

Stay tuned…