On a rail trail with a cause
The main railway line going through the upcountry hills on its way to Badulla is not only one of breathtaking mist-wrapped mountain scenery, it is also an environmentally highly sensitive area, where the slightest impingement can undo what has taken ages to evolve.
Yet the travellers show little respect for the beauty around them, discarding garbage through windows- including polythene, plastic and glass.
It was with the dual purpose of cleaning the track and raising awareness on railway travel that Ranjan Theodore and Somarathna Bandara got together a 30-person expedition. Their first task was cleaning the track from Pattipola station to Idalgasinna station.
As walking on the track is forbidden, the group had to obtain permission from the Permanent Way Inspector.
The stretch of track includes tunnel no. 18. Entering this tunnel you are in cold, misty montane surroundings, but emerging from it, the trekker finds himself in a landscape more akin to the dry zone. Somewhere within the tunnel the regions divide.
The highest point of the country’s railway, the Summit Point at an elevation of 6226 feet from the sea level, is also part of this stretch.
The station between Pattipola and Idalgasinna is Ohiya. No fewer than 14 tunnels punctuate the stretch between Ohiya and Idalgasinna. The small Idalgasinna station is often shrouded with mist.
The station also overlooks one of the most breathtaking panoramas Central Sri Lanka offers. From the right you can see undulating below the southern part of the island- from Embilipitiya to Dondra Head. To the left, you see the pinnacles of all the island’s major mountains.
The group brought with them ten large plastic sacks which were soon filled and used a railway cart to transport the garbage back to Pattipola.
The second day, the hikers went to Horton Plains, but their destination was not the muchvisited World’s End but Kirigalpoththa, the second highest mountain in Sri Lanka and home to beautiful sceneryamidst isolated footpaths curdling with mist.
Ranjan Theodore advocates railway and mountain hiking as wonderful pastimes especially for young people and plans to continue this effort.