Yesterday said there is no really long trip in Sri Lanka. Well, I lied

• 4:20am (Yes, A.M.!)
  Started the never ending train trip by having to find & wake up the hotel doorman to let me out. It's pretty standard. Now always allocate 10 minutes for this. BTW... doesn't matter if you tell them the night before when you're leaving, they'll still be snoring & dead to the world. (Oh, yeah, I know... what about a fire if you're all locked inside?!)
• 4:30am
  After escaping the hotel was thrilled to find the tuk-tuk driver (3 wheeled child's play car like taxi) I'd bribed was actually there. He wanted $1.50 for the ride but I told him I'd give him $2, thinking a little extra incentive might get him outta bed at that hour. And it worked - half the time it doesn't~
• 4:50am
  The ticket counter at the train stain opens up & 75 people, including myself, break out of the queue & start pushing & plowing over each other to get a ticket & then get on the train within 10 minutes. Being a foreigner, kinda win & am one of the first people at the counter.
• 5:00am
  

  Before the train was over filled
  
  Sit on the hot, humid train, on a bench with almost no padding that's made for 2 people but there's actually 3 of us & people standing in the aisle trying to squeeze a 4th on it. Plus an old man, with only one tooth, in the very center of course, repeatedly telling me that someone's going to steal my bag. And no bathroom on board. Interesting... we also see the wreckage from every train accident, including the tsunami, because they just leave the damaged train cars on the side of the tracks.
• 3:00pm
  Finally get off the train from hell & arrive in a little spot of island paradise.