The Kandy to Ella railway line through the central highlands is one of the genuinely great train journeys of Asia – not because of its speed or its luxury, but because of what it passes through. The train leaves Kandy and climbs steadily into the estates, through the first tunnel and the moment the line opens onto its first real valley view is the one everyone remembers. From there it’s a rolling sequence of tea plantation panoramas, the Nine Arch Bridge crossing and arrival in Ella as the afternoon light catches the highlands. It’s worth being honest about what this is: a Sri Lankan rail journey, not the Orient Express and that’s precisely the point – the charm is in the tea pickers visible from the open door, the mountain mist and the unhurried rhythm of the highlands.