At the time, I didn't realize passengers could purchase a ticket in advance. But many locals appeared to buy their tickets right before the train arrived. I arrived at the station at 3 p.m. and learned the counter only opened 30 minutes later. I ended up waiting for an hour.
First, I met Manvik, a local business owner, at the station. Manvik was in his 40s, bald, and dressed in a short-sleeved shirt paired with slacks. As a solo traveler, I'm often wary of overly friendly people. But I quickly warmed up to Manvik, who invited me to his seafood restaurant the next time I visited Sri Lanka.
While waiting for the counter to open, I got into a conversation with Kalana, a student who was on his way home. He told me he majored in management at a college in Galle, a city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka. Kalana, with his boyish smile and dark hair, said he made the commute every day and spotted a handful of tourists on it daily.
I eventually made a beeline for the counter and snagged a second-class ticket to Colombo Fort for 300 rupees, or less than a dollar. In hindsight, this was the best — and cheapest — way to travel across the country, as a first-class train reservation online for the same route cost 900 rupees, and hailing a car on the local app costs 10 times as much.