Sri Lanka (Part 1)
A 7 and a half hour flight with the ever reliable Emirates, including a stop over in the impressive Maldives, whisks you, in some ways, from the 21st century back to the stone age.
I arrived at Clombo airport in an electrical storm where a cloud burst had transformed the airport bus station/ taxi rank into a boating lake. Probably twenty young barefooted boys offered to carry my bag, get me a taxi or have me adopt them, but they all smiled and didn t really pester me once told firmly that I had someone looking after me, deciding to pounce on the next arrival to the 'circus'.
My contact, Edward, reversed his car up to me, popped the boot and off we went for a life changing experience in a motor vehicle.
I am aware that my blog is fast becoming a commentary on other countrys' transport systems but you have gotta see this to believe it!!
With a few exceptions, the heavily potholed roads are very badly, but mostly not lit. At all hours of the day they are chock a block with most forms of trasport that the human race has used since the invention of the wheel. I kid you not I have seen a Ferrari (only the one!) and I have seen a man on a bull.
Overtaking can be on either side, double overtaking is the norm ie a bus overtakes a van and a car overtakes the the bus at the same time on a two lane unlit road, into oncoming traffic.
There are more stunt motor bike and pushbike drivers than at an Evil Kenevil convention. They are rarely lit and will have up to 4 people on board and dart in and out of the traffic, travelling which ever direction on the road that suits them and occasionally you also notice the passenger on the motorbike has his hand out behind him and he will be towing his friend on a pushbike behind them at breakneck speed.
I guess only 1 in 10 will have a helmut, no one wears protective clothing
And .......... every one with a horn blows it at every opportunity.
Add to this mix what appears to be a million tuk tuks, (a moped with a corrugated shed on the back, a sort of speedy motorised rickshaw taxi), tractors and other farm machinery, stray dogs that dare you to drive at them and every roadside looking like the Millenium Stadium has just emptied its capacity of pedestrians onto the road, they try, often unsuccessfully, to stay off the carriage way causing the whole traffic line to 'conga' like a demented Chinese dragon
And then it pours down with rain .......... maaaaaan!!
Just had to get that off my chest, interesting stuff will follow .........
A 7 and a half hour flight with the ever reliable Emirates, including a stop over in the impressive Maldives, whisks you, in some ways, from the 21st century back to the stone age.
I arrived at Clombo airport in an electrical storm where a cloud burst had transformed the airport bus station/ taxi rank into a boating lake. Probably twenty young barefooted boys offered to carry my bag, get me a taxi or have me adopt them, but they all smiled and didn t really pester me once told firmly that I had someone looking after me, deciding to pounce on the next arrival to the 'circus'.
My contact, Edward, reversed his car up to me, popped the boot and off we went for a life changing experience in a motor vehicle.
I am aware that my blog is fast becoming a commentary on other countrys' transport systems but you have gotta see this to believe it!!
With a few exceptions, the heavily potholed roads are very badly, but mostly not lit. At all hours of the day they are chock a block with most forms of trasport that the human race has used since the invention of the wheel. I kid you not I have seen a Ferrari (only the one!) and I have seen a man on a bull.
Overtaking can be on either side, double overtaking is the norm ie a bus overtakes a van and a car overtakes the the bus at the same time on a two lane unlit road, into oncoming traffic.
There are more stunt motor bike and pushbike drivers than at an Evil Kenevil convention. They are rarely lit and will have up to 4 people on board and dart in and out of the traffic, travelling which ever direction on the road that suits them and occasionally you also notice the passenger on the motorbike has his hand out behind him and he will be towing his friend on a pushbike behind them at breakneck speed.
I guess only 1 in 10 will have a helmut, no one wears protective clothing
And .......... every one with a horn blows it at every opportunity.
Add to this mix what appears to be a million tuk tuks, (a moped with a corrugated shed on the back, a sort of speedy motorised rickshaw taxi), tractors and other farm machinery, stray dogs that dare you to drive at them and every roadside looking like the Millenium Stadium has just emptied its capacity of pedestrians onto the road, they try, often unsuccessfully, to stay off the carriage way causing the whole traffic line to 'conga' like a demented Chinese dragon
And then it pours down with rain .......... maaaaaan!!
Just had to get that off my chest, interesting stuff will follow .........
Personally I think you were spoiled by our taxi service so nothing now quite compares :). Everything sounds amazing though and I'm sure you'd have been most disappointed if you had missed the mating rats. Keep having fun and posting your escapades.
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