The chicken bus

Well it’s not quite the chicken bus. There were no live animals! I asked my tuk-tuk driver to take me to the private, air-conditioned buses as these are quicker and slightly more pleasant. However, his English is not particularly good…obviously…because he put me on the old 1940s bus that stops at what appear to bus stops (although there is nothing to indicate that they are), every 5 minutes. So what was probably a 2 hour journey took 3.5 hours from Kegalle (closest town to me) to Colombo.

Let me try and paint the picture for you. I got on the back of the bus and there is a guy yelling out the destination of the bus outside. It simply waits until it’s full (which doesn’t take long) and then it goes. There is no apparent timetable.

It appears the bus drivers decorate their buses as they wish. They all have flowers of some sort around the windscreen and from the rear view mirror. My driver had about 20 different pictures of Buddha stuck all over the front, roof, dash etc. Some have neon lights although mine was not that extravagant. The best part is they choose their own music for the passengers (or their) entertainment. I have since learned that they are only supposed to play the radio at a low volume. Well, my driver is not the law-abiding type, and it was I guess what you would call Sri Lankan reggae at a very high volume. It was like we should have been doing laps in our brand new Holden Commodore with high tech sub-woofer speakers! It was hilarious. There is also plenty of other entertainment to keep you occupied:

• Blind or disabled singers playing a tambourine and singing Sri Lankan folk songs. Some were very good and earned their donations. Some Sri Lankans even sang along
• Plenty of people selling snacks and drinks. I wonder if they pay for a ticket??
• You get to place bets with yourself on just how many people can squeeze onto the bus. I was fortunate to get on at the start of the journey so I got a seat
• Waiting to see if someone does not make it on or off the bus, because it doesn’t actually stop but simply rolls along for people to get on and off!
  

And you get all of this for a mere 30p!

Then it was onto Sri Lanka’s famous old (and let me stress old) trains. A lovely lady took me to the train station from the bus stop because she said I would get ripped off by the tuk-tuk drivers. I bought my ticket and the ticket guy said that my husband (because I am married remember), is very bad (and you have to say that with a Sri Lankan accent…veddy baad) for leaving me alone. Tsk tsk Thurstan!

I don’t think the trains have been replaced since they were first built. They are rickety old things that somehow manage to stay on the tracks and avoid people, animals (although mine hit a cow on the way back) and vehicles. The roads and pathways run alongside the track so only hitting one cow is actually impressive.

I bought a 2nd class ticket because 1st class wasn’t available on this train. 2nd class simply means you are more likely to get a seat (although this is not guaranteed and some pushing and shoving is required) and there are fans that rotate from the ceiling providing limited relief from the heat. 3rd class I believe (although I didn’t dare venture inside) is simply wooden benches and it’s apparently very crowded.

So the rollercoaster ride lasted about 4 hours from Colombo to Galle and I was very happy to step onto the platform. I learned that 5 hours later there was a bombing at Colombo train station by the LTTE but no one was killed. Still, a bit of a wake up call that the civil war is likely to flare up again so public transport will be avoided from now on (although given the above experience, it may have been avoided nonetheless!).