Monday, January 14, 2013

Sri Lankan Bus Riders...

We rode the bus 3x in Sri Lanka.  All three times we were supposed to be on the "air conditioned bus", but as with our first class train tickets which turned into third class when our flight was delayed, our first two trips were on the "regular bus" as the other was sold out.  In other words, we got to ride in Local Style on the cheap bus - no AC.  No problem, as luckily it wasn't hot, and both times we got seats right in front so the only smells being wafted over us as we headed down the road came from OUTSIDE the bus.  They were also WAY cheaper.  The final bus trip, on the AC bus, cost $5.  The other one?  70 cents.  Gotta love a bargain.  ;)

But the bus stops are pandemonium, with tons of buses going various directions, and an ad hoc sort of farmers and goods market spread out around it.  Not sure, do people do last minute shopping?  I do know its not a bad idea to grab a snack before you hop on, especially if its long.  One of ours was about 4 hours.  We brought some super tasty bananas, but NO water.  NO bathroom, and the last thing I needed was to be hopping up and down on the bus trying to get the Sinhala-speaking driver to figure out that, if he values his upholstery, its time to let the white lady OUT RIGHT NOW!   :)

And, with the bus stations being kind of crazy, and us being the sad sorry Westerners we are, the hotels were always concerned we wouldn't figure it out (I feel they think we're all a tad slow) so they had our tuk tuk driver get us on the right bus.  While it hurt our World Traveler cred, its probably a good thing, as often the bus you want was labelled as somewhere else, as you were a stop en route, and woe be to you if you get on the wrong bus.  Though I will say this, uniformly, people were kind to us and helped make sure we got off on the right stop.  Granted, we got lots of polite stares too.  I doubt too many white people, especially a blue-eyed bearded ponytailed Marsh, ride that bus.  :) 







Our view from inside the bus. :)





No comments:

Post a Comment