Excite, Sri Lankan Transport

The might 3 wheeler, or tuk-tuk (Sri Lankans prefer the name 3 wheeler, though they happy to call it a tuk-tuk if they can get a fare), these little death machines are driven by kamikaze styled drivers, taking their and your life, full speed down any road, playing chicken with buses, cars or anything else that gets in their way.  Costing around 35 rupees a kilometer, though most will always claim a 2 kilometer journey is actually 5 kilometers, tripling every fare.

You'll find two main suppliers of the 3 wheeler, the smaller Bajaj (in the picture above) seats 2 comfortably but can easily, take a family of 6 shopping or to the beach. Then you have the Italian, Piaggio, this is the more ATV type, it seats 3 comfortably being wider with a square back, but is widely used as a mini truck, carrying coconuts, vegetables to market and almost anything else you can think of.



The drivers sit along the roadsides at strategic points, and as you pass by you hear a voice from inside shouting "hello, where you going?", normally 10 or more in a row, each one woken from his slumber from the cry of the one before. They'll stalk a prey for nearly a kilometer when times are slow and can organize anything you may need or not need.

Their vehicles are normally green, black or blue, and covered in either Bob Marley or Che Guevara images or advertising if they can get it and each one has his own slogan some in English are below:

- I Do What I Do
- Still Water Runs Deep
- Need For Speed
- Only One
- Don't Leave Me Alone

Then we have the buses, 3 times the size and just as crazy, you either have the red government buses  (like the one below) or private company buses.

The come with a bare foot driver, frequently talking or texting on his mobile, and a skinny conductor, skinny either a prerequisite having to squeeze up and down the isle collecting fares or they get that way with all the running around they do, hoping on and off hurrying passengers along.

The government buses are Indian manufactured "TATA" buses, shaky, noisy, loud, but still extremely fast. The private buses are the "Lankan Ashok Leyland" buses, they come in a array of different colors and designs, with loud music to cut the sound of the noise, some even have TV's to play the music videos to the songs.

The prices for these buses are around 2 rupees a kilometer or what the conductor decides you can afford, scribbling an illiterate number on a piece of paper and shouting his preferred price.There is no safe weight load, the conductor just shouts louder to make the passengers squeeze closer together and fits more on.

For the driver it's all about acceleration and breaking, an arm out signals more rupees and he can slam breaks without warning, the fashion accessory of having break lights fitted inside the buses gives you the added feeling of panic as the last thing you see before smashing into the seat in front of you is a red light flashing bright.     

Trains are the preferred mode of transport if you find a line running your way and you have the time for the show journey, installed by the British in colonial times, these diesel engines slowly make their way around the beautiful countryside.  

Costing in the region of 1 rupee per kilometer, they can't be beat on price, the seats are straight and fairly comfortable, but as the speed they go is so slow, you can hang out the windows taking photos or have a smoke in the door ways that remain open.

Locals are always willing to start up a conversation to pass the time and are happy to tell you the history of their mighty railway or point out the special heritage sites.

Definitely the best way to travel in Sri Lanka, but which every way you choose I promise every journey is filled with adventure, excitement, food, noise, music and laughter, just remember to close your eyes when you hear the horns blowing loudly.