This morning our tuk-tuk driver Jaegen took us into Colombo to catch the train East. The trip to Colombo follows the river most of the way - we pass stalls setting up on the side of the road with their produce straight from the estuary - crabs waving their legs in the air, small silver and black striped fish, HUGE prawns - alongside these stalls and all the way to Colombo are fruit stalls selling mangoes, watermelons, bananas, king coconuts and lots of jack fruit. The road is busy - as always - again our driver makes space for himself where there seems to be no space to fit in at all. And as we rush along the dusty road - up and down hills, round bends, dodging traffic, it's seems to me like a game of mario kart - there are no rules - just go!
When we arrive in Colombo we are in its textile centre - shop fronts bursting with colourful materials ready to be tailored into saris and shalvas. shop fronts of colour, flower garlands, fairy lights - everyone out in the middle of the street. Our tuk-tuk squeezes through the crowds of people and onwards to the station.
When we get to the station we are told that our train has been cancelled due to an accident on the line. So all change - we have not yet left, we are still in Wattala and will now be leaving tomorrow morning instead. We have our tickets ready - the 10 hour train journey there will be costing us a whopping 3 pounds 60 each! If you're not fussy, Sri Lankan travel is cheap!
After this change of plan we go back home to dump our bags and then go back into Colombo again to renew my visa at the immigration office, so as not to waste the day. This turns out to be quite easy and it takes at the most an hour, so after a quick lunch of chicken and rice we walk down the road, back the way our tuk-tuk drove us, to find the bus back to Wattala. The pavement often non-existent and usually taken over with people, parked cars, stray dogs, rubbish and pot-holes, we mostly walk along the road into the oncoming traffic - trying to breathe in when we get trapped between a car going by and a car parked on the side, and generally trying not to get your toes run over. Miriam did get tapped by the wing mirror of a van that seemes oblivious to us, but other than that, there were no other injuries! Just like Sri Lankan driving, as a pedestrian you also have to just go for it and hope for the best!
Eventually we find a bus. my first bus ride - very exciting! The bus is fairly empty so we even get a seat, and apart from being hot, despite sitting next to an open window, and just a little bit cramped (Miriam and I barely fit on the seat next to each other!) the bus ride is comfortable and ten times cheaper than the tuk-tuk. Instead of the 400 rps (2 pounds 30) each way that we normally pay the tuk-tuk, the bus journey back from Colombo to Hendala costs 45 rps (26p)each! bargain! This means that today we can also afford to splash out on a 20 rps ice cream on the way home :)
So THIS is my last post for now! As for yesterday's post, I didn't mean it to end with a rant about self-image. It was simply a reflection on how big an issue skin colour still is when really it should not be an issue at all...
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