Travel in Sri Lanka using public transport

I had been in SL for 11 days, one in Colombo, another in Vavuniya, and the rest were in Negombo, at a quiet resort near the Airport.  I mainly traveled by public transport on this trip, and this blog is about my observations.

Galleface Beach, Colombo

Independent Square, Colombo

The Museum, Colombo

Sunset in Colombo

What happened to the Sun at Galleface?

I took an overnight bus from Colombo to Vavuniya, about 265 km.  The bus left at 9 PM and reached Vavuniya at 1 AM the next day.  The travel included a stop in the middle of nowhere for stretching, relieving the bladder, and, of course, for refreshments.  So, 265 km in 3.5 hours was pretty good.  The roads in Sri Lanka are perfect for a South Asian country, a credit to the Rajapakse regime.  How they used infrastructure development to plunder the country is a well-known story. 

I was looking forward to loud Tamil songs and a Tamil Movie and was satisfied; the bus had it all.  But I was exhausted and could not keep my eyes open.  I mainly slept during the travel.  One thing I enjoyed was taking a leak on the streetside.  I know it's not hygienic, but considering the stop was in a semi-forest, I felt good as my bladder pressure eased.   Next was a cup of black tea for 50 LKR.  There was plenty of sugar and a few juliennes of ginger; it was more like ginger syrup than the tea.

I was the only one to get down in Vavuniya, there were a few auto rickshaws, and I hired one.  The driver wanted 200 LKR for a distance of 300 m.  It's twice the daytime rate, and it was only 1 AUD; I was happy to pay.  I stayed in a two-star hotel with a very spacious Air Conditioned Room.  

Sticker on the Hotel Room Door

They charged me only for a day, as I checked in at 1:30 AM and checked out at 10:30 PM.  Most International Hotels would have charged me for two days.  The hotel was reasonably patronized.

Vattrapalai Kannahi Amman Temple

Madam at Thiruketheeswaram

Historic Madu Church

My return bus to Colombo left Vavuniya at 11:30 PM and arrived in Colombo at 4 AM.  Very similar to the journey to Vavuniya, without entertainment.  I didn’t even notice it.  

One sad observation - The passengers who sat next to me on both trips were much younger than me, Tamils, overweight, on the phone before departure, cursing some third party.  There is a lot of negative energy in the youngsters.

Since then, and until yesterday, I had been holed up in a hotel in Negombo, working, walking, eating, and sleeping.

Rain Clouds forming at Negombo Beach.

Yesterday, I visited a friend I hadn’t seen for at least 50 years.  He was in Colombo, and I went to see him by public transport.  The first leg was from Negombo to Colombo by bus.  I went to Negombo bus station at noon; two men were hollering for passengers to Colombo.  There were three or four passengers when I got in.  They waited 40 minutes until the bus was full.  A young Turkish Woman sat beside me on an extension seat to mine.  Until then, I thought it was my armrest.  They have spent a day in Negombo and are now heading for better South beaches.  Within 40 minutes, we were in Pettah, the busiest marketplace in Colombo.  I remember going there as a kid, and it looks about the same even now.  Men were pulling carts loaded with consignment - sad.  It was crowded, noisy, and the weather was horrible – hot and humid.

Sunsets at Negombo Lagoon

I looked for a place for lunch and found a vegetarian restaurant commonly known in Colombo as SaivaKade.  They had only a few items on their menu, and I asked for Dosa.  These dosas at SaivaKade’s are very different from those you get elsewhere.  They are thick pan-fried soft bread.  He served two of them and topped them with six scoops of sambar (a vegetable stew) and sambal (green chilies, coconut, salt, and onions ground together).  I don’t even remember the last time I ate this combo.  It cost me 2 AUD, including a generous 20% tip.  I was worried that it would cause an upset stomach.  It has been 24 hours since then, and I am fine. 

Now, I have to go to Dehiwela, I had a few options, but I wanted to travel by Train.  The view for passengers of a coastal train in Colombo is spectacular, and I have done it many times, but I always wanted it once more.  After a ten-minute walk under the hot sun, I reached the station where the Train was about to move.  I felt as if it was waiting for me.  Good feeling to watch the Ocean, ignoring the slums between the railway track and the beach.  How easy is it to ignore the suffering of others, I wondered.

Colombo Coastal Trains

After visiting my friend, I returned to Dehiwela and asked the counter clerk if I could go to Negombo by Train.  He said, can’t you read the board with train schedules?  I was unhappy with his response but went to the board, which said there was a train to Chilaw (not Negombo).  I did not know that the Chilaw train stopped at Negombo.  I confirmed it by asking the person updating the board with a whiteboard marker.  Then I went to the counter and bought the ticket.

The Train was about 20 minutes late, and when it arrived, there were vacant seats, so I took one of them.  The Train moved on, again caressing the coastline of Colombo, providing a panchromatic view of the sunset, and then gently rolled into Colombo Fort.  

Now I entered a phase of Train travel, typical of a developing country, which I wanted to experience again.  Passengers kept on embarking until everyone was almost touching their fellow passengers.  There was breathing room only.  The windows of the Train were shut to prevent rainwater from entering.  Gradually the heat and humidity built up, and I was treated to a free sauna.  After 20 minutes, the Train moved to the next station, Maradana, about a km away.  Again another twenty-minute wait, and now, I am suffocating.  Being the passenger next to the window, I tried to open the shutters.  I got help from a fellow passenger, and we opened and relieved all.  That was a good feeling.

A 38 km journey took 90 minutes.  The Train stopped every 2 to 3 km. It was a suburban train.  I kept watching the world pass by in slow motion.  Houses, shops, and everything else remains as they were 40 years ago.  They are small, the architecture has not changed, and they are lit mainly by mercury bulbs.   There were Autorickshaws and scooters, which were not common 40 years ago.  Reasonably new cars are parked at some houses.  The Train crossed several road crossings, where road users were waiting and giving way to the Train.  I felt superior to them since they were waiting to give me way.  What a silly feeling!

I arrived at Khurana, a station before Negombo, closer to my hotel.  The feeling was incredibly familiar.  It reminded me of the days we arrived at Sarasaviuyanna, the University of Peradeniya train station.  It was wet, raining, and a few passengers, and when I got out of the station, there was hardly anything.

With this travel, my to-do list is one less thing to do.