Sri Lanka

I flew into Colombo late at night, and got a taxi into town to the YMCA, which from what I’ve heard is on the of the few budget backpackers in the city.  There was a nice little curry shop over the road where I ended up eating about 5 times, never paying much more than a dollar for a Roti, Dahl, Chicken Curry and a cup of Tea. I had a decent chat with a Spanish guy living in Goa, India. He filled me with confidence with words or recommendation like “This country is full of thieves” “Don’t trust any of them” “Colombo is a horrible place” “I can’t wait to get back to India” and one I know Roy will like “I’d rather be in Tasmania, during winter.” He was pretty much right though, due to the presidential election the whole city was shut down, with army and police setting up check points through out the city and very very few shops open. If I’d read the Smart Traveller Aussie government website would have advised me

• We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in Sri Lanka in the lead-up to and the period following presidential elections scheduled for 17 November 2005. The security situation throughout the country, including in Colombo, may deteriorate during the campaign period. Numerous violent incidents, including murder and assault, occurred in the lead-up to elections in 2001 and 2004. Incidents often occurred on roads as party officials and candidates travelled between campaign engagements. You should be vigilant and watch the media for information about possible new safety or security threats.

The next morning I went to the train station to book a seat up to Kandy, a smallish city I had heard of in the hills. I met 2 guys from UK who had arrived the day before and were also booking the same ticket. We grabbed a 50 rupee Tuk Tuk ride together to check out what was meant to be a big beach side market, but due to the elections it was deserted. No worries, I started to walk back to YMCA to grab my bags and stuff and then head to the train station. This is where a funny thing happened, I was offered a Tuk Tuk, just over a block from my Hostel, and I said “No, It’s just around the corner” “No Worries” “No Worries?” “Yeah, Hop In” “Give me a lift if you want but its free ok?” “OK”. During the ride, I told him I needed to head to the Train Station in about an hour, he agreed to meet me back outside for that fare. I packed my bags had another bit of curry and met him outside to get to the train station. The Train station isn’t far, a 50 Rupee ride. We arrived and I handed him the 50, and he refused babbling “two rides 50 each, 100” “no the other one was free” “Give me 100” “dude, it’s a 50 rupee ride” the usual stuff, but when I went to give him a now slightly generous 60 rupee he refused “It’s 100 rupee ride, I want 100” “here take the 60” “I’m no beggar, I wont take 60” I handed him the 60 and turned away to walk into the station, he jumped out and pushed the money back into my hands “If you cannot afford to pay me 100 then you must need the money more than me” shit?! He was refusing the fare. He went to drive off and I put the cash on his back seat, he pulled over jumped out and gave it back. It was all a little strange. The train was nice, a few hours a bit of a nap and we were there. A quick run down on Kandy, shared a room with John and Scott, (the guys from UK) once again every thing was closed the first night. The next day we went to the Buddha’s Tooth Temple, supposedly housing a tooth from Buddha. The Tamil tigers bombed the temple in the 90’s so that was a little strange, a fair bit of security (pat downs and stuff) getting in, and a whole bunch of photos from the bombing and rebuilding, not something you expect to see at a temple. We then went and had tea at the Royal Botanic Gardens. The first time I had actually done touristy things in ages…….