Woke at 5am today to make a 6 hour journey north. The van had AC and I think I must be getting used to the heat here because the cold air hurt my skin..actually had to turn it off as a result. The radio station had an eclectic mix of Beatles and Eminem music playing. We saw a truck completely flipped on the side of the road-evidence of the insane driving here. Just the other day I realized how used to erratic driving I've become. Same goes for really big guns.
The other day I was in a bike shop and these military guys wearing what appeared to be grass in their helmets had kalashnikovs or some other semi-automatic weapons on their backs. You would think a normal reaction would maybe be to question why they were wearing the hats or let alone show up ready for war in a bike shop-though this could be a guaranteed way of lowering a price. No, instead my reaction is to continue to bargain on the price of my bike basket and then give the armed guard a dirty look for standing in my way. I clearly have to work on my bartering skills in South Asia as the shop owner wouldn't budge on his price...or maybe I didn't get the memo to come to the shop with a grass helmet and gun. In the end, I'm still without a bike, which doesn't really matter since I'm traveling for the next week.
My driver managed to not go above 80km/hour which I was thankful for. On my previous journey the normal 6 hour ride was shortened to 4 due to extreme speeding to the point that the van went up on two wheels when we went around a bend. To my surprise, law enforcement does ticket for speeding here-my speedy driver got fined 500 rupees for his attempt at race car driving on Sri Lankan highways. What was strange was how he got the ticket-it appeared that there had been no signal to pull over, but then all of a sudden he pulled off the road, grabbed his wallet and ran off into the bushes. Moments later a soldier appeared in full uniform and I saw him writing the ticket. Then the driver paid the fine and returned to the car. The apparent honor system is something I've never witnessed before. However odd the procedure of ticketing may seeem, I am happy because the driver finally slowed down to only a moderate speeding pace.
I'm inVavuniya till Friday. Interesting to see people out on the streets after 8pm. In Batti where I'm normally based it's a ghost town after 8. I was told it's due to the routine of war times. Today was the first time I saw long tailed wild monkeys running across the street. Still waiting to see the elephants and hoping that I never have the chance to see one of the vairous snakes sliterhing around the island. My colleague said there was a massive one in the office the other day-about 4 feet, though thankfully not poisonous. Sri Lanka is the daunting leader for the highest rate of venemous snakebites in the world. Aside from all the various others reasons why someone may purchase traveler's insurance, the thought of paralysis from a big ass snake was enough for me to purchase a plan.
My insurance purchase was further reinforced when I drove past the local hospital-still very glad to not need stitches!
The other day I was in a bike shop and these military guys wearing what appeared to be grass in their helmets had kalashnikovs or some other semi-automatic weapons on their backs. You would think a normal reaction would maybe be to question why they were wearing the hats or let alone show up ready for war in a bike shop-though this could be a guaranteed way of lowering a price. No, instead my reaction is to continue to bargain on the price of my bike basket and then give the armed guard a dirty look for standing in my way. I clearly have to work on my bartering skills in South Asia as the shop owner wouldn't budge on his price...or maybe I didn't get the memo to come to the shop with a grass helmet and gun. In the end, I'm still without a bike, which doesn't really matter since I'm traveling for the next week.
My driver managed to not go above 80km/hour which I was thankful for. On my previous journey the normal 6 hour ride was shortened to 4 due to extreme speeding to the point that the van went up on two wheels when we went around a bend. To my surprise, law enforcement does ticket for speeding here-my speedy driver got fined 500 rupees for his attempt at race car driving on Sri Lankan highways. What was strange was how he got the ticket-it appeared that there had been no signal to pull over, but then all of a sudden he pulled off the road, grabbed his wallet and ran off into the bushes. Moments later a soldier appeared in full uniform and I saw him writing the ticket. Then the driver paid the fine and returned to the car. The apparent honor system is something I've never witnessed before. However odd the procedure of ticketing may seeem, I am happy because the driver finally slowed down to only a moderate speeding pace.
I'm inVavuniya till Friday. Interesting to see people out on the streets after 8pm. In Batti where I'm normally based it's a ghost town after 8. I was told it's due to the routine of war times. Today was the first time I saw long tailed wild monkeys running across the street. Still waiting to see the elephants and hoping that I never have the chance to see one of the vairous snakes sliterhing around the island. My colleague said there was a massive one in the office the other day-about 4 feet, though thankfully not poisonous. Sri Lanka is the daunting leader for the highest rate of venemous snakebites in the world. Aside from all the various others reasons why someone may purchase traveler's insurance, the thought of paralysis from a big ass snake was enough for me to purchase a plan.
My insurance purchase was further reinforced when I drove past the local hospital-still very glad to not need stitches!
