Rice & Curry, Served with a Smile
"Hello sirs! You want tuktuk?"
[Look tough, keep walking]: No, we're okay.
[Smile broadly, head wobble]: Okay no problem sirs, have a great day!
... wtf?
If you've ever been anywhere in the world with unregulated taxi drivers (so basically anywhere outside of the western world), then you know the effort, and occasional rudeness, required to turn them down. After a while, you just automatically pick up your pace, try your best to look determined (even when you actually do need a taxi and/or have no fucking idea where you're going), and avoid eye contact with every person who talks to you outside airports and train stations.
But as we quickly discovered in Sri Lanka, shutting down tuktuk drivers with that degree of vehemence was like kicking a small puppy... turns out, all you need is a simple smile and a 'no thanks' and you can be on your way. Because Sri Lankans are, almost to a fault, exceptionally friendly people.
For such a small island, Sri Lanka has a pretty incredible diversity of landscapes, attractions, and people. And because of its small size, it's relatively easy to see many different sides of the country in a short period of time. The local buses, while not at all comfortable, are reliably frequent and dirt cheap. The trains are considerably less frequent and frequently sold out, but they're a great option if you manage to get a ticket. And taxis and tuktuks will take you almost anywhere you need to go at a pretty fair price with just the lightest amount of bartering.
Over the three weeks we spent in Sri Lanka, we took in the view from the top of its highest mountain and (sort of) surfed its southern coast. We spent time wandering through upscale designer boutiques in Galle Fort and sweating through exceptionally spicy lunches in cramped and unventilated Roti huts. We packed ourselves into buses with people spilling out the windows, and enjoyed the serenity of near empty train carriages. We saw elephants, monitor lizards, crocodiles, and peacocks in the north and got accosted (twice) by rogue monkeys in the south.
We suffered through some blisteringly hot days and bundled up through some very cold nights. We enjoyed a night of not-so-traditional dancing in Kandy and we ate our way through all the traditional Sri Lankan dishes–coming back again and again to kottu roti and the ubiquitous rice and curry. We accidentally struggled through an ancient Ayurvedic oil treatment called Shiro Dara, took more cold showers than the rest of our travels combined, and we dropped more than a few rupees on flowing skirts, semi-precious gems, and fragrant incense.
We did the highlight tour of Sri Lanka, and every highlight really was deserving of that name. SrI Lanka is an exceptionally beautiful country, with some of the friendliest people I've ever encountered. The only thing I wish we had done in Sri Lanka is stay another couple of weeks.
