NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED

This story is for those who would find travelling in Sri Lanka scary at the best of times. For the uninitiated, Sri Lanka has road rules that are similar to those of a number of other nations in this part of the world. The left-hand side of the road is for vehicles travelling one way, the right-hand side of the road is for vehicles travelling the other and the middle of the road is for anyone who can squeeze their way through. Right of way and overtaking is determined by beeping of horns. 'Beep' means "I'm here", 'BEEP' means "I'm coming through" and "BEEEEEPPP" means "You better get out of my way because I'm not the one who's backing down". Every available part of the road will be used.

This afternoon we walked down to the beach for lunch. We intended to let the boys have a swim after lunch, but black clouds rolled in and it looked like rain was on it's way, so we decided to catch a tuk-tuk to the supermarket instead to get some milk. We had driven a short distance before the rain kicked in. It wasn't long before it was drumming on the soft cover of the tuk-tuk's roof. It sounded as if the raindrops were trying to tear their way in through the roof. When we reached the supermarket the tuk-tuk driver pulled in at the front and we raced in.

By the time we had grabbed what we needed, the rain was still pouring down and the tuk-tuk driver had pulled down the canvas flaps that keep the rain from coming in the open sides of the three-wheeler. The security guard who mans the front of the supermarket (all large stores have at least one security guard) walked us out to the tuk-tuk under an umbrella (we had not expected rain so we had not brought ours). It was now that travelling took on a new dimension of scary. The canvas flaps worked as large blinkers for the three-wheeler. Where the tu-tuk is normally an open vehicle, allowing a clear view of traffic all around, we were now only able to see directly in front. If that was not enough, with the four of us plus the driver all breathing in the enclosed tuk-tuk, the windscreen and the mirrors all started to fog up. So we drove along with the driver wiping down the windscreen every couple of minutes and the pelting rain adding to the limited visibility. Thankfully, the drive was not too long and the rain started to ease up before we reached home. Still, I think from now on we will be trying to avoid tuk-tuks during periods of heavy rain!