No one died

Well we got here in one piece but it was definitely a baptism of fire. I was a little worried this morning as we waltzed our matildas and fired up "Ruby" our three wheeled little love machine. In no way did I feel ready or able to drive this crazy little contraption around a car park let alone half way across Sri Lanka.  I had to put a brave face on it for Dear old Crispy but given half a chance I would have bolted for the nearest bus station .

The "practice" route before the highway

Our route took us from our lodgings  along my practice route onto the main Trunk road leading to the interior of Sri Lanka. There was no alternative route to get to where we needed to be. The first major obstacle was a very busy junction involving a strange right turn against a stream of buses, trucks, cars and tuk tuks. This was made worse by the constant presence of the local police. It's infamous on the island for accidents.  I had gone to sleep worrying about this particular junction. I had steeled myself and decided that there was nothing to do but give it a go.  I couldn't even stop "Ruby" at this point without stalling her. As it worked, God knows  how,  I managed it with ease.  This bolstered my confidence and slowly over the next few hours I gained control of her.  Little did I know that some of our remaining route would take us through some crazy busy towns. Manic and busy with buses trucks and every other road vehicle wrestling for the bit of road that we were on. As I said before there are no rules of the road. It's every man or tuk tuk for himself.  I think the only rule is the bigger you are the higher up the food chain you are. Tuk tuks are the smallest, trucks are the biggest. The trucks and buses scream along the highways and do not stop for anything. The only warning they give is a loud long horn blast to tell you they are coming wether there is room to pass or not. It's not just the vehicles overtaking you from behind but trucks screaming towards you on your side of the road that is the worry... you can easily become trapped with no where to go. It's like a constant game of Russian roulette. 

The busiest and most scary place we went  through was Kurunegala. The place we need to return to in 4 days time. We had to navigate  round this town to find a music shop so I could buy my obligatory ukelele. It wasn't easy but not to be deprived I now  am a proud owner of another of these amazing little instruments and I think it was worth it. I'm not sure what Crispy thinks. 

5 hours later and a total distance of 125km covered saw us safely in Dambulla. This is our home for the next 4 nights. It's central to all the places we need to visit in this central part of Sri Lanka. Having "Ruby" means we can base ourselves and travel around without the constant packing and unpacking of our matildas. 

It's a very quiet homestay up a very narrow unnamed road. It's beautiful and will serve us well. It's a little out of the way but this evening we walked into town to eat and have a few beers. I needed them. We hailed a tuk tuk back and it was nice to once again be a passenger rather than the driver.

In total honesty today was a very steep and scary  learning curve but I really enjoyed it in some bizarre way. I'm not being cocky  or over confident but I think if we can manage today the rest of the trip will be easier.

Tomorrow we plan to visit some temples and the world heritage site of Sigiriya. It's only about 25km away so should be a doddle compared to today. The rest of the time here will put us in direct conflict with the wild elephants that patrol the roads but bring it on. Me and Ruby are ready for it.

The homestay

More pics tomorrow. I was to busy driving and Crispy was too busy holding on

Bare and Crispy signing off. Dambulla, Sri Lanka