We had a proper morning tea at our guesthouse in Galle, then caught a public bus for the 3-hour trip to Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital. We splurged $2 USD more for the air-conditioned "luxury" bus, and by doing so managed to get to Colombo about an hour faster than the regular bus. The speed is due to the fact that the smaller air-con buses rocket up the coast like the Harry Potter Night Bus. It's best if you don't look what the driver is doing/hitting/running over.
We had originally planned to simply change buses in Colombo for the 1-hour ride farther up to Negombo near the airport, but a small trivia note in our guidebook piqued my interest. (note: those of you born before 1965 or after 1990 might have no idea what I'm referring to below. Deal.)
Back in 1982, Duran Duran was a struggling British band. Their video director had just returned from Sri Lanka, and decided to shoot their "Hungry Like the Wolf" debut video here in Sri Lanka- at the Elephant Orphanage, at the bazaar and fort walls of Galle, on the beaches of Unawatuna (an Unawatuna guesthouse has even named the rooms the "Duran Duran Suite" because the band stayed there)...and here in Colombo, at the Pagoda Tea Room. This was something we must see.
Now, first you should really refresh your memory and take the way-back-machine to 1982, and fully enjoy the Indiana Jones-inspired awesomeness that was this video:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt3qn_duran-duran-hungary-like-the-wolf_music
While it's been 35 years since the video was filmed, and the interior is a bit more modern, the exterior is the same. We took a few silly shots (either confusing or annoying the locals, we weren't sure which), and I invite you to compare our shots with the crappy video stills we imitated of the opening shot and the dramatic table tipping:
The cool thing about that video is that it's a pretty accurate depiction of southern Sri Lanka, even now. The jungly-Indiana-Jones vibe is still very much alive.
.After our 1980s cheese break, we caught an express bus to Negombo to end our lovely time in Sri Lanka. Tomorrow we head to the airport for a one-hour flight to the Maldives, one of the most exotic island chains on earth. More on that tomorrow.
As we depart Sri Lanka, here are some of my thoughts:
1) The Sri Lankans are some of the nicest, most welcoming people we've ever met. They love to interact with visitors, and practice their English. Unfortunately, this means everyone asks you the same questions: Where are you from? How long are you in Sri Lanka? Where have you visited? When do you leave? And often, the same person asks the same questions repeatedly. Smile, take a deep breath, and answer politely.
2) We've spent a TON of time on buses, and this is one of the only places we've been where people don't give up their seats for women or disabled people. These people are not f**king around when it comes to seats on buses. If your bus stops for a 15-minute water break, and people get up to use the toilet or buy food, do not take their seats. Old women will physically remove you from "their" seats.
3) There is a strange sense of personal space here. Sri Lankans are either walking 4 abreast on the sidewalk, blocking everyone's path, or shoving you to get out of their way. If you try to exit a bus or doorway, people won't move to let you by, yet look offended when you are forced to shove by them. We are confused by the rules we're obviously missing here.
4) Sri Lankan food is delicious, but "rice and curry" is a COMPLETELY different dish than "curry." The first is rice with about 5 different veggie/fish/meat dishes to pile onto it. "Curry" is a coconut milk-based curry with fish/veggie/meat in it. People look aghast if you order curry instead of rice and curry, the national dish.
5) Curly-haired people get stared at. A LOT.
So that's it for Sri Lanka- tomorrow, new country!!
Hungry Like the Jones-Wolf
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Negombo, Sri Lanka
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Comments

2025-02-17
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roger_ramjet
2015-03-22
Nice blog. Now I have to go and watch that Duran Duran film clip on youtube to remind me :-)