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Published: September 10th 2017
In the UK if you get a puncture in your car tyre, you have to pay a small fortune to replace it. In Sri Lanka, you repair it the same you would a bicycle tyre. I got to witness this today and Thuminda, our driver couldn't believe that we throw away a tyre for the sake of one small hole.
Today we were heading to Mirissa on the south coast which is around an 8 hour drive from Sigiyira, although Thuminda said it could take longer if we need to take detours due to floods.
Driving through countryside and towns I saw a lot of 'driving'. Copious amounts of beeping - to let others know you are tailgating and about to overtake despite oncoming traffic. Mopeds undertaking on the left, buses overtaking on the right regardless of oncoming vehicles, plus stray dogs absent mindedly meandering into the road. Watching this does not worry me much, but when one impatient lorry is overtaking us whilst another is thundering down the other side of the road, I get concerned, but the road is just about wide enough. Thuminda has only ended up on the verge to avoid traffic a couple of
times - there are no pavements here.
Early on we passed a bus that had not long since crashed head on and the front was totally mashed in with broken glass and pieces of bus all over the road. Further along some guys in a tuk-tuk were pointing to our back wheel - we had a flat tyre. Fortunately this was discovered opposite a garage. I was worried that this would be really expensive for Thuminda - the day before we left the UK I had a nail in my tyre and it had cost £55 to replace. But not here. The skinny mechanic pumped the tyre full of air, removed it and placed it in a half rusty barrel full of water so he could locate the puncture which was a shard of metal the size of a 6 inch nail. He dug it out with a bradawl then poked a skewer-thin round file into the hole to roughen the edges I presume. He then produced some sticks that Thuminda said was clay but maybe it was some kind of rubber that were the size of meaty stick cat treats. The sticks were folded and squeezed into the
hole, the top rubbed smooth to match the tyre tread that would be illegal in the UK. Thuminda told us that they use tyres in Sri Lanka to the point that they are unusable. The tyre was then reattached to the car and all tyres filled with air. Job done. Thuminda paid and we were on our way, leaving the baking sun for heavy showers of rain as we drove through the centre of the country.
Some time later, Thuminda pointed out recent landslides that had occurred because of the heavy rain: parts of hill were missing with large lumps of rock at the bottom. We followed one very long country road, past small farms and through the jungle until we came to a bridge that had been washed away. This was the first time I heard Thuminda swear, he was not happy. I didn't mind so much as this road had led me to pass a few cute cats. Following the road back to its end, Thuminda had to ask a few people for directions to find our way to a road with a decent surface.
A few times I suggested that Thuminda should stop for a
Lion beer
Sri Lankabreak but as the journey rolled on, I realised that this would not happen, he said it would take us 7.5 hours and he was determined to do it in that time. And despite the flat tyre and detour, we arrived in Mirissa 7 minutes early.
Mirissa is on the south coast of Sri Lanka and is very popular with surfers as the waves are pretty powerful. Our accommodation, Sanka, is run by an older couple who speak very little English, so we got Thuminda to translate all we needed before we let him go. He's driving a friend from Mirissa to the airport at 4am tomorrow. 'Where are you staying?' We asked. 'In the room next to yours!' He'd arranged that very quickly! And by the time we had gone to our room and gotten changed, Thuminda had already parked his car in a shady part of the yard and was tucking into some dinner.
Mirissa is not very big so it did not take us long to walk the length of the main road that was lined with shack shops, cafes and beachside bars. At the other end we walked into a restaurant called Adora that
appeared to be shut but the proprietor called us in. Now I call these places cafes and restaurants but they are just huts with covered outdoor areas and basic looking cooking spaces . However, the kottu Glyn ordered was very good and my cheese roti was extremely nice. There were only soft drinks on the menu but the guy offered me a Lion beer, which I had. I presume he doesn't have a licence, but he does have a cat, so it was all good.
Now strangely for me I haven't discussed the toilet situation in this country as I usually do. There's a good reason for this as they are generally squats and any toilet roll a bonus. But a positive I can say is they usually have a little shower type attachment so you can squirt yourself in the places where it is needed. This is extremely refreshing in the humid weather, so I always enjoy using that. So at Adora, yes it was an outdoor squat loo with rusty hinges, but the little shower was great, plus soap was provided and even toilet paper. I even spied some harpic on the shelf!
Lastly we stopped
at another bar on the beach where I had cocktails that were cheap on the menu, but expensive on the bill 'because I'd had alcohol' in them. Sigh.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Local brew
Nice label