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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 16, 2018 14:25:54 GMT
£10 here, £20 in Central London.
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 16, 2018 16:49:19 GMT
Five Euros in Zambia.
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Post by questa on Feb 16, 2018 21:41:34 GMT
Not a mention of a Brough Superior anywhere. Not even a Motoguzzi burbling around the Isle of Man. But the book did give me an appreciation of well written instruction manuals. |
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Post by amboseli on Feb 17, 2018 13:21:52 GMT
No buddhist or hindu icons in your tuk-tuk onlyMark ? The pictures remind me of our Mardi Gras float. Oops. |
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 17, 2018 15:28:48 GMT
There is a little bit of imagery inside but I've no idea what it is.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 17, 2018 19:49:56 GMT
Questa and Mark, thanks for explaining about the interesting decor  |
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Post by questa on Feb 17, 2018 22:07:31 GMT
Pictures please Mark, who sits on the dashboard or have you purged your vehicle of all celestial assistance in handling the traffic? In Rangoon the lads have little Buddhas super-glued to the handlebars of their bicycles.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 17, 2018 22:16:16 GMT
I would like to know what it takes to get the Sri Lankan driving license since you had to get one. Is there any sort of test involved or is there just ransom to pay?
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 18, 2018 2:48:29 GMT
This is maybe a bit clearer view of the dashboard. You can see it is pretty clear apart from at the tip just a little strip of figures, and that's about it.  K2, as regards the driving licence, you cannot drive in the country using your home licence or an International Driving Permit by themselves. With either you must get from their Department of Motor Transport a temporary licence which entails taking copies of your home licence and a photo or two, filling out a form and they will then issue you with the temporary one. Any time you want to rent a vehicle you must have this endorsement but, to save you the trouble, if you send of scans to vehicle rental place, plus a small fee, they will do it all for you. All that happens then is you turn up to the rental place and sign your licence. This is what I've done. Renting a tuktuk though is different in that on a European licence there is no mention of a tuktuk, i.e. a three wheeeler, thus you should have a B1 category which will be accepted as the right category, then your Sri Lankan licence will show you are authorised to drive them - otherwise, I understand, you have to take a test, the complications of which I didn't get in to. Disagreements have occurred on Trip Advisor as to the validity of the licence obtained etc. All I can say is I've had to show it several times and the Police have accepted it without a problem. |
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Post by questa on Feb 18, 2018 7:02:19 GMT
It looks like great fun and very practical to get around in. Is it usual for visitors to hire tuktuks like you have done? Had any comments from the locals? How does it handle the rain...I've never been in one that didn't leak, but they were mainly soft tops, yours appears to have a roof. How does it go for mpg with the fuel? Thanks for the photo, I see you are running a bit of superstitious hogwash. Stay safe anyway.  |
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 18, 2018 12:28:25 GMT
"Is it usual for visitors to hire tuktuks like you have done?" Only a very small percentage do and will. It's not something well known for a start but most wouldn't really consider it anyway. "Had any comments from the locals?" Usually smiles, double-takes and a "why?". I am a bit of a target for the Police who will often stop me out of curiosity more than anything. Every ten kilometres or so there will be the police standing at the side of the road just pulling vehicles up. They seem to have little better to do. "How does it handle the rain...I've never been in one that didn't leak, but they were mainly soft tops, yours appears to have a roof." Mine doesn't leak, and it has rained whilst I've been driving but I stay dry. Handling is somewhat of trial when it is wet. Avoiding braking and going round corners is the best thing to try and do. "How does it go for mpg with the fuel?" Petrol (92 octane) is 117 rupees a litre, about $0.75/Euro 0.60. The tank holds 10 litres of which 1 1/2 is a reserve. I was told I would get about 23km per litre - but after re-fueling more or less every day I average 35km/ litre. I spend roughly $3 a day on fuel. Other costs on average are reasonably cheap. I aim to spend about $25 - $30 per night on an aircon room. Usually that gets me a good standard. Often that includes breakfast but if not I usually buy a couple of parathas wrapped around a veg or egg curry, like a parcel. They are about five for a euro, four for a usd. Lunch is about $1 - $2 and dinner about the same depending where I am in the evening if I am just in a normal town. Dinner can be $2 - $4 in a slightly better restaurant or up to $10 in a tourist place. This is usually for something like veg fried rice, veg noodles, chop suey etc. A lemon juice like this from a roadside place costs about $0.32/Euro 0.25 -  |
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Post by amboseli on Feb 18, 2018 12:30:43 GMT
That's a very modest dashboard! Our driver's tuk-tuk dashboard was full of icons: hanging, standing and sticking to the windshield.
I think you're very brave. No way I would drive a tuk-tuk (or any vehicle) in Sri Lanka myself, although it is maybe the best way to move around. You won't drive in Colombo, will you?
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 18, 2018 12:37:34 GMT
You mean, again?
I will drive anywhere. Seriously. I must have a faulty "fear" gene.
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Post by questa on Feb 18, 2018 21:08:27 GMT
I prefer to think of it as a well-developed self-preservation gene. Recognize the dangers in a situation, then take steps to eliminate, minimize or control them.
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Post by fumobici on Feb 19, 2018 19:47:14 GMT
Sri Lanka has always beckoned me. Well not quite, I'm old and it used to be Ceylon beckoning. The report thus far has only turned up the beckoning volume levels. I seem to recall an allusion to a shot of some backsides of something or other? I'm curious. Beautiful snaps so far in any case, quite looking forward to more. The tuk-tuk thing looks, under all the exotic local glitz and glamor at least, almost identical to my family's little Ape (bee in Italian, from the buzzing two-stroke engine noise). The old farmers in Tuscany use them for going into town and hauling stuff about short distances. It took me a km or three to get the hang of the thing. A camo coat, a cigar and a beret complete the look. They aren't exactly a Lotus around the bends. Still probably more sane than renting a Royal Enfield motorbike if such a thing can be done that far South.
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 20, 2018 3:34:07 GMT
The Piaggio Ape is a common thing here but not used as a passenger carrier, and just the same as a goods carrier to take your produce to town etc. There are no more, or at least very few, two stroke engines here due to the pollution from them. I've only seen a couple of Royal Enfields as well. Nothing like in India.
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 20, 2018 10:39:20 GMT
For Fumobici - just managed to catch this as it shot past me today -  The view from my balcony. As good as it might be, the mist you see is actually pollution from vehicles and rubbish fires. Fortunately I'm some way above it. I must admit it is the worst pollution I've seen so far in the country, worse than the capital, and I think it is so because this city is in a valley and not subject to strong/sea breezes. It is clear in the morning though -  |
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 22, 2018 10:36:52 GMT
Some places I stay include breakfast. Some don't. Nearly all the rooms advertise they have tea/coffee making facilities within. But they don't. So for the times I don't have the breakfast I've bought a brew making kit, i.e. tea, coffee, milk powder, sugar and a kettle and will have one before I set off. An hour or so later I start getting peckish so a number of times I've stopped and bought a couple of these.  They are a bread called a paratha and it is folded and wrapped around a medium spicy potato curry. There are other things I can get that are similar and have egg in them and they can be fish or meat. I stick with the veg ones though. Inside -  They cost 30 rupees each, $0.20/Euro 0.15 and you only need two to feel full. |
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Post by questa on Feb 22, 2018 11:32:52 GMT
As I scrolled down, the first thing I saw was the green spirals...I thought you were about to eat mosquito coils....then i saw the .paratha
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 22, 2018 12:08:14 GMT
As regards eating, this is apparently the best place to eat for where I will be tomorrow. What shall I have? www.saltyswamis.com/cafe/For the prices (which are tourist prices), take two noughts off and half it for Euros. |
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 22, 2018 15:45:37 GMT
As regards eating, this is apparently the best place to eat for where I will be tomorrow. What shall I have? www.saltyswamis.com/cafe/For the prices (which are tourist prices), take two noughts off and half it for Euros. Yogi burger with spiced monkey. |
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 22, 2018 17:00:45 GMT
Certainly a possible.
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Post by questa on Feb 22, 2018 22:05:39 GMT
If their food is as good as the photographs of it I wouldn't leave for a week.
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 23, 2018 10:28:11 GMT
Maybe waiting for his laundry to be done -  |
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 23, 2018 10:35:53 GMT
Back down on the coast again -  |
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 23, 2018 10:41:19 GMT
By the way, I went to that place for lunch. I had the lentil burger (Roots Burger) and a Nana (Lime) juice.
Yep, good. Good for Sri Lanka no doubt. Average for a European city.
However, after calling there and taking a walk along the beach, aren't we now past playing reggae music, specifically Bob Marley, to make your beach bar/restaurant sound cool?
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 23, 2018 16:31:21 GMT
No, I guess we aren't. I am continually dismayed that so many people don't "move on" in their tastes. I have a certain nostalgia for certain sounds of the past or even food or other styles, but I am always happy to add things from modern life to them.
My main regret is when they don't expose us to their own culture and only provide things that they think "our people" will like.
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 23, 2018 16:40:55 GMT
I'll tell you what people would like here in the tourist areas, and I've not seen one of them at all whereas they are often all over, and that is a German Bakery. Not that there are so many Germans here, just that the cakes, bread and coffee would go down a bomb.
In fact, maybe it's a new career for me........
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Post by tod2 on Feb 23, 2018 17:03:58 GMT
Here we are bobbing our heads to the reggae version of 'Kingston Town' and 'Brown - eyed Woman'.
Over and over and over again in supermarkets and restaurants.....almost as if they have forgotten that the we have surpassed the CD let alone the old cassette tape!
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Post by questa on Feb 23, 2018 23:56:43 GMT
When I first went to Bali all the mini buses, food stalls and trucks played "No woman, no cry" all the time.
I even jokingly asked if it was the National Anthem tune and got a long explanation of the difference.
Indonesians don't 'get' irony.
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