Bus spotting

So, at the end of my second week in Colombo, what do I have to say for myself? Having considered the many possible topics, I have settled on my new hobby of bus spotting. As you now know, my day starts with a song from a friendly feathered visitor. However, if you are imagining a tranquil and serene scene, let me allow you a further peek at my surroundings. I am currently living in a guest house in Borella, also known as Colombo 8, one of the 15 suburbs making up the city. Although tucked away down a side street and surrounded by a beautiful tropical garden, the house is just a stone's throw from the busy Cotta Road. The zip, buzz and splutter of tuktuks provide a frequent reminder of this as they weave their way around the surrounding streets. Take a short walk from the house across the railway tracks and you are thrust into the hustle and bustle of city life. The roads are jammed with all manner of vehicles playing a game of dare as they compete for positions on the road and career towards pedestrians and oncoming traffic alike. The incessant beeping appears mandatory and is used simply by way of saying “I am here, just letting you know”. But it is the buses that have particularly caught my attention. Two or three rumble past every few seconds emitting exhaust fumes and carrying with them the shouts of a ticket inspector reeling off the tongue twister of destinations at indecipherable speed out the back door. In addition to some fairly uniform government run buses, there are a great many privately run buses which are a sight to behold. Decorated in a multitude of colours and designs, these buses have inspired in me a slightly worrying obsession with capturing them on camera. Not only am I loving the diversity of them, the buses are also playing a central role in my attempts to orientate myself to the city and have given me a taste of Colombo life perhaps not so often seen by the passing tourist. I certainly would not have the experienced the particular type of sweating one does when wedged onto a plastic covered seat in a packed metal box on wheels in stifling heat. And I could never have foreseen that my first Colombo bus journey would be accompanied by a soundtrack of Gloria Estefan blaring from the speakers at disco volume. You can't put a price on that! But it is by far the cheapest form of public transport. So these experiences are available to me from around 8 rupees a ride (about 5p). And the bus spotting comes for free!