Bus Trip Route 602 Kurunegala - Kandy
The bus travels at speed pretty much in the middle of the road all the way. In Sri Lanka on the roads the bus is King. The drivers job being to keep to timings . Unsuprising then that a journey of 43km with numerous stops still only took a little under an hour and a half to complete.
The ambiance on the bus was not to be missed though....On this bus there were music videos together with the roar of the diesel engine about 10 street sellers offering cold fizzy drinks sweets nuts and fruit. I bought this small bag of delicious fresh pineapple and a bottle of cold fizzy orange.. what we might call ' Fanta'!
The bus was driven in such a manner that it would only stop for a few seconds at the most for most of the stops with some agile sri Lankans jumping on to the slowly moving bus negotiating their way to a seat as the bus progressivley sped up.,
However it was not due to lack of care since the driver showed such consideration to the old and frail or disabled with the conductor helping them both in and out of the steep steps.
Nevertheless, the second they were on terra firma, off he went.. The process was extremely efficient and as the bus sped up the volume of the drums of the bollywood style Sri Lankan music beat a rhythm all of its own with the bus swerving around the corners and the effigies which belong to the Buddhisst spirituality and the fringed drapes swinging from the windows some decorated with silver baubles as we might have during christmas, its all bells and whistles on Route number 602 Kurunegala to Kandy bus.
As we pulled in towards Kandy the bus inevitabley slowed to deal with the mid morning queues and swarms of tourists. It has been about 4 years since I was last in Kandy and the traffic has doubled which is in danger of causing gridlock to this wonderful ancient city. There were more buses and people and tuk tuks everywhere and not alot of space for manouevering.
The bus station itself is also very big meaning that if you are meeting someone..as I was ...it can be difficult to stay at a focal point without being obscurred by a bus and a long wait ...During that time you can have any number of helpful guys approach you asking if you need a taxi...My ' No thanks, I am meeting someone 'response was extremely well honed by the time I was collected!!
...and finally I have to confess, it was a relief to get into an air conditioned car out of the midday sun...that said, the bus in sri lanka is fast becoming my preferred method of travel. For price, entertainment value and authenticity it cant be beaten...LOVE IT!
