Why busses in Lanka are awesome and terrible at the same time

I can give tons of advises on taking the bus in this country. It’s a real sport to travel the bus like a proper local, and I’m still not quite there, but I am slowly getting better at it. It's between five to fifty times cheaper than a tuk for the same distance, so that's one of the reasons why I love it.

colourful busses at a parking in Colombo

Every single time it’s an adventure on its own. I’d like to tell you how I take the bus, and some of my crazy experiences.

First step: finding the right bus

Taking the local bus in this country, is a real adventure. First of all, after a total of 8 months in this country, I still don’t know which bus to take where. So I just go to the station and ask the conductors of the busses. I might end up walking around the whole bus station before finding the right bus. I always ask more than one person which bus is the right one. When I am waiting at a bus stop, I will ask someone who’s waiting to point out the right bus, and check again with the conductor or the driver.

There are different kinds of busses; some are ‘village busses’, and they stop about everywhere where someone wants them to stop. Just keep an eye on google maps and tell them where to stop. some are ‘express busses’, they race much harder and stop only at certain places. Even when you have a seat, you have to hold yourself. Then there are the ‘luxury busses’, which are smaller, air-conditioned and a bit more expensive. I don’t like them, because mostly they are pretty old and crappy and you get ill of the dirty air-conditioning. I’d rather sit next to an open window in a local bus.

On some tracks, for example Matara-Colombo and Galle-Colombo there are air-conditioned highway busses. They cost a bit more, compared to the local busses, but they are very convenient and fast. At your hotel/hostel/guesthouse they will be able to give you advice on the best way to travel by public transport.

Second step: figuring out the local price

I try to figure out the right bus price before paying the conductor, because they tend to make up special prices for foreigners. So where a local pays 20 rupees, if I don’t know the right price, I might end up paying 40. This is still only 30 eurocents but it feels like a rip off. I ask a local for the correct price. Just wait for the conductor to come up to you to collect the money.

Third step: Get in

Once I found the right bus, I put my fingers in my ears and get in. Fingers in my ears? Yes. There’s a big chance I am entering a disco-like bus, including flickering Buddha lights (or Jesus or Hindu, depending on the religion of the bus driver and conductor) and really loud Sinhalese bus music. I turn my thumbs (the Dutch way of saying ‘keep my fingers crossed’) that I have a seat, because otherwise I’ll end up standing in the isle and flying through the bus with every hold or go, collecting some nice bruises along the way. Big bags I put next to the bus driver.

Be aware that personal space isn’t in the Sri Lankan dictionary, so people might be standing too close to you in your opinion. As a girl, make sure hands of fellow passengers don’t end up at places they don’t belong, scream at anyone not respecting that. They are not used to girls speaking up so they’ll probably back off.

People don’t get up or aside to let you through. By waiting you won’t be able to go anywhere, so you have to push yourself through. If someone is sitting in the aisle seat and the window seat is free, you can sit in that seat, but this person will probably not move even an inch to make this easier for you.  

Fourth step: Choose a seat

This is where the sport gets serious, because there's so many things to take in account by making a decision which seat to sit in. If I have a choice which seat to get, I check if my window opens (you don’t want to sit next to a window that doesn’t open) and try to sit next to a woman and avoid scary men.

Also, I try not to sit in the front seats. The first seats on the right are reserved for monks and some other seats in the front for pregnant ladies, elderly or people with special needs. Last time I was sitting in a bus, and a monk came in. I got up and aside, like you are supposed to do. Apparently people are able to move aside in the bus, but just for a monk. Next to the monk, the man that was sitting next to me before sat down. There was one more seat, and I wanted to sit down on that one. But the people in the bus told me ‘no no no’ and another person was pointed out to sit on that chair. I didn’t understand why that person was allowed to sit there, and I wasn’t, and I thought it was unfair. Nobody tried to explain this to me. Then I figured that I am a woman (I forgot about that difference for a moment) and apparently as a woman you’re not allowed to sit in the same row as the monk.

Fifth step: Look around you and enjoy

When I am finally sitting next to an open window with earplugs in and a friendly woman next to me while holding myself to not fly through the bus, I look around. I love looking at the view, at the colourful food stalls and interesting shops, temples, paddy fields, the sea, the mountains or interesting tuktuk wisdom.

Just a colourful shop along the road. You see them every few meters but they never get boring to me.

But I enjoy looking around in the bus as well. I once saw a busdriver picking his teeth with a safety pin while calling his whole family and driving like crazy. Oh yeah, and closing the door again every once in a while because it didn’t close properly. And if the music didn’t make me deaf yet, the horn will. The combination of music and the horn will also make every conversation impossible.

If you’re lucky, you are in a bus with a TV screen, and you might be able to watch the live show of the music playing, a magic show or some crazy home videos which have nothing to do with the music playing, or some dramatic romantic video clips belonging to the music which makes you able to follow the story of the music.

If you pass a temple, there’s a chance that the conductor and some of the passengers pray quickly. The conductor might spray some water on the Buddha on the little altar in the front of the bus, and maybe runs out to put a coin in the giftbox to ensure safe travels.



Taking pictures from the bus isn't that easy, but I caught a nice pic of this temple!

Don't worry if the bus stops at someones house and makes a strange turn. Probably they just have to deliver some rice or so. Also you might get someones bag on your lap if they have to stand. Or a baby. This is all discussed without words but only eyecontact.

And if you think the bus is full, wait and see. At least 40 more people can fit in. With their weekly groceries. And after that, they are still able to move aside when a monk gets in.

Sixth step: Get out and rest

Keep an eye on google maps or ask someone when you have to get out of the bus. You might have to push quite hard to get to the door. Make sure you jump out at the moment the bus slows down, because if you’re the only one getting out, it won’t really stop. It will only slow down just enough for you to be able to jump out of the bus. Walk to where you have to be, and take a nap. Because traveling by bus in this country is interesting and exciting, but also terribly exhausting.