Trishaws…

This is a trishaw. Otherwise known as a Tuk-Tuk or a three wheeler. Other than being incredibly polluting, they are pretty cool. It’s amazing how fast they zip in and out of traffic in a beautiful but death defying dance. Riding in one is like being on an amusement park ride. And they are everywhere. We can hardly walk down the street without one passing us and asking if we need a ride. “Yes, yes Madam, come.” Sometimes they’ll be three or four in a row that will stop and ask us. And I think…I said no to the first three, are you just trying to wear down my will, like eventually I'll say, you know I didn’t think I wanted a ride but now that I’ve been offered one 18 times, I realize I really do!

You always need to ask the price first and have an idea of what’s a good price for where you are headed, and also have small bills with you. It doesn't do much good to barter the guy down from 100 to 70 Rps and then hand him 1000! Mostly they’ll try to scam us, and I don’t mind paying a little bit more than the locals, but sometimes it’s a bit ridiculous. A really good way to get the price down is to say “no thanks, we’ll just walk”. Then they usually drive beside you yelling out lower and lower prices. This is great if you want to ride, but not so great if you really do want to walk!

One of the towns we drive through on the way from Batti to Colombo has a really interesting trishaw trend going on. They all have sayings written on them. Mostly really weird stuff that cracks me up. It’s now my favourite part of the drive. The town is Kanduruwela and it’s near Polonorruwa. (I just put the names in so you’d have something fun to try to say. If you know any Sri Lankans and you want to make them laugh, just pronounce the town names for them! It gets them everytime.)

At first I though that maybe one trishaw guy started it and the others thought it was a good idea so they all put their own saying up, but I see the same strange sayings on three or four different ones so I think they must buy the whole saying from the "Trishaw saying shop".

So here’s the list, in some sort of order. Maybe from sensical to non, or just from my least favourite to my most favourite…(Sorry I couldn’t narrow it down to ten.)

12. Sorry

11. I am waiting for you

10. I wish you a happy day

9. I can’t forget you

8. Well come all of You

7. Life is a challenge

6. Why don’t you love me?

5. Try to Love Honestly

4. Don’t be Honest so much

3. I live for you

2. Life is worth living

1. I respect my parents

And with special mention as my very favourite…


I am Very Silent Man.

Now who wouldn’t want to ride in a trishaw with a very silent man?