It May Not Be A Ferrari, But…

It is red!

Well, we have gone and done it. Twenty years ago, Tam and I were introduced to tuk tuks in Thailand, and fell in love with them. The tuk tuk is probably the toughest, most versatile, and highly used mode of transport in less-developed countries all over the world. They are simple, easy to repair, and last forever. And they are cute as hell. Here in Sri Lanka, the majority of tuk tuks are built by Bajaj RE, and come in a variety of colors: red, green, black, blue, and white. Of course, the Ferrari red one is my favorite.

We even tried to have one imported to the US twelve years ago, but the logistics were insurmountable. So, after numerous conversations about how long we will stay on Sri Lanka and what method of transport we would prefer to use, we have bought our own tuk tuk!

A twenty year dream fulfilled!

And we have a plan: travel all around Sri Lanka for the next seven months, in our own tuk tuk, and see all the sights there are to see. There is something so perfect about doing it in such a local method of transport. They are loud, they rattle, they break down (but they are very primitive and simple to fix), and they may not be the most comfortable things, but there is definitely the romance of adventure to be had traveling this way.

It is ours!

We payed nine hundred thousand rupees for it, so the price would indicate that it must be a Ferrari, but this near-million rupee pile of bills is actually the equivalent of less than three thousand US dollars. So, well, maybe not so much a Ferrari, but still my number two dream car!

Stay tuned for the ongoing saga of tuk tuk travels with Mike and Tam…