Sri Lanka has been a wonderful break from my last leg of the journey! After food poisoning and 20+ hours of travel, I made it. Of course, it was after midnight and I was really hammered. My final airport journey, through custom and immigration procedures here, was exhausting after a full day. Multiple planes landed nearly at the same time. I entered a line and noticed we were not moving! Perhaps 75 or 80 people were already in line with only two agents to handle us. There were lines moving faster but I was just too pooped to move.
I breezed through every step and my bag was circling when I got to baggage claim. I changed money and went looking for a fixed price taxi. A “tourist information desk” grabbed my attention. I asked if there were fixed price taxi’s? He got on the phone. A friend, apparently, showed up and told me it was cost $4,750 LKR (Sri Lanka Rupee). Tired as I was, I wasn’t going to get ripped off!
The hostel told me it should be around $3,000. I checked the “Pickme” app earlier and they quoted me at $2,176. Without wifi or sim card, I was feeling stuck! But pissed as well. The man started explaining the size of the car, the new highway, how fast it was but still, it was a rip off!
The next stop, a man wanted to help me but he didn’t the area? Eventually, that was to my advantage as he quoted a low price. Once the driver googled where we were going, he called the man and we negotiated a new fare, $3,200.
If I arrived during the day, I could walk out to the highway and jump on a bus for $187. HUGE difference but that option is not available at night. Most important part: I made it safe and sound!!