Stopped by the Cops on the way to Kumbuk

The day didn’t start so well! We had said to the driver to meet us at the local restaurant at 8am. After a flurry of WhatsApp messages and much agitation he arrived at around 8.50am. Not impressed! We were heading to the elephant safari so really wanted to try and get there early while there was no rain and we had the best chance to see the most elephants.

Our excitement happened when our driver was pulled over by the cops! We didn’t really understand what it might be for but the driver explained there were some lights on his windscreen that were not allowed and these police were very strict. However the Police now thought he had been drinking and wanted him to come to the Police Station.

After frantically consuming some antacid and another substance from his glove compartment and borrowing Mum’s water bottle to wash it down he headed off to the Police Station. Dad took the opportunity to put the washing on the car to dry it out – It was 31 degrees and wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to get the raincoats dry!

Our driver insisted he only had 1 cocktail the night before and while the cops didn’t believe him (and nor did we judging by the bags under his eyes) they let him go without a fine or charges. The Policeman came over to apologise for the interruption but we cheerily insisted it was no problem at all and wondered if he would let Mum have a photo with him which he dutifully obliged! Another great story for our travels! Our driver said if he lost his licence it wasn’t really a problem as the Sri Lanka system was not computerised so if they take your licence you go to the next town and say you lost it and get issued a new one. Great system!Read more