The next morning we paid our tab ($160 for two people for 8 days, several meals, countless fruit lassis/milkshakes/coffees....not a bad deal) and said goodbyes to our diverse group of friends. A short took-took ride later and we were waiting for the bus to leave Pottuvil and take us to Batticaloa, where we would board a train for Colombo.
"Cobra? Cobra?"
"WHERE!?"
The man points into his bag and, wide eyed, i nod yes....I REALLY want to see the cobra. Out comes the wicker basket and as the top is removed, we hear a hiss and the king cobra lifts itself aerially, rotating, looking for the protagonist who awoke it form its solitary slumber. During this display, the snake charmer is twitchier than the serpent as his eyes dart back and forth from one side of the street to the other, looking for police. Snake charming is illegal in Sri Lanka.
We leave Pottuvil on time (This NEVER happens! it must be a good omen for our return to India.......hahahahaha.....NO) and arrive in Batticaloa a few hours north of later. After a Took-took drive to the station and dinner of chopped roti, we head into the second floor of the station to explore. We find a deserted lobby in the hotel above the station, change our previous plans to sleep in the field we had found on the way to the station, and set up shop behind a room divider, laying down sleeping pads and bags. Unfortunately, we are found and taken to the Security Administrator of the train station.
"So.....you want rooms?"
"No, we just want to sleep on the floor.....can we sleep on the floor?"
"You need rooms?"
"No....we have no money...can we sleep here in the waiting area?"
"No, it is illegal, you can not stay here."
I smile constantly, using every bit of tact that my mother taught me as a child.
"Ok...I'll check, you stay here"
We sprawl over the benches, exhausted from travel, and i have a 101 fever. 10 minutes later, the Administrator comes back.
"Hello, you can stay here on the platform, it's no problem. Or you can sleep in the train, more comfortable. wait for other train to leave then go in...you can use bathroom too"
It's not the first time that my smile and citizenship have allowed me to do what I had just been told was prohibited. It is an unfair double standard, but the officer specifically told us "you will be allowed because you are American. If anyone else come, say this, we way no...it is illegal." This trip is the first time that I have been so acutely aware of my fortune and being born a citizen of the United States of America.
Not only were we allowed to sleep on the platform, we were somewhat of celebrities. As we set our pads on the benches outside the train, soldiers with AK-47s came and sat down next to us, talking about our stay in Sri Lanka. What a spectacle with my beard and board shorts sitting in complete comparison with the clean-shaven camo-clad Singhalese soldiers and their machine guns.
We eventually were left in peace by the soldiers, only to be awoken a few hours later by the 30 or so stray dogs howling and fighting inside of the station (wonderful acoustics....made it sound like 300 dogs.) Morning comes gratefully and we board our train to Colombo, where after spending the night in a upscale hostel in Negombo, we taxi to the airport. Walking through the front door of the airport, we are hit by the cool of the air conditioning, to which we had been un-conditioned. We attempt to check in our carry-on bags.
"Passports please"
We give the man at the counter our IDs...he takes one look and says a word that will set a precedent for how every sentence we hear from an official of India in Sri Lanka will begin for the next 4 days...."NO"
"No, you can't go to India....no stamp....sorry"
Despite our arguing that we have multiple entry visas, the man at the counter continues to refuse to accept our baggage and eventually defers to a senior customs official to handle the situation.
"New rule says if you leave India, you must be gone 2 months, then you can come back. Go High Commission tomorrow, get stamp says "permission to re-enter", and come back, I let you in.....we re-arrange flights once you have stamp."
No amount of arguing, reasoning, or pleading would sway this customs official from his decision. We decide to spend the night in the YMCA of Colombo in wait for our first attempt at gaining permission to re-enter stamps in the morning. At three dollars per night apiece, the YMCA is exactly what we paid for: dirt, dinge
We go to the High Commission in the morning and wait in line, eventually making it through security and to the enquiry desk (yes, spelled like this....everything is a little off....you can get Maxicanswiming in the poold too) where the confrontational, unhelpful, unpleasant man at the desk tells us "NO, must have life or death emergency...i will not take your forms to the officer (the man who actually gives us the stamp.)" He does give us a number to call (which of course is disconnected....TINA) and points towards the exit.
What do US citizens stranded in Sri Lanka, unable to find an English speaking official, do when the need help? Go running to Mother America of course! We locate the US embassy, which is close to the High Commission, and proceed to explain our predicament. Unsurprised and unfazed, Claire Lovebreed, our new best friend, explains to us what has occurred.
Due to a bombing in Mumbai in which an American citizen was implicated, India recently changed its policy regarding tourist visas so that the holder of the visa must wait 2 months in-between exit and re-entrance. This rule was not publicized memo-ed to all members of the Indian government, and is not always enforced.
So....when I was at the Indian consulate re-obtaining my visa, and I asked "I plan to go to Sri Lanka in 2 days, stay there for 10 days, then return to India where I will stay until December 17....Is this ok? will I be able to come back into the country?" he said"yes, no problem, you can come back, it is fine."
And that is how I came to be on a night train to Kandy. Of course, timing would be perfect and the Indian government inefficient enough that when Andrew and I need a visa official to give us stamps on our visas, the only two officers authorized to do so are out of Colombo for the next 2 days! Claire advised us to go to Kandy to try our luck at India's other High Commission in Sri Lanka, and if we are unsuccessful, to return to Colombo and try some more. Essentially, this is a test of our flexibility and patience....how much bureaucracy can two budget-limited, sleep-deprived, frustrated-as-heck college students put up with?
It was nice to have an American to complain to though. Essentially, the Indian government and its citizens are like my little brother and me, respectively. I can make fun of my little brother. You can make fun of my little brother to someone else, but don't you dare make fun of my little brother while I can hear you. So, despite out frustrations...we must hold our tongues. Complaining about the many headed beast that is Indian government will get us nowhere....
With all of this said, i would like to clarify any confusion on my feelings about India, Sri Lanka, and the people of both countries. The four unplanned days we spent in Sri Lanka were very frustrating and I feel like this post and the next are fueled by that frustration. Though there have been some people with whom we have dealt who were unhelpful, uninterested, and generally difficult, this is not the case for the majority of the people with whom we have had contact. Most people we meet have set a standard for hospitality and geniality that is difficult to match. The exception is rickshaw drivers and vendors in more touristy areas who want to capitalize on every opportunity (read tourist) who walks along. I have taken to speaking spanish when they ask me "you want room? you want took-took? you want postcards/stamps/hash-hish/jewelry/shawl/shoes/haircut (actually, i took him up on this one...i was in desperate need of a haircut and beard trim).
The benefit of this.....I have not been challenged yet by a young postcard entrepreneur who when I said "lo siento, hablo solamente espanol" was able to make my match by saying "oh, muy bien, quires postcard o zapatos nuevos?"
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