STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
It was maybe fitting that we met leaving a place called ‘Galle’. By Gavin Hayward
We bought our tickets easily enough: second class to Induruwa for 100 rupees (R10). Then we got chatting to a young tuk-tuk driver near the entrance to Galle station. One of the nice things about Sri Lanka is that a fair number of people speak English. Maybe we were enchanted by the betelstained teeth revealed when he smiled, but we failed to rush for a seat — like all the locals did — as the train pulled in, so when we boarded we could only find one seat.
I told my grumpy boyfriend Paul to sit in it; I was happy to stand in the breezy doorway and watch the passing countryside.
Sri Lanka is hot and sweaty. The palm trees and occasional glimpse of the sea were much more interesting than looking at the dull grey walls inside.
Most of the passengers were talking in their own language, but the man beside me asked the obvious question, “Where you from?”
YOU SCRATCH MY BACK …
“Ah, South Africa,” he exclaimed, “good cricket team. Hansie Cronje!”
Hansie had died in a plane crash some years before, still in disgrace from the match-fixing scandal, but all that was too much to explain above the noise in the carriage.
I told him we were returning to Induruwa, and he in turn told me the rattletrap we were jerking about in was an express train and didn’t stop there, and we would have to get off at Aluthgama. This was information fortuitously gained.
We chatted more about our planned itinerary, and I learned he was proceeding on through Colombo to Jaffna, right up in the north of the island. He would be rattling along for up to seven hours.
Not surprising then, as we breezed through Induruwa station, that he told me the next stop would be Aluthgama and we should alight, and asked, “Can I take over your friend’s seat?”
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LThe wonderful book Contact is a collection of anecdotes by Jan Morris about chance meetings and encounters she had on her travels. In the spirit of that exchange, we invite you, our readers, to submit your tales — no more than 400 words — of brief meetings you’ve had with people on your travels. Published pieces will earn you R500. Send to travelmag@sundaytimes.co.za with the word Encounters in the subject line.