Image courtesy Sukumar Shan
1976 on the road from Colombo to Kandy (Kegalle area)
Great looking EY Chevy from the sixties.Tourists wearing short shorts having Kurumba on road side!
Enjoy and comment -Sam
Current photo of PrimeMinister John Kotalawala’s Cadillac-
See my comment in response to Eddie
Sam
Few interesting pics along Kandy- Colombo Rd- oct 2011- when I visited SL to
see my mom for her 94th b;day with my son and gf .
This Waraka Stand- was a real highlight and this was our most refreshing
lunch !
I was happy to see this kind of old fashioned road side stands , even in
this day and age .
Posted by Deepthie
News, Views and More from Batch'64, Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, SriLanka 
Thanks for the great photo from the past !
As a child- this was a treat for all of us back then, and even as an adult travelling along Kandy – Colombo Rd .
I was in SL in 2011- and had a similar experience with a Waraka Stand – some where along Kandy- Colombo Rd- near Matale I think it was .
I was with my son Shane, and gf- Angela- and it was their first time at a road side stand eating the most juicy Waraka- just cut with no flies / road dust !!
I will send you pics of this- and post them, if you think they are ok for the post .
As for transport- we had a state of the art van from Walkers Tours in 2011.
These road side stands were still there, even in 2014 , when I travelled to A’pura with Lakshaman and Gita – and they would not hear of eating from a road side stand , so we went into a proper ‘eating place ‘ for a snack !
Thanks again for the trip down memory lane and perhaps I may still see a road side stand like this in oct 2018 !
eagleD
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Thanks Sam.This pic reminds us of many things in the past.The striking feature is certainly the car.The beautiful buxom lines , a black beauty.Is it a Chevy or Vauxhall? Can you tell the date from the number plate EY? Perhaps it is early fifties or a little later.The telegraph posts in the background are also the old colonial variety! The tourists? Or Planters ? are wearing the “ short shorts “ of yester year ! One of them is wearing socks!! Maybe a planter an S.D!, They are in fact pouring the Thambili into a glass, no straws yet in the way side kiosk.The locals are certainly interested in the visitors, the scarf wearing local indicates that it is probably early in the morning and there is activity on the road.
Interestingly, the driver is still in his seat, indicating that the passengers know their way about.! Eddie.
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Hi Eddie,
The visitors in the photo- wearing real short shorts, and the legs are very , very white indicating they have not been around in the Island in the Sun for too long, or working indoors , wearing long trousers .
I wonder if the SD’s back then wore this kind of attire- even on ‘day off ‘ !
Straws- today- in 2018- ‘straws ‘ are a real issue with ocean pollution and causing many needless deaths of whales and other marine species – including many birds.
I think, some countries have started to prohibit the use of straws for this reason .
This may be the Last Straw for the Straw Industry .
eagleD
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Agree , We will soon be drinking Straw-less in US too.
Sam
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Good spot Deepthie.You are certainly very observant of legs especially.Eddie
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Thanks Eddie,. I believe the English letters on license plates ended in the fifties starting with 1Sri1 for the Prime minister’s Cadillac. ( I will post a current photo of his car also) My photo source says it is a Chevy.
They could well be planters as well. The guy with the head scarf is interesting. It could be early morning or he has a head cold!
Sam
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Thanks Sam for posting a few pics of my visit to SL with my son and gf back in 2011.
Looking at these pics now, 7 yrs later, it seemed like yesterday …
Nostalgia +++ …..
Perhaps – I might see another Waraka stand , or a Pineapple stand , or Kurumba Stand this time around in 2018.
You can be sure, I will not be using a straw- just pour down the Nectar of The Gods down my throat !
Waiting for Time !-\
eagleD
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Yes, Sam. About the man withe scarf,the others in the pic are oblivious of the weather.! He is probably unwell( as indicated by you ),spreading the virus around.!!There is an interesting obituary in the Economist this week of a young Keralite nurse in a little village hospital ,who was looking after a young man with fever and chest symptoms contracted the deadly Nipah virus. Both patient and Nurse died soon after.
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Dear All
It was wonderful to read the stories all of you have written. I cant imagine that the roads were like that when we left Sri Lanka in 1973 <ow when we go to Kandy it is totally different. Now I love stopping over at I think Ambepussa at a way side Café and enjoying all the Sri Lankan goodies there and brining some wandu appa and Halape back to Colombo. Praxy
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Nice picture Sam. Thanks for posting it. I have travelled along the Kandy , Colombo rroad on many an occasion. Our favaorite spot to stop was Pasyala where the “ Kadju Kellas “were. Here you could have the Kadju and have your Thambili too. My older brother would stop at the stand with the prettiest girl.
By the way the car in this picture is a Chevy. It is an early 50s model ( EY ). This brings back very pleasant memories.
Nisantha
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Thanks Sam and Praxy for posting old Photos of Vintage cars,and way side kiosk / stop overs for Kurumb/ waraka/ Kadju.
A post depicting the Kandy -Colombo road journey, was a trigger to unearth our buried memories to capture the experiences, specific visual qualities of the people, and scenery along the way?
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Not interested in guy legs as some seem. My interest was perked by the the lady. I mean the Chevy. I owned a car similar to the one on the picture. The color was a two tone green. I always wanted a big car after my 2 door Morris Minor. As DMO Agrapatna, I could not afford the gas guzzlers. There was an ingenious mechanic at Agrapatna. he convinced me to buy this car and convert it to run on kerosene which was subsidized and much cheaper. The problem was kerosene had high combustion point. So it had to be pre heated to a higher point. He achieved this by running the kerosene supply line thru the exhaust before delivery to the combustion chamber. So i had two fuel tanks. One with petrol and the other kerosene, After starting the car on petrol and run for about 2 miles then select the kerosine fuel pump by toggle switch. Great idea. However the combustion of the kerosene was always incomplete and the exhaust had the smell of kerosene. People knew my car was coming by cranial nerve one before 2 or 8!!. Kids Shouted “onna lampu thel car ekka enawa”!!! I enjoyed every minute driving it. I am still on the look out for 52 Chevy with nostalgia in the US, Now has high antique value
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Amazing ingenuity of our local mechanics. I used a mechanic who had a roadside shed in Bambalapitiya, who fixed my Vespa scooter, because I couldn’t afford to take it to CarMart.
Thanks for sharing your car story Dharma.
Sam
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