Bus luggage scams and seeing wild elephants on rural routes to Kandy

The luggage fee is NOT a scam. It is standard CTB public bus policy. Local buses do not have luggage compartments. If your bag takes up a physical seat or blocks the aisle, the conductor legally charges you for an extra passenger seat. As for elephants, you will not see them on the main Colombo-Kandy highway, as it is too urbanized.