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Landslide warning boards on the hill road after last night's rain — turn the van around or keep crawling?

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H
Hannah Slide Sign•224 rep•2

Hired van, Kandy toward Nuwara Eliya after a wet night. Fresh orange boards, a scrape of mud across one lane, and our driver says it is probably fine if we go slow. Partner wants to reverse to the last town and wait. I am not asking for an official closure fee or a secret 'local rate' to pass — just whether travelers usually treat those boards as a hard turn-around, or if crawling past a single scrape is normal once traffic is moving.

30

6 Answers from travellers

✓Accepted answer

Treat a fresh board plus visible mud as a reason to stop and look, not a reason to prove you are brave. If the road is reduced to one greasy lane, if you can hear water moving in the cut, or if the next vehicle coming the other way is a packed CTB that just turned around, you reverse to the last town and wait. Crawling past one old scrape with two-way traffic and locals waving you through is a different picture. I will not invent a 'standard pass fee' — nobody legitimate should charge you to use a public road. Ask the police post or a shop at the last junction, not a random helper with a cone. Late tea in a guest room beats a buried ditch.

29
K
Kasun Hill Road•1830 rep•1

We reversed at a fresh scrape last year. Lost an afternoon, kept the van. Driver was annoyed; I still think we were right.

15
L
Lena Turn Back•178 rep•1

Asking the shop at the last junction and watching whether the next bus turns around. Not paying anyone to 'let us through.'

9
H
Hannah Slide Sign•224 rep•2

Our driver crawled past one old mark, then a second new board appeared. We turned around. Two boards is a pattern.

6
H
Henrik Slide Slow•170 rep•1

If you wait, wait in town, not on the outside of a blind bend. Parked vans get clipped when a lorry comes through the mud.

4
K
Kasun Hill Road•1830 rep•1

Same patience as an empty east-coast bus — sitting still is allowed. The hill will still be there tomorrow.

2
I
Isla Wait Bus•177 rep•1

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