Our nine day ride covering about 1200 km (750 miles) finished on a high note as we returned to the resort we started at: Suriya Resort, in Negombo. Our ride through Sri Lanka was very challenging in the first few days, starting at sea level, and climbing to 1900 meters in 8 hours (and to 16c/60f degree temps!) in the small town of Nuwara Eliya. Along the way we ran into the only rain during the entire time, and as soon as we finished getting our rain gear on, it was done. No one complained~

We got a tour of the Bluefield Tea Plantation, which was a tourist trap, but one of the better ones! We learned about tea; how it’s picked, dried, cleaned, and ground up into packets for distribution, and we got to sample a dozen different varieties. The best: Silver Leaf if you can find it.  We rode through villages small and medium size, and without exception, everywhere people on the streets waved at us! Young and old; sometimes we beeped, but generally not, but they waved and we waved back at them. Overall the Sri Lankan people were some of the overtly friendliest we have met anywhere.

We stopped overnight at a small village called Sigiriya, home of a gigantic rock similar to the Uluru in Australia (AKA Ayers Rock), but here known as “The Lion Rock.” I was unable to climb it, but many in our group did, and the vistas were gorgeous. The next night had us into the heart of elephant territory, but drought conditions forced many of the wildlife into other areas to find water, so we struck out. Even so, to stay in a room where elephants were just 50 feet on the other side of an electric fence was a cool experience.

We finished up at the resort where we started, and because flights out were few, we stayed two days to decompress–and we needed it! Between late dinners, long days, and many miles on two wheels and four, it was an exhausting trip. Not a VACATION, but truly an EXPERIENCE.

If you’re interested in a Sri Lanka biking adventure, send me a note.