Let’s go cycling

Airport Day

A not too early start and a lift to the airport- Thanks Stan and Ruby!!
An uneventful flight…amusing escapades at the other end while a few guys ummmed and ahhhed about how to put two bike boxes in a van (or choice of vans…) and then a very late night arrival at our little homestay a few kms out of Negombo

Day one…checking out the surroundings

Up for a plate of noodles and dahl then stuck into putting the bikes back together…with much unsolicited (and perhaps not quite appreciated) assistance from our host.

Then it’s off on a ride to the beach, a 30km round trip to get us a little acclimatised and see if we can cope with the heat and the traffic. And a restful arvo to recoup!
Neil managed to find a “beer shop”, all barred up and secure, I wasn’t even sure if it was ok to take photos. All seemed a little dodgy… but he came away with a can of beer and there were certainly plenty of locals lining up!

fun facts day 1
Accommodation for $9 per night at the sweet little Bethany Homestay
Dinner at a nearby “restaurant”- devilled chicken which closely resembled chilli flavoured cardboard…and the biggest plate of fried rice we’ve ever seen!

Day 2 Negombo to Chilaw

52 km today

An early(ish) start for our first “real” day on the road and it gave us a bit of everything. Lovely quiet back roads mixed in with seemingly ruleless but very workable traffic on the bigger roads. Thought we’d skip the breakfast lentils and grab something on the way…note to self, find coffee first thing to avoid grumpiness 🙂

The 50km to Chilaw took us through a fascinating coastal journey. Many fish markets, all sorts of different specimens. Quite lovely riding along the seafront for a lot of the way, salt spay in the air, large waves, driven by the SW monsoon crashing onto the beach. It was definitely far enough to ride today, not particularly bike fit yet and boy oh boy is it humid!

Made it to Chilaw around lunch time so plenty of time to explore the town this afternoon…with another HUGE plate of fried rice to see us through the day!

Fun facts
Accommodation $30 including ferocious dog!
Dinner…same as lunch! leftovers from our enormous fried rice feed plus bonus roasted chicken that we found somewhere in town