Let’s go cycling

Trincomalee to Vakarai

A 5am wake up call by a nearby (loud!) ceremony saved us from needing alarms, and we were on the road by around 5:30 to make it a shorter day on the road. Found a bakery on the way out of town and stocked up with egg roll and curry bun… then headed south as the sun rose over the ocean.

Plenty to see today! Trincomalee Harbour is a sight to behold- endless water and seemingly endless trays of fish drying in the sun.

Second brekky today was another tiny roadside stall serving hot of the press rotis with curry…another chance for Neil to continue his quest to rate the Dahls of Sri Lanka. And ’twas a mighty good one too…

Today’s ride was a bit of a hard slog- even though fairly flat, it was into the wind most of the way, with some very varied road surfaces (quite a bit of road works in progress too). It was quite a relief to get to Vakarai by around midday and have the afternoon to explore.

We found this little spot on Google- didn’t show up on the mainstream channels by oh my- what an absolute gem! Vakarai Guesthouse is right on the beach and is absolutely superb. $50 including breakfast- around the same as we paid for a VERY ordinary room last night in Trincomalee, and this one is truly lovely. Beach at our doorstep- literally. And although there are two other couples here it seems like we have the place pretty much to ourselves. Who’da thought you’d be able to have a beach to yourselves in Sri Lanka!!

Dinner was shared with the other guests, all with fascinating stories to tell.  One pair had hire a tuk tuk for their journey around the country- that’s a bit braver than taking a bicycle I reckon!

Day 9- to Pasikuda

A leisurely start to the day with a walk on the beach- this time punctuated with several fishing boats, fresh in to the bay and sorting their catches!

Just a short ride today to the next seaside town of Pasikuda.  A few fun interactions along the way today…from lengthy  convos with passing moto drivers, to an accidental stop at a little dirt road corner stall…persuaded by two cute kids. Not the most smart move on our part, we were somehow railroaded into two glasses of “juice” which were actually some sort of cordial concentrate, with water poured from a container looking decidedly green around the edges and ice that was definitely not on the “safe to consume” list.  So if you don’t here from us for any extended period maybe assume that our folly caught up with us…but so far so good!

Pasikuda is a smallish town with plenty of tourists. Lovely beaches- a calm one to the north which the locals obviously favoured, and the southern more choppy beach which was almost uninhabited with delightful clear water!

Day 10- Batticaloa

Another relatively short day but it’s long enough in the heat! Apparently the President of Sri Lanka timed his overnight visit to Pasikuda with our stay wo we witnessed both the arrival and departure of his very impressive Chopper collection…

A very varied little adventure today…tried to take the beach route thinking that it would be a lovely ride down the coast rather than on the busy highway. We were thwarted by an impassable road due to flooding, so we well and truly took the back roads and ended back on the highway adding a few fun km to today’s ride!

A welcome juice stop on the highway – real fruit, filtered water and oh so refreshing. A little more satisfying than yesterday’s dodgy roadside stop 😛

Batticoloa is a bustling city, but we found a quiet little guesthouse near the beach for the night. Too late for “lunch” at the local Indian veg restaurant but we scored a couple of onion dosas with a bit of dahl- yay! Neil was suffering withdrawals after no dahl in sight for a few meals. A (hot) afternoon spent exploring the city.

A bit of temple viewing and some very sobering sights reminding of the horrors of the 2004 Tsunami

Day 11- Batticaloa to Arugum Bay

Neil’s turn to write…

Fantastic breakfast prepared by our homestay hosts at 6.00 and on the road by 6.30.

First 50km was through ribbon development, so we needed to have our wits about us and plenty of horns. We also had our first puncture of the trip, Rachael managed to pick up a piece of metal in her tyre, scratching through the mudguards with every turn. Fixing the puncture certainly drew a crowd I think we had nine helpers before we were on our way again.

Lunch stop at 70km. Cave like building, catering for locals. Outstanding rice and curries (only choice). They treated us like royalty, even supplied us with spoons! (The locals eat with their right hand). The total cost with soft drinks was $5au.

The kilometers thereafter were slow and laborious an increasing headwind, building heat. The scenery was flat and dry and for the remainder we were mostly focused on the destination.

It is the dry season on this side of Sri Lanka. The road was widely used for drying the freshly harvested rice,

Our chosen and booked hotel was a little hard to find, no address and the location on google maps not accurate. Meanwhile Rachael felt somewhat overcome by the heat and needed to sit on a low wall.

The accommodation was a bit disappointing, the most expensive so far at $75 au, per night including (a terrible) breakfast. Arugam Bay is a tourist destination, rolling blue ocean waves crashing onto golden sands. Busy restaurant strip, pulling you in for BBQ fish and western food and Beer. The beer that is so hard to find outside tourist areas, yet wonderfully refreshing and rehydrating after a day’s ride in the heat and humidity.