New Year's Resolution

[Digger]

More back roads...we must have found ourselves on the school route.



I’m surprised we have not seen more of this type of thing and this is the reason I keep to back roads where possible. In this case, I think the bus has cut the corner and cleaned up the truck spinning it around.



Water buffalo in their version of a Day Spa

[Digger]

We’ve had a couple of tough days recently, either because of distances travelled, terrain or weather conditions. Here, we had a strong cross or head wind most of the day.



We have made it to the east coast and will have a rest day at Arugum Bay...suppose to be a surfing hotspot (in the World) but the season is much later in the year and it’s pretty much a ghost town currently.

From here we travel back to Colombo via Kandy so Trevor can fly out on the 28th before I continue around the island.

Distance cycled to date - 572km.

SPOT Link is here:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... UCtYLNPufa

[wightman]

Cracking good commentary and pics. Keep em rolling in. Somebody's got to make us jealous

You forgot to mention that after the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English, Sri Lanka came under the influence of Muri, the world's greatest bowler of all time

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... i_t1PMZW0t

[Digger]

Cracking good commentary and pics. Keep em rolling in. Somebody's got to make us jealous

You forgot to mention that after the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English, Sri Lanka came under the influence of Muri, the world's greatest bowler of all time

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... i_t1PMZW0t

I was waiting for someone to bring up the subject of cricket....I remember this guy ‘back in the day’. He was always accused of ‘throwing the ball’ rather than ‘bowling it’. Between you and Bozo, I have to make sure my Posts are factually correct (or as close as can be) otherwise I’ll be corrected in no time flat and in a timely manner. Whatever did happen to the Sri Lankan Test Cricket side? (Bozo...this is where you chime in).

[Bozo]

Digger

Sorry, I am still thinking about the Buffalo Day Spa and its impact on the English language.

I know the word Buff originally came from Buffalo but have never considered the context. It could have been how the animals felt egressing from a day immersed after hours of egretting to remove ticks and parasites.

Regarding Muttiah Muralitharan, I was not surprised that he chucked it in after 800 wickets. He has moved on from Luckyland Biscuits to supporting the lucky country's test team.

Sri Lanka are ranked 6th in the test cricket rankings ahead of Pakistan and the West Indies and only just behind England....not too shabby.

Your post on Galle prompted me to think it would be an appropriate location to imprison a perpetrator who glassed an Antique Roadshow expert.

Bozo fact checkers has been very happy with the accuracy of the reporting on Sri Lanka and even the position of the apostrophe in the title.

Bozo

[Digger]

We spent a day exploring the local Aguram Bay Area...this sign looked new. Works out that a tourist was taken by a croc not so long ago.



Trev standing atop Elephant Rock overlooking the Bay. No surf currently...the town was pretty much deserted.



From Arugam Bay we left for Ella in the central highlands. Elevation 1,043 metres above sea level. Decided to hire a vehicle for the journey and glad I did. Some steep climbs involved.

[Digger]

While at Ella we visited the 9 Arch Bridge...built in the early 1900’s by the Brits. Was suppose to be of steel construction but with the outbreak of WW1, all the steel had to go to the war effort. The locals said ‘f*** it; we’ll build it from stone, so they did.



Because we were still in the highlands, we decided to catch a train to Kandy, 163 km away. There was a chance the bikes might have had to travel on a seperate train which spooked me a little. I don’t like getting separated from my gear.



The train took 7 hours to complete the journey arriving at destination an hour late and in the dark. Had to navigate at night time in traffic to find the hotel. Not much fun.

Will update more later...Wifi painfully slow.

[Bozo]

Digger

The crocodile victim was a 24 year old British journalist who was just washing his hands in the lagoon near to Elephant Rock. It was pretty recent, September 2017.

The crocs sighted in the lagoon have been up to 17 feet.

Bozo

[Digger]

Are their any botanists out there? These look strangely like eucalypts. I’ve seen them before while riding but never stopped to crush the leaves to smell the scent.



Whilst in Kandy we went to the Temple of the Tooth. Do a Google search; I had to.



The tooth is well protected and not on public display. It even survived a truck bomb blast in 1998. Religion has a lot to answer for.

[Digger]

Also whilst in Kandy, we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens...quite a variety of plants on display from all over the world.



There were also thousands of Indian Fruit Bats perched in trees...


Some more of the floral displays in the garden...well maintained.

[Digger]

We took a day trip to Sigiriya Rock...Sri Lankan version of Uluru. A significant former Kingdom dating back to the 5th century.



The king lived up there while the plebs lived around the base of the rock.



[
The Palace on the top floor had three levels...the bottom level was for recreation like dance floors, spas and bathing pools. This guy had 500 wives....what was he thinkin’.

[Digger]

Lion Paw Terrace at the base of the rock. The paws were stone...the remainder of the Lion was created from timber which had perished over the centuries.



After leaving Kandy, we headed west for the coast...this still involved a lot of hill country. Trev is negotiating one of the many climbs and switchbacks.



On our way, we passed thru Elephant Central...this region had lots of places catering for tourists whose only goal in life was to sit on the back of a Pachyderm.

[Digger]

We also passed by an elephant orphanage...part of the daily routine is to take the elephants to a nearby river to bathe them. This one was returning to the orphanage and must have had his bath cause he smelt like Johnson’s Baby Powder.



We parked the bikes discreetly and went to a nearby stall to get some water...within minutes a crowd had gathered to ogle over the equipment.



The view from my office window today...it hasn’t all been beer and skittles. We encountered a lot of roadworks today with difficult riding conditions and horrible potholed, bumpy roads.

From here we are a days ride from Negombo where Trevor will return to Oz. Happy Australia Day Slackers.

Distance cycled to date - 730km.

SPOT Link is here.
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... UCtYLNPufa

[Cookie]

Loving the photos and commentary, looks like you are having great weather, stay safe.

[Digger]

looks like you are having great weather, stay safe.

We have managed to stay dry so far....we experienced a bit of rain on arrival in country and a couple of late thunderstorms but we were off the road by then and able to seek shelter. So far, so good.