Sri Lanka - 2019

Day 1: Arriving in Negombo

The Kiwi and Aussie contingent arrived late on Friday night, David, from London, arrived around 2pm on Saturday. Things didn't get off to a smooth start as both airport pickups previously arranged with the hotel did not materialise, however taxis were easy to arrange and cost 25% less than the hotel quoted.

Mark, Neil and Clint checked out the markets and beach life in Negombo until David arrived. A quick re-acquaintance as David hadn't seen Clint for twenty years and some quality control checks of the duty free were had before heading to the beach for a few beers and some dinner.

We went to the Lords pub which had seating where you dip your feet into a large tank of fish; these little beasties would then nibble away at you; very ticklish, but quite titillating at the same time. Dinner was had on the beach with a great sunset as a backdrop. More catching up and general silliness prevailed.

Highlights were the sinking of the chairs for the ones who ate all the popadoms, and the trumping of the bartering process: Neil had spent 20 minutes trying to barter for a shell with "Sri Lanka" etched on it. He refused to pay more than 400 rupees. To shut them up, David offered 450 to the seller, who took it without hesitation, just to see the look on Neil's face.

Dinner was fresh chilly-crab, as in the whole crab. Unfortunately, by the time it came out it was pitch black, making the process of extracting the crab meat from the shell a little challenging (no tools provided), fingers tasted pretty good though.

Day 2: Negombo - Kalpitiya

The real trip begins, starting with picking up the bikes. All David's preemptive planning was for nothing, as when we went to pick the bikes up they were not ready, serviced, or even in working order. Alas, you gotta role with it. We finally got away about 2pm after doing a few repairs and installing a rack on one of the bikes. All good fun and was nice chatting to the staff who were like-minded bikers.

Once on the road, the plan was a fairly easy day to get used to the bikes, roads and a shake-down in case there were problems and we needed to get back to Negombo promptly.

We hugged the coast going north; when we saw rain coming we headed for a restaurant by the beach, parked the bikes in the restaurant and settled in for a beer and mixed fried rice in a straw hut on the beach - this is the way to travel!

Another couple hours of riding and we found ourselves in Kalpitiya. Without much time to sort out accommodation we headed for the first place we could find on Google Maps with a pool.

On arrival there was some kind of convention going on, apparently for the Department of Health and Food safety. They were paralytic! Some attendees needed assistance walking and we witnessed a couple guys assaulting a defenceless plant with kung-fu kicks. Luckily they were just leaving and we practically had the place to ourselves so we had a swim and a few refreshments to wind-down from our first day's riding.

Once it got dark we discovered our first major bike issue; Mark's ignition wouldn't turn off, leaving all the lights on, which would flatten the battery overnight. During the investigation process we also found you could start the bike without turning the ignition on, so need for a key! For the rest of the trip Mark had to disconnect the battery every night. We didn't really worry about the bike getting nicked though... at the time we thought the buggers were welcome to it!

Day 3: Kalpitiya - Mannar Island

The owner of the resort talked us into riding through the Wilpattu National Park, with no plan for the day and in the spirit of adventure, we took him up on it.

During a fuel stop we decided to check the tyre pressures as the bikes were handling terribly; we weren't surprised to find they were way under-inflated, adjusting these improved the road handling massively.... although may have also been our undoing!

We got to the end of the sealed road about 1pm but hadn't found anywhere for lunch, so turned back and headed to the nearest village. We couldn't find anywhere to eat so took shelter and had a drinks break; Neil then noticed his front tyre was flat. Luckily there was a bike mechanic half a km down the road. We were able to get it sorted, the valve had raptured, perhaps inflating the tires wasn't our best idea. Neil was so relieved at getting it fixed he insisted on paying the guy 5 times what he asked, but it was an effort to get him to take it! If we hadn't noticed the flat then we would have been in a nasty predicament 20kms into the park with a flat tyre, surrounded by crocodiles and god knows what else!

Entering the park, we had to provide passport, licence and registration details and were told to stay strictly on the main track. We only saw a few other vehicles in the 40km it took to pass through the park. The track was dirt/sand and had some pretty gnarly sections in it. David's trip nearly came to a premature end when he underestimated the depth of some whoops, hitting them to fast for his limited off-road abilities, luckily coming out the other end with all teeth accounted for and a new respect for trail-bike suspension.

Neil had another breakdown halfway through the park when his clutch lever fell to bits! With

some Kiwi ingenuity and a small stick (no number 8 fencing wire available), he was up and running again.

The park was fantastic and we got to see some wildlife in the form of crocodiles, lizards and some type of wild dog. We decided to try and do more parks as the riding was a lot more fun than the roads.

After exiting the park we headed for Mannar Island, based on another local recommendation, but things didn't transpire as we hopped. We got to the Island about 4pm, still hadn't eaten and struggled to find suitable accommodation. We finally settled on the only place within budget and tried to sort out a plan for the evening. First priority: get the beers in, then head out for lunch, more beer, then dinner.

As the hotel didn't sell beer they agreed to fetch us some. We asked for twelve chilled Anchor beers (as the local brew, Lion, was not up to standard), they said they would get them "straight away". Two hours later, still no beer. A tuktuk finally turned up and we saw them carry a large box into the kitchen, must be our beer!

But the beer didn't materialise, we enquired and they said they just had to chill them some more. After another half hour David gave up and went through to the kitchen and checked the freezer. Twelve bottles of warm Lion sitting in a freezer that wasn't turned on. By this time we had given up on lunch and, as the hotel restaurant was now open for dinner, decided to cut our loses and eat there. The staff then politely informed us they didn't have a liquor licence and couldn't actually serve us our beer, but we were welcome to drink them on the roof behind an old shed out of site.

We managed a few warm beers, washed down with some more duty free and called it a night.

Day 4: Mannar Island - Trincomalee

Today we ride from the west to the east coast, mostly main roads, which weren't too busy, with a little side-adventure to get our wheels dirty again. We thought we should get a bit cultured and swing by Anuradhapura, but at this stage the temperature was nudging 40C so we traded the temples for an air conditioned restaurant. Clint and David ventured out to inspect a breast-shaped temple, but were disappointed by the false advertising.

On the way to Anuradhapura we took a backroad for the hell of it... and actually found Hell. No clue as to why, who or what we had stumbled across, apart from the sign reading "The Hell"; everything else was in greek (or similar). Take a look at the following pictures; we were as confused as you.

We had booked a resort in Trincomalee but when we got there it was nothing like the pictures on Booking.com, but the place next door looked amazing, it had a cricket pitch, tennis court and a swim-up cocktail bar. We shifted camp and settled in for some R&R.

Day 5: Trincomalee

We decided to spend two nights in Trincomalee so we had a day off the bikes and did some exploring. It was fascinating to watch the locals bring in a huge fishing net right outside the resort. There must have been 30 people involved and it took four hours to bring in. For all their efforts, the catch didn't look that large, lots of small fish, but I couldn't see anything we'd likely be eating for dinner.

We also took a trip out to the Thirukkoneswaram Kovit temple, on a peninsular looking back at Trincomalee. We then checked out the local markets. Mark and Clint got some shirts tailer made which cost less then buying them off the rack! Meanwhile David and Neil got shown up by some locals playing beach football.

In the evening we headed a couple kilometers north and found where all the westerners were hanging out, we had a meal and a few drinks at a very suave bar on the beach.

Day 6: Trincomalee - Arugam Bay

We had visions of a long ride down the east coast of Sri Lanaka, passing under the shade of coconut palms and stopping at beach huts for fresh seafood and cool beers. The reality was the longest game of chicken I've played. The traffic was full-on and the Blue Buses of Death were out in force. These buses would charge down the middle of the road, passing anything in site, irrelevant of oncoming traffic, only to suddenly pull over to let people on or off. The trick was to keep ahead of the one behind, but not catch up to the one in front and not have a head on with the one passing the other bus coming straight for you.

In the afternoon our first taste of proper rain caught up with us, we could see it approaching from the west, a massive black wall descending from the mountains in the middle of the island. Luckily it passed within an hour and the roads dried up quickly.

Getting to Arugam Bay, we found some decent accommodation on the beach with a pool and headed out for a drink and a meal. Somehow we got talked into a pool party - apparently it was the free drink on arrival that sold it. Inside was pretty full on and we didn't really blend in with the crowed of twenty-something surfer-dudes and beach babes, but we had a good laugh. David and Neil called an early night (blaming jet-lag), Mark and Clint ensured the boat was well and truly pushed out.

Day 7: Arugam Bay - Kumana National Park - Arugam Bay

Arugam Bay turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip, absolute paradise, with a world class right hand point break at the end of the bay, unfortunately we were between swells, so no surfing on offer. There are several surf camps here and a lot of people were staying here just to learn to surf.

Neil and David decided to head south on the bikes to explore, taking random tracks and seeing how far we could get. We'd been told we couldn't ride in Kumana National Park, so didn't bother gassing up, wish we had, as we got to the entrance and could have ridden straight in.

We came across some monasteries and temples and chatted to some mini-monks, really happy kids. There was a lot more off-road riding through dirt and sand which added to the adventure. At one stop there was a large wild-deer loping about who didn't mind taking some selfies with us.

We all loved the vibe of Arugam bay and vowed we'd be back some day, boards under arms and six-packs on show (ehm).

Day 8: Arugam Bay - Ella

Time to hit the mountains! The ride to Ella was pretty good, not to much traffic and nice and windy as we headed up into the hills. We were very lucky to come across a wild elephant having a munch on the side of the road, we pulled over and watched her for a few minutes. After a while a bus load of locals pulled up and were making a lot of noise which must have upset her as she graciously backed herself into the forest and disappeared from site.

10 minutes outside Ella we stopped at the Ravana Falls for a break and a looksie. There were a lot of monkeys around and it was hilarious watching one sitting on a motorbike checking out the mirrors, had him very confused!

We had booked what looked like a nice hotel with a pool in Ella, but once we got there things went a bit pear-shaped. The rooms weren't as described and we had one less bed than people and there were now completely full. We cancelled the booking and headed to the high street where we had spotted another hotel, no pool, but it wasn't so hot now we were at altitude. The place turned out to be fantastic, really helpful staff and easy walking distance to the pubs and restaurants.

We got settled into our rooms and did a quick turnaround as we wanted to catch the first All Blacks' game of the Rugby World Cup against South Africa. We enjoyed the game over a few beers and spun some yarns with some fellow Kiwi travellers.

Afternoon turned into evening and we had a decent meal. We found the food was getting better the later into the trip we got. Guessing we were now firmly on the western travel circuit and the quality of ingredients and service was more aligned to our privileged Western culture.

Day 9: Ella - Horton Plains National Park - Ella

The plan was to take in the Devils Staircase, a road that featured on a Top Gear Special about Sri Lanka and was the inspiration for this trip. We also wanted to take in some waterfalls, head to Nuwara Eliya for lunch and be back in Ella for dinner. Two mistakes; a) we didn't check the weather forecast and b) we under-estimated what passed for a road in Sri Lanka.

We headed cross-country from Ella towards Horton Plains National Park, enjoying some fun single-track rollercoaster roads. There were some fabulous sections that winded through forests around Ohiya. Once we turned off the main "road" to get to the Devil's Staircase, we fond ourselves in the clouds and the rain started. We then got lost as Google Maps wasn't registering the tracks we were on as roads, and because we were in the clouds it was difficult to get our bearings. The tracks then turned to waterfalls which spiced things up a bit.

At one point we stopped outside a small hut and the residing local called to us "come in! come in!" What the hell, we were soaked and thought we might be able to wait out the rain as it was getting pretty heavy. The local made us some lovely sweet chai and we hung out for an hour or so; he lived in the hut on his own and worked in the tea plantation. Neil and David put their full wet-weather gear on; but Mark and Clint had not brought theirs, so had to soldier on through the rain.

We found the start of the Devil's Staircase, but due to the rain it was impassable on bikes. We carried on to Bambarakanda Falls which were in full flow. There was a tea house making rotis on a wood-fired oven so we warmed up on these delicious snacks. We also thawed ourselves out by crowding round the oven while they cooked.

It was here we noticed a lot of blood on Clint's leg; on closer inspection they turned out to be leech bites and he still had one on him.

As it was now well into the afternoon we gave up trying to get to Nuwara Eliya and decided to b-line it back to Ella. It was still pouring with rain and was difficult riding due to goggles misting up and not being able to see the phone to navigate due to the case misting up too. We eventually got back and warmed up with hot showers before heading to town for a few drinks and some dinner.

Neil and David found a cocktail called a Blood Sucker which we drank in honour of Clint's leech experience.

Day 10: Ella - Udawalawa National Park

A relatively short ride today as we had booked a safari for the afternoon.

We decided to head down to the famous nine-arches bridge in Ella (when in Rome), the ride there was a good laugh, very steep and winding single track, and the views of the bridge were pretty cool.

After seeing the famous blue train come through the station, we headed south, down and out of the mountainous area around Ella through quite fast, sweeping roads which were great fun to ride.

We also took a few backroads which were more interesting than the main roads. Unfortunately David had that dreaded feeling from below and only just made it to the lodge at Udawalawala in time. Riding one handed as he clutched his stomach with the other, he pulled into the lodge, lines well rehearsed during the last 10kms of agonising riding: "I have a reservation, but first I need your closest toilet".

The lodge staff whipped us up a lovely lunch, then we headed out in a safari jeep just as the heavens opened, luckily it only rained for about 45 minutes.

Not having great expectations of the safari, it turned out to be a highlight of the trip. On several occasions we got so close to elephants we could have leant out and touched them. At one point we sat for 20 minutes while a family of eight elephants slowly munched their way towards us, then parted and walked around our jeep before continuing on. The guide said we were one of the luckiest groups he'd ever had.

We also saw a lot of peacocks, eagles, king-fishers, bee-catchers, water buffalo, lizards etc etc. In fact we were so inundated with wild-life we opted to cut the trip short! The evening was a quiet one with a lovely authentic Sri Lankan meal back at the lodge.

Day 11: Udawalawa National Park - Mirissa

Heading back to the coast, but we should have checked the weather forecast first. We plowed straight into the monsoon and had 3 days of torrential rain and flooding.

The ride south was quite enjoyable, a strange sight to see giant fox-bats hanging asleep from the power-lines spanning the road above us.

We arrived at our accommodation and proceeded to flood the reception area with all the water draining off us while we waited for our rooms to be available.

On the way to the restaurant we had to pass through a corridor, but it was already being used by a snake. We followed it down to the kitchen, where the dog started going mental. We let the chef know, thinking a small seemingly harmless snake was no big deal. He went ballistic and started beating it to a pulp with a huge piece of wood. Apparently it was a very poisonous snake!!

Dinner involved selecting the fish you wanted from a table on the beach and they cooked it to your preference. Probably the best meal of the trip, we had tiger-fish, followed by a jumbo-prawn for desert, which was bigger than any lobster I'd ever seen.

The happy hour was two for one cocktails and only finished when you were drunk enough. Several pairs of jandals were lost in the course of the evening.

Day 12: Mirissa - Galle - Mirissa

The day was a washout, so we ditched the bikes and hired a taxi to get us to Galle for some shopping and sight-seeing.

Galle was interesting as it had a real colonial feel about it. The rain let off for a short while so we were able to explore the old Portugese Fort.

In the afternoon David invented a new sport in the hotel pool; boogyboard-vollyball. It didn't catch-on.

The rain just got worse towards the evening so we ate in the hotel, pretty sure the beach-side restaurants wouldn't have bothered opening.

Day 13: Mirissa - Colombo

The sun finally came out and proved Mirissa was as spectacular as we'd heard; we'll have to come back!

Disaster narrowly avoided: the original plan was to stay three nights in Mirissa, then b-line it up the expressway on the last day and fly out that night. When checking the route we discovered that motorbikes weren't allowed on the expressways, meaning a two and a half hour ride became a 6 hour ride, too risky on the day we are due to fly. A plan was hatched to have a night in Colombo, sampling some of the roof-top bars.

The ride up to Colombo was pretty frantic, lots of traffic, building the closer we got to Colombo. The last two hours was bumper to bumper madness. Navigation was near impossible because of the glare on the phone.

We finally made it to the hotel, elated to have survived and in desperate need of a cold beer. Elation turned to despair when the hotel turned out to not have a bar, could not get us beer and didn't even have a restaurant, they also pinged us an extra 15% city tax. We were very close to walking out, but it was getting late so we cut our losses, got cleaned up and went in search of a watering hole.

We found a sports bar via google maps, as there was another rugby match on, settled in... they didn't have a liquor licence either! A modern sports bar with massive screens everywhere... and no beer. They did offer to run upstairs and get us a few bottles. We only stayed for one, then headed for a rooftop bar for sun-downers, then on to a restaurant for a meal and a few final drinks.

Day 14: Colombo - Negombo

The plan was to head up the coast back to Negombo, but navigation was difficult again due to the glare, David and Neil missed the turn-off and just followed the signs to Negombo. Mark and Clint fared better and took the coastal route seeing lots of flooding evidence from the last few days.

Arriving early back in the same hotel we started our trip, we returned the bikes and headed back to Lords bar for some more fish nibbling and lunch, which was fabulous.

The rest of the day was spent shopping and swimming before heading out for one last meal before Mark, Clint and Neil flew out near midnight. David's flight was mid-day the next day.

During the research of this trip, Neil had discussed it with a fellow "bike adventurer", on hearing we were heading for Sri Lanka he replied "that's not a proper riding destination", he couldn't have been further from the truth. With so much variety packed into such a small island, with the most helpful, friendly people, Sri Lanka is riding mecca, we are already planing a return visit.

To see the planning pages for this trip, press here.