Around Sri Lanka on a Royal Enfield 350 Classic

[DevonAl]

Went for a little ride around this morning, picked up some more meds on the way in Pottuvil a few km away. Some photos from the day.
I think we came the nearest we have been to a wild Elephant so far today, well it’s poo anyway!
Sue had a close encounter in town, whatever colour the buses are out you you not get in their way as they take no prisoners, we went to crocodile rock, you can see from the sign how it got its name, no veg shortages out here, Egrets waiting the farmer to plough up the worms.

 

[DevonAl]

More.

 

[DevonAl]

Crocodile Rock & a random chair & sunshade at the rock, and the green grass like object in the previous post is a venomous snake, slithering round a cafe!!

 

[DevonAl]

Aragum Bay to Ella

Left Arugam Bay to travel up to Ella in the central highlands for two nights, it’s close to the tea plantations and is a busy village on the tourist trail, it has waterfalls, pools and various walks & climbs plus a lot of bars restaurants & tat shops as well. Google maps said nearly 3 hours for 135 IM’s, it took us just under 4 with a couple of stops, again the road was pretty good most of the way and easy on the ribs.
Stopped at Rawana falls and watched the local monkeys up to their usual tricks, found hotel with a pool and view and had a lazy afternoon before walking into town for beer, cocktails, food and an absolute soaking, again.

 

[DevonAl]

Ella to Diwella

As more rain was forecast today for Ella we decided to head south for the sun(hopefully) & sea, google said around 3 hrs & 155km, in the end it was 4 1/2 hrs with a couple of stops and 170km as one of the roads was terrible so we quickly turned round and went another route which although was a bit further it was far better on the wife’s ribs and we saw wild Elephants along the roadside and buffaloes in a lake with Egrets perched on them so it well worth the detour.
Now in Dikwella for a couple of nights. Lots of beach bars within a couple of hundred yards of the hotel and fishermen going out to earn some cash, probably less than we we have spent on booze and food tonight!

Al.

 

[DevonAl]

A couple more.

 

[Guru Gora]

The joys of being flexible in your planning

Great trip, keep it coming please

 

[MartinK]

Brilliant! I'm following - keep it coming please

 

[DevonAl]

Had a really lazy day, walked into Dikwella town, got some cash, beer, breakfast and a new hat to replace the the one I left in Arugam bay. We walked to the next bay and ended up having a bit of a beach bar crawl, a couple of swims and watching the surfers, before walking back and watching the monkeys for bit, tough day. Just washing the salt off and then off to find a nice curry.

 

[DevonAl]

A few more. Moved from Dikwella to Mirissa, about 20 miles, 55 minutes, it is a beach/surfy town, lots more tourists and lots of menus and trip adverts in Russian!

Al.

 

[DevonAl]

Found a place on the beach that had happy hour from 5-10pm, Arrak sour cocktails £2 each. helped dull the pain from the ribs somewhat.

Al

 

[MartinK]

Fabulous! I remember walking up that little hill/island on your 2nd pic. Rickety wooden steps

Looks fab! Keep it coming please

 

[Orinoco]

Looks fabulous. Don't rush back, it's cold, wet and miserable here!

 

[DevonAl]

Martin,The rock with the rickety steps is parrot island.
Moved on again from Mirissa to Hikkaduwa, only about 50-60km with a stop in Galle for Sue to have a wander round the old fort area and the arty & boutique type shops and to cut down the time it takes to get back to Negombo as it our last day with the bike tomorrow.
Both Mirissa and Hikkaduwa are full of Russians, both young people & families, all the menus & trips are advertised in Russian so I guess they have been coming for a while, don’t know how many other places they are actually allowed to visit, seems very strange with what’s happening at the moment.
Todays very nice hotel pool and a bit of a sunset, and the beach at Hikkaduwa.

Al.

 

[DevonAl]

Safely back in Negombo, had yesterday without the bike and it felt very odd and we both missed the routine we had got into, fly home today(Friday) at 5pm local and arrive back at Saturday at 06:30 uk time so should be back in Devon by lunchtime, even though her ribs have improved Sue is not looking forward to the flight, we have spoken to Gulf Air but they have said they will see if anything can be done when we get to the airport, we’ll see.

Some stats:- bike was 500$\£405 inc Sri Lanka driving permit & insurance for 13 days.
Ridden 1430kms/890mls, spent 2200lkr/£52 on fuel.
Stayed in 9 different hotels, (negombo same hotel twice) total cost £370, breakfast included at 8 of them. Only the first and last nights were pre booked, and 5 were family owned and run.
Spent £100 on card.
325000lkr/£810 from cashpoints.
Flights £1260
Megabus to Heathrow £76 rtn for both of us.
So around £3k for 16 nights on a tropical Island including, accommodation, transport, food and booze, I think that’s pretty good value.

Could have done better.
Packed too much, we have done 4 previous trips like this and I’m guilty of overpacking every time!
Should have missed out Trincomalee, not just because that’s were the wife’s injury occurred, not really much there and the beach hotels have no local bars/restaurants close by and we try to eat in local places.

Not sure we will come back here but we have enjoyed both trips in different ways even if they didn’t go quite as planned for totally different reasons.
If anybody is considering doing something similar it is a great place to visit and explore and if I can help with anything let me know.

We used Shah Lanka motorcycles for the first trip & Ceylon Adventure tours/Cockney Rebels tours, both were very easy to deal with and arranged everything.


Al.

 

[MartinK]

Brilliant Al. Lots of fab photos and useful information. Thanks for sharing! Sri Lanka is a fab place for a mini-adventure

Safe flight!

 

[G&T]

It’s great to see Sri Lanka getting on with things. It really has been hammered over the last decade. For me my long lasting memory is being able to set my watch by the thunderstorm at early evening each day. It only lasted for 15 mins or so and left us with all manner of magical sunsets. Sri Lanka has a little place in my heart - for sure.

 

[DevonAl]

There are still a few issues at present, they have just had a bail out loan, and one of the condition is about fuel distribution and who runs the fuel stations, the way I understood it, part of the deal the is the government letting 3 private(foreign)companies own the outlets and distribute fuel, this has upset the unions and caused shortages and closures again, didn’t affect us as I had filled up the day before the news broke and random power cuts have started again.
Hopefully things will calm down as the tourist money is sorely needed to help kickstart the economy again, apart from the the south where most of the Russians are it is very quiet.

Al.