Kandy

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Reckless drivers still out in force in Sri Lanka today (2ndFeb). 16 miles down the road and I am laid on the Tarmac winded and hurting. When I recovered enough to stand up I found large grazing to my right leg and unable to lift my right arm. Oh no! Broken collarbone. I am now sporting a sling and bandages hanging off my leg. Riding over for me, I am afraid, what a catastrophe. The van driver overtook on a left hand bend, cut in tight and forced me off the road down a 4" drop onto the dirt and since the bend was sweeping left I hit the Tarmac edge and was thrown back onto the road. Van driver carried on, of course, oblivious to my plight. Donkey. Peter also came crashing down onto me but luckily only suffered a slight abrasion to his knee and a bent saddle. I rode on 3 miles thinking that I may be able to cope but had to give in to the pain that even 2 paracetamols could not hide. Into the van now and waving like the queen as we drive past the group enviously.

Driving down the unmade roads did my shoulder a power of no good I can say. Eventually Matale was reached with its road under repair and looking rather shabby, not unlike the hotel we are now in. The rooms are definitely grotty with unclean concrete painted floors, cold showers, a toilet which when flushed sprayed water on the floor and a toilet door with plywood hanging off it.Lunchtime food good though with seafood omelette and chips eaten with Iranda my personal driver for today. The evening meal tasted good but a shambles since we ordered a mixture of Chinese food for all to share. What we got was food plated up at random. Breakfast was even worse with four of us asking for Sri Lankan breakfast of hopper noodles, dhal, curried fish and a curried veg, which was good, if a little tepid. The others were offered toast, sausage, beacon (sic) and egg. They got one sided toast, almost raw fried egg and no sausage or bacon. Eggs were sent back for cooking again and came back with no yolk and still runny white. It was like Fred Carno’s circus. The place was called the Rest House, now renamed the Doss House.I am now in discussions with the guides and locals on the Sri Lankan way of life and whilst they are happy most people can never see a way of getting rich and accept that they will have to work until old age. Pensions are reserved for the professional classes and civil servants only. Whilst most people are slim some are a little tubby around their girth so are not starving. Most people look quite good and the ladies wear bright multi coloured clothing and carry parasols when the sun is hot. Roadworks are being carried out in places using JCB's and such machinery but they have a long way to go since many rural roads are either quite rough,bumpy, pot holey or dirt and in many cases all three. The rural roads are the width of a car and passing must be done on the dirt shoulder with a bit of horn blowing to make the occasion complete. If you are the smallest road user, you do the dodging. If you are the biggest user, drive as though you never saw anything. Fun until you break bones. Pavements in towns are a continual hazard with a lot of it dug up for drains and left for months with no guards or warnings. The hygiene rating system for roadside eating establishments has not been invented yet, but if it had a 1 would be the norm.Tuesday 3rd was the best days riding so far and there I am sat in a van in 34 degrees. The cycle ride headed into the hills North of Kandy to where the tea plantations are found and how beautiful it was on such a good day. We dropped into Kandy for a late lunch and some horrendous traffic choked on its narrow roads by the lake. Lunch was curry fish rolls, curry fish pasty and curry chicken pasty followed by curry. The Breeze Hillside Hotel is really nice, being clean and bright with nice rooms and an orange drink on arrival and to much food at dinner time. We walked into town, which has quite a few white faces and is obviously a tourist destination, and went to the market and two of group bought bags after a bit if negotiation. Great fun. Back to the hotel at the top of the hill in a TukTuk at great speed. holding my arm to save it from the jolts caused by the atrocious road. all for 200 rupees (£1) per two people.

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