Sick and cycling - not a great combination

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We were out of the gates at 5:30 complete with our new front and rear lighting system that was a marked improvement from our previous one. I teased Shauna that we could now start at 4:00 instead of 5:30 (half-hour before sunrise) in the mornings. You can imagine how that comment went over with her. :-) She still thinks getting up at 4:00 (time we get up to be ready for 5:30) to beat the traffic, heat, and humidity is criminal on our holidays. I always remind her whether she would like to ride from 5:30 to 7:30 or 11:00 to 13:00 (on the shorter days we are usually done be 11:00)… That usually ends the discussion. :-)

Our ride out of Colombo (population 5.6M) wasn't too bad relatively speaking (remember I had to cycle into Manila last year, which was horrific in comparison). In general (because of the timing (early morning) and reverse commute), cycling out of the cities like this is always easier than cycling in. This is the biggest reason we decided to start our trip in Colombo rather than ending it here. The biggest challenge we did have and will have is the buses, which dart in and out of traffic to drop-off and pickup passengers. Everyone else (cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, cows, dogs, cyclists, and people) on the road is a bit easier to deal with. There was generally a bit of shoulder on these well sealed roads for us, which makes it a bit easier.

We quickly realized that this country was going to be quite photogenic with lots of interesting things to see and colour to go with it. One of the first things of note was all of the cows roaming, much like they do in India, randomly around the towns and highways… I thought the cows were only sacred in the Hindu faith…. The other interesting thing to see was all of the dogs sleeping/resting on the highways. It was like each home had a dog and the duty of that dog was to lay slightly on the highway and have vehicles go around it sort of to mark its territory. After seeing a couple of dog carcass on the highway, we quickly realized that this was how it worked in theory and not always in practise. I would sometimes ride as close to the dogs as possible to give them a bit of a scare before they also became road kill...

This was a short day of only 60 km, so we were at our destination of Bentota by 9:30. We had pre-booked online and we were still not in the busy season, so we were able to check-in early. This guest house was on the beautiful Bentota River and owned by a couple of Brit expats, who now lived in Dubai where they made a living as musicians. The home was gorgeous and well taken care of. I remember picking the place partially on how the big bright pastel colours reminded me of Bermuda (I lived there for six years).

The first thing was a trip to the beach. We didn't call this the Beach Tour for nothing. The Sri Lankan manager took us down to the beach by tuk-tuk at no charge. He also offered to wash our clothes for free! Once again, that now famous Sri Lankan hospitality was coming through again. It was so cute to see Shauna at the place she so loves but can spend so little time at. With her light coloured skin, she doesn't do too well in the sun. We got some protection from the sun with an umbrella so she was set. On one return to my chair from a swim, I could see a smile of contentment and pleasure on her face. She was really in her space.

A completely random event was to take place next. As I was sleeping on my beach chair, a little dog (owner's dog) from nowhere jumped up on me to cuttle and play. It was a pup, so he was full of energy. He totally made himself at home on top of me. After playing with him for awhile, he decided I wasn't enough fun, so he ran off towards some crows on the beach to see if they would play with him. Let me just say a thing about the crows here…. there are thousands and thousands of them. They must not have any predators, but sometimes you think you are playing out a scene from the Hitchcock movie the Birds….

Coincidentally, the couple next to us was an older white women with a MUCH younger Sri Lankan man. By their actions, it certainly looked to be more than a platonic relationship. Shortly after they left, another couple sat themselves down in the same spot… Same story just a different couple. It is almost like the owner of this beach resort had this area reserved for this kind of activity. I guess Sri Lankan gigolos are alive and well.

For dinner, our hosts put on a fabulous Sri Lankan spread for us. It was served buffet style with enough food for at least four people. We didn't even come close to finishing it. I am sure our hosts finished it off though -- too good to waste. This was a great stay and our Sri Lankan hosts took care of every little detail for us. Sri Lankan food is distinctly different from Indian food. Sri Lankan food doesn't come with as much sauce and therefore the flavours are more concentrated and complex. Remember that wars were fought over the spices found here.

I had been battling the flu before this trip and I had a cough to go with it. That cough ended up turning into a lung infection here. On the next day's ride to Galle, the ride had to of been on of my longest 55 km (heat and humidity didn't help). I limped into town and realized I needed to get some medical attention. In comes Naman, the guest house owner, to the rescue. I went up to him that evening to ask him for his recommendation for a doctor and address. I thought I would then take it from there. He would have none of that. He said he would drive me to his doctor (private clinic) within the hour and wait for me before bringing me home. I insisted that wasn't necessary, but I wasn't going to win this battle. The whole thing took only 45 minutes road trip. This was now the third time in a row where I had to seek medical attention on an overseas bike tour. Each experience exceeded my expectations and much faster than I would have expected back home. This doctor was the receptionist, doctor, and pharmacist -- low overhead. The doctor loaded me up with a cocktail of drugs and told me to rest for a couple of days. We had the next day off, so at least I was going to get one day of rest in.

Galle is a beautiful old colonial fort city that had seen the Portuguese, Dutch, and English lay claim to over the centuries. It is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site now. The town was a nice place to chill for a couple of days and there were not a lot of tourists.

KM 142

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