Cycle day 27 - Ilanthadiya to Chilaw - Far too much luggage - Sri Lanka

April 25, 2025

Cycle day 27 - Ilanthadiya to Chilaw

Ilanthadiya to Chilaw = 68km (Total distance on this trip so far = 1756km)
Weather = Low of 25 with a high of 33 degrees. At least we have air conditioning tonight!
Accommodation = Hotel Anthina = 6160 rupees ($32.19 AUD)

What a great 2 days and 3 nights break we had on the beach up at Ilanthadiya doing absolutely nothing. Especially the first day – the morning consisted of a very early storm with lots of thunder and lightening and rain, really our first bad weather this trip. We just sat where the meals were served and watched and listened to the weather around us. This was pretty much the same the next day but no storm or rain, although we did drag ourselves out for a beach walk in the morning!

alot of bottles and litter washed up on the beach. Plenty of bottles with barnacles on them so they have possibly come a long way!

This boat was there the whole time we were there anchored way out to sea

this barge made regular trips from the boat above to the jetty near the power station. We can see that it is carrying coal

by the time we got closer to the jetty we could see the barge was also getting to the jetty. We think the coal loading was going on all night and day.

Yip it is a snake, have seen plenty of dead ones on this trip, I almost ran over a green one the other day and this one was skipping across the sand to where we normally have our meals

not sure what type it is and I am hoping Bill Shaneyfelt can help me out again - sorry they are not great photos as this one was a speedy one and just wouldn't sit still for me!

This morning we had a slightly earlier breakfast at 7am. And we think we had this seasons first mango! We looked at the fruit that would be in season for us while we are here and I was disappointed that I was 2 months too early for mangoes. They are generally at the end of May for the main crop. But the one we had this morning must have been an early variety as it was lovely and sweet along with our banana, watermelon, papaya and pineapple.

gosh I am going to miss the tropical fruit here!

We have to say we ate well at this place as they cooked us dinner as well – fish for 3 nights – first night was tuna, 2nd night was sheer fish and crab and the 3rd night was just sheer fish. All served with rice and various vege curries. Mmmmmm delicious!

We left this morning at around 8am and headed back towards Chilaw way passing by the vege fields we saw the other day. This time we were early enough to wave hello to all the field workers who waved and said good morning back along with alot of laughing – we assume at us as they are not expecting to see foreigners around these parts to often.
At 16km we turn off for a sealed back road that will take us down to Udappu and then onto the highway (A3) for the last 20km.

I think I have said this before for alot of the places we have ridden through and stayed at basically very few, if any, foreigners actually come through here. Today was no exception. It was quite comically really and I think felt a little uneasy or embarrassed about it as they would laugh at us. Not in a mean way but more in a OMGosh there are foreigners, on a pushbike, riding through our village, I have never seen that before, I must tell my neighbours!!!
There was one point where we stopped under a tree and next minute everyone came out from their homes to stare at us! And they were just announcing, discussing and talking about us, had no idea what they were saying, but you could guess that they were surprised to see us. Everyone is friendly as per usual and if they are not coming out of their houses to stare they wave and say hello and even try to chat!
This was a great road to ride, narrow at times and a little bit broken up but easy to navigate around the bad parts of the road.

Lots of coconut tree plantations. We can only guess by what we see but they are small farm lots of coconut trees, with a mixture of tall and short (the newer trees are short and we think have been modified for ease of picking!) trees. From here they go to another area collectively and then loaded and transported to be milled into coconut oil which the price changes daily. But it sells at about $5 AUD or 1000 rupees per litre on the side of the road. Sometimes we will see small compact trucks carrying the coconut to the mill and some bigger over sized, over balanced trucks carrying the husks and shells somewhere else to be dried and converted into coir mats or other stuff

we saw this one on the A3 today full of coconut husks and shells. It is an absolute art form to pack this truck!

The town of Udappu was small and had a rather impressive shrine/temple

From here we swung inland to join the A3 to Chilaw. We stopped at a small shop when we met the A3 and had a cuppa tea, a plain black tea and he asked if we wanted ginger in it, so we said yes. He chopped up fresh ginger and added it (about ½ tsp is enough) and gosh it was deilicious, it was very refreshing so now I am going to try that when I get back!

on the A3, it looked good at the start but quickly deteriorated

The A3 was busy and the traffic was constant. Initially the road was good but the lst 15km it was really rough and broken up and even uncomfortable to ride on. It seems like everyone was going to Chilaw for lunch! We get to our hotel just on 1pm and it is above a restaurant but that is closed this week as the owner has injured his leg. We get settled in and are thankful that we have air conditioning and I am doing this blog without a bead of sweat on me, unlike since we left Nuwara Eliya, I have been in a permanent state of sweat!

it was lovely sitting here under a massive tree watching the squirrels running amuck through the branches while we sipped our tea (just a plain black tea!)

Tomorrow is our last cycle day of riding – about 50km to Negombo where we have come full circle and will return to the homestay we started from as our bike boxes are there.

Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 118 km (73 miles)

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