April 26, 2025
Cycle day 28 - Chilaw to Negombo
Chilaw to Negombo (via beach roadss) = 50km (Total distance on this trip so far = 1806km)
Weather = Low of 25 with a high of 30 degrees. Sunny. Still hot when riding even with a southerly breeze blowing off the ocean
Accommodation = Lillys Palace Guest Villa = 5800 rupees ($30.30 AUD)
This accommodation didn't have a ceiling fan, only air conditioning so we had to put the temperature up a bit and have it on all night. I was comfortable but there were times I was just out of range of the AC and woke up hot!
This morning the host made our breakfast
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You remember the other day I showed a video and photos of someone trying to get at a breadfruit up the tree? Well we found out this morning that it is more than likely Jack Fruit. Both are similar in appearance on the outside – round and spikey. But different in the interior. This morning we had ripe Jack fruit – which I have to say is okay but I still prefer my tropical fruits on offer here in Sri Lanka!
We left quite late this morning as the host was very chatty.
We decided to go on the beach/coastal road rather than the highway. Again a little further but well worth it!
For most of the ride we are slightly inland a bit (so houses are between us and the ocean view!) however we do come back to it every now and then.
We are on this road for about 35km before swinging inland to the highway to cross over the 2 rivers. Along the way we encounter busy local traffic because every household along this road has some sort of market stall outside their house. Selling mostly fresh fish they have caught early this morning or last night. The size of these stands can vary from just a mat on the road with left over fish they won't be consuming tonight or massive stands with heaps of fish and the sizes are anything from sprats to massive whole or pieces of tuna! At some points along the way there are lots of stalls/stands together and there is congestion.
I have to add there are also stalls that have dried fish and that can be stinky at times! I remember at one point we were constantly stopping as there were stalls both sides of the road and very few cars, motorbikes and cyclists could get through. It was chaotic to say the least and you always had to watch out for people walking, riding, motorbiking or driving out from these stalls on both your left and right side!
The smell was not as bad as the fish market at Negombo which I knew we were going to be passing near it.
Once back on the highway I couldn't figure out why there was no traffic. Then I remembered that it was a Saturday so the traffic is always a lot lighter on the weekend compared to weekdays.
We weren't on the highway for long before we rejoined the coast road again but even that was behind all the fancy hotels that westerners stay at when in Negombo. It was amusing to see just how the other normal travellers stay compared to us! These were prime location sites with the main entrance is of this road and the main communal area and reception is always the beach side. Oh it looked so luxurious and we started seeing quite a few foreigners on the streets out shopping. We saw more today in this brief period than what we have seen in the last 6 weeks! So as a joke I took a photo of a group as from my perspective they are “my touristy thing to see”!!!
I thought we might see more when we were at the bigger tourist places like Kandy, Nuwara Eliya etc but we only saw bus loads briefly, or we saw them as populations in the surfie places, we really only saw 1 or 2 everywhere else. Maybe we were just hanging out in the wrong places! The up side of independent travel!
We are getting closer to Negombo as we pass the court house and I can see the fish market in the distance. Fortunately the Saturday means really light traffic around the court area so we quickly got through there and I didn't have to smell the fish market for long!
From here the road is very familiar and it isn't long before we are at our major intersection just before Lillys accommodation. This is a 4 way intersection and we have to turn right. In this photo Neil is saying to me “follow me” and that is what I did.
His rule is make for the gap. And that is what he did. Fortunately the Saturday meant that instead of the intersection having 10 vehicles across each road it only had 2-3 so there were plenty of gaps to duck into. I do remember that a bus was stopped in the middle of the intersection unsure why but I suspect it was waiting for traffic to stop turning right in front of it so we just passed in front of it and then did our right turn and a tuk tuk was happy to give way to Neil and I think he did want to cut me off but he didn’t!!! You should have heard us woo hooing and a hollaring that we made it through that particular intersection so easily. Even the bus tooted us (a friendly toot!) as he passed. Have to say most of the buses through out Sri Lanka have been very good to us, despite us being warned about them.
Our accommodation is just down the road and we get here about 12.30pm. Since we have been gone the place has had a new coat of paint and we are in a different room that has be repainted. The people are still here finishing the exterior- it looks really good with a fresh coat of paint.
This time we decided to pay the extra 1000 rupees a night and get AC!
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5 days ago
So we have come full circle and we have no more cycle days left. Tomorrow we will be packing up the bikes and our flight back to Melbourne is Tuesday morning at 00.30am and we get back to Melbourne about 2.40pm pending no mishaps, cancellations, delays etc!
I shall return to the blog either late tomorrow or Monday with a summary of our trip!
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5 days ago
5 days ago
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 50 km (31 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 5 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 3 |
Can’t wait for the summary blog 😂
Does Dad need reminding or are you chatting to him on Monday?
5 days ago
5 days ago
4 days ago