Day 3 – 29MAR2014: Chilaw -> Dambulla
Distance (km) : 128
Time on bike: 6h 30m
Avg. speed : 19.7 km/h
Total (km) : 214
Altitude: Approx. 170 m
Waking up after 10 hours of blissful sleep under the mosquito net feels good.
Just a few kilometres east of Chilaw there’s some weird things going on at the Hindu Munneswaram Temple.
See video below. HD recommended.
Got no idea what it was all about. I just noticed a lot of man-boobs in that temple.
Lots of lush, beautiful sceneries again today. I’ve turned east/inland, on minor/rural road B079 which means more local life along the road + less smooth asphalt. Bike touring – like life itself – is a matter of give and take…
The Lime Man (center) made me a refreshing glass of lime juice, sugared and iced. 0.35 USD. He lives in nearby Wariyapola and makes a living selling different kinds of iced drinks for passers-by. Unhurried living (I’m only guessing). While waiting for the second glass of juice a cunning crow sitting in the trees above me suddenly shit me down my neck. WTF!
Fetching water the old school way.
Old pyramid stuff.
Tuk-tuks waiting for business in Wariyapola Town…
54.1 Celsius, sunnyside. The heat is tangible. Drink stops are numerous.
From Kurunegala, I hit the busy A6 main road heading northeast towards Dambulla. The road has no shoulder and is not much fun. The occasional insane overtaking from oncoming traffic calls for 100% attention. Not fun.
It’s getting hillier, though, which always makes for some interesting cycling.
I see monkeys today. Crossing the road just in front of me. Lots of them hairy fellas. Exotique boutique!
I bed down for the night in Dambulla, at the Sujatha Lodge smack in the centre of town, down a quiet alley. I manage to haggle down the price of the room from 1.800 Rp -> 1.200 Rp (9 USD). Not too bad, considering that my kottu roti dinner (below) was just 200 Rp, coffee included. This is one cheap country.
TODAY’S RIDE
Below you can see the route map + lots of info about the ride today. I track the ride on my Garmin GPS, then upload the file to Endomondo, and then export the Endomondo file to WordPress, the open source blogging tool/digital platform of my website. Kind of hi-tech, huh?