Stayed at a beautiful place, woke feeling a wee bit tired and achy. The first hour of the day on long distance cycles is always the toughest, the body wants a day off or rather it needs a day off. By day 5 though, you can feel yourself getting fitter, getting used to the early rises. Today was a good 70km, not masses by any stretch but the second two thirds of the road are very bumpy as we enter the previously wartorn district of Tricomolee. The road turned pretty quickly from smooth fast straight road into bumpy potholed-ridden gravel with expressionless faces starring at us from the shadows of the trees.
A quick stop at one of the small convenience sheds along the dusty road, confirmed that the locals were definitely shy and wary of us, but they were at least welcoming. As we realized it was shyness, the stereo went on and we danced on our bikes and smiled the biggest smiles, they were replied back with smiles and waves, and even a comedy water throw from the road construction workers.
I had to swerve from two large snakes, about 4-5 foot in length, green with flecks of brown, taking over the road. Reminding me why I'm wearing my boots.
A quick stop for lunch, sheltering from the rain in a locals house, they were kind enough to offer the three of us chairs, we declined but I made sure they had enough of croissants and cakes that we'd pilfered from breakfast.
A dusty busy road was our first sight of Tricomolee, the air started to have that salty feel to it, that feels so homely, we were getting closer to the other coast.
After approx 413 km across some of the highest most beautiful country I had ever seen, we were finally there, with a slight hiccup of a few of team getting lost upon entering the city and having trouble finding us and the final hotel. We regrouped for the last km and we crossed into the beach and they we could see the bay of Bengal.
We've made it. Now its time for beer and a beach party. Happy days, Sri Lanka.
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