The Heat Is On

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.

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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…

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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!

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Fetching water the old school way.

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Old pyramid stuff.

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Tuk-tuks waiting for business in Wariyapola Town…

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54.1 Celsius, sunnyside. The heat is tangible. Drink stops are numerous.

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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.

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I see monkeys today. Crossing the road just in front of me. Lots of them hairy fellas. Exotique boutique! 

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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.

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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?