Feb. 18th - Kandy to Nawalapitiya - Kim and Glory - Cycling beyond

February 18, 2024

Feb. 18th - Kandy to Nawalapitiya

Well, what started out as a pretty decent day, ended in a bit of a panic. 😂 More than one person in Kandy told me it would be not problem to get a ride from the town I'm in via either Uber or PickMe. They were wrong.

I really wanted to experience some of the hill country tea plantations so I opted to pedal to this town and though I might even go a bit further. A bit more climbing today and some of it was a little tough, but I was having a great time because the higher I went, the more scenic it was.

See the truck passing and coming straight at me. It's a common occurrence.

I take a break before a sweeping downhill as there was a bus shelter with seating. Have a snack and away I go. I did have to be a little more cautious than usual in my turns because you know, traffic doesn't always stay in their own lane, blind corner or not. 🤬 Oh, and today I actually listened to music on my headphones as I felt traffic was a bit less and I didn't have to be laser focused on traffic. That just makes the ride more fun.

I roll into town, stop and a bank machine and then take a seat sorting out what I am going to do. the security guard turns on the fan just for me. I always look so hot and sometimes it works to my advantage! I'm feeling good and strong and know I can go a bit further. But I am at a crossroads. Am I going to head to Adams Peak or an I going to go for Nuwala Eliya - the town I had wanted to take the train to?

I decided I would catch a ride to Adams Peak as I really wanted to climb the famous pilgrim route to the summit for sunrise. It's lit up at night for the climbers and is said to have Buddha's footprint at the summit. I knew it would be really hard, but figured I'd get to the top eventually (think over 5,000 stairs involved for the latter half.)

So, I open my apps and try to get a ride. No luck. Finally, I ask a local. He says there are not vans in this area, only tuk tuks. Vans are in Kandy. Great. Now what? I quickly rule out Adams Peak no matter what as I don't want to get stuck out there. Probably better.

I've already scoped out the elevation to both destinations and know it is way beyond my capabilities -- or if I did manage it, it wouldn't be loads of fun. I think about splitting the ride into two days, but I'm already short on time so that's not practical. I decide I better head to the pretty much only decent hotel in town and see if they can help me.

The manager was fantastic and knows someone with a bigger tuk tuk. I had compared prices in the app so I think they are way overcharging me and besides, I have the contact info for the driver in Kandy. i decline the ride and contact the guy in Kandy. He had said he would take me, but I felt he too was overcharging me, and I wanted to cycle some of the hills. See where that got me? 😂

Long story short, I ended up staying in the Jayabima Grand hotel, (which was not so grand in it's current state) and try to sort things out. The manger was super kind and helpful though. In the end, I just opted not to cycle any of it and just get the ride with a local. I'm off to Nuwara Eliya tomorrow. I did go back to the store and walked around town a bit. It's the first town I didn't feel very welcome. I'm the only foreigner in sight and of course everyone is staring at me.

If people wouldn't have told me I could catch a ride from this town, I probably would have just taken the ride from Kandy. Mountain climbs are not my friends.

I know someone called "JB" but I am pretty sure the locals were wondering why I was taking a picture 😂

Home, not so sweet home, tonight. Dead bees in the bathroom and the swimming pool was filthy.

Today's ride: 19 miles (31 km)
Total: 1,091 miles (1,756 km)

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