April 10, 2025
Cycle day 17 - Kilinochchi to Vavuniya
Kilinochchi to Vavuniya = 78km (Total distance on this trip so far = 1097km)
Weather= low of 28 with a high of 33. Damn hot last night when sleeping!
Accommodation= Ananthi Hotel = 7350 rupees ($39.55 AUD)
We found another vege hotel to eat at last night. Well when I mean hotel I really mean a place to eat as the word hotel here implies an eating place and not necessarily a place to stay. But their definition of what constitutes a hotel is quite broad! But this one was just a small typical Sri Lankan place to eat. Like alot of eateries here in Kilinochchi it is a vegetarian one. They had no food out so we didn't quite know what to do, and the English is via sign language! But eventually they put something together for us and I asked the name of it and they said Marsala Dhosa – a big flat bread that has been filled with a spicy potato, onion and vege filling, then folded and fried closed. It was lovely and reminded me of a toasted sandwich. So now I know what it is called, next time we go to a place like this I can just say we will have 2 dhosa. What the serve with it is a dahl type gravy and also a coconut chilli. You grab what you want of these 2 and the pot then goes to the next table!
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1 week ago
Had a longer days ride today so we are a little wacked and to top it all off we had a strong headwind (typical!) We were away by 7.15am and on the A9 the whole day. It was a bit busy for the first 1 hour then it lightened up a bit. So not alot happened to us today and we didn't expect to see much either, so I will just put up some photos of what we did come across.
We did stop at a roadside cafe for a cuppa and something to eat (our usual triangle vege roti). While at the cafe there was a coach load of chinese tourists. I went up and ordered our tea and rotis and while waiting there I hear the coach driver laughing and I look at what he is looking at – Neil has a group of Chinese ladies hanging around him and I see they are taking photos of the bikes and him with each other! Then I see one of the ladies grab my bike, put her foot on the pedal and I thought she was going to ride it! But instead it was just a pose and her friend took a photo! The coach driver thought that was hilarious and so did I – they come over to Sri Lanka to see the sights of Sri Lanka and here they are taking photos of other tourists in Sri Lanka!!!
There was a lot of monkeys at the back
Back on the road and we can feel that we are gently climbing – not hard climbing but you can see a gradual incline in the road. About half way we come to Mankulam and we see we are 189m above sea level. By the time we got to Vavuniya we are 298m above sea level. So we climbed 300m over the 78km. After Kandy that is when we are really going to be starting to climb!
After half way the road swings a bit and the wind is about 15-20km per hour strong so we can feel it and it is coming front and across our right. We both wear Da Brims on our helmets and like alot of things designed for use outside activities they usually have a negative design component to it and for this Da Brim it is when there is a cross wind the sides don't have a stay (the front and back do). Because when they designed it they thought when people cycle there is only ever a head or tail wind – no one gets a crosswind! So the sides are really weak and flappy when there is a cross wind which is most of the time when you cycle! So before we left we rigged up a system to counteract a crosswind. Mine permanently is on my Da Brim so all I have to do is tighten it either side and get bit of a Handmade Tale feel about it... praise be!!!
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Now as per usual Neil never listens and when we arrived in Sri Lanka and were putting things together he decides not to set up his Da Brim crosswind system. Instead he took the nonchalant approach and some how I ended up with the cord and he carried the toggles somewhere. So when he saw how successful mine was working he decides to rig his up. I know exactly where the cord is and I get it out, while he hunts around for the toggles. Yup he can't find one so has to use 1 toggle and a peg! This is his set up at the start (remember it really should look like mine!)
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And this is what it looks like once we got to Cargills Supermarket in Vavuniya!
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1 week ago
Oh man he looks really deranged! No wonder everyone stares at him!
Hot and tired we grab a small ice cream when we got our usual 5L of water, papaya and bananas. Then headed to the Hotel.
It is nice and a bit grand looking from the outside but it is the usual once you get in it is clean and tidy but used! It has air conditioning and it has free cable tv in the rooms and we check it out and come across a station playing English soccer
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Then I come out after the shower and Neil has ABC on and we see the Geelong vs Adelaide game is on live! So I am watching it now as I type this! It works in nicely as by the time it is finished it will be our dinner time and since we are so far from town that we will have dinner at the hotel restaurant!
Tomorrow is a shorter day to Anuradhapura. There we will stay 2 nights and this weekend is alot of public holidays – it is the Hindu new moon as well as their New Year celebrations I think and this town is a popular place to come too as it is an ancient town with lots of kings in the past that use to live there as well as lots of Hindu temples so we think alot of Hindu people will congregate there this weekend – judging by booking.com having alot of “last one left" type places.
Today's ride: 78 km (48 miles)
Total: 507 km (315 miles)
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