Our Explore group

After an early morning swim and a leisurely breakfast, we were headed north to Negombo - a seaside resort town on the west coast - about 90 mins drive and the starting point for the trip. Not quite as grand as Mount Lavinia! 

The first night consisted of introductions and a short briefing from our guide followed by dinner in a local restaurant - good food again.

Our guide - George - is Christian Sinhalese ex-teacher. This part of the country has a significant Catholic presence as a reminder that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive.

Our travelling companions are Paul and Hillary - a retired English couple - also ex-teachers; Vicky - a single 50-ish Police Officer from Surrey; Matt - a 40-ish from Cheshire in the events business ; and Mel- a 30-ish teacher from Sydney.

Could be an interesting two weeks🤔🤔

 

Day one started with a bit of confusion because George got his baggage spreadsheet mixed up and insisted there was a bag missing - even though we all confirmed that all our bags were accounted for.

Then we mounted our bikes and headed up the coast to Chillaw - about 35km on the flat. 

We cycled through a number of villages each with their own fish markets on the sides of the road and managed to stay safe through the traffic which got busy in places - everyone happy to give way or give us a wide berth.

As a result of the sun and the headwind, we were all glad when we reached our destination and could pop into the supermarket for an ice cream.