Anne Parkins
Reviewed March 2022
Cycling in Ceylon
What an amazing holiday! This best thing I have done in ages & up there with my best trips.
I booked at the last minute as there was a cancellation due to COVID and was very apprehensive as to what lay ahead. Would I cope, what will the group be like etc. etc.
I don’t cycle regularly and took the e-bike option and really glad that I did. Some days were hard, especially the uphill ascent to Nuwara Eliya and some days were undulating. Using the e-bike allowed me to enjoy my holiday and took away the angst of thinking whether I could do it.
The holiday was great on so many levels: –
Guide & trip support
Suresh was our guide and what a beautiful person he is, kind, caring, thoughtful, funny, always going the extra mile to ensure everyone was happy and catered for… a true professional. I can not rate him highly enough; in many ways, he made the trip.
Suresh was supported by a fantastic team – Suranga, Ruwan and crew. Suranga provided technical support, ensuring all the bikes were ok, he would even be checking them as we cycled. The guys worked so hard behind the scenes to make sure everything ran seamlessly. Making sure that we were fed, watered as we cycled from place to place. In the morning all the cycles were lined up, clean & checked ready to go.
Trip
The trip itself is fantastic, every day was filled with something different to do and see.
Cycling is a wonderful way to see Sri Lanka especially cycling the back roads. It’s so vibrant and provides an assault on the senses… all the colours, smells, sounds, beautiful vistas, wildlife and people. The Sri Lankan people are so welcoming and friendly, children and adults waving as we cycled past…shouting ‘Hi’ ‘Bye’
Accommodation
The accommodation overall was fantastic and even better than expected. I particularly liked the hotels in Sigiriya, Kandy and Ahangama. It was easy to cycle from one place to another…Suresh would check us in & our bags would be waiting for us in the rooms! When leaving we would just leave our bags outside the door and the bag fairies would sort everything.
Food
What can I say…yum, yum yum! So many gorgeous vegetable & meat curries, not forgetting the egg hopper. One must try when one is in Sri Lanka. Suresh took us to some fantastic places to eat. I really enjoyed the family meal where our food was cooked in banana leaves.
One of the things I really enjoyed were the cycling tea stops. We visited small cafes, a Sri Lankan home. We were offered the most divine fresh fruit-mango and pineapple and lots of spicy snacks-I’ve forgotten the names. We had some great lunch stops too.
Activities.
These are all listed in the itinerary and were great and plentiful, I am amazed we packed so much in. Climbing Lion rock, climb in Eliya, visit to gem factory-shop, spice garden, safari-we saw the elusive leopard, tea factory, I skipped the whale-watching as I needed a relax!
Group
As well as Suresh the group really made the holiday for me. I wasn’t sure at first but as the days unfurled, we bonded. We had lots of fun and banter…what a lovely group! I hope we stay in touch.
We even saw the infamous ‘yellow elephant’
Big thankyou to GI Jane & Captain Chris, the lovely Janine & Darren, Sue-‘Queen of the Mountains’, Lady Julia, Richard of Wales, Sir Roger, Peter the Great, St. Simon, Neil Young-the one & only, Jimmy Carter and Bob Hope.
Personal
Final note, I had a bad 2021, felt in a bit of a rut. It was a big step for me to book this trip but I’m so glad I did. It made me feel alive again…what more can I say!
Thankyou Suresh and team, group and Sri Lanka xxx