The Itinerary

Sri Lanka road trip Sri Lanka for the automatic Ella Seven days, 700 kilometres: a young woman on discovering Sri Lankan grandness in a modest tuk tuk Hikkaduwa Rekawa By Edwina D’souza

n a clear November 700 k.m. | Tuk tuk | 7 days | STOPS Hikkaduwa, Weligama, Rekawa, Ella, Kandy O morning I leave Bandaranaike International Airport for Mount-Lavinia, a bustling beach town on the outskirts of . Here, in the open grounds of a backpacker hostel from where my tuk tuk rental agency is operating, it stands, dazzling in the afternoon Rent up causing a minor traffic jam the windshield. sun—my emerald-green-and-jet A few operators smack in the middle of Mount Next day the rain peters black autorickshaw. It looks and give tuk Lavinia’s town centre. My down as I set off 20 kilometres smells like one does after a good tuks on rent. stalled three-wheeler earns southeast in the direction wash. I quickly leaf through a TukTuk Rental me exasperated looks from of . With Noella as my guidebook of dos and don’ts, and (tuktukrental. motorists who, unlike me, aren’t designated Google Maps nod affirmatively when asked if com) is fairly holidaying, and have little time navigator, I have a blast zipping I’d like to join a WhatsApp group popular. or patience to empathise with around the heritage fort complex, of fellow riders. It’s an active It charges the woes of an amateur tuk tuk admiring 18th-century Dutch one. When not riding, members, between $14/ driver. To prevent the vehicle churches and chapels, and I gather, after some scrolling, `1,000) and from stalling again I rev up the braking only to gorge on some lip- catch up over drinks to share tips, $25/`1,800 engine even when it’s not in smacking Sri Lankan fish curry- exchange anecdotes and relate a day, and a motion, just so that it remains on. rice and chilled ginger beer. Later stories of the road. refundable The raspy grunt of a stationary in the evening, I ride another A quiet boulevard behind the deposit of auto becomes a source of great 35 kilometres southwards to hostel doubles as my training $150/`10,700). bemusement for many at the Weligama, a coastal town where ground: how to switch gears, This is inclusive signal. Still, it’s not as bad as we are to stay the night. When I how to check engine oil levels, of insurance those judgmental stares I had vroom into the porch of our four- where are the tools stacked, cover. been inviting all this while. star hotel and bring my beast to a how to change a flat tyre? I Smiling, I just let the engine run. screeching halt, heads turn—and listen attentively to Vijayan, I gloat. A little. In Weligama, my my enthusiastic 40-something Ready To Roll real intention is to learn surfing instructor, while secretly praying On day one, braving unexpected but I miserably fail at it, bruising for minimal mishaps. Now, heavy rains, I ride to the resort my cheek with the surfboard I've laid my hands on cars and town of Hikkaduwa to visit the while catching a wave. motorbikes. But a rickshaw? “A bit Community Tsunami Museum. With surfing sessions now out ock like the love child of Chetak and Run by locals, maps and models of bounds, the next morning I Nano, no?” Vijayan weighs in, Surfers glide here educate people on the 2004 ride three kilometres, about 15 ock laughing. It cracks me up. along seafoam natural disaster that affected minutes, to the Mirissa Harbour Crash course over, my sister in Weligama. the island. This leg also teaches and set sail to see and (hopefully) Noella and I hit the road Facing page: me how riding in the rain is a photograph whales prancing Tuk tuks are an tt ers t a r Todorovic/shu with great gusto. However, lesson in multitasking: one hand about the Indian Ocean. It’s a

a Ann /shu tt ers t intimate way to a nd embarrassingly enough, within explore rural on the handlebar, the other lucky day, says our guide, after we E fimov Aleks the first 10 minutes itself I end Sri Lanka. intermittently wiping splatters off spot one blue whale, two sperm

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whales and a pod of dolphins, all in under five hours. To celebrate this feat, we walk into a humble shack and devour a wholesome lunch of seafood fried rice that comes with an addictive mango chutney and a fiery red chilli sambol. Noella and I decide to mark every 50 kilometres as a milestone to cool off the engine and replenish ourselves with whatever the region has to offer. Thembili, the bright orange Sri Lankan King Coconut, wins our heart. But it’s a thali of short eats that stays with us long after we had polished off its contents: chicken and fish rolls, parippu (dal vada), ulundu (urad dal vadas) and beef samosas that melted in our mouths.

Cop Story On day four, along a gorgeous Lagoons in 60-kilometre stretch cradling Rekawa (top) are a popular the coast en route to Rekawa, I destination am stopped for a random check for tourists; in —an inspection I String attribute to the policemen’s hoppers curiosity. It’s unusual to (centre) are a Sri Lankan see two female backpackers breakfast gliding around Sri Lanka in an essential; autorickshaw. After a courtesy Coastal roads paper check we set off again, (bottom) reaching Rekawa around sunset. bring out the best of self- Fresh and fortified after a quick driving in the bath and meal, later that night I island nation. ride on a strip of road that runs parallel to the beach. A faint, synchronised rustle makes my ears perk up and when I brake and adjust my eyes to the ges (food), ges (food), darkness around me, what comes into view leaves me gobsmacked: a platoon of olive ridleys have gathered ashore to hatch eggs. The next morning after a breakfast of egg hoppers, I start os Angeles Times/ge tt y im a os

for Ella, 150 kilometres north. a eri l view) or/ L

On the A2 coastal highway near ock ( Kalametiya, once again, I’m on t ribu

intercepted by cops. This time ock (r a f t ing), vez/ C for speeding—wait for this—at /shu tt ers t 50kmph! Turns out in Sri Lanka St udio MDF rlos C h a Ca rlos the average speed limit for tuk ksl/shu tt ers t

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Stay

Hikkaduwa Jasmine Garden Beach Guest House on Narigama beach (No 72, Galle Road, Patuwatha, , 80240 Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka; doubles from $40/ `2,800; Call +94 77 510 6406).

Weligama 22 Welligam Bay on Weligama beach (22, Modarawatta, Pelena, Weligama; doubles from $100/`7,000; Call +94 412 254 595).

Rekawa Catamaran Lagoon House tuks is 40 kmph. More mindful Licence behind—a hurdle my one week (No 63, Rekawa West, now, I continue onward and when Get an of riding helps me overcome in, Netolpitiya, Rekawa Lagoon, I enter Udawawale I nearly shriek international surprisingly, two minutes flat. Tangalle; doubles from with joy. There’s a herd of wild driving Finally, I pull over at the Damro $40/`2,800; Call +94 77 t uk uk)

elephants strolling on a fenced permit in your Labookellie Tea Centre on the 3620194). ock ( stretch across the bypass road. country. For outskirts of . A cup the additional of Ceylon tea and some divine Ella The Last Lap three-wheeler mud cake… I reel in the warmth Travel Rest Inn (No 42 main Once I leave the coast and move local licence of my last meal on the road before street, Ella town, Ella; doubles towards the central highlands, from the I will need to turn in the tuk tuk from $25/`1,800; Call +94 77 the views get prettier and the Automobile in Kandy later tonight. And when 379 0501). inclines steeper. I underestimate Association I do, it sinks in: as stunning as Sri the terrain in Ella and almost of Ceylon, fill Lanka is, this trip wasn’t about Kandy tt ers t a _ M oroz/shu eryn t r a in), Kat

run out of gas on the way to up a form at the destination but the highs Kandy City Hostel (74a B195, ock ( Demodara to check out the their Colombo and lows of exploring it in Kandy 20000, Sri Lanka; colonial-era Nine Arches Bridge. office for about a mode of transportation dorms from $15/`1,100; Call Fortunately, I am able to buy $26/`1,900. that despite its tiny frame is +94 77 444 9182). tt ers t a iko3p/shu some fuel in empty beer bottles Else, go monumentally liberating. ❚ s from a grocery store in the town. through your Like a fitting finale, the last agency for and seventh day prove to be the an additional most scenic and challenging. $40/`2,800. Along the incredibly beautiful route of 150 kilometres from Ella to Kandy, I navigate sharp hairpin bends, some overlooking the The train route Pidurutalagala range, Sri Lanka’s from Ella to tallest mountain, others winding Kandy (top) past lush tea gardens—and it’s is wonderfully here that I encounter my worst scenic; Tuk tuks nightmare. The engine stalls on (bottom) are a common sight a 45-degree incline, 6,000 feet in Sri Lanka, above sea level. I have to get the just not tourists tuk tuk running without rolling driving them.

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