Cycle The Backroads of Sri Lanka

Our Clients’ Reviews

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Average Review Rating: from 47 reviews.

Simon Lane

CYCLE THE BACKROADS OF SRI LANKA

Written August 2012
This is an outstanding trip - from the quality of the hotels, variety of the experience, and country you are travelling through I simply cant recommend it highly enough.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
For me the best moments came after the longest days in the saddle. I loved the feeling of achievement after a long hill climb. The down hill runs afterwards were great fun too!
What did you think of your group leader?
Our group leader was an absolute star. Knowledgeable, approachable, and a can do attitude were everything your could have wanted or expected from someone leading the tour. I'd add that the conduc of the three support staff who were on the trip we similarly noteworthy.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
It sounds an obvious thing to say but this is a trip for people who have good fitness. If you dont, you wont enjoy it.
David Taylor

CYCLE THE BACKROADS OF SRI LANKA

Written April 2012
A really well balanced trip which gives a great insight into Sri Lanka 'on the saddle'. A pleasant lack of interminable bus transfers which plague some trips and visits to temples were thankfully kept to a minimum.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Eating street food from roadside vendors during each day.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Don't bother with a la carte dinner options. Whilst the omnipresent buffet might become predictable it is by far the best food available.
Watch out for predatory monkeys in Kandy!
Bring wine and spirits unless you can cope with non-stop beer!!
Liam Curran

CYCLE THE BACKROADS OF SRI LANKA

Written April 2012
Sri Lanka is a country with beautiful scenery, delicious food, lovely weather and friendly people. What better way to see it than by bike? The cycling was just as described, moderate to challenging and the 3 days in the middle of the holiday are certainly on the challenging side and very rewarding as a result.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Completing the 100km ride from Kandy to Nuwara Elia up a 2000m climb. As I’m not much of a cyclist it was much longer and steeper than I ever imagined. Also being about 10m away from a wild leopard when we went on the safari. This apparently was a very unusual sight. Also, climbing to the top of Sigiriya Rock. This rewarded us with spectacular views of the surrounding countryside.
What did you think of your group leader?
Suresh was always very helpful and put our comfort and safety above everything else.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
The quality of the hotels we stayed at varied greatly from lovely to rather poor. Also everything seemed to close at 10.30pm, even the bars/restaurants/hotels, so if you want to eat and drink go early or go hungry and thirsty. Not such a bad thing when there are many 6am starts.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
The holiday describes “Terrain and route: 95% tarmac, 5% unsurfaced road” which in my opinion is a bit of an exaggeration. Many of the “roads” for long stretches were nothing more than potholes in one particular direction. Whilst it no doubt had once been surfaced that was a long time ago and it had not been maintained. To be honest the unsurfaced roads were generally smother and nicer.
Brian Kirk

CYCLE THE BACKROADS OF SRI LANKA

Written February 2012
Done a few cycling trips to date, Vietnam, Morocco and Costa Rica (and about 15 other group trips), and this trip rates at/near the top. We stayed off main roads where possible, and generally used a combination of minor roads/tracks, etc (occasional transfers later in trip). The route is very well planned, and route maps given out each day were excellent. (having a bike odometer certainly helps !) Meals were good, accomodation generally very good, and backup vehicles, etc were very well organised.Average spending money in group seemed to be about 250GBP p.p., best change 200GBP on arrival and change later if needed. (GBP or USD seemed to be preferred) Guide hooked me up with a dive centre for 2 excellent dives near Galle (incl wreck dive), highly recommended.I took my own bike with semi slicks, easy on group flight (need to keep within 30kg total limit) I managed to avoid doing washing, but I took 20 t-shirts, etc ! Only issue was that we seemed to start 20-40 minutes late every day, so a number of hours in total were spent waiting in the hotel car parks, I have suggested a plan be made in this regard.
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Alan Carter

CYCLE THE BACKROADS OF SRI LANKA

Written February 2012
See the real Sri Lanka as well as many of the key tourist sights. The back roads take you through villages and countryside that would be missed travelling any other way. There is one challenging long ride with a steep climb but a train option provides a cultural alternative. A surprising experience providing fantastic views of the hill country. Travel through the heart of Sri Lanka, from low land wild life parks to the more temperate tea hills.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Seeing how rural Sri Lankans live - they all seemed so happy despite often difficult conditions.
What did you think of your group leader?
A big hearted Sri Lankan who worked tirelessly to make everyone on the trip happy.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Consider the train ride if you don't think you want to complete the long uphill cycle. It is an experience you will remember.
In Kandy, climb the hill (or get a tuk tuk) to the Buddha temple on the hill. The views over Kandy are worth the trip.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
If you are in a group of keen cyclists, make them slow down. Sri Lanka offers such diverse and beautiful scenery it is a waste to rush through it.
Lesley Keddy

Sri Lanka - a land of beauty, rain, dogs andlovely food!

Written February 2012
A great trip offering good cyling, great people. lovely food and wonderful culture.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
I have done a few cycling trips now and in Asia I am always amazed by the friendliness of the people and the children who all come out to see you and call out "Bye!!"

I was also impressed by how clean Sri Lanka is.

I loved the temples - we certainly saw a lot of them! Also thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the Elephant Orphanage. We just sat and watched them for a couple of hours playing in the river.

Getting to the top of that Hill!! Think of it in stages. We had a stop every 20k so all I thought about was doing the next 20k and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. If you have any hesitation just do it! You can always get on the bus for a stage.
At the end of the trip I went on an optional Whale watching trip. This was excellent - we saw lots of whales and dolphins.
What did you think of your group leader?
We had Suresh. Initially I was disappointed as I was expecting to have Peter lead our trip. However Suresh could not do enough for us. Suresh's love for his country (and temples) was very evident. I believe this enriched our whole trip. There is a lot to be said for having a guide who is a native of the country you are touring. Suresh's laugh just put everyone in a good mood. He also loved a good bargain and was always negotiating for us to get the best price.

Upali was our driver - lovely man who could talk for Sri Lanka! AJ was our front man - catch him if you can. Then we had the gorgeous Chamara as our back man and mechanic. Great team but AJ please slow down at the front .......
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Take an umbrella! No country is ever this green and verdant without plentiful rain! Also a torch is useful.

If you go to the elephant orphanage try and buy some bananas on your way. You can get them there but you will want a lot.

Remember this is not a race. Every trip will have people on it who wish to get to the destination as fast as they can but that doesn't mean we all have to. We were always at our destination well ahead of schedule and I now wish I had stopped more, taken more photos and generally not rushed through everything. This does tend to happen a lot on cycling holidays so stand your ground. Tell the leader you would like more "regrouping" so that you can stop and take photos and generally enjoy the scenery.

When you get the opportunity use the local transport - it really is an experience! We got a bus back from Galle and a series of vendors trooped on and off the bus selling nuts, oranges and other wares. The amount of people they manage to get on a bus! Was pleased we were on it first and got seats.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I loved the food. The buffet food in the hotels gets a little repetitive although very good. Encourage your group leader to take you out for "street food" - it was excellent.

There are not too many shopping opportunities on this trip. Don't leave it until the airport as everything is so much more expensive there. The best place to buy tea is Mlesna - you stop there for one of the breaks on the trip - it is right by a cricket pitch - you will reach this on the descent day from the hill station. Don't get put off that it looks "upmarket" - the tea is really cheap here and you can buy it all in nice tins for gifts. The same products were selling at the airport for two to three times the price you can buy it here for.

Exodus - please change the hotel that we stay in on the 2nd day. It really was quite grim. Also the Beach Hotel at the end was not particularly nice - how about changing this to a hotel in Galle? Such a much nicer place and still access to the beach.

The one thing that made me sad is seeing all the dogs in bad health. We saw a lot more on the first half of the trip. It is heartbreaking. The Dogstar Foundation is a Sri Lankan charity that helps with the health of the street dogs by giving vaccinations and also medical baths for mange. They have a Facebook page if anyone wants to support them.
Ian Cooper

CYCLE THE BACKROADS OF SRI LANKA

Written December 2011
A perfect way to experience the joys of Sri Lanka, book it you will not be disappointed.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Where to begin.
Elephant sanctury visit.
Whale watching
The hill climb day, especially lunch by the waterfall, followed by staying at the Hill Club hotel.
Experience of the street food, the Pooja, the impromto stop at the school and the interaction with the tennis balls, playing cricket, playing catch etc
All the cycling, (even when wetter than I thought possible), and meeting all the lovely Sri Lankan people
What did you think of your group leader?
Peter - Absolute star, always available for help and advice, and really aimed to show us all Sri Lanka had to offer. Not permenantly sharing his knowledge, but did know the answer to anything, (from what I saw), he was asked, ie we may not all like to know the name of every single bird or flower we see, (too much info), but ask Peter and he will know.
Suresh - A lovely lovely man, permenantly smiling, with our clear love for his country. Suresh had a very good knowledge of all the sights he took us to, and he loved his Sri Lankan map. The only thing that lets Suresh down is his grasp of the English language, in my opinion it may be too early to let him lead the trip. In my experience, people from this part of the world are far more adept at learning another language than I and many other Brits would be, so, all being well, Suresh will quickly brush up on his English skills, and end up as good a leader as Peter.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Anyone who normally cycles at home with "clip in's", take your pedals and invest in some SPD sandals, I bought the Keen make, brilliant.
Take a small lightweight umbrella.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
This is a fantastic trip, if you book this you will not be disappointed. Although, described in the trip notes as moderate/challenging, this should not be beyond someone who is just interested in cycling. If you have a partner who is at a different level of cycling to you, still do it. This is not an "eyeballs out" set of rides. There are plenty of stops and re-groups. For those of you who want to ride fast, you will be catered for as well, prepare yourself for the cat and mouse chase near the end of the trip, (not obligatory).
In the words of the Nike advertisements - Just do it!