Most Inspirational Moment
Not sure about inspirational but there were memories that will stay with us:The never ending and wettest climb to the tea plantations at 6,000 feet with the most wonderful hotel at the end where we were greeted by friendly staff with cups of hot soup!The tea houses that we stopped off at each day - and their loos!Flooded paddy fields that we were ferried across on a make-shift raft by locals on our final dayThe rain, the rain and the rainLovely routes through rural lanes and the warm welcome we recieved from locals everywhere
Thoughts on Group Leader
We chose the trip because we had been on Peter's Kerala trip previously. We knew he would do a really good job and we were not disappointed. He prepared us for what to expect each day and at each hotel and used his excellent local knowledge to help us get the most out of our trip. He had warned us about the final beach hotel but it was truly awful and we could not stay there - he did his very best in helping us find an alternative hotel and never made us "Escapees" feel we were being difficult or awkward.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Don't bother with waterproofs and if possible ride in all terrain sandals which dry much quicker than shoes. If you hit the kind of monsoon rain we did for most of the holiday waterproofs are useless and skin is pretty waterproof. The rain did not spoil our holiday and bizarrely contributed to some of the highlights for me. Take old cycle tops or t-shorts that can be dumped afterwards - if it is wet and muddy no end of washing removes the marks.Remember the weather is something none of us can control - grin and bear it!We used ATM's to get cash - had no problems in finding them in any towns.Sri Lanka is a beautiful country and cycling is a wonderful way to get under the skin of it - go for it!
Suggestions
As mentioned above, we were booked into a truly awful hotel when we reached the beach - hugely disappointing as we were there for 2 nights and it was meant to be an opportunity to relax and enjoy the beach. Most of the group had to move to other rooms and 7 of us moved out altogether. All credit must go to Exodus, for their approach to our complaint - their quick response and willingness to make amends will certainly give us confidence to book again with them in future.I do hope they have now found the alternative in the Galle area they were looking for, as this could have spoiled what had otherwise been a great holiday.
