Author: Rob Ainsley

Linked by causeways (pic) and ferries, a chain of low-lying islands surrounds Jaffna. I spent today exploring some of them by bike – not an entirely easy experience, given the high winds and endlessly dug-up roads. This photo is a rare shot of smooth tarmac. Here’s another extreme rarity: a direction sign. You usually have…

An easy, enjoyable day, completing my Sri Lankan End to End by bagging Point Pedro, followed by a delightful coast-road, wind-assisted ride to Jaffna. First I had to visit Point Pedro lighthouse to complement my ceremonial start back at Dondra Head lighthouse. Unlike that one, it’s cordoned off and watched over by a (very friendly,…

This was the hardest day so far, thanks to a strong headwind, hot sun, and weak legs from two days without proper food because of a gippy tummy. It was only 39 miles, but felt three times that, with around a dozen stops for water, shade and rest on the way. It started OK, with…

The A9 reminded me of its Scottish namesake: in my 1997 LEJOG, it was also the most tedious part of the trip, with scenery unchanging from hour to hour, and an irritating headwind. The Vanni, as this northern part of Sri Lanka is called, is flat scrubland punctuated by small scruffy towns, with the A9…

A short day today, entering the flat, green Northern Province (pic). Until 16 Jan this year, you needed a permit from the Ministry of Defence in Colombo to enter. I queued up there to get mine, and two days later they abolished them. The checkpoints are still there, but the army officers now spend the…

A pleasant, easy day on the bike, exploring Anuradhapura’s extensive ancient ruined sacred city, dagobas and stupas. I wasn’t sure what a dagoba was, but here is one (pic). When this was built, about 1200 years ago, only two Egyptian pyramids were bigger. I’m still not entirely sure what it is, but it’s solid, and…

Another pre-dawn start, as I slipped through cool dark forest roads, accompanied by the remarkably diatonic calls of Sri Lanka’s melodious birds. This is the sort of twitter feed I like. And it wasn’t just the birdsong that proved I wasn’t in Britain: it may have been the A9, but you don’t get road signs…

Sigiriya is Sri Lanka’s big-ticket tourist attraction, its equivalent of both Australia’s Uluru (being a rocky outcrop of national identity) and Peru’s Macchu Picchu (being a ruined hilltop capital). It towers over the forested plains (pic) with a breathtaking, almost arrogant, size – just like the admission fee. There’s a very steep walkway glued to…

Thanks to another very early start in the cool Kandy dawn, and a cloudy daytime keeping the temperatures down, this was the most enjoyable cycle so far. I’m now following the A9 up north for the last section of my End to End – a concept familiar to domestic LEJOGgers – and out of Kandy…

A day biking in town, going past Kandyesque sights such as this GR-period British post box in front of a Buddhist temple (pic). So you can pray for good luck, for instance that the postcard you’ve sent will actually arrive. I cycled up a steep back road into the hills to the well set-up Tea…