Our view before cycling, a monsoon.

Hope it doesn’t happen again, they are not ready.

Protected species, wandering around the fish markets.

Different jubilee. Different Queen. Faded now.

Evening stroll

Too much for one person? No.

Our group. L to R, Ganesh, Bill, Janice, Paul, Suranga, Linda, Paul, Marcus. 27/11/2015.

Temple to Shiva. The temple was built in 4c BC, and destroyed by Portuguese 400 yrs ago, rebuilt 200 yrs ago.

Cradles hung in the tree to aid fertility by newlyweds.to aid fertility.

Temple to Shiva. Built in 5th c BC but destroyed by Portuguese. Rebuilt 200 yrs ago. Tsunami didn’t hit as on high land,

Everyone wants Trinco harbour. Deep water and strategic. This canon wouldn’t do much now, but did in its day.

Note the bullet holes. LLTE = Tamil Tigers.

Still hot but wetter.  Beaches beautiful with light touch tourism.  Trinco harbour escaped the Tsunami due to its deep waters, not so the surrounding areas where 35,000 people lost their lives.  So much history here with invasions by the Dutch, Portuguese, Indians, British and a few skirmishes with Burma and yet the Sri Lankans remain friendly.

Last day with the group.  Back to Colombo tomorrow and the start of our 2 week unguided adventure.  A little disconcerting.

Hotel, Polonnaruwa.

Rs is 200/£. ie red rice 30p/kg. Great shop.

Our transport to bird island. 8 am.

Egret flying peacefully. In fact may be jolly hungry.

Cormorant and crow. On the nest, and the crow wants his breakfast egg.

Ibis, landing. Noisy birds.

Hard to believe this reservoir will drain completely in the dry season, every year.

King coconut, natural electrolytes. Marcus chops the tops off with his machete.

And we think we’re carrying a full load.

Lunch in Pasikuda, a muslim town. Lucky to get any food as full moon bank holiday. Cling film on plates saves washing.

Chefs preparations.

Overlooking Bay of Bengal. Just recovering from the Tsunami.

Spot the pro cycling tan lines.

Marcus arranged a trip to bird island on the reservoir.  Huge numbers of nesting birds, including egrets, ibis, various herons, cormorants and storks.  Felt guilty stepping onto the island as it disturbed the birds.  However, they quickly settled.

Then to the bikes and a flat ride heading east into a head wind, average 30c temp.  The area is getting drier with lots of cacti and skinny cows and goats.

Needed a lift in a truck down to the hotel as the road was too rutted for Marcus’ van.  USA Paul was nearly sent flying out the back.

Hotel seems best so far, on the beach with no-one else around.