Route: Dumbanagala - Mapakada
Kms: approx 90.
Hrs: approx 5
Road: More gnarly track thru the valley, some SUPER-slick twisty blacktop
Weather: Overcast & some pissing rain... not really cold tho.
Was nice to sleep all rugged up with a blanket for the first time since Xmas in Bulgaria... but waking-up and seeing the famous "Knuckle Mountains" (the main attraction I'm here to see) still shrouded in cloud was a bit disappointing. Fuck it, will just have to come back another time.
Although being mainly overcast yesterday, i still copped a little bit of sunburn on the back of my neck so i started the day with a little Banana Boat application... turned-out being the most pointless thing i’ve done this year, possibly ever.
The weather looked generally shit, so wore the wet weather gear and had the backpack condom on - within 5 minutes of riding it was pissing rain. I wasn't at all upset, was kinda happy about making use of the rain jacket that was taking up space in my bag. Riding on-edge with heightened senses is never a bad thing, especially as we were back on a continuation of the tight, mental dirt track we were on yesterday afternoon that was super-rocky and now slippery AF. All the offroad training courses over the past few months in Dubai were definitely paying off.
Mo was back to his RFC (running from cops) pace, and I was loving it. Tight bends, poor visibility and sketchy sections galore - definitely the best way to start the day. To my amusement, we came-up hard behind a fucking dump truck that was somehow making it's way along the track - I don't know how he was managing to fit, get around the tight bends or even keep his hands on the wheel as the road was so bumpy. We got past the truck and about 10 minutes later I cracked up when I saw a fucking public bus on the same track!! Hats off to those drivers - and the poor bastards that have to catch the buses!
As we snaked down the hill out of the clouds i caught my first glimpse of tea plantations and signalled Mo to stop so I could get a snap of all the workers in the fields despite the driving rain. The scenery was incredible - but spewing the tops of all the mountains were covered in clouds.
As we rode the crappy winding roads back to civizastion the roads gradually improved in quality - as did the weather - and the ride was quite relaxing.
We reached a T in the road and turned the opposite direction to Kandy. After a few kms I noticed a few army guys with AK's randomly standing at an intersection which seemed a bit odd, but then I realised on the other side of the intersection there were a number of burnt-out shops still smouldering away from riots in recent days, even though we were 20km away from the heart of the problems in Kandy. Apparently the shops belonged to Muslims.
Eventually the sun broke thru and it got super-steamy, literally - steam was riding off the road. I also realised that the road was so completely covered in oil slicks that it resembled that shitty Star level on Mario Cart - in most areas it was completely rainbow coloured. I was bursting for a piss so had Mo pull over... we had a laugh about the colour of the road, I took some pics, and when we got back on the bikes, not 3 turns later we passed a van that had under-steered (slid) through a corner and into the side of an oncoming truck completely obliterating the front of the van... suddenly the oil slicks on the road weren't so hilarious - I really needed to start paying more attention to my riding line thru corners.
The next 20 minutes we were blessed with dry weather, patches of sunshine and incredible views. The roads were truly amazing - I spent just as much time looking down the valleys as I did on the roads. As we made our way back up the mountains the weather got worse, and once we were back in the clouds the fog became dense - so bad that we could barely see 20 metres in front of us. Mo signalled for us to stop and turn off the road - we were back at the top of "18 Bends Road" that we rode yesterday - if the view was shitty from the lookout yesterday, it was absolutely non-existent today.
We stopped for about 10 minutes while Mo made some calls, and altho I didn't take off my helmet I moved my goggles off my face. When we jumped back on the bikes i realised that those few minutes the goggles were off my face, condensation from the fog got inside them and I could barely see a thing... but when them off the raindrops made it almost impossible to see... this is on top of MAXIMUM 20 metres of visibility... and we were about to ride down one of the windiest roads in the country! 😂 Fortunately we got stuck behind a truck and I didn't have to worry about follow white lines I couldn't see.
Again, once we made it out of the clouds the views were amazing - even tho it was the same road, it was a different perspective. We turned into a hotel that seemed too fancy for the area (Mapakada Village). We pulled around to the rear where there was sweet-looking Infiniti pool overlooking the adjacent lake, it's too bad the weather was too shit to use it.
Everything from my waist down was soaked thru - the good old North Face shell worked a treat, as did the backpack condom. None of my washing for the last 2 days had dried due to the lack of sunshine, so kinda urgently set-up my room as best as possible, using my impeccable improvising skills, to get everything dried.
Had internet for the first time in 48hrs, so went down to the restaurant next to the pool to sink a few beers, check messages, make journal entries, etc. I ended up chatting to a Sri Lankan lady who I'd seen earlier with a couple and a kid - I figured she was the nanny. The couple and kid left so we started chatting away - she introduced herself as Big Mama (apparently thats how she's endearingly referred to by all - her actual name was Shelomi). The name suited her perfectly tho - whilst not big in stature, she was rather round and had a larger than life personality.
Big Mama had an incredible story about her experience with the riots in Kandy at the start of the week - she was trapped in a bus for 6 hours in front of the courthouse which was the epicentre of the riots. The crowds were hunting Muslims, then when they couldn't find any stores started being torched and the police fired tear gas which overwhelmed her and the other people on the bus. Our conversation rolled onto Sri Lankan history, Sri Lankan culture, her own personal history of working all over the world (including Dubai) which was fascinating. We ended up eating together and chatting for all of about 6 hours. You meet some really fascinating people when you travel solo.