My good friend Tom is the consummate adventurer completing over 90 cycling, multi-adventure, and walking tours on all seven continents. He sends out his trip itineraries over a year in advance. I saw he had reserved a Butterfield & Robinson Sri Lanka bike tour with good friend Jennie, and I thought, “Wow…I would love to go as well”. Marla gave me the go-ahead which was super sweet of her! On February 6th after 3 flights and 32 hours of flying I touched down in Colombo, Sri Lanka. I left the snow and cold for welcome heat and humidity. The photo above shows day 1 ready to set out for a ride.

Butterfield and Robinson knows how to organize simply fabulous tours. Our guides, Peter in the left photo and Alessio in the left of the right photo, were simply amazing and took great care of our every need. Suranga (wearing the pink shirt) was fabulous as well and usually in the lead on each of our 7 days of riding. We had a staff of 7 persons including 3 vans for total support!

We rode a coastal road passing many fishermen.

Time to head inland.

My E-Bike had a mechanical problem so Suranga replaced a part on the spot..

As the country is mainly Buddhist. we rode by many beautiful Buddhist temples.

We met for a wonderful lunch at historic “The Notary”s House” outside of Colombo. We had a great group from New York City, Tennessee, Michigan, Nevada, and Australia.

I love the colonial style decor.

This is a fascinating piece on display at “The Notary’s House”. It is a statue of Nandi, the sacred bull and the vehicle of the Hindu god Shiva. The style is of the “Kandyan” period, 1597-1815.

We had a rest-stop later in the day with fresh fruits and drinks. It was very welcome due to the heat!

After a long day of riding we checked into the fabulous Uga Ulagalla Resort. I’m doing the candle lighting ritual for new guests.

A staff person took me to my villa by buggy. The interior and outdoor pool were superb! The property is a sprawling 58 acres with a 150-year-old mansion at the entrance.

The next morning I decided to take a 15 minute walk to reception for breakfast and today’s riding.

I walked by a female peacock.

The reception is wonderfully decorated with colonial style furnishings inspired from Sri Lanka’s (formerly called Ceylon) Dutch and British heritage.

Male Peacocks on the roof and by the pool were showing off.

Ready for the ride.

Friendly monks on the road.

Left to right: Dr. Eva, Suranga, yours truly, and Ebbie…rolling down the highway.

School was just getting out.

We stopped by a Hindu shrine of Ganesha. The dogs really paid no notice of my psychedelic jersey.

Riders really had to be diligent because of people walking in the road, motorcyclists, stray dogs everywhere, potholes, rice drying on the curbs, and oodles of Tuk Tuks whizzing by.

We rode to a very special temple in Anuradhapura with the oldest documented tree, “Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi” (Sacred Bo-Tree). Legend says it was brought to the island as a sapling from the original tree, under which Prince Siddhartha (Buddha) attained enlightenment over 2200 years ago. Because we were wearing cycling shorts, we were give a long sarong to cover bare legs. Our guide gave us a tour and a lotus flower offering in the temple. This is an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists worldwide.

The sacred tree is supported with golden poles.

In Sri Lanka, the lotus flower is a significant symbol representing purity, rebirth, hope, and strength, often associated with divinity and wisdom, appearing frequently in both Buddhist and Hindu temples.

The 4th century Samadhi Buddha Statue, is one of the most important in Sri Lanka. The statue shows Buddha in deep meditation.

I scheduled a massage in the afternoon and walked to the spa at the Uga Ulagalla. I almost fell over when a 3′ Land Monitor lizard whizzed by me!

Dinner and music at “Kamatha” for a very traditional multi-course Sri Lankan cuisine.

The next day we road through the jungle to the very unique Galkadawala Forest Lodge for lunch. The setting and architecture are totally unique. Tom made friends with the owner’s dogs.

This was my favorite dining experience for Sri Lankan cuisine all week!

Walking up to a very ancient rock temple established by King Valagamba around 80 B.C.

Young monks and school kids gather near the temple.

In the weeks ahead I’ll share more about incredible Sri Lanka.

Photos: Dick Gentry. A few by our Butterfield & Robinson guides, Alessio & Peter. Not to be shared without permission.