3. Next stop Pinnewala 🐘 🦚

 

Our first encounter with the elephants 🥰

We said our goodbyes to Spice of Ceylon and, although sorry to be leaving such a wonderful place, we were looking forward to our next stop - The Peacock Village in Pinnewala.  

Again there was a threat of thunderstorms and we were anticipating a fairly tough ride based on the route information. It was certainly warm and sunny when we set off and the temperature continued to rise steadily as we continued.  Thankfully there was a fair bit of shade and a nice breeze at times too, both of which helped. 

After about 15 miles the gears on the bike started to play up a little (the lowest 5 gears were missing, far from ideal for the upcoming mountains) and we had to stop for a fair while so Max could fix the gearing outer cable with some black tape. This drew quite a crowd and plenty of offers of help too 👍. One guy, who introduced himself as Shantha, was particularly helpful and managed to help Max eventually fix the problem 🥳. I was then invited for a tour of his shop which actually turned out to be an IT classroom - I've no idea how that got lost in translation! Eventually we said our goodbyes but not before we'd exchanged phone numbers so that I could share the photos I'd taken 🤩. We've heard from him several times since and have been invited for lunch/dinner on our way back to Colombo - although sadly we probably won't be able to as it'd be abit too far off course from our route back. 

We found a delightful pitstop at a very inviting roadside juice bar and chatted to the young girls serving us - all of whom were super lovely and seemed genuinely interested in our trip 🥰 . The fresh juice was fabulous, served nice and cold - very refreshing so just the ticket and unbelievably cheap. We battled to leave them a tip and I made sure to leave them a lovely review on google 🤩. 

In the end the ride wasn't as bad as we'd both feared - all the climbing felt doable and we were treated to plenty of descents and seemed to make good progress on the flat stretches.

We arrived at our accommodation just in the nick of time and made it to our room just as the heavens were opening ⛈️. The check-in process was incredibly slow and for no apparent reason, other than the manager seeming very pedantic or possibly confused by the fact that we'd made two separate bookings (having extended/moved the dates of our visit so as to avoid said thunderstorm that had been forecast 🤔). We waited patiently but were both slowly losing the will as the thunder and lightening got closer and closer. 

Once shown to our room our first impressions were good - the majority of rooms were housed in a large container style unit but we'd opted for a one bedroom chalet set in it's own grounds and complete with a little terrace overlooking a small lake. It was the perfect vantage point for spotting lots of flora and fauna everywhere - I noted a kingfisher and a few other colourful birds flitting about and in the lake several small lizards tiny terrapins and various fish. It definitely seemed by far the better option with the added advantage that it was situated closer to the partner hotel where both breakfast and dinner were served. Once there we were treated to the most magnificent view overlooking the river which is where the elephants from the nearby sanctuary/orphanage (which rescues mistreated/injured elephants 🥲) were brought several times a day to bathe. It was the most beautiful sight although, for me, it was still tinged with sadness knowing they're not free. I felt conflicted and so in the end decided against visiting the actual orphanage itself.  That said all the elephants we saw did seem to be very well looked after and most of them were walking freely through the street on their way to the river, accompanied by mahouts who, as far as we could tell, did seem to genuinely care for them. 

Getting our laundry done was a priority while in Pinnewala and I'd found a place a couple of miles away that seemed to get very good reviews. We cycled there one morning after breakfast only to find it locked up with no sign of life. We were just about to leave when the owner turned up on his motorbike - our lucky day! He said he'd have our laundry ready within 24 hours, took my number so he could contact us when it was ready and recommended we take a short ride up the road  where he assured us we'd find nice scenery and forest. With no other plans we took his advice and almost immediately were faced with a fairly steep ascent and then a few more ups and downs! Fortunately it didn't last too long and without the luggage it was definitely easier to cycle and arguably good practice for what we were facing in the days ahead. Still, I thought, he could have at least warned us about the climbs 😂. Luckily the laundry assurances were right on the money and we picked it up the next morning - fresh and ironed and all done for £1 (plus a large tip which we battled to get him to accept 😉!!). I left him a glowing review on google 👍. 

Even though we were staying at The Peacock Village I was still surprised by our first sighting of one - in the field opposite our chalet 🫣.  No sooner had we spotted him than he fanned his feathers which was an absolutely beautiful sight, instantly bringing to mind and to life the phrase "proud as a peacock"! Needless to say I struggled to get my camera ready in time to capture it though 😬. Note to self - I need to get with the programme much quicker in future 😂. 

All in all it was a very relaxing stay in the Peacock Village - at this early stage in the trip we decided to make the most of the downtime and use it as such rather than cram in too many activities and trips. There would be plenty of time ahead for more of that and we were keen to ensure we had plenty in the tank for the next round of cycling - especially since it would involve embracing mountains and possibly rain too 🫣.

A fond farewell to Spice of Ceylon 

Back across the makeshift ferry - the damage to the bridge being even more evident 

Tree of the day 🤩

The lovely ladies at the juice bar 🤩

Santha helping Max fix the bike 

Lush green scenery everywhere 

This lady pulled down the branch to help me inspect the fruit. I thought it was lychee but she gestured it wasn't edible 

The view from the restaurant at Pinnewala Village 

Elephant bathing time 

Our first (of many) peacock sighting 

A stunning sunset over the river

Bathing time again 

Aaah 🥰

Our nice little chalet by the lake 

Max posing - after the elephants had gone! 

Dinner by the river - a very tasty curry washed down with a lion beer 👍

Our view of the lake from the chalet