It’s becoming a bit of a hot spot travel-wise, and we’ve been keen for a few years to check out the riding. It’s fair to say the Sri Lankan people are incredibly welcoming, and we felt safe while travelling around the country. Jumping on our bikes and exploring possible routes around Sri Lanka is definitely a highlight of my role as Tour Operations Manager, and it’s something I don’t take for granted.
We work pretty hard in every country we operate in to make sure our tours fit with the values of Escape Adventures. We try to minimise rubbish and unnecessary waste, use local businesses wherever possible, work with local guides and suppliers, and make sure the money from our tours stays in the communities we visit as much as possible.
I must say, the biking in Sri Lanka definitely came with some different risks to our other tours.
Elephants!
Our Kenya and Tanzania tours cycle through wildlife corridors, so we already have systems in place for dealing with our beautiful African elephants. But Sri Lankan elephants are definitely a different breed.
We did a lot of research around the risks before heading over and knew elephants were a common hazard on roads and in certain areas. The habits of Sri Lankan elephants are quite different from the African guys. They tend to be out early in the morning and then head into the dense bush during the day.
Sri Lanka has at least 7,451 wild elephants, according to the 2024 nationwide survey by the Department of Wildlife Conservation. The DWC keeps track of elephant movements through ongoing field observations, and some elephants are fitted with GPS collars to understand where they move. So, while there’s not a tracker on every elephant, we have a pretty good idea of the areas they use and where we need to be a bit more careful with our route planning.
Armed with this information, we had to rule out early departures on the bike in a couple of places to avoid the higher-risk times of the day.
A bit of a bummer when you’re trying to beat the heat!
One of the really interesting things we learnt while researching Sri Lanka was just how impressive the country’s ancient water management systems are. Some of these systems date back thousands of years and are still used today.
This gave us some pretty cool riding options, including following canals. These areas also had an amazing amount of birdlife, so there was plenty to look at while cruising along.
We had lots of fun scouting back roads and exploring little local towns. One of our favourites was finding the Choon Paan (bakery tuk tuk), which seemed to be playing It’s a Small World at full volume through slightly blown-out speakers in nearly every rural part of Sri Lanka! Kind of like Mr Whippy, but with tasty bread, and a super easy and cheap breakfast.
After scouting the lowlands, it was time to head into the mountains and search out some cooler weather.
We spent a few days around Nuwara Eliya scouting the tea plantations and national parks. We loved biking around here. There are heaps of little roads that lead to some pretty amazing views, and it was a completely different landscape from the hot, humid lowlands.
Then we jumped on the train to Ella, checking out the famous Nine Arches Bridge along the way. The train journey is often talked about as one of the great train rides in the world, and it was definitely a highlight. Although, being slightly biased, our TranzAlpine from Christchurch to Greymouth is still at the top of my list!
Ella definitely had a few hills, so we had a bit of fun scouting these out. Eventually we found a super-fun downhill that dropped us back into the heat of the lowlands.
Riding past rice paddies, monitor lizards and monkeys was pretty special.
And this is where the Ground Effect gear really came into its own too. Ground Effect is a New Zealand-made cycle clothing brand that we here at Escape absolutely love!
I spent a lot of time riding in Sri Lanka wearing the Ground Effect Tantrums and Lucys and Antidote Jacket. The heat and humidity meant I wanted something that was comfortable on the bike but also practical for long days of riding, getting on and off transport, and exploring places where you’re not always sure what the day is going to throw at you. The shorts were a go-to for the longer scouting days, and the Antidote Jacket came along for the cooler mountain sections and the inevitable changes in weather. And I totally got away without washing them and no one noticed! I even used them for the occasional swim/bath, and they were super quick at drying.
After a few years of planning, research, and route scouting, it was pretty special to finally get a group of riders over there and put it all into practice.
Why are we different? And why come with us? We run all our Escape Adventures tours under our NZ safety management plan, which is also independently audited. We’re always looking at ways we can be safer, more efficient and better at what we do.
We will always have at least one of our New Zealand guides on the bike, and they are PHEC (Pre-Hospital Emergency Care) trained and come with years of experience guiding tours around the world. We have an in-depth safety plan for each country we operate in. A big part of setting up a new tour is spending time talking to locals and assessing each area so we can understand the risks and work out how to mitigate them. We are also working more and more with local guides supporting us while riding. This gives our groups a real understanding of the places and communities we visit. The best of both worlds, you could say!
So, if you are interested in a tour, let us know! Or if you are a seasoned bikepacker, it’s definitely a fun place to ride! If you want any more info, whether it’s about a tour or riding advice, feel free to give us a call. We’ll leave you with our first review of our first tour:
“Once again an Escape Adventure bike trip is the best way to see a new country. A chance to really see how the locals go about their day, a chance to meet and chat with them while in the background the EA team are carrying the luggage, teeing up each nights bed, each days meals for us. Cycling the island was a great mix of farmlands, villages and the tea plantations of the high country. There were chances to take in the local cultures, appreciate the 2,000+ years of history and the sight the wild life. Two fabulous weeks with a great crew and 9 other like minded travelers on tour who on warm days were pedaling for the next ice-cream stop!”