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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rochel1977" data-source="post: 18672906" data-attributes="member: 371">Day 10: Nuwara Eliya <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uY5kGYt81-8/VMJDl5O2CRI/AAAAAAAAFzE/MmqGIVqyw9w/s1600/10aRacetrack.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />A day off the bike exploring Nuwara Eliya today. Created by the English, it's still got a colonial feel to it: racecourse (pic), golf club, half-timbered villa houses, High Tea at the Grand Hotel (more of this later). And the A5 goes right through it, though the one from London to Holyhead probably doesn't go past many Buddhist temples.<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2rlF75gKCkg/VMJDwqhHQ6I/AAAAAAAAFzM/_Kwl7cLsY9o/s1600/10bBehaveDecently.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />And lawned parks: Victoria Gardens was a delight to stroll around this morning. Not quite up to, say, Harrogate's Valley Gardens, but it had a nice line in formal notices that you don't really get in England these days (pic).<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DWhFkQ2xV8I/VMJD79TZC3I/AAAAAAAAFzU/j_0JRsNKj4g/s1600/10cCarPitch.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />In my morning forage for breakfast – or 'breakfirst' as it is often spelt here – I went past this second-hand car pitch. It also sold three-wheel taxis (pic), a snip at around £1,500. They often come with mottoes painted on. These range from the stirring ('Simple life makes a man successful') to the gloomily downbeat ('Life is Not a Flower Garden') to the commercial ('Pick Your Own Favourite Pizza!') to the engagingly realistic ('I may not be the best but I'm trying my best'). <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UxxYfamAvlw/VMJEGdZgNCI/AAAAAAAAFzc/0N4t51QsGR4/s1600/10dLake.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />An afternoon walk round Gregory Lake (pic - hang on, wasn't he in Emerson, Lake and Palmer?) proved sociable, chatting to a couple of people about cricket, and involved more fresh fruit juice. I had a haircut too, a very professional job involving a complex series of oils, pomades and head massages, with the salon telly showing England getting caned by Australia in the cricket ODI.<img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dDOy-M9CPWw/VMJETalJuKI/AAAAAAAAFzk/bIZtZ88SShQ/s1600/10eHighTea.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Finally came that High Tea at the Grand (pic). The clientele consisted of perky young middle-class Chinese taking group selfies with sticks (75%); bored-looking middle-aged Europeans swiping through their tablet photo-library of Wildlife Park snaps (23%); and fragrant, well-coiffured cyclists in faded trousers continually ordering top-ups for their tea (2%).All good fun (and tasty), if not exactly exuding that colonial ambience. And the brusque alacrity with which the bill arrived, unasked – before I'd even started my last cake – suggested a less than deferential attitude. I'll be glad to be back on the bike tomorrow...Day 11: Nuwara Eliya to Kandy <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F0NdDGlfXFk/VMSr9QXG10I/AAAAAAAAFz0/1giPBeCTsFc/s1600/11aHairpins.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Today was a treat: 50 miles of mostly downhill – cashing in on 1400m of descent – including 20 of freewheel. There were more hairpins (pic) than in a hairpin shop that sells a lot of hairpins after a fresh delivery of hairpins. <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G1qgX8juSTc/VMSsKy8rEyI/AAAAAAAAFz8/Kj31WNz19pc/s1600/11bMoreHairpins.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Progress actually wasn't that fast, despite the hurtling downhill speeds of up to 30mph, because I kept stopping to admire the views (pic).<img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zeCT8y-zPrw/VMSsWC7ajCI/AAAAAAAAF0E/M3UL6A_uK1A/s1600/11cLakes.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />The scenery was pretty awesome all morning (pic). I stopped for breakfast at a friendly little shophouse and had fierily delicious hoppers (conical thin pancakes) and sambol (red-hot tomato and chilli salsa) and a cup of tea. The toilet was the house's own, an outside tin shed down the bottom of the garden past some chickens. It's little moments like this that delight me about bike touring. No, really.<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-17w-HBNVfxw/VMSskkLIsRI/AAAAAAAAF0M/qVQYYVe9i6c/s1600/11dMe.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Given the lush tea-plantation scenery all around, all this free downhill, and that 40p breakfast inside me, it's no wonder I looked happy (pic).<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lhJTAWSXZjM/VMSswAMzA-I/AAAAAAAAF0U/1QLoS7YWRDQ/s1600/11eTrees.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />I got to Kandy by noon, and had time to visit the excellent Botanical Gardens on the edge of town before finding a hotel. I was particularly taken by the avenue of pine trees that look like they're staggering home after a particularly sociable party (pic). Apparently they're all wonky because their roots are weakened by chomping termites, and as they grow they get bent by the wind.<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wWbp0YVx1ZQ/VMSs9fGh3eI/AAAAAAAAF0c/GwYBbV3n024/s1600/11fDancers.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />In Kandy I visited one of the city's famous dance shows (pic), which includes (for the female dancers) elegant and subtle gestures and (for the male dancers) somersaults, fire-eating and fire-walking, all accompanied by loud drums and snake-charmer wind instrument. Bewilderingly fast, noisy and danger-defying – but fun – it was curiously similar to cycling amid Kandy's traffic bedlam.</blockquote>

Verification: Hath warak paha keeyada? (hatha wadikireema paha)

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