Days like yesterday make me wonder why we travel this way. Days like today make it obvious. 

Bike touring can be blissful and agonizing, physically exhausting and immensely gratifying, offering glimpses into a country’s best and worst. Yesterday got off to a rough start, with Allegra narrowly missing a snake crossing the road and screaming so loudly I almost fell over. The volume and duration of her howl clearly impressed the local canine population, which started baying in unison and began chasing after us. A furious sprint and a few choice obscenities followed, until the dogs realized it was more trouble than it was worth. Things went downhill from there. Well, uphill actually. And poorly. The road was narrow and busy, making for a grating ride. We were clearly on a major route  for Sri Lanka’s ubiquitous red busses, which belch diesel exhaust and whose drivers demonstrate their masculinity by swerving in and out of traffic and passing on blind corners. A mid-morning stop to enjoy a mango came to an abrupt conclusion when a monkey darted down from a tree and swiped our mango. The little guy then sat on a nearby branch watching us with a look of satisfaction and slurping away on our mango.

There were, of course, some gorgeous moments along the way. And despite it being many decades past its colonial glory days, the town of Kandy does have one of the most important and ornate Buddhist temples in the world, overlooking the lake, which we visited along with hundreds of South Asian pilgrims dressed in white and bearing lotus flowers and fragrant jasmine petals as offerings.

Today we woke early and were treated to as spectacular a day of riding as we have ever had, climbing into the lush central mountains of Sri Lanka and eventually into the high tea growing country above 6,000 feet. 

One particularly steep section of the climb gained 3,000 feet in six miles (10% average grade) up a narrow road that cut through forest and terraced farmland.

Along the way, we got lots of excited and friendly encouragement from little kids, many of whom wanted high fives, and enjoyed a delicious second breakfast of string hoppers with pepper curry, fried eggplant, dal, and coconut sambal.

As we were nearing the end of today’s ride, the pineapple I had tucked into my pannier for a post ride snack fell out and on to the road. I didn’t even notice I had lost it and kept pedaling along until we heard a tuk tuk driver behind us, shouting in typically exuberant Sri Lankan friendliness, “Please do not worry, I have your pineapple!”