Sri Lanka

[simonp]

Hi all

A mate and I are planning an 8 day trip in Feb on xl250s and want to stay off the tarmac as much as we can. Has anyone been? i can't find much more than escorted royal Enfield trips. any thoughts welcome.

Simon

[MudFing]

Did a loop of the whole island back in 2016 on xr250 bajas (probably the same bikes/company you're renting from?)... We did about 70% offroad. Took about 12 days. Beautiful country / roads... There were some pics in my rtw thread... Not sure if it still exists.

I have some gpx routes somewhere I think.

Watch out for the leeches, we put our helmets down in the grass for less than 5 minutes and ended up looking like extras in a zombie movie!

The primate centre is worth a visit, the mountain route outside kandy is epic, tea plantations are scenic, you can ride right up to elephants in the south of the island. Happy to help with any questions

[Mike Wright]

In 2001 I spent 3 months out there and hired a XR250 for about £4 for 22hrs so hired it for about 5 days. Bought a local map and headed off from Welligamma to Kandy via the mountains up to Nuwara Eliya following tracks and minor roads, in fact mostly off road. You can ride anywhere you like so I rode through tracks at Tea Plantations, jungle, road works etc without any hassle. You need to bring a medical kit as you really dont want any roadside DIY fix by anyone willing to have a go. Beware though the road rules dont exist and its a free for all in places with traffic.

Loads of cheap places and met alot of really nice genuine kind people who welcomed me into homes and offerred free food and tea. It was during the civil war I went so loads of military and road blocks but I had no issues with either the Lankans or Tamils and they treated me well.

Great adventure you will enjoy it but make sure you have proper medical cover and injections etc.

[Andysr6]

West coast is very busy but east was far quieter and better.