There is a piece of Sri Lanka closest to India. We cycled out that peninsula to Mannar. The roads were smooth, flat and not very busy. The posted distance was 130km but I decided to catch a van when it passed me at 97km.

It was nice to get going after a rest day.

We had a riders meeting, breakfast and then I was one of the first to set off. I like these nice temperatures earlier in the day.

Good example of a quiet road, complete with resting dogs and also a stupa. I saw symbols of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam today. The far north was location of Tamil insurgency in the civil war. I didn’t see many war signs but there were multiple military sites.

Coming into our first coke stop. A little earlier parts of the road were used to dry grains.

A small Hindu shrine.

Corn drying. Traffic…

Lunch. Felt strong and I was still one of the early ones at lunch.

Fellow riders note a contrast with India in that “there are lines on the roads”. Here there was even a short stretch of designated bikeways. For the record, I’ve seen lines in larger roads and city roads in places like Bangalore – though also expect TDA has tried to pick smaller rural roads.

Train station – shortly after this I took the van. We are in a rural location without much else around. Apparently this area is best known as place for birders to spot birds.