About this experience
Adventure Cycling from Galle is a private seven-hour day on two wheels: an easy 35 km ride along country roads to a working tea plantation in Akuressa and a local village, with a freshwater river dip and a village lunch along the way. The pace is relaxed, but there are two or three short uphill climbs, so you should be reasonably fit. Minimum age is 12.
The tour starts at 8.30 am at the tour operator's house, so please arrive 15 minutes early. After a welcome and a short briefing you are fitted with a mountain bike in your size, a helmet and leech socks, and given bottled water for the ride.
Your English-speaking local guide then leads you about 18 km out through small villages, past the tea plantation, tropical palms, ferns and coconut trees, and across the lush green paddy fields that are a big part of daily life in southern Sri Lanka. A short stretch on the main road and a stop for a refreshing coconut bring you to the village.
There you leave the bikes at a local house and walk about 15 minutes to the river for a swim in fresh water fed from the Hiyare Rainforest, so bring a swimsuit and a towel. Back at the house, lunch is a local meal prepared by the family, before the 17 km ride back to the start.
The price covers your guide, bike and equipment, lunch, water, refreshments and government taxes. Personal expenses and a tip for your guide are not included.
