Sri Lanka 2026
In January 2026, we’re taking two Yamaha FZ150s and a couple of duffels around Sri Lanka: north to Jaffna and Mannar, across the ancient cities and tea-country highlands, then back down the west and south coasts. It’s our first time on the island, so the plan is more of a suggestion than a promise—we’re expecting beauty, bureaucracy, great food, a few wrong turns, and whatever surprises the road decides to throw at us.
Ruins, Rain, and the Road South
Posted on 10 January 2026 by David
We stayed in Jaffna a little longer than planned. We weren’t feeling great — slightly queasy, not quite ourselves — but we went to the fort anyway. Jaffna Fort is one of those places that looks complete from a distance and unfinished up close. A second, quieter marker of the war. It’s a beautiful star […]
Riding Where Land Loosens
Posted on 9 January 2026 by David
I took off my helmet, looked at Dalma, and asked “what did we just do?” We’d just gone for a ride. That was it. No destination. No objective. No sense that we were going anywhere in particular. Just riding for the sake of riding, looking around, turning when the road suggested it. Which, for Dalma […]
Between Mannar and Jaffna, the Map Goes Quiet
Posted on 8 January 2026 by David
Yesterday was supposed to be the ride from Mannar to Jaffna. Instead, it began in a place that exists slightly outside travel altogether. In Mannar, I ended up in hospital. I had a pain in the right calf, which was a bit swollen and hot. Dalma was fussing and insisted we go to hospital. I […]
Kalpitiya to Mannar: Weather, Animals, and the Limits of Optimism
Posted on 7 January 2026 by David
We left Kalpitiya assuming the weather would behave. It was, after all, the end of the rainy season. If it rained, it would be brief. It was hot. We’d dry quickly. Rain gear stayed buried. That optimism lasted about ten minutes. Because we couldn’t ride north through Wilpattu National Park, the route dragged us south […]
First ride. Negombo to Kalpitiya.
Posted on 4 January 2026 by David
After the problems of the bikes, and Dalma’s portent that we were only just likely to see them, they were delivered to our hotel on time the morning of our departure. We’d probably have left a little earlier, but 9.30am saw us on the road, bags secured, and geared up. We’d be riding 130km. On […]
Negombo and starting
Posted on 3 January 2026 by David
So the last few days have been static. We always seem to start out with a chill few days recovering from both the flight and the year. We arrived at 2am on the 30th, sorted Sim cards and the (expensive) local driver permits at the airport, getting to the hotel at 2am. We’d booked a […]
Departure from Oz
Posted on 30 December 2025 by David
Well, it wouldn’t be Two Wheels In if there wasn’t a small amount of chaos. As much as Dalma tries to be organised, and as good at it as she is, the whirlwind of mayhem that is me sometimes overwhelms her. Our flight is at 5.20pm, and I somehow conspired to put it in the […]