Exploring Sri Lanka with the Tuk Tuk Tournament

I’d been loving watching the action on the BBC’s Race Across the World and I felt I wanted a bit of adventure for myself. I had heard about the Tuk Tuk Tournament in Sri Lanka, but when I had checked previously, they were sold out for 2024. Then, one day in April, I revisited their website; lo and behold there were a few team places that had just come available! Without a second thought I signed up, thinking it would be the most amazing adventure to do with my eldest son Ollie. Straight off the bat I called my sister Nickie knowing that she would say yes (she says yes to everything!) and that we’d make a great team of three: me, Ollie & Nickie.

I started to investigate what this Tuk Tuk Tournament was all about and soon realised that the ‘game’ behind the experience was really quite involved, like a big competitive treasure hunt all around Sri Lanka. The idea is that each team travels around, participating in ‘challenges’, ‘quests’ and earning ‘gems’ – then ultimately, the team with the most gems wins. I also learned that the aim of the TTT is to provide vital funds for https://palmfoundation.lk/, and specifically this year, clean fresh water to supplies to communities in rural Sri Lanka. In total, this year’s Tournament will fund 78 new clean water supplies.

I wasn’t sure how it would all be organised, but I got the gist that it would be a proper adventure with a philanthropic backbone – exactly what I wanted!

However, Ollie then decided to enrol at university, sadly ruling out his participation. Who would be our third wheel? My Cousin Antonia quickly jumped in and the MG3 were all set!

My sister Nickie and my Cousin Toe flew up from New Zealand as I flew over from England and the three of us reunited in Colombo. On the morning of Day 1, we went to the Tuk Tuk Rental office in Negombo to collect our 3 wheeled chariot, learn about the fuel, the oil, the brakes and most importantly the horn. This was followed by a quick driving lesson, where we took it in turns to do a lap around the block. After a few false starts, stalled engines and dodgy gear changes, we loaded our bags into our Tuk (now renamed McTuk) and headed out on the road to Kandy, somewhat apprehensive for the 5 hour journey ahead of us.

We then arrived at our destination in Kandy, The Mahwelli Reach Hotel, which was also the starting point of the TTT. By that stage, we’d almost gotten the hang of the gear changes, knew how close to the edge of the road we had to get to avoid the on coming buses, and that the little 6 litre fuel tank needed frequent top ups.

All of the 100 teams and their participants met at The Mahwelli for the big Introduction to the TTT, where every detail was explained, every question pre-empted, and every way to get the most out of the experience was advised. By that time, the WhatsApp Participant Banter group chat was absolutely buzzing with excitement, and it was clear there were some huge characters about to emerge. We then decorated our wooden Tuk Tuk mascots, pimped our real Tuk Tuks, and had a timed race around a field to see who started at the front of the grid. Later that evening, the shenanigans kicked off and we partied the night away with fire and rain, live music and 300 motley crew dressed up as swans and vikings, Barbie and Bambi – everybody was ready and raring to go!

The next morning amid final frenzied preparations, the teams packed up their Tuks, prepared to shoot off through the RedBull arch and out around Sri Lanka. Each team had their own idea of where they wanted to initially travel to.

We had established a general idea of our route for the first 5 days. We set off North and into The Knuckles Mountain Range for tea plantations, then onto Lion Rock Sigariya for culture and incredible views. Next, past Polonnaruwa Ancient city for ancient buddhist history and wisdom, followed by hiking to the breathtaking Rathna Falls through jungle, then onwards driving up the escarpment via the 18 Hairpin bends in the road on the route back to Kandy.

After all that adventure, it was an absolute home-coming to return to our starting hotel and reconvene with all the other teams. We heard all about their adventures, discussed the leader board and planned routes and strategies for the second half of the Tournament. After a full day of allowing everybody to rest (and party), the tournament started again.

The second half of the tournament began, and we started heading South via Ella, which was another well trodden, action packed place that I’d never visited. Then, onwards into Yala National Park and around the South Coast back into the area of Sri Lanka that I know well. However, I’d never been to a Sri Lankan film studio, seen elephants wandering along the roads, slept in our local temple or dipped into Ice Baths in Hiriketiya. These were all totally incredible, new experiences that I would never had done had it not been for the TTT.

What particularly took me by surprise was the joy of travelling so slowly by Tuk Tuk. With a max speed of about 40kmh, you really do see, smell, hear and feel everything that goes by. Previously, I’ve only done short journeys in Tuk Tuk’s, choosing to travel longer distances by air-conditioned van, but this experience has changed my perspective about the value of travelling by the working mans vehicle, travelling at grass roots level. Additionally, at 40kmh, you feel a lot safer on the roads than in a bigger, faster-moving vehicle; you can weave in and out of situations and just gently keep out of the way of the crazy buses!

I loved finding new places to visit and improve my knowledge for recommendations for future guests. I was reminded of the incredible diversity of terrain and landscapes; the mountains are flipping steep, the climate is quite chilly, the views are insane but everywhere the peoples of Sri Lanka offer radiant smiles, a helping hand and a wicked sense of fun. We were readily invited into people’s homes to wash rice, offered their tractors to drive, their children to play with, even university lectures were attended by some of the teams.

The winners of this fabulous contest were a father and son team from Oxford UK and hats off to ‘The Great Danes’ Troels & Thor, they fought a punishing battle with the others at the top of the leader board and collected nearly 2000 gems.

I was so wow’ed by this experience that I have already put down a deposit to do the 2025 TTT and find new routes and places to visit and continue to expand my knowledge of this incredible country, Sri Lanka, my adopted second home.