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Published: February 3rd 2009
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Trincomalee
Dutch Bay in Trincomalee
I'm lazy and not in a very creative mood, so much so that I couldn't even come up with a fitting title to this blog, but I shall endeavor to write a worthwhile entry for those of you who bother to read my stories.
Going down the east coast was like going through one big army base. Every 5 miles or so there was another road block and in between the road blocks at intervals of about 500 meters there were little sand or wood made bunkers surrounded by razor wire... As a tourist traveling here I found the whole business tedious and it left a bit of a bad feeling; I couldn't imagine what it was like for the people living in this region. Having to go through this every day, how demoralizing. It felt a bit like an open air prison to me, and I think it must feel that way to those living in the area to. The reason for this massive army presence is the fact that parts of the east coast were until recently under LTTE control (the Tamil Tigers, who are fighting for an independent state encompassing the east and north of Sri Lanka)
Uppuveli
Uppuveli beach and I suspect another reason is because a lot of the people living on the east coast are Tamil and thus suspect in the government eyes. And so it is that they have set up this huge security system, checking everybody going anywhere every so many miles.
I of course decided to go from Batticaloa to Trincomalee via the coastal road, which was through a high security zone and meant even more army presence and even more roadblocks than usual in this region. A bus ride can take a very long time, when the bus is stopped every 10 minutes and everybody has to get out and have their bags checked. As a foreign tourist I didn't need to get of and most of the times they didn't even ask for my passport; once a female police officer even profoundly apologized for the whole business, but there was nothing to apologies for, at least not to me. It was her job, so who was I to complain and I could have taken the easier inland route avoiding a lot of the hassle I was going through now. After 7 grueling hours on a bad road and lots of stops,
Uppuveli
Fisherman on the beach but with some interesting conversations with my fellow passengers I arrived in Mutur from where I was to take a small ferry to Trincomalee, which was on the other side of a big bay. The ferry ride was beautiful, but as I took out my camera to take a photo of a fishing boat riding the waves I was warned by somebody that it was prohibited to take photos here and I could land in jail for doing so. As a consequence I didn't take the photo and so it was a lot of the time on the east coast. With such a military presence it was hard to find a place where there wasn't something sensitive that made taking a photo impossible. Thus I have very little photo's of this region, not due to a lack of beauty, but simply because I never felt at ease taking any pictures. Not knowing whether it was allowed or not or if it would get me into trouble or not.
Trincomalee is a big naval base and so thus as every town in the east highly garrisoned. I stayed the night in town right on the beach on the aptly named
Anuradhapura
Jetavanarama Dagoba
Dutch Bay... Where else could a Dutchman stay but in a bay named after his fellow citizens. Next to my hotel was... An army bunker! Trinco has a Dutch fort as many of the coastal towns have, and as is also the case with many of the forts, it is under military supervision. There are some Christian churches, Hindu temples, Buddhist shrines and Muslim mosques scattered around town testifying to the diversity of this city.
I tried to get away from the whole security presence by moving up to a beach just north of Trincomalee, in a village called Uppuveli. The beach was nice, but there was no getting away from the forces that be. At the end of the beach was a navy encampment and it was closed off! Getting tired of the constant feeling of being watched by the security apparatus, I left the east and went to Anuradhappura, once the ancient capital of the country and full of dagobas and other ruins of the past. As the bus left the coast the roadblocks gradually disappeared and the stifling sensation that I had been feeling left me. Anuradhappura is an interesting place; it is home to the
Anuradhapura
One or another bird like creature oldest historically authenticated tree, which is the sacred bodhi tree. A sapling of the tree under which Buddha became enlightened all those years ago. It was brought to Anuradhappura by the daughter of the Indian Emperor Ashoka over 2000 years ago and has been tended to ever since. It is heavily guarded, because of the fear of an attack by the Tamil Tigers on this most sacred site. Apart from the tree, Anuradhappura has some of the biggest dagobas on the island and many other interesting ruins, which every sane person sees either by renting a bicycle or hiring an auto rickshaw due to the distances involved. But I am not sane and I am frugal too, so I walked... And I walked.... And I walked... And eight hours later I was a very tired, very hot, but immensely satisfied man.
Having not got enough of walking I decided to do it all over again in Polonnaruwa, another ancient capital. I found it a more interesting sight, with more statues which are more fun to watch than the dagobas. The setting of the ruins was in a nice woodland park, which made the walk quite pleasant actually. To celebrate
Anuradhapura
Cute monkey with flat top hairstyle!
my fantastic achievement of saving 3 dollars in two days, I watched a most spectacular and beautiful sunset over the huge, man made lake, that is lying just next to the ancient city.
Having still not got enough of ruins I left for Sigiriya rock the following day to immerse myself in the intricacies of what this lump of stone had to offer me. Not as much walking was required, it was climbing that was needed this time, using all together different muscles. As I wanted to continue torturing myself I decided that mid day was the hottest and thus the most inconvenient and worst time to do it, perfect for me! I managed to hitch a ride back to my guesthouse though, saving me another thirty cents! Oh the joy and wonder of it all!
I decided enough was enough and have settled down in Kandy in a nice old colonial hotel with a common balcony overlooking the lake in the centre. It has old colonial furniture and all the other colonial trimmings, yet the rooms are very inexpensive. I have spent my days lazing on this same balcony talking to other travelers and watching life go
Anuradhapura
Sacred Bodhi Tree
by. Kandy has a very important Buddhist temple which contains the tooth of the great Buddha, but I have given it a miss... I need not see any tooth, even if it is the Buddha’s. I've understood you don't see anything anyway, so I guess I am not missing out on much. The lake itself is very pleasant and walking around it you can spot lots of birds, fish, water monitors and turtles and that is all that I require at the moment... That and my balcony!
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Marijn
non-member comment
Hoi Ralf! Mooi verhaal weer, hoor! Ik ben elke keer weer zwaar onder de indruk van je geschreven Engels, lekkere woordenschat doe je op tijdens het reizen! Goed te zien dat je je reisdraai weer helemaal gevonden hebt en mooie foto's, beetje natuur derbij, mooi.. Ik lees je blogs weer trouw :-) en wens je heel veel plezier en mooie ervaringen bij wat je allemaal nog op je pad zult tegenkomen! Doei, Marijn