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Published: June 10th 2010
Trincomalee
vibrant colors of the beachThe road to the north is really bad and buses are crazy weaving through traffic in these narrow roads, we saw an accident, looks like the car in the embankment tried to swerve from an oncoming bus but went too far, we came to a town called Vavuniya it looks very busy, this is now Tamil country, for those not in the know the Tiger rebels were defeated and peace was attained in this area only since last year. We got to the last checkpoint at Omanthi but there was a checkpoint that the Sri Lankan army was manning, they asked for passports, most of the soldiers here look like boy soldiers, they are so young looking, anyway one officer came back to tell us I needed a certificate or permission from my own embassy in order to get past this point, we are heading to Jaffna and they won't let us through unless I get some letter from the US embassy! ridiculous! This is the 1st time I was asked to get permission from my own government to visit a certain place in a country. We later decided it is not worth the trouble of seeking this permission, they need
to fax it to me if ever they decide to give me one and we don't want to be stuck here waiting for that letter so we decided to head to Trincomalee instead, they have some good beaches there apparently too.One thing I noticed is a strong presence of military here, there are barracks and checkpoints everywhere.
We fell asleep as we drive to get to Trinco, Mr.T asking locals the way as they were fixing the roads and its confusing, there are a lot of UN and UNICEF vehicles and Oxfam is here too, perhaps trying to help this part of Sri Lanka get some development after years and years of war. Men here sport a thick beard not all but you definitely notice it in the streets.
The scenery we followed to get to Trinco was nice, a couple of lagoons with lots of birds, we stopped for a cold drink near an army barracks about 30 kms from Trinco. Kanniya hot springs is in the way so we stopped to visit it, nothing spectacular really, just square pools of hot water of varying temperatures, there is a bucket if you want to scoop and bathe yourself.
Trincomalee
spotted deer walking in the main street Arriving in Trinco we went to the beach right away for a walk, nice beach, clean and not crowded, a couple of fortune tellers followed us convincing us to have them read our fortunes, we declined but they kept following us, we left and gave them some money. We had lunch at this moslem restaurant, reminds me of the Yemeni restaurants I went to when I was there. Dirty floors,cut up newspapers for tissues, guys wearing that sarong thing but the food is delicious! We drove out of Trinco and looked for a place near the beach the beach is called Nilaveri and it's nice but we took awhile to find a place we went to a few but are expensive, one homestay was offered to us but not looking comfortable and away from the beach, we settled to this place near an army zone with barb wires on a path that leads to the beach, they were devastated by the tsunami years ago and the owner showed me photos of the aftermath, now they are almost recovered but business is trickling slowly Shahira hotel is the name.
Shahira hotel looks nice and we are close to the
beach, no tourists here, just us 3,500 rupees a night for triple room. We went back to town which took about 1/2 hour to get some dinner, same thing for me fried rice with chicken, there's a number of food stalls you can chose from, we went to the internet as well and shopped for bread for tomorrow's breakfast. Along the way we got stopped by police, they just wanted a ride to town, about 5 of them, they were so quiet apart from the head guy who chatted with Mr. T, they were all smiles when they got off, seems very appreciative we gave them a ride. We bought some arrack, the alcohol of choice here, I wasn't planning on drinking as I am still a bit under the weather but Mr.T urged me to drink with him, Nish and Soch had the beer while me and Mr.T polished off the 350 ml arrack chased with beer then later water. I slept like a log, randomly woken up by the sound os someone puking in the bathroom, it was Soch feeling ill. I fell asleep again, later in the morning I went for a walk to the beach and
Trincomalee
not really, they ran out of sign, so i was told... saw fishermen working on their nets, someone who spoke English chatted with me about their livelihood, he says since their boat has no motor, they fish only from 4-6am today is not much catch because of the wind, it is quite windy here, my clothes that I washed dried in about an hour and it was night time!
The man explained to me what happened when the tsunami hit in 2004, he said it was one long wave about 7 feet but came only once, the nearby Pigeon island which we can see from a distance did not suffer any damage according to him, a number of people who happened to be in the beach died, there used to be a community of small villages around but now they are gone and the huts they now live in is temporary and it is low to shelter from the wind, i think now they have a siren alarm for the locals to be aware if big waves are about to come, it takes a disaster to realize how vulnerable they are living close to the sea. I went for a swim later, The beach has a depression where the waves
break but from there it is flat, and sandy no corals or rocks and the water is nice emerald green. Nish joined me later for a swim then we headed back to cook some breakfast, we asked if we can use the kitchen they obliged, I cooked the instant noodles that my friend Su gave me from Taiwan to use in emergencies like this, hits the spot. Washed more clothes and then just chilled.
Power outtage while I was having a nap, as windy as it may seems outside it is stiffling hot inside our room, we got up and went to town, power came back up as we were about to leave, in town we used the internet and had lunch, and bought some booze. Coming back to the hotel, no power again! The manager told us they are working on it, we got drunk while waiting outside of the room for power to come back on, its quite windy and I was thinking to sleep outside, I got tired and passed out in my bed to wake up perspiring heavily and mozzies eating us alive, so annoying, and we have our shower dripping loudly, at least they
Trincomalee
Shahira hotel got that fixed. We got up early to leave, still no power, they said some lines may have been knocked out by the high winds.
We moved on and get back to Kandy, along the way we see lots of pilgrims for the Vesak celebration, it's a national holiday and everybody is out, on the road, flags are being waved on the side of the road inviting motorists to stop for tea, drinks or food, we stopped for some drink they gave us free pink drinks, It was salty and sweet at the same time, it tastes gross but we finished it out of politeness. Another stop at Matale town for lunch, long queue cause it's free but the food I did not like, a bit spicy and it's got and smelly after taste, oh well. Kandy is busy and full of activities, we settled in to Devon hotel again. We used the pool as it is quite hot, service though in this hotel is quite bad, there were 3 reception staff in the desk all women and they dont seem to know what to do, our room has several things missing , we requested extra towels, a blanket,
Trincomalee
Shahira hotel it took us 4 or 5 times of following up before they gave it to us, a/c remote is dead, took 4 calls for someone to come up and fix that, and the worse is it turns out we have to tell them which channels we want on cable this took the whole day, we called, we went down to reception desk and still 8 hours later nothing was added but the Discovery channel!
We got promised they will add the cable channels we wanted before 7pm, so we went for a walk to town, everybody is out, some barefoot walking along the banks of the pond, people are eating, sightseeing, singing, very lively atmosphere, we bought some avocados, some snacks as we walk in the busy streets. We got tired so we dceided to go back, and also millions of crows are flying over the town, poop all over we struggle to avoid not to get shit on. Chaos as we walk back to the hotel, so many people quite difficult to walk. Arriving at the hotel, cable situation is still grim, so I walked up to the front desk and exploded, it so happens the general manager
Trincomalee
DMZ beach near our hotel was there and listening in, in 10 minutes cable channels were added to our tv!
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