Trincomalee
Margaret and family had business in Trincomalee, 174 km south-east of Kilinochchi, and offered to take me as well. Although supposedly a four hour trip, the roads were in disrepair and there were several checkpoints along the way, which are always time-consuming. If you were travelling by bus all passengers must leave the bus and papers were checked individually as you (patiently) wait in long queues but if you travel by car inspectors check your papers as you waited in your vehicles. As we travelled south we saw teams of de-miners methodically scanning fields for land mines, planted during the ‘90s conflict. Before Vavuniya it was teams of Tamil soldiers looking for Singla-planted munitions and after Vavuniya, out of Tamil territory, it was teams of Singla soldiers searching for Tamil-laid mines.
As we travelled along I spied a large stupa, which I recognised from my Asian Studies degree days. We were passing near Anuradhapura when the stupa at Mihintale appeared on the side of the main road. This is of enormous significance for the Sinhalese as it is where Buddhism originated in Sri Lanka in 247 BC. Malinda, the son of the Indian Buddhist emperor, Ashoka, met the king of Anuradhapura near here while deer hunting and converted him to Buddhism.
As we travelled beside a river we noticed elephants being washed, thoroughly enjoying the experience.
Trincomalee is the gateway to some of the finest beaches in Sri Lanka. It has one of the world’s deepest harbours and is home to a large navalbase. I remember my father reminiscing that this was one of the ports that his army convoy docked in en route to the Middle East conflict during WW2. It has figured largely in the civil war conflicts being on the border of the enemy forces and a major port. At this time in 2004, curfews had begun with posturing by both sides.
We visited a large orphanage near the port. There are many Tamil orphanages in the North, due to poverty and the loss of parents in the recent conflict, which ended in 2002. Ironically, when we arrived holding little Maya, they thought we were bringing her for their care. This centre had just been taken over by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation but tragically in only a few weeks from this time the whole area was devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day tsumani, which Trincomalee bore the major brunt. So many of these children, if not all, perished on that day.
Then we drove to a resort on Nilaveli Beach. Quite a contrast to my living conditions of the last few weeks - hot water and spotless!
A delicious meal at the resort restaurant capped a very special and fascinating day.
The next day we were informed that there would be a curfew in Trincomalee. Protesters were arriving to disrupt the planned Martyrs’ Day remembrance ceremonies. The resort owner said that in the 1990s there was fighting all along the beach, in front of the hotel, but they did not close during the years of conflict. We avoided driving through the centre of Trincomalee and took a minor road through jungle until we connected to the northern road back to Kilinochchi.
M
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