Sri Lanka 3

Sri Lanka (part 3)

(I never intended this to be a  Sri Lankan guide book, as such, any places I visit that I do not give sufficient detail about, and that you want to know more about, please check out on line)

So the tour begins with a long drive down the left hand side of the island, from Negambo, skirting Colombo, to Galle.

 In the UK, you leave a city, population thins out and then you encounter intermittent towns, villages etc interspersed with countryside. On this side of Sri Lanka (SL) the roads are almost entirely populated.

As I have not been off the main road I have no idea how far back these extend, but you never seem to lose roadside existence selling all sorts of goods from a multitude of sales facilities - concrete garages, corrugated sheeted huts or just boxes supported by sticks. You also never lose the ubiquitous stray dogs, many of which sleep in the carriage way and shuffle out of the way with every passing car. The lack of canine roadkill  however suggest they have become pretty adept at their work.

 

First stop a turtle farm, a few huts and concrete vats, hidden from view by thick undergrowth, on the edge of a beach This was a hands on encounter with baby turtles, produced from eggs sold by local fishermen who stalk the visiting female turtles, dig up their eggs and sell what they can’t eat, or profit from, to the volunteer farm, who then incubate the eggs, and a few weeks later, release the hatchlings into the sea. Its great work but truly primitive surroundings.

 Later I took a 4 hour boat trip around a colossal coastal inlet housing some 200 small ‘islands’, most of which are clumps of impenetrable mangrove roots, but some, which clogged with mud and vegetation thousands of years ago, established themselves sufficiently to have become small land masses and a few are inhabited.

 

i visited an iisland where a family live with no electricity, a small spring for water and a mud hut for shelter. They produce cinnamon from their island trees as their descendants have done as far back as they can recall They have mesmerising knife skills which they delight in demonstrating, as they shred the scented bark and pack it into lengths for drying. It is utterly charming, everything being done with a huge smile and genuine appreciation that you have visited.

I am well aware that I have taken a lot of time describing two relatively minor events but these were two most memorable encounters and I felt very much worthy of recording.

I don t think you can properly comment on this area  of SL without making reference to the Tsunami of 2004, when, without warning, a wave of up to 30 feet smashed into the coast and drove inland as far as 3km.

The quality of the vast majority of the housing in the affected area was designed to withstand rain and stood no chance against the wave. Look at a map and realise that it impacted for over a hundred miles of coastline. To the west of Galle, (where 40 school children died in the town bus station), and to the east of Yala National Park, (where 47 Japanese tourists were swept to their deaths), the impact was massive and devastating. 

As you drive the coast road there are still hundreds of properties that have, even now, not been rebuilt and they stand derelict and salt stained,  9 years has seen a clean up of the majority of the initial devastation but it still haunts this area and its population, especially as it is so dependant on the sea for its existence.