Trincomalee

Trincomalee is a remote seaside village. You will find local fisherman bringing in the daily catch with stray dogs and an occasional herd of cattle while children play outside their thatched roof homes. Its an interesting mix of Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims where everyone seems to get along. Rather deceiving since the village has such a rocky past with war/terrorism and the 2004 tsunami killing more than 850 people the day after Christmas. Today locals just seem to be grateful for peace in the community.

Upon arrival I found the village to be so remote and deserted I thought how can we spend three days here but when I left I realized it left a special place in my heart. Three of us decided to walk down the beach and soon became friends with the locals. A group of five children full of smiles came running out of virtually nowhere simply asking if we had pens! Note, they only knew a few words of English. Of course we gave them what we had and decided we'd come back the next day with more. We joked who knew santa was a blonde lady?! We played with the children and took photos before returning to the hotel. The kids absolutely loved seeing themselves on iphones and swiping through the photos.

The next day our group climbed a hill behind the military base Fort Fredrick to visit the Hindu Temple Konesvaram on Swami Rock. Lovers Leap had beautiful ocean views. Legend says its where the daughter of a Dutch official allegedly threw herself off the rock after her lover sailed away. Good thing she survived and married years later... never give up ladies ;) We also visited the Kanniya hot springs where locals go to heal themselves by dumping buckets of water on each other and ended the day walking through the center of town where basic necessities were sold - food, shoes (flip flops) and hardware.

Returning to the hotel with pens, paper, and cookies we made our way down the beach for a special delivery! The kids saw us from a distance and came running down the beach with what seemed to be the ring leader Mary and some other mothers grateful to see us. What a sweet memory. Not once did anyone ask us for money. Day three we rented bikes and went for a ride. We took a detour and found crystal clear waters and a local man who saved the day when my bike gears broke. All of a sudden I couldn't peddle, paused and a man came to the rescue who didn't even speak English. He simply took his butcher knife and fixed the gears, yikes. Once again kids came outside full of excitement to see what all the commotion was about. I had to insist on giving him a few rupees as a thank you.

The hospitality continued... a local fisherman we kept passing on the beach was outside his home and insisted we come inside and meet his family. They brought us sliced oranges with sea salt (delicious, who knew) and some green juice. Being a bit paranoid about the water I declined the juice although the others drank the kool aid and survived ;) Families here stick together. His mini gated compound consisted of a home for his brother, mother and self.

What a special place Trinco was. I can only imagine how it will be in the coming years with the rise of tourism. Good for the economy but sad to see the innocence lost. Very few places like this are left in the world. Grateful for the up close and personal glimpse into another way of life where family seems to mean everything.