Sri Lanka

On my "way" from Dubai back to KC for Mom's 60th birthday party, Stan and I spent the Eid holiday in Sri Lanka. This particular Eid is the time of the year (so many days after Ramadan or something or other) when Muslims are supposed to make their pilgrimage to Mecca. But this is not a post on Islam, so back to my holiday.

Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) is a teardrop shaped island, about the size of Ireland, in the Indian Ocean just off the southeast tip of India. You may remember the horrible tsunami of December 26, 2004. More than 30,000 Sri Lankans were killed on that day. Somewhat reassuringly there was no loss of life on the west coast near Negombo, where we visited.

Sri Lanka is also notorious for its brutal civil war. Since 1983 the Tamil Tigers have been fighting the Sri Lankan government for an independent state. Over 70,000 lives have been lost in the fighting. The Tigers are notorious for their brutality. They have a “take no prisoners” mentality and also are accused of using child soldiers. Again, we were safe on the west coast. The current battles are being fought in the north.

Like so many of these islands, Sri Lanka was a British Colony. Independence was gained in 1948. One of my heroes, Julia Child was stationed here in the OSS (the predecessor to the CIA) during World War II. Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, called Sri Lanka home. And of course Sri Lanka is the island where Hanuman, airborne in the splits, came to rescue Princess Sita. So you can see, Sri Lanka is rich in culture and history!

We found it to be a very hospitable island, with very friendly, English-speaking people. The beaches were beautiful, although a bit rough, the food delicious and spicy, and the weather appropriately tropical. We stayed in a small beach hotel called The Jetwing Beach Hotel in a small town called Negombo. It was less than 30 miles from the capital city of Colombo. We hired a car one day and drove into the capital for some sight seeing, but the most enjoyable time of our trip was spent in Negombo, reading on the beach, swimming in the beautiful pool, eating curry at the King Coconut restaurant, and watching the sunset.