Sure Travel Journey Vol 4.1 Summer 2018 | Page 34

A TEARDROP OFF INDIA
WILL BENDIX DISCOVERS AN ISLAND OF MANY COLOURS ALONG SRI LANKA’S EAST COAST
From hidden beaches (right) to bustling markets (above), Sri Lanka is alive with colour.
melt into yellow butter beyond the
mangroves and soon we will plunge again
into the warm hues of the Indian Ocean,
spurred on by Madonna.
The island of Sri Lanka is a green
teardrop that rolled down the cheek of
India. Born from the Gods, ripped apart
by men. It’s said that a mighty lion sired
a prince called Vijay with a beautiful
princess. The prince sailed from Bengal
and landed on this Island of Copper Palms,
giving rise to an ancient empire, the
Sinhalese. The lion-blooded.
The island nation is home to large populations of the Asian wild elephant.
© SERGEY/ADOBESTOCK
34 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
“
FOR NEARLY
THREE DECADES THE
NORTH AND EAST OF
THE COUNTRY WERE
OFF LIMITS AS THE
TAMILS FOUGHT
TO CREATE AN
INDEPENDENT STATE
“
Athula’s head is wobbling. It rolls from side
to side, detached from his body, severed
in a sea of music.
“Cos we are li-ving,
in a material world…”
His hands come flying off the wheel,
head bopping as he breaks into an
improvised jive with palms flat against
the air. We swerve wildly as Madonna’s
number one fan reaches a howling
crescendo inside the motorised tin can.
“…And I am a material girlllll!”
Athula is our tuk-tuk driver. We are
looking out for the wild elephants that
roam freely between nature reserves,
but we’re also drowning in the colours
of Sri Lanka. Lush, thick, brilliant colour.
It squeezes in through cracks in the
window and gaps in the clouds. Colours
hot and dense as the air, melting down the
mountains and rising like steam off the
ocean. Colours that threaten to swallow us
alive in a sea of gold and greens.
We’ve left Arugam Bay in the distance,
already spoilt by its monotonous tropical
beauty and the cluster of foreigners like
us who ride on its well-worn coattails.
Instead we’re rolling, rolling on through
dense jungle and elephant trails. Beaches
The Sinhalese lived side by side with
the Tamils for centuries, mostly in peace,
occasionally taking a break to split each
other’s skulls open. Then the British
arrived to civilise, grow tea and split open
a few skulls of their own.
The colonials left after reaping a harvest
of dissent that enriched their coffers and
planted murderous intent between the
two ethnic groups. Ceylon became Sri
Lanka and the island exploded with more
colour, a dark red that flowed from the
cities to the countryside in a prolonged
civil war. Buddha wept. Vishnu wailed.
Shiva sharpened his axe.
For nearly three decades the north and
east of the country were off limits as the
Tamils fought to create Tamil Eelan, an
independent state. This didn’t stop bands