4th February 2012 (Sri Lanka Independence Day)

We seem to be celebrating the downfall of the British Empire wherever we go! Indian Independence Day was in 1947, Sri Lanka a year later, in 1948. We had seen all the preparations going on when we visited the holy city of Anuradhapurna, and today we saw the pomp and ceremony on T.V. All the major announcements interestingly, were made in Singhla (national language) then Tamil ( the language of the workers brought over from south India to work on tea plantations by...guess who...the British) then in English. Shows some forward thinking by the Sri Lankans The sea has remained choppy: with big, rolling waves thundering on to the shore, spreading foaming fronds of water like white knobbly ferns that fanned out on the powdery surface. Geoff and Savi joined the Sri Lankan young bucks, with their lithe tanned bodies ( we fitted in really well into this group! NOT!) Later we went into Trincamalie to visit a Hindu temple that is sited on an outcrop of rock, and then to look for the harbour where a Canadian guest staying at the hotel said there was an interesting museum about the local harbour and the role it had played in WW2 and how it had come under attack from Japanese Kami Kazi pilots. Being Independence Day it was a public holiday and the temple was quite crowded and various ceremonies were in full swing. There was a lot of food and fruit being offered to the gods as "prashad", and in particular coconuts being smashed open in offering.

Later we went to the hatbour area, but don't think we were in the right place because we were stopped by armed guards and informed that we could not proceed any further.


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Location:Trincamalie