Trincomalee

I had a swim in the sea before breakfast and then got a tuk tuk into Trincomalee town centre. Trincomalee has a stunning location with a bay to the north and a huge natural harbour to the south. The Fort area is between the two with fantastic views on both sides. The Fort itself is large and is used by the Sri Lankan military. It seems to have been fought over and passed around between even more European powers than the other Forts in Sri Lanka. There are areas you can’t go but there’s a road through the middle and a Buddhist temple at the bottom and a Hindu temple at the top. This is the main gate out of the Fort. 

I walked into the grounds of the Buddhist temple and nearly fell over a stag lying in the shade of a tree. There were lots of other deer in the grounds of one of the military buildings. The extra is the view of the bay to the north of Trincomalee. The Hindu temple at the top of the Fort is supposed to be a good point for spotting whales but not today.

Later I walked around the area of town between the Fort and the inner harbour. There’s still a lot of tsunami damage visible among the new buildings. I liked the area and its fairly quiet streets. Both Batticaloa and Trincomalee feel more laid back and less busy than other places in the country.


Once back at the guest house, I went for another swim and sat on the beach watching the waves as the day cooled down. (Back blipped on Saturday, along with entries for the previous two days, because of very bad wifi in Trincomalee.)