Into the Teardrop
With its mind-blowing beaches and lush rainforests, Sri Lanka is surely the next must-visit destination, writes Zach Hines.
Is your travel ethical? It’s a fair question these days, and one that you become acutely aware of when visiting Sri Lanka. From the dozens of security checks at the Colombo airport to the frequent army checkpoints down the coast, it’s hard to escape the fact that this gorgeous and inviting country is still embroiled in a decades-long civil war. Over lunch at the Galle Fort Hotel with a group of local architects and economists, the topic soon drifted naturally to the civil war, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s latest heavy-handed attempt to seize the rebel stronghold of Killinochchi. It’s tragic that in a place of such natural beauty, the one thing that is still very much on everyone’s mind is war. Of course, it’s a perfectly valid discussion about whether or not it is ethical to holiday in a country that is facing such turmoil, but it’s a plain fact that the tourism business is booming on the island—and, despite what you may think of the war, thankfully so.
After the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 demolished both coasts of the country (effects are still present, with sobering ruins of homes still lining parts of the coastal road), an increase in tourism is a welcome relief to the country’s economy. In fact, many overseas investors—and Hongkongers in particular—are now gobbling up tracts of prime beachside property between Colombo and Galle at bargain-basement prices. And now that the conflict on the eastern coast has ostensibly ended, expect the same to happen there at even more cutthroat rates. It’s not hard to see why: home to some of the world’s most spectacular beaches and tropical rainforests, Sri Lanka is a sure bet to become one of the world’s top holiday destinations once the war ends.
However, we opted for the route down the southern coast, staying in private villas along the empty, surfer-friendly beaches and ending up in the city-in-a-citadel
of Galle Fort. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Galle Fort has a long colonial history. Built by the Portuguese and overhauled by the Dutch, nearly all of the old structures remain intact and still serve as homes to the tightly knit community of friendly locals and assimilated expats who have been living in the fort for several generations. Overflowing with natural charm, laden with history, and home to a burgeoning arts and culture scene (Gore Vidal recently spoke in the citadel as part of their literary festival), the fort is an ideal place to reach a personal epiphany, make a new lifelong friend or just unplug from life for a weekend.