You read about it, bombings in Colombo – a regular occurrence since 1984. 75000 people across the country have died in that time. We knew there was an issue, but it was an eye opener as we learned more. The papers have been full of the recent activity and of the liberating of previously Tamil Tiger held areas of the country – it is not a local skirmish but genuine battles over large swathes of the North and East. In the time that we have been here the Government has had major breakthroughs, the taking of Elephant Pass for example. We have also seen some of the results with several large scale military funerals as we’ve driven around, pictures of the dead soldiers, white flags everywhere. It has brought it home that large parts of the country were out of bounds to ordinary Sri Lankans. This is not like Northern Ireland but a real civil war with separate territories on the map.
As a result we had been stopped by the army loads of time and were quite bored and pissed off with it, but here in Colombo it’s very serious. Even the hotel pool is overlooked by a tall watchtower (see pics) with soldiers and guns, the same view as from our rooms. Wherever we’ve walked in the city we have been stopped and given cursory frisks, and cars and tuk tuks have mirrors passed beneath them looking for bombs. The city centre has been killed by the security as getting in is so difficult that offices and shops have all moved out leaving a ghost town. Ant gets irritated by the security and demands to know why he can't pass, and then manages to treat the army as tourist information centres asking for maps and directions - Gill was not amused, the army were most bemused…..
It’s an odd combination with armed officers on the streets everywhere- with ordinary life going on alongside - weddings, pool bars, shopping and families walking along the promenade.
As a result we had been stopped by the army loads of time and were quite bored and pissed off with it, but here in Colombo it’s very serious. Even the hotel pool is overlooked by a tall watchtower (see pics) with soldiers and guns, the same view as from our rooms. Wherever we’ve walked in the city we have been stopped and given cursory frisks, and cars and tuk tuks have mirrors passed beneath them looking for bombs. The city centre has been killed by the security as getting in is so difficult that offices and shops have all moved out leaving a ghost town. Ant gets irritated by the security and demands to know why he can't pass, and then manages to treat the army as tourist information centres asking for maps and directions - Gill was not amused, the army were most bemused…..
It’s an odd combination with armed officers on the streets everywhere- with ordinary life going on alongside - weddings, pool bars, shopping and families walking along the promenade.
