You can go your own way

Today mother nature decided to snub us again. Awoke to a perfect sunrise and flat calm on the water. Swell's over kids.

Good thing Team Adventure's spirits aren't easily dampened.

Undaunted by the lack of waves, we decided to head out into the sand dunes to check out Peanut Farm break, about a five km walk down the beach.

We left at about 9 am, which seemed like a smart idea at the time...but do the math on a 10 km walk in the 35 degree heat, and you'll quickly realize we were walking in peak sunburn hours. Which explains my lobster-esque tone at the moment.

Good thing aloe-vera is plentiful in this part of the world.

Sunburns aside, this morning was one of the million moments in Sri Lanka where the most ordinary aspects of life can push all your boundaries.

As we walked along the white sand beach, the waves crashing on the shore and the tropical sun beating down on us, I commented on how deserted the area was. I think it was the first time I had ever been in a place where you can see for kilometers and kilometers and there is NOTHING but jungle and sand. No other human presence except for you and your friends. And the occassional ruin of a mud hut, suggesting someone used to live around here.

Walking into one of these huts, I commented on how cool and comfortable they seemed.

"This was Tiger house before", came the explanation as to why such a practical little abode would be standing empty.

"All this land, LTT until 5 years ago. Terrorist land"

Intense.
Five years ago, while I was going to Human Rights lectures in my pyjamas and thinking that made me worldly, people here were unable to walk the beaches of their hometown for fear of getting shot at, or abducted.

Five years ago when I barely even knew where Sri Lanka WAS, let alone what life was like here, the paradise beach I walk along was a hotbed of violence and fear.



It's always such a conflicting feeling to be in a place this beautiful where there is such a history of tragedy and repression. Thankfully, though, that's what it really is. History. Past tense.

Because today my Sri Lankan friends were able to take me for a walk down that stretch of sand with ease.

"This free land now," Nalinda said with no small amount of pride in his voice.

"Now we go where we want".