Easter weekend, saturday

I decided to take a break from my travels and spend the weekend in Trincomalee.  The beaches looked so inviting and I didn’t relish the idea of taking another bumpy and dusty bus to another location.  Trinco is quite far in the north-east of the country, so anything worth seeing would be at least 5 or 6 hours on the bus.  

On Saturday I explored the hindu temple kali kovi.  This temple is located the peninsula in Trinco, within the an old Dutch fort.   It was build X yrs ago, and when the Dutch tried to colonize the area, they did not like the temple and pushed it off the cliff it was situated on, into the sea.  Many years later, in 1960s, a diver and archeologist  found it, and decided to restore it to is original location.

Hindu Temple over looking the Indian Ocean

I climbed the “mountain” (hill) to get to the temple on Saturday around noon.  This was not the best time to decide to explore, as it was very warm.  When entering the temple grounds you are required to remove your shoes/sandals.  Having tender white feet, that have enjoyed the protection of shoes most of my life, I found the pavement and cement extremely hot. I had to run from one shaded area to another, but still managed to burn the soles of my feet (they hurt even the following day).  

The temple was a one of the more beautiful sites I have been to.  It over looked the ocean and town of Trinco.   While I was enjoying the view I was offered some guava fruit (religious offerings for the gods and people to enjoy).  Off to the side of the temple I watched men go over to a cage filled with smashed coconuts.  They would bow their heads over the coconut, say a small prayer and then dramatically smash the coconut as hard as they could. I was told this is another type of offering/prayer. 

 

After dashing out of the temple (on-lookers thought it was very funny to watch me navigating the best way from one shaded spot to another… honestly, it was so hot the asphalt was melting in the sun), I headed into Trinco.  I passed by the fish markets, where fish were laid out in on blankets drying in the sun.  I grabbed a tuk tuk to the “fancy hotel” called the  Chaaya Blu, where I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon reading a book and soaking up some sun rays.  It was so nice to go to a beach were I could relax and not be harassed by men.