Navigating Paradise in Chaos: My Experience During the Sri Lankan 2019 Easter Tragedy
With its tropical beaches and unforgettable landscapes, I never expected to find myself under lockdown with my parents at a hotel in Ella. Regardless of where you travel, there's always a chance that something might go wrong.
Although these moments make for a unique story, it's tragedies like the 2019 Sri Lankan Easter Bombings that remind us how lucky we are to be alive.
After weeks exploring Sri Lanka's south coast, we left Hiriketiya Bay, a great little surf spot, for Ella, a village in the clouds. First stopping in Tissa to discover Yala National Park, we were taken by car through tea plantations and lush, rolling hills before reaching Ella.
We had only booked our accommodation a few days in advance. So, we were left to stay in a family hotel with wonky floors, questionable electrical work and windows that barely locked.
Waking up on Easter Sunday was like any other morning in Sri Lanka. Being in the mountains, the heat was less intense. Still, we started with a traditional breakfast of dal, roti and other curries, before walking to Little Adams Peak. Although not as famous as the neighbouring Adams Peak, Little Adams Peak offered us a more leisurely hike accessible from Ella's village centre.
Most tourists would likely take a tuk-tuk to the beginning of this hike. However, we walked the scenic route from the Ella Flower Garden Resort. For those who haven't visited Asia, footpaths and walking tracks are often rough around the edges, filled with cracks, holes and uneven steps.
This is no exception for a popular tourist attraction like Little Adams Peak. For this reason, I didn't reach the summit as the track became more rugged. Regardless, I felt as though I was in another world as the clouds transformed the Ella Valley into a misty landscape.
These days, I've become better at preparing myself for a full-day outing. For Little Adams Peak, we only expected to spend half a day on the mountain, and packed limited supplies. We didn't anticipate discovering a zipline, which resulted in a two-hour wait while the instructors took their lunch break.
Finally, we were harnessed up, and as we waited to zipline down the mountain, there was talk among other tourists that Colombo's churches and luxury hotels had been bombed by terrorists.
With grumbling stomachs, we returned to Ella looking for somewhere to eat, only to find cafes and bars had shut early. Having already experienced Poya Day, during which alcohol is banned on a full moon, we wondered if another tradition had caused these closures.
Once we returned to our hotel, we were quickly informed that the country was in lockdown and under martial law due to the bombings. This meant we had to stay within the confines of our hotel until told otherwise. With our fridge empty, my father jumped into action and went searching for drinks.
Although I didn't think he would get far, we ended up being able to enjoy a Lion Beer while watching army tanks and men with rifles cover the streets from our hotel balcony. Despite booking a questionable hotel, the staff made up for it by cooking us a traditional feast for dinner that night.
In the days following, many of you may have felt a slight panic as you couldn't get in touch with us. To minimise the spread of misinformation, social media and contact via email, SMS and phone calls were blocked in Sri Lanka. By the next day, we were able to leave our hotel and walk the train tracks of the Nine Arch Bridge.
Mind you, we had to follow a mandated curfew from early evening to the next morning for the remainder of our holiday. This sounds like an intense environment, but we felt safe during the remainder of our trip. Without social media, you can't fear what you don't know. The locals treated us like royalty, often apologising for the mess caused by the tragedy.
However, we did feel uneasy in Kandy, a city we visited after Ella via the Sri Lankan Blue Train. As women are seen differently in Sri Lanka, my Mum and I received more than a few uncomfortable stares from local men.
While staying in a major city opposite a church, days after bombings may have heightened our senses, we didn't feel safe in Kandy. Regardless, the locals truly made us feel welcome in most situations, sharing their culture, food and a wave to surf.
After visiting Kandy, my Mum and I stayed in a treehouse surrounded by jungle in Sigiriya. Before arriving, we immersed ourselves in the culture of Dambulla Cave Temple, a sacred underground site popular among tourists. We later found social media claims that bombers had passed through this temple on the same day.
I couldn't find any credible sources that confirmed the truth of these posts. However, it still seems unbelievable that I was potentially in close proximity to someone who could cause complete chaos. Luckily for us, everything went smoothly in Sigiriya, and we climbed the castle ruins of Lion Rock before preparing for our flight home to Australia.
Initially, we had booked a hotel in Colombo for the night before our 9-hour flight. Unfortunately, this hotel was damaged in the bombings, so we stayed near the airport instead. To access our new accommodation, we had to travel through Colombo, an eerie drive as we passed thousands of memorials for those who had lost their lives on Easter Sunday.
“Considering the bombings occurred a week before our planned stay in Colombo, I feel lucky to have been stuck in a hotel in Ella on Easter Sunday 2019. ”
Visiting Sri Lanka was a true experience, even before the bombings happened. It's a beautiful country with a complicated past, but a place I believe everyone should visit at some point in their life.
