Post-War Sri Lanka Is About So Much More Than Waves

I saw the first signs as soon as I got into the arrivals area of Colombo’s airport. I had been here twice before, in 2003 and 2008, and the tropical weather, the surfers who came in and out, and the taxi drivers were the same. Now, though, there are far more more western faces, all with big backpacks, tourist maps and tour guides.

The teardrop shaped island of Sri Lanka has been a bit of a surfers paradise since the ’70s, but a civil war that started in the early ’80s kept the island from becoming a destination for travelers, unlike many of the countries nearby. I remember when the war was still on. I remember all the armed soldiers, the check points and road blocks, the ban on driving at night or the ban to go to the northern part of the island, and even bombing in Colombo against politicians.

But even through the 35 years war, surfers still came to enjoy the beautiful landscape, the warm weather and ride the perfect waves. I think I saw only two people who were backpackers and not surfers in those years. When I talked to the local people, they all wished for the war to end, but kept smiling and enjoyed the company of the tourists as long as the season was on.

Then, in late 2009, the war ended. Since then, I can see how many things had changed. The empty ocean roads I drove on before are now covered with tourists hotels and restaurants. In many stretches, the beach isn’t even visible anymore. Surf camps, surf schools and surf shops, beach bars and parties with western music, and hundreds of tourists are lying on the beach or riding buses and trains to see the parks and history of the country. The attitude of the locals toward the foreigners had changed as well, and some of them are not as nice as they used to be. Before, the locals had a real interest in the tourists they met, but now many look at them as an open wallet–ripoff attempts are not uncommon.

While seeing the end of a decades-long civil war makes me happy, it saddens me to see yet another place being destroyed by western tourism. I was lucky enough, however, to find a local family that never had to deal with tourists, and they invited me into their house. At that moment, I decided to make this trip about them more than about the surf. I went with them to the market, cooked with them, tried to learn the language, listened to the family history, visited the temple with them, helped with the house chores and had conversations with them about the country and war. I was really blessed to find these people, and was glad to see that with all the change it was still possible to find the real and kind people of Sri Lanka, only a foot step into the jungle. So while I may not have woken up to the sounds of the ocean every day, or found the best waves, I found something much better: I earned another family.