Sri Lanka is becoming the “new” tourist destination and we see why! After our road trip in the “cultural triangle” and tea plantation….this country is beautiful to the eyes and kind to the heart!
Trincomalee bay is where the Sri Lanka Navy is posted. Hence why there are restrictions about entering and leaving the bay during nighttime hours and the constant monitoring of your position when you check in. Just beware of the local police and customs at the dinghy dock. They really just want to talk with you…we chat them up every time we go ashore and we think they love it!
Trincomalee bay is secure, safe, and actually gets wind!!! Don’t get me wrong..it’s still hot here but leaving hatches open to let the breeze in is so refreshing after being in SE Asia..with no wind for ventilation. The hull and water line will get a bit fouled…especially if you are like us and are in desperate need of a bottom paint job (see below). We have witnessed others pulling their dinghy up every night..not because of fear of theft but for fear of “fouling”. We don’t put our dinghy up but we do hinge the dinghy motor up to keep it out of the water. We make water in the bay, sometimes try to time it during an incoming tide. We heard you can get water from a truck at Passenger pier but have yet to see that. SV Starry Horizons did get a fuel truck to Passenger pier to fill up on diesel, rather than doing jerry cans. I think it cost them $15 for the truck. David had to tell them exactly how much diesel to bring and then he paid for that separately. I am sure there was a small fee to be docked at the Passenger pier but I believe that to be $1-2 an hour…they were at the pier for 1-2 hours. Sandeep, the agent coordinated and organized it all…in less than 24 hours!
We spent the better half of our time here relaxing, getting to know some of the locals, provisioning, museums, and of course…boat work! There were lots of dinners with SV Starry Horizons, SV Alexandra, and SV Kokomo at the Dutch Bank Cafe. And a short trip to the hospital for a booster shot.
Let’s start with the boring stuff: Boat work! When we came back from our road trip…we could not start the generator on the starter battery….well..because it was toast?!
UH Oh!!!! 
All better… 
Trevor needs a shower and a glass of water!
Trincomalee bay we heard could be a problem for hulls that are not well protects (recent and good bottom paint)….that would be us!!!! Trevor headed in for a “swim” to clean the hull, propeller, and shaft for our next passage to the Maldives.
Before…one side… 
and the other side…. 
Ahhh…much better!
Before …backside of prop… 
front side of prop…
After shot… 
shinny and clean… 
And it even turns?! 
Lucky us….
Before …shaft… 
shaft at the hull…. 
After…. 
and also turns…thank goodness!
Even our chain is a bit fuzzy…..
We had a “rapid” Twinrix inoculation for Hepatitis A & B back in Opua, New Zealand…my that feels like a long time ago…but it was only 9 months ago…. It was time for a booster shot so we headed to the local General Hospital here in Trincomalee.
Going in…have no idea what will happen…
We are officially in the system…we have our medical cards! 
Well…it says a booster shot….
We each got a shot….. 
Not sure if it was the right shot….But at least we know we are safe from hepatitis B…..will need to see a another place…later!
Next errand…the post office… We have a friend who wanted a Thailand flag…so we had one made at Rolly Tasker in Phuket, Thailand. However, when we tried to send it via DHL in Phuket…we were surprised to hear that we could not send any affects with Thailand’s emblem on it. WEIRD, so we tried here in Trincomalee…no questions and cost about $7 usd…slow mail…hopefully it will arrive before we get home (LOL).
After getting some things checked off the list..it was time to tour around a bit…we found a great little museum…The Maritime and Naval History Museum.
Restored in 2008…. 
Big British cannons as you enter….
Quick history on the Trincomalee bay…
They had these elaborate model re-creations of the events… 
This is where the King went to conquer Myanmar…
The Portugese, Dutch, and British were here….Durch chart to prove it! 
These lines are made from coconut husk. Our guide told us 10-15 coconuts could make a 3 meter long line. 
We had a giggle at these insignia….even our guide laughed!
Replica of the local boat in Sri Lanka…. 
Actual hull of the left replica…made out of the Breadfruit tree….same as Polynesia and other Pacific islands.
We…Trevor would go to the market every other day to gt the small amount of veggies and fruit for our daily meals….. and if we couldn’t find what we needed there, he would stop at the “most” western grocery store, Food City. We only had to go to the Arak store once to buy some local beer to have on board…LION!
Trevor and cow going in from some fresh food…. 
Carrots not looking so good…. 
but the fruit is to die for! 
The grocery store…..
Arak generally means alcohol…here the local Arak is made with coconut…unlike in Indonesia who made there Arak out of rice or grain. 
This photo s funny to me because Amy doesn’t really drink…we must of made here go in : )
A flat of Lion beer (tall cans) was about $1 usd a can.
Our provisions for our passage to the Maldives… 
Trevor found Tamil honey…made from “Tamil” bees…at the PHARMACY?!
The people here are incredibly kind and generous. You may read about Sri Lanka being a place where haggling is almost to much to bear. In fact we heard that one other cruiser here who just came back from a land tour just couldn’t take it. But in Tricomalee, proper, Trevor and I experienced hardly any! Yes, things cost money and you can negotiate for a different price, but we never felt like someone was trying to “pull one over our eyes”….quite the opposite. Everyone we have met either invited us into their home, asked us if we needed anything else, or was just polite! The exception to this was when we were on our road trip in the touristy places and would get asked to buy something or another….that was to be expected.
The laundry place we found but never used….this iron had a live flame in it…how cool is that! 
This is Philomena…she helped us to speak with the laundry people. She then invited us into her home. Here she is showing Trevor her daughters. She has been with her husband for 52 years!
I call these guys “the boys in the boat”…they would come to our boat and others in the bay around 5 pm…almost every day. Trevor would chat them up…they would ask for chocolate..we gave them lollipops : ) 
This is Shalika..who works for GAC…and the team. Shalika “watched” our boat while we were on our road trip and started our generator etc. He was incredibly kind and always had a smile on his face!
Trevor met Sakkan (to the far left) one day while trying to find plywood with David. This flowered into an unusual friendship. Trevor was then invited to his house. Here is Sakkan and his wife, son and …not sure who the girl and child is.
Sakkan’s house… 
Sakkan has lots of dogs ; )
Sakkan and Trevor’s tuk-tuk driver chilling out…. 
selfie…. 
I think Trevor made a friend!
Of course, we can’t forget the many times we dined with our fellow cruisers at the Dutch bank Cafe..our favorite place!!!
Love this place! They serve beer and wine ONLY to tourist. They will not serve alcohol to locals. The local permit to serve alcohol cost an establishment 3M rupee= $16,000 usd! We pay about $15 usd for a meal for 2 that includes 4 beers and 2 entrees and an appetizer….. 
Meet Thurang! He was our faithful server every time we came there…which was a lot!!! He family lives far away and is just getting his new house under construction for 1M rupee or $5,600 usd….He sees his family once a month to work here in Trincomalee!
SV Alexandra (Lars and Maria)…first time at Dutch Bank Cafe… 
SV Starry Horizons, SV Kokomo, SV Alexandra….technically we are not at the Dutch Bank Cafe…because they were closed due to a family emergency…Great times guys! Even though there was no beer….
The culture here is dynamic with Tamil and Sinhalese people and the most recent civil war that ended just shy of 10 years ago. The Civil war, in a nut shell, was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers) fighting to create their own state after multiple political acts that was felt to discouraged Tamil language, education, and economic welfare.
Here in Trincomalee, we are in Tamil country, the possible reason why cruisers hadn’t come here before/during the civil war years. What is confusing to the everyday cruiser, one who likes to connect and tries to speak the local language, is that there are 2 languages: Tamil and Sinhalese. We have learned a few words of each…the best being “thank you”…however, we can’t identify who is Tamil and who is Sinhalese. If you say the wrong term to the wrong person…it could be offensive…we don’t want that. It’s best just to say “thank you” in English…I have learned.
And to add there are many religious practices here…most of the people are Buddhists…however, Hindu, Muslin, and even Christian faiths are practiced. Do you eat pork? Beef? Chicken? or just go vegetarian? If you are invited to someone’s house or to share a meal….be aware eating restrictions…..it’s confusing so we just ask. Better to know than to offend!
So to ease communication boundaries….learn the Sri Lankan Head Waggle! It is seriously contagious…I have already started to do it! See below…
On a lighter note…lets get right down to it why is this blog post called “Lions, Tigers, and BEER”?! We don’t drink THAT much…seriously…but we do like to have a beer or wine with dinner and host happy hours aboard Slow Flight. But we find the alcohol culture around here to be strange. Finding a restaurant that serves alcohol is incredibly difficult. There are no “bars” unless you go to a super touristy place. However, people do drink here. Side story: Trevor as asked for a bottle of vodka from an official, no less. Trevor said…”I will trade you for a bottle of local Arak” (made with coconut…sounds good with juice). So they guy got changed out of his offical uniform and then left and purchased the Arak at the store. Conflicting…but really…drinking here is not a “public” thing…mostly private. We don’t care either way…just strnage to find that some many local people drink…but nobody serves.
Lion is the local beer here…I almost like it better than the Tiger beer from Malaysia….oh well….. we have both now : )
Basically what I am trying to get across is that this place is dynamic and complex! I know…lots of places are…but this place is special. It is hard to articulate and of course there is always different personalities….Trevor and I are completely intrigued by Sri Lanka and it is going to be really hard to leave!
Next up: The decision to take flight to the Maldives….
I always look at every photo in every post because I don’t want to miss a thing! That’s right, I didn’t miss it… :^D
XOXO
~Jan
HAHA!!!! Well we hope you receive it…at ALL! Who knows….it will be interesting to see how long it takes : ) Love ya!
It arrived! That seemed really fast. A bit banged up, but the beautiful tea canisters were well protected and I can’t wait to try them all! You know I love my tea ā¤ļøāā¤ļøāā¤ļøāš