Easter weekend Part 2: Aragum Bay

So, Aragum Bay. After my 5 hour ride down, I was hanging out to see what all the hype was about. Sri Lanka's "newest party spot", one of the "top ten surf sites in the world"... these were just two of the descriptions I had read or heard to describe the place, so even with the damage from the tsunami I was expecting something a little special.

I rode over the recently opened new bridge - built by the Indian army over the past couple of months - and Aragum Bay appeared before me, a sweeping sandy bay curving away to white capped waves breaking on the distant point. From a distance it lived up to its promise, with palm trees dotted along the beach, and the inviting blue of the ocean. By this time I had got quite sunburnt from my ride (memo to self: wear plenty of sunscreen on your arms and face on your next bike ride) and was looking forward to diving into the cooling ocean.

I rode into the village along a road that was completely washed away in parts, pot-holed in others. To the left, along the seafront, the damage to the hotels and bungalows was very apparent. Some of the larger buildings had survived mostly intact, though there was obviously a great deal of cleaning up and repairing to be done. However much of the smaller constructions - bungalows, cafes and the like - had been completely washed away, just as with the housing in other areas.

I stayed with a guy called Steve, who ran a hotel called "Rocco's", who Justin, one of the former volunteers at Kallar, had met a month or so ago. While his rooms were not in any sort of condition to rent out, he offered me a free mattress in the open-air attic that he himself was camping in. After dropping off my gear, I went in search of food, and the restaurant that I just couldn't say no to? The one that had a big "air conditioned" sign of course! Ah, the simple pleasures of life...

So after a cheese and tomato sandwich (yes, I did say simple pleasures... plus it was actually past their usual lunch service hour) I then went to check out the beach.

Anyway, to cut a long story short about my Aragum Bay stay (which really is about me more than the Sri Lankan people!), I spent a lovely couple of days doing not much at all, meeting a few NGO workers over a cold beer or two, and got a bit more of a low down on some of the less than savoury government legislation being implemented that I had already heard bits and pieces of - such as any hotel with more than 35% damage could not be rebuilt due to the "buffer zone" laws being implemented, unless of course it was owned by a foreign national with money!

The new legislation being debated and implemented (yes, in Sri Lanka it happens at the same time, hence why the laws are always changing!) is to make it unlawful for anyone to live within 200m of the ocean. Or is that 100m? Or 300? No, I'm not trying to remember which it is, but going over the different distances that have been decided on at different times over the past 2 months. And no one still knows for sure which it will be. Oh, but this legislation does not apply if you are a foreign national with money to invest, and willing to pay 100% in tax. In that case the "buffer zone" legislation being put forward doesn't apply to you at all and you can build to your heart's content. Mighty handy for the major hotel chains, not so handy for the local fisherman...

The result of this in Aragum Bay was that the local owners of hotels that had been fully or substantially damaged had to lie and say that it was only 35% damaged, which in turn meant they could not apply for help from the bank to rebuild their businesses. Yes, such is the way governments work...

Summary of Aragum Bay: Will be a nice enough place once the hotels and restaurants are repaired, which will happen fairly quickly due to the tourist dollar. The beach itself is nice and clean, and curves around to a point with a reef where the best surfing is. However if comparing to a number of places in Thailand - and probably other Asian/island destinations - or even northern Queensland, is nothing terribly special. And it certainly isn't one of the "top ten surf sites in the world", though with the British surf association holding one of their rounds there in June it has some decent surf at the right time of year apparently.