Thorn Tree travel forum

Sri Lanka - Is it safe?

So many questions about tensions in Sri Lanka

The terrorists are using explosives and targeting military units, mainly up in the North around the Jaffna peninsula and Trincomalee

Objective: to provoke the Sri Lankan government to re-act and break the ceasefire.
Remember the ceasefire is still active…but the terrorists are openly violating it.
The so-called anti-terrorist international community seems to be the least bothered!!

Will tourists be safe?
Ok folks get your Sri Lanka maps out and a pencil if you don’t mind.
Find the city of Anuradhapura in the North Central Province. Draw a line
Right across the island over the dot indicating Anuradhapura ( horizontal line)

Find Polonnaruwa and Ampara on the map. Draw a line across the island by joining
The two points…this line will be in an angle.

Now…as long as you are with in this boundary you are very safe.

The terrorists would not dream of hitting any foreigners. The LTTE collects large funds from countries like Canada, Australia, England and certain Scandinavian countries…justifying their arms struggle as a legitimate bid for a independent state.
They won’t bite the feeding hand a second time around (they did it first time around with grave consequence when they killed PM Rajiv Ghandi of India)

What about Arugam Bay?
There’s no real point going there until late April. The surf’s flat, it has been raining on and off during the past weeks, low occupation, and a bit of unrest in the nearby towns.

There have been ‘hartals,’ protests by townsfolk where they stop everything and get on the road. Some could react violently like attacking security or vandalizing property but in most cases these protests are peaceful.

The Eastern Province will be subject to a few ‘hartals’ in the approaching months as the ground situation worsens. But this is social unrest not terrorist activity. Best to avoid such situations anyway

There are reports that Tamil residents in Jaffna peninsula are evacuating in fear of a LTTE move to take over the area (which they lost during the late 90s). The rumors are that the terrorists are planning a major offensive in the North

Colombo has not experienced any attacks of late. Generally bombs go off when there are political events or security convoys. In mid 90s the terrorists attacked commercial points like the airport, oil reserves and central Colombo to cripple the money flow of the government. They haven’t done that kind of thing for sometime now. Security is tight in Colombo…just avoid spending too much time on the street!!
Areas perfectly safe – Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla-Sigiriya, Mahiyangana, Kandy and hill country, Yala, South/West Beaches, Negambo and Chilaw

Summing up - Sri Lanka is still very safe provided you avoid trouble spots in the north and east

the highlander

for accommodation options, tours and info in Kandy mail houseofbrass@yahoo.com

Dinuksher