Ghost Town Arugam Bay
I arrived in Arugam Bay thinking I was going to a epic surf town.
had forgot to factor in- low season (no surf), world wide
recessionA?(no money) and Sri Lankan civil war (death tends to keep
people away)A? These 3 factors made the place empty!A? I was
the only backpacker in town and the rest were NGOs.A?A? I
walked out to the surfing point and found a wave that rolled on forever
but since it was not the season it was no ridable.
I killed 2 days here wondering around talking
to people about the Tsunami.A? I was told the westA?side of the
island got very little money from the Tsunami relief fund since they
were all Tamils.A? The majority of the money went to the Sinhalese
people.A? I had dinner with about 6 different NGO organizations and
learned a ton about how they worked in Sri Lankan.A? They just
happened to be having a meeting/dinner where I was staying.A? It
was super interesting.
My second day I rented a
push bike and went off to explore a beach that was a couple kilometers
away.A? It was near lagoon called crocodile rock.A? I didn’t
see any crocs but I was followed around for hours by a gang of little
boys.A? These kidsA? both annoyed and entertained me.
They kept begging for pens, rupees and my sun glasses.A? They loved
having their photo taken and asking my name. Half perturbed and half
amused I told them my name was ” I hate beggars”A? I got them to
chantA? “I hate beggars” over and over while I filmed them.
After the filming they discovered the action kung fu shot (pretend
fight for the camera).A? ThisA? progressed to video kung fu
fights until I got tired of it all.A? I was continuously followed
around by curious people. That night while taking sunset photos on the
side of the road I had a cars and 2 bicycles pull over just to shake my
hand……
Arugam Bay has a internet cafe with
one computer in it.A? In order to charge my ipod I have to plug it
into a USB port.A? Since there was only one computer in town I had
to wait in line to do this. A? While I was waiting the man on the
computer started a conversation with me.A? Once he found out that I
was from the US he wanted me to become an adviser for a council
called…… The Welfare Association for the Poverty Stricken Masses of Arugam Bay.
I tried to tell him that I wasn’t really the man for the job but he was
convinced that since I was from the U.S I had alot of pull…. A? A
couple of weeks later I got an email from him with my name as an
Adviser for this council….So if anyone wants to raise some money for
school kids in Sri Lanka to have shoes contact me because I’m an adviser
and I know where the school is!
Since there was
no waves and nothing to do in Arguam Bay I decided to head back to the
side Sri Lanka where I knew there would be both.A? I caught a ride
to the bus station in cushy NGO land cruiser!A? On the bus I met 3
guys headed to Saudi Arabia. Many Sri Lankans get work visas and run
the grocery stores there.A? These guys were super nice and were
just happy to hang around with me.A? They ended up buying my
lunch and my bus tickets!A? I tried to pay but they
refused..A? Hospitality of this caliber was super common in Sri
Lanka.A? LOVE IT!
Arugam Forum
Arugam Photo Galleries on Picasa
Old Website
Press Coverage
Surf Forecast for Arugam Bay
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