Nilaveli is an inconspicuous place on the east coast of Sri Lanka. Only when you enter the beach via side streets through hotel areas, you know why a visit here is worthwhile in any case. An incredibly beautiful white sandy beach and a clear deep blue sea are waiting for you. Compared to other vacation destinations with beautiful beaches, tourism here is very limited in my opinion. If you walk along the sea (or run), you see isolated hotels and between then again several empty lots directly on the beach. Thus, the tourists are very well distributed on the beach and there is no feeling of a crowded resort.

The number of tourists and cows on the beach was very balanced 😊

Excursion to Pigeon Island
We could book a boat trip to Pigeon Island directly at the hotel. Pigeon Island is a mini island just a few minutes by boat from Nilaveli beach and is officially managed as a national park. This is important to know when it comes to a trip there, because you have to pay the entrance fees for this national park in addition to the boat costs. The island is named after the rock doves that live there.
After about 15 minutes of boating, our small boat joined many other excursion boats on the island. We were provided snorkeling gear and the only briefing we got was "you can snorkel here on this side, then on the other side and at 13:30 we'll meet back at the boat and head back".

Since it was incredibly hot, we did not let ourselves say that twice and rushed into the water in snorkel gear. There are with buoys and ropes demarcated areas in which you can snorkel without worry that boats cross in peace. We were allowed to admire beautiful corals and fish in an incredible colorfulness. The highlight for me came at the very end. In the shallow water we discovered a reef shark, which was about 3m long. That is already something very special to come so close to such an animal. It is not every day that you can say that you swam in close proximity to a 3m long shark (or maybe in other situations you would rather not know).
Overall, this trip was very nice. If you have the opportunity, I would advise you to ask if there is a time when there are less tourists, because this small island was already very crowded and you had to be very careful when snorkeling that you do not swim into another tourist, while you are fascinated to watch the fish.
Tirukoneswaram Temple
This Hindu temple is very picturesquely located on an elevation right by the sea in Trincomalee and was built in honor of Shiva. On the way from the parking lot to this temple we met many animals. From monkeys, deer, dogs to a proud magnificent white rooster, which has constantly circled the temple, as if he had to defend his territory.

Our driver accompanied us on our visit to this temple and gave us some interesting info. At various places in the temple and outside the area of the temple you can see individual coins, which are wrapped in cloth and tied. We were told that this is what people do when they come here with a specific request or wish. Then they wrap a coin in cloth, tie it tightly and speak their wish clearly and loudly several times in a row. After that, if their lives actually develop in the desired direction, the people come back here again with a fruit basket. This fruit basket is presented to the priests as an offering. After a prayer, the fruit basket is then handed back. There is one more exciting thing to say about this fruit basket - many people also have a whole coconut in it. There is a ritual of hitting this coconut on the ground at a designated place in the temple area. Depending on whether or how it breaks, it should give information about whether the challenges that one has in life will disappear very quickly - so the more individual pieces of this coconut breaks, the faster you say disappear emerging problems again.

This temple is very colorful, magnificent and you have a very great view of the sea due to the direct location on a hill of the "Swami Rock". Even if you as a tourist are not well acquainted with the rituals, it is also very interesting to slip into the role of observer. There is a lot of hustle and bustle and you can see the exchange between the local visitors and the local priests.
댓글