War Tourism YAMU

8/19/2019 War Tourism YAMU

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Tourism · YAMU https://www.yamu.lk/war

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“Thank you Come Again,”

Says the sign on the A35, leaving Puthukkudiyiruppu.

Just beyond that is the shelled-out carcass of a homemade LTTE Tank.

The friendly sign, which welcomes the visitor back to

Puthukkudiyiruppu, creates an unsubtle irony to those visiting the

Mullaitivu district, where the Sri Lankan Civil War ended in May 2009.

A small littoral strip of land between Chalai and Mullaitivu saw the last

desperate month of the struggle. Here, the villages of Vellamullivaikal

and Karaiyamullivaikal are little changed since the aftermath of Sri

Lanka's brutal civil war: bombed out roofs, bullet holes in the walls, and

families living under blue tarps. De-mining teams are active in the

numerous minefields, their blue Kevlar uniforms looking stifling in the

heart. Civilians live uneasily alongside the omnipresent military.

(http://www.yamu.lk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Farah-III-second-

angle.jpg)

War hungry tourists can see the Vehicle Grave (9.321192,80.764997),

the debris of hundreds of cars and buses that litter the scrubland.

Brought here from the LTTE’s retreat against the advancing Sri Lankan

Army, the vehicles remain the way they were at the war’s conclusion.


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The mutilated vehicles are lined up in long rows, sometimes in great

heaps, along the western side of the road. They are guarded by a Sri

Lankan Army post. Stay too long, and a solider will warily wave you

away.

South of the Vehicle Grave is the 150 meter long MV Farah III

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Farah_III) (9.314289,80.791458), a

beached Jordanian cargo ship. The Farah III once carried 14,000 tons of

rice before the LTTE commandeered it; the rice nourished the LTTE

while the LTTE used the ship’s metal for many purposes, including

building their homemade tank. The hulking red-rusted ship stands as a

decaying reminder of the war's end, silently judging the combatants. The

beach where the Farah sits was once the launching point for a proud

fishing community, but is now used for war tourism. When we visited,

tourists began taking group photos in front of the ship.

(http://www.yamu.lk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Ruined-buildings-

in-village-north-of-Mullaitivu.jpg)

To the northwest is the War Museum at Puthukkudiyiruppu

(9.321409,80.724943). Entering the one room museum you won't find a

word of Tamil or English. What you will find are maps detailing the Sri

Lankan Army's final push towards PTK, along with photos of

Prabhakaran's bullet ridden body. Outside of the museum is a large


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work-on-dirt-roud-to-prabhakarans-compound.jpg)

Since the end of the war, tourism to Sri Lanka has more than doubled

(http://www.sltda.lk/statistics_at_a_glance), and a new wave of

internal tourism has started. The government and army are attempting

to capitalize on this trend by opening luxury resorts (also here) and

encouraging tourists from the South to visit the North and East. As well,

Government development work is proceeding at a rapid clip. Many

roads are being rebuilt in Mullaitivu.

(http://www.yamu.lk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Sentry-post-at-

Prabhakarans-compound.jpg)


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(http://www.yamu.lk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Tourists-Taking-

a-group-photo-at-Prabhakarans-compund.jpg)

(http://www.yamu.lk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Farah-III.jpg)

Sean O'Connor and Andrew Otis (http://andrewotis.com/).


War Tourism YAMU

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