North of Nilaveli the empty coast Pulmoddai Arisimale Kokkilai who has actually been

Born on that blank space so let me draw it in The road north from Nilaveli runs through coconut and scrub past lagoon mouths and fishing settlements Kumburupiddy Tiriyaya and on to Pulmoddai my town known nationally for the mineral sands operation and locally for beaches that see perhaps three foreign visitors a week Arisimale is the jewel the Sinhala posts found first a long white crescent reached by a sandy track with the small beach temple at the headland the monks keep the place serene and June through September is exactly its season flat turquoise water while the south coast churns Swim modestly here this is temple adjacent sand families bathe clothed Beyond Pulmoddai the Kokkilai lagoon spreads toward Mullaitivu a bird sanctuary where flamingo flocks winter and pelicans spiral year round the causeway viewpoints cost nothing Tiriyaya deserves your detour inland the Girihandu Seya stupa on its hilltop is held by tradition to be the very first dagoba on the island built by the seafaring merchants Trapussa and Bahalluka the climb gives ocean horizons both ways Sleeping options are honest and thin a couple of simple guesthouses around Pulmoddai junction homestay arrangements through any shop conversation and the better stocked Nilaveli strip forty minutes behind you Riding through the villages the understanding you asked for this coast is Muslim and Tamil in weave fishing economy modest in dress and gloriously friendly to the rare visitor who greets first fuel up in Nilaveli carry water and cash there are no machines and arrive places before dark not from danger but because the road shares itself with cattle and the unlit kilometers are long