Hot Spot

Beach-Bunker Bingo The soldier glared as he came out of the bunker, AK-47 first. His comrades watched from behind mounted machine guns as he leaned down and asked curt questions. Where were we going? How long would we stay? He stood up, squinted at our bags, and finally waved us through, convinced we weren't guerrilla operatives. We were just going to the beach.

The military checkpoints are the first sign that Trincomalee isn't your average beach resort. The navy gunboats sweeping the harbor are another. So why are hotels in this northeastern Sri Lankan town booked nearly solid these days? Blame it on the cease-fire. For years, Trincomalee's proximity to the front lines of the war against separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its strategic value as a major deepwater harbor made it a city on edge. The war also kept visitors from some of the island's finest beaches on the little-visited eastern coast. Just six months ago, the Tigers launched a suicide attack on a troop-transport ship just off Trincomalee, killing 21 soldiers and rebels.

But since the bilateral cease-fire announced last December, small groups of expatriate aid workers and Sri Lankans have been flocking to "Trinco" to see what they have been missing all these years. Most head to the Nilaveli Beach Hotel, tel: (94-2) 622-071, about 15 km north of town. Originally set up as a luxury resort, the place has lost some of its gloss. Still, the beach stretches for at least a mile and rooms go for as little as $15 a night. Once there, you can take in a boat trip to nearby Pigeon Island for snorkeling. Or head into town to see the 17th century Fort Frederick and Swami Rock, which rises 100 m out of the sea.

It's advisable to check the security situation before going; certainly, Sri Lankans seem keen to see Trinco while they can. Perhaps they're keeping in mind that the last cease-fire in 1995 ended with a Tiger attack on Trincomalee harbor.