Skateboarding
Skating the Streets of Sri Lanka
A 25-year civil war ends as a city begins to rebuild, with plenty of skateboarding on the horizon.
6 min
Island Hopping: Chapter 02
Skating the war-torn streets of Jaffna in the northern part of Sri Lanka.
Leaving the paradise of the Maldives was tough, but due to a water shortage, the crew had been five days without showering and the hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the second stop on the "Island Hopping" tour, was by comparison a five-star resort with its plush bathroom and rooftop bar.
Considering Nick Boserio, Nick Garcia, Jordan Trahan, Korahn Gayle, Patrik Wallner and I were about to visit a city ravaged by war for almost half a century, we didn't have too much to complain about. The plan was to spend a few days skating Colombo and than take a newly opened train to the previously closed-off northern province. Years spent in civil war has kept the rest of Sri Lanka, and the world, disconnected from Jaffna until just recently, and a train called the Queen of Jaffna had only just started service again.
We were meant to be on that train, however, as any traveling story will go, all is easier said than done. We weren't able to book the tickets online because in order for us to travel north to film and skateboard, we needed to ask permission from the government.
Understandably, they were a bit wary of Westerners with a bunch of cameras going up north again. After hours spent sitting in an office and pleading our case, a man with a gun escorted me to a printer that was spitting out our permission slip. With the trains sold out and the bus journey taking up an entire day, we hired a driver for a bumpy and wild trip north.
Right away, Jaffna was starkly different from Colombo. Having been segregated from the rest of the country after years in turmoil, it was noticeably less modern. It was definitely a city in constant change, being rebuilt after nearly a century of war. It isn't a terribly large city and we had no idea what there was to skate, if anything. We lucked out, though, with the help of some local tuk tuk drivers, and we were able to scour the city for what spots it had. Jaffna is a city rebuilding, but it is very much worth the journey.
Missed what happened in first episode?
Watch "Island Hopping: Skateboarding the Maldives"