The train to Jaffna was the nicest train we had been on so far! We booked 3rd class unreserved seats which only cost us $4NZD total for both our tickets on the 200km (4 hour long) journey to the top of the country. We managed to get a comfortable booth to share with some friendly local guys from the north, one from Jaffna and the other from a small town nearby. They both spoke fluent English and were clearly very well educated. One was now living in the UK and back visiting his family, while the other was working in finance in Jaffna. They gave us some helpful recommendations for the city, and explained some of the cultural differences between Sinhalese people and Tamil people. We also got a language lesson, which taught us some basic phrases to use in Tamil (the language spoken by Tamil people), which is actually one of the oldest living languages in the world. We were very interested to see this culturally different part of Sri Lanka, and learn more about how the Civil War had impacted the people from this part of the country.
Jaffna is a dynamic city and we immediately felt the energy and hustle and bustle of the place. The primary religion of Tamil people is Hinduism rather than Buddhism which is everywhere in the south, and this was immediately noticeable. Hindu temples with their towering gateways adorned with statues of the innumerable Hindu gods were everywhere, and cows (considered sacred by Hindus) freely roamed the busy streets. This was my first time seeing anything Hindu and I am very excited to learn more about this ancient religion of many gods which dominates India.
Our first stop in Jaffna was to try and get some pants made for Alice (she had brought some from Glassons before we left and they lasted 2 weeks before ripping). A good reminder not to buy fast fashion. We headed to the nearby local market where we found a store selling linen, and Alice picked the colour she wanted. With fabric in hand, the helpful family at the shop sent someone with us to help. We walked down to an entire avenue of tailors, who seemed to speak almost no english. Luckily our friend from the store could roughly translate that Alice wanted some pants made from her fabric. The ladies in the tailoring store seemed uncertain at first as they were all tiny and Alice towered over them, but after some further conversation they seemed happy to do it and started taking measurements. We were not holding out hope that the pants would fit or be what Alice wanted but we left with our fingers crossed, and we would find out in a couple of days time.
For our first full day in the north we rented a scooter and started early as we had a big 200km of driving ahead of us. We started by heading to Point Pedro lighthouse (the northernmost point on the island) and from there we cruised down the eastern coast on the coastal highway. I have been quite impressed by the quality of the roads in Sri Lanka. They are wide, well painted and signposted with very few potholes. It made for a nice cruisy drive, with very little traffic and we made good time. We were heading for a small fishing town down the coast called Mullaitivu. This place has experienced tremendous suffering in recent years with the 2004 boxing day tsunami causing widespread devastation, and an important historical location from the Sri Lankan Civil War. We have learnt a lot about the Civil War from reading books set in the country during the time, and we wanted to see this harrowing place firsthand. The war was fought from 1983 to 2009 between the government and an insurgent terrorist organisation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE wanted to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to continuous discrimination and persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.
First we visited the government built war memorial which is a towering statue of a soldier raising a machine gun to the sky erupting from a quiet little pond covered in lillies. Next we went searching for the secret Tamil war memorial which was a lot less obnoxious and a lot more depressing. It consisted of five stone pillars topped with plastered hands dripping blood. There was clearly no government money available to fund the construction, and no signs to explain the significance and meaning behind the memorial.
At the end of the Civil War with the LTTE in full retreat, they were holding hostage much of the civilian population in the area, and the government declared the area a ‘no fire zone’. However, this was largely ignored and according to the UN, between 40,000 and 70,000 Tamil civilians were killed from indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. Not that the LTTE were saints either, as they reportedly shot at any civilians attempting to escape. It was a barren and desolate place even today, and I can’t even imagine the horror that the innocent Tamil people caught up in this conflict must have experienced.
The next day was our last full day in Sri Lanka, and we spent it doing some more lighthearted activities. First stop was to check on Alice’s pants, and to our surprise they were a major success. The shape and fit was great, and the stitching looked impeccable. I suspect they will last much longer than the Glassons pants. We thanked the ladies in the tailoring shop and Alice got a photo with them which they loved. We met a lovely local guy called Kasun at his coffee shop. He was so lovely, and actually ended up offering to cook dinner for us for our final night in Sri Lanka. After a scooter ride to the beach for sunset we were back to Kasun’s for dinner, which was a delicious Vietnamese pho. Kasun was a chef for many years in a Vietnamese restaurant, and his cooking was great. It was an excellent final dinner and night in this amazing country, and overall a really nice day. Tomorrow we will be catching the ferry to India, and we were equally nervous and excited about this next step in our journey. Would the ferry even go? Would our Indian visas be accepted fine at the port in India? All would be revealed the next day..
Jaffna is a dynamic city and we immediately felt the energy and hustle and bustle of the place. The primary religion of Tamil people is Hinduism rather than Buddhism which is everywhere in the south, and this was immediately noticeable. Hindu temples with their towering gateways adorned with statues of the innumerable Hindu gods were everywhere, and cows (considered sacred by Hindus) freely roamed the busy streets. This was my first time seeing anything Hindu and I am very excited to learn more about this ancient religion of many gods which dominates India.
Our first stop in Jaffna was to try and get some pants made for Alice (she had brought some from Glassons before we left and they lasted 2 weeks before ripping). A good reminder not to buy fast fashion. We headed to the nearby local market where we found a store selling linen, and Alice picked the colour she wanted. With fabric in hand, the helpful family at the shop sent someone with us to help. We walked down to an entire avenue of tailors, who seemed to speak almost no english. Luckily our friend from the store could roughly translate that Alice wanted some pants made from her fabric. The ladies in the tailoring store seemed uncertain at first as they were all tiny and Alice towered over them, but after some further conversation they seemed happy to do it and started taking measurements. We were not holding out hope that the pants would fit or be what Alice wanted but we left with our fingers crossed, and we would find out in a couple of days time.
For our first full day in the north we rented a scooter and started early as we had a big 200km of driving ahead of us. We started by heading to Point Pedro lighthouse (the northernmost point on the island) and from there we cruised down the eastern coast on the coastal highway. I have been quite impressed by the quality of the roads in Sri Lanka. They are wide, well painted and signposted with very few potholes. It made for a nice cruisy drive, with very little traffic and we made good time. We were heading for a small fishing town down the coast called Mullaitivu. This place has experienced tremendous suffering in recent years with the 2004 boxing day tsunami causing widespread devastation, and an important historical location from the Sri Lankan Civil War. We have learnt a lot about the Civil War from reading books set in the country during the time, and we wanted to see this harrowing place firsthand. The war was fought from 1983 to 2009 between the government and an insurgent terrorist organisation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE wanted to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to continuous discrimination and persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.
First we visited the government built war memorial which is a towering statue of a soldier raising a machine gun to the sky erupting from a quiet little pond covered in lillies. Next we went searching for the secret Tamil war memorial which was a lot less obnoxious and a lot more depressing. It consisted of five stone pillars topped with plastered hands dripping blood. There was clearly no government money available to fund the construction, and no signs to explain the significance and meaning behind the memorial.
At the end of the Civil War with the LTTE in full retreat, they were holding hostage much of the civilian population in the area, and the government declared the area a ‘no fire zone’. However, this was largely ignored and according to the UN, between 40,000 and 70,000 Tamil civilians were killed from indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. Not that the LTTE were saints either, as they reportedly shot at any civilians attempting to escape. It was a barren and desolate place even today, and I can’t even imagine the horror that the innocent Tamil people caught up in this conflict must have experienced.
The next day was our last full day in Sri Lanka, and we spent it doing some more lighthearted activities. First stop was to check on Alice’s pants, and to our surprise they were a major success. The shape and fit was great, and the stitching looked impeccable. I suspect they will last much longer than the Glassons pants. We thanked the ladies in the tailoring shop and Alice got a photo with them which they loved. We met a lovely local guy called Kasun at his coffee shop. He was so lovely, and actually ended up offering to cook dinner for us for our final night in Sri Lanka. After a scooter ride to the beach for sunset we were back to Kasun’s for dinner, which was a delicious Vietnamese pho. Kasun was a chef for many years in a Vietnamese restaurant, and his cooking was great. It was an excellent final dinner and night in this amazing country, and overall a really nice day. Tomorrow we will be catching the ferry to India, and we were equally nervous and excited about this next step in our journey. Would the ferry even go? Would our Indian visas be accepted fine at the port in India? All would be revealed the next day..
