…Is a mixed bag of experiences. A half dozen of us decided to make the trip to the Jaffna peninsula in time to see the solar eclipse that was due to happen, and to poke around the area a bit to see what the big deal with the land was that they’d fight a war over it.

Getting There

There are trains at various times from Colombo to Vauniya; Best to check the Sri Lankan Railways website(http://railways.gov.lk) for information. We took the 10:00 pm train from Fort on Thursday, and reached Vauniya town by around 5:15 am on Friday. The train itself was the mail train, but it was old. Trying to sleep on the thing was like trying to sleep on top of a cow. Leathery seats and things sticking into you from all over the place.

Once you’ve put yourself through the initiation ceremony that is the train ride, you must make your way to Vauniya town. Turn left from in front of the station, turn right at the next junction, then turn right again to reach the pink bus depot. Once here, eat a quick breakfast and take care of any restroom needs at the loo in the corner of the depot. You probably won’t spend too much time there anyway, since most shops we encountered had at best mediocre food. Apart from your culinary exploits, you will need to find where the Jaffna bus is parked. There’s a bus every half hour or so, but don’t depend on it. Find the bus, and get in it. If it’s full, wait for the next one if you have the time. It’s a long journey to Jaffna and you’ll want to be seated.

The bus will take around three to four hours to get to Jaffna town. On the way there, you’ll pass much greenery and a few animals and birds. There will be the occasional bunker every few hundred meters and usually just one big checkpoint.

The scenery is a greener version of the arid lands found in the raw dry zone. The roadsides are kept neat and trimmed by army personnel who now exercise their hard won battle skills on pruning and weeding. The jungles of the Wanni will soon start stretching off to your left and right, sweeping to the horizon on both sides. If you followed the war, you will be awed to pass such celebrity locations like Omanthai, Omantha, Killinochchi, Elephant Pass etc etc. They are like bits and pieces of a wartime ‘situation report’.

Jaffna Town

When you first step foot in Jaffna, do not be alarmed if it looks like an undiscovered corner of Pettah. You have not made a terrible mistake You have not, in fact, been victim to quite a nifty prank. Jaffna actually looks like that. If you were expecting some barren wild west-ish frontier town, you’ll be completely confuzzled. Not that we were expecting anything like that. Of course not.

We got to Jaffna at about 12:30pm, a gang of hungry thirsty people. We picked a random shop to eat from, and sat ourselves down to a strictly mediocre meal. The Jaffnese Jaffnaen Jaffna food in Wellawatte seemed to taste better. Cursing our luck for picking the worst place in Jaffna for lunch, we decided to get a water bottle or forty. Walk around town a bit. Hopefully you’ll have better luck than us at finding restaurants. Especially because everyone who had been to Jaffna only started speaking of its culinary delights after we got back. Supposedly you can get great prawns and crab dishes.

What to do in Jaffna can be a conundrum. There isn’t much to look at in the town, except for a few interesting buildings and a market, but there is an ‘Old Town’ replete with fort and ruins. We didn’t get to visit those parts this time around so we can’t comment on that. We will be going again soon, so we will update you on that later. I know, I know, sounds like a huge letdown, but we did go to other, interesting, places like,

Point Pedro

Point Pedro, the northernmost point of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the beach there was crowded like a Sunday market. We weighed the merits of blogging about a beach that had the ambiance of Wellawatte beach with a bunch of stalls giving away money, and decided we’d rather go looking for something more exotic.

We discovered that the Nillady beach, a pristine place of splendor where sand and water met, was nearby, and all that was separating us from it was a navy base. So we set off to sweet talk our way into it so we could camp there.

Apparently it was near impossible to get in at night. So, we went to a guest house/lodge like thing run by a Muslim gentleman catering to the local Muslim populace by providing traditional meals etc. We managed to spend the night at his place, which was near the Navy base and only a few minutes’ walk from the Point Pedro bus stop.

Prices were super-affordable. He only charged us Rs 250 and there were six of us sleeping in is hall and using his kitchen to cook and his well to bathe. We forcefully pushed a few extra hundred rupees into his hand. We were feeling guilty about breaking his bottle of salt while cooking the previous night. But for the record, this has been the cheapest place we have stayed at so far.

After the disappointment of Point Pedro, we headed to the Jaffna Hindu College grounds, from where we had an unobstructed view of the eclipse.

The Eclipse

The eclipse was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and part of the reason we were there in the first place.

This was an annular solar eclipse meaning that the sun was obscured so that we could all live through the opening credits of “Heroes” together.

For some reason, the pictures we took of the eclipse have been harder to get our hands on than sunscreen in Batticaloa. Hopefully we’ll get them soon, and we shall make a new post on it.

We were offered some “pongal” by a few women cooking some up near the ground. It was the first time I’d had some, and it was pretty good!

Casoorina Beach

Now for the really awesome parts. We were wandering around Jaffna, disillusioned and low spirited when we heard of this supposedly amazing beach just an hour out from the town. Asking around from a few three wheeler drivers, we managed to find which bus would take us there and promptly headed for it, hoping to also get in some camping by the beach.

The bus there can be found at the main bus stand, and we managed to find it quite easily with the help of a few people around the place. Ask the three wheeler drivers which bus to take to get to Casoorina beach.

You should ask the conductor to drop you off at the proper stop, as it’s not the last stop. Once you’re off the bus, cross the road and head into the lane there. You can either walk the couple of km’s to the beach or take a three wheeler. Either way, ask for directions. Though the road is pretty simple and you can always ask someone by the road.

When we went, the access road to the beach was being repaired and paved, probably due to the impending construction of hotels in the area. As you enter the beach, it’ll feel like you just stepped into an episode of Lost, sans the crappy storyline. There are strange western-ey looking trees all around and pine trees line the sand. Even the grass looks trimmed.

The water here is simply amazing. You can wade out for hundreds of meters and still remain at most, chest deep in water. Mild waves lap and tug at you like a puppy trying to wake you up by licking your face. Not quite as unpleasant though. Trust me, it’s awesome. The sand is powdery and littered with sea shells. If so inclined, you can have an enjoyable jog by the sea for at least a few kilometers, uninterrupted. Of course you can do the whole Baywatch thing and help local fishermen push their boats to shore. If you want to.

Camping out here was not possible due to all kinds of reasons such as Indian fishermen coming over, local fishermen going over to India and bloodthirsty rabbits haunting the beach at night. Our tamil wasn’t too good so we’re not too sure about that last one. Suffice to say, nobody is allowed on the beach too late into the night. Instead, we were directed to a nearby kovil which takes in travelers.

The kovil is about a kilometer away, and is pretty impressive. It’s on a vast tract of land populated by a few impressive looking buildings. When we got to the kovil, we were offered lodging at an empty house that was nearby, presumably kept by them for travelers. We respectfully declined and instead pitched the tent nearby. We were damned if we were going to drag this thing on yet another trip and not use it.

The Maggi Noodles were aplenty and firewood was free. After a night there, we set off in the morning back to Jaffna town. A quick breakfast later, we were wandering through town back to the bus station. From there it was back on a but to Vavuniya to catch the afternoon train. There are usually plenty of  pretty good fruit on sale along the roads round here.

The nice new train that will take you back to Colombo and mediocre beaches is also a great place to try out some gymnastics on the handrails.

Verdict: If Jaffna isn’t on your list of places to visit within the year, we will flog you on the streets!

Note: This post was written quite a while ago, and as such, Casoorina beach has now become crowded and populated. We will probably be going that way again soon, and there’s bound to be another nice beach somewhere around. We will keep you updated!

Polonnaruwa is the second most ancient of Sri Lanka’s kingdoms. The ancient monarchs moved there when Anuradhapura, their stronghold since the times of Vijeya, fell under threat of invading Indians. It quickly became the hub of Sinhalese power. The most famous ruler of its times was King Parakramabahu the first.

Getting There

And no, we hadn’t been driven out of our minds by the sheer beauty of East. Our intention was to originally head from Vaalachchanai to Badulla. But getting to Badulla at the time we left turned out to be near impossible on public transport (you’ll have to start in the morning if you are attempting this), so we decided to head towards Polonnaruwa first, and then head to the hills the next morning.

The bus will take you to Kaduruwela, the town about 5km from the Old Town of Polonnaruwa. We took a three wheeler from there to our chosen guest house, the Manel Guest House (Rs. 1000 for a very comfortable triple room), situated near the tank built by King Parakramabahu.

Kaduruwela serves as the main commercial hub of Polonnaruwa. It is somewhat of a transport hub with a lot of buses and trains to various parts of the island available. The town is busy, crowded and not very clean. its like they desperately transfer all the cleanliness available to Polonnaruwa, the crowd puller.

Biking Around

When we woke up and found ourselves loathe to leave the ancient city immediately, we decided to see if we could find a few bikes to get a quick tour of all the ruins. We got mountain bikes from the guest house itself for 300 bucks a pop, and set off.

We found a route that led uphill to the tank, Parakrama Samudraya - which dominates the entire landscape, then along the bund till we came to a statue of a statesman, where we turned off into town. About a kilometer away we came across an entrance to the Old City, an entire ancient city, now ruined, all marked and labeled with metal plates.

We highly recommend bikes as a mode of transport for this since it would take ages to walk from place to place and a vehicle doesn’t give you much… exposure. A bike, on the other hand, is just like walking, except faster.

The Ruins

There was plenty to see and much ground to bike around on. Even an old dried up reservoir or two can be found to ride down. The actual ruins are impressive, even if all that remains of castles are the ancient equivalent of picket fences and front facing walls. The castle forts were positioned in such a way that one could imagine the ancient kings strolling across the street to the castle next door to borrow some sugar, or a suitable medieval replacement, like gunpowder, from his neighbor.

Loll about near the ponds and the various temples and other constructions. Bike over to the more distant ruins around the Old City to get a sense of how city planning must have worked in the times of the ancients. There are souvenirs you can buy and food and drink to refresh yourself with in ample quantities. Maps and books of information can also be purchased.

Polonnaruwa is littered with signs and notice boards giving directions and information to anyone exploring. Certain sections will ask admission fees from foreigners. A tip, read about the historical significance of Polonnaruwa and the significance of the ruins and constructions for a more enjoyable and fulfilling experience.