Janet's Journal

The North

The first stop on my tour of the north with Damith was the War Memorial in Kilinochchi.  Set in manicured grounds it is a huge concrete block topped by a lotus flower and pierced by a shell.

A little further along the road was the town’s water tank which was blown up by the LTTE during the civil war, preserved as a reminder to end destruction (on a subsequent visit, I searched fruitlessly for this huge monument only to find that it had been dismantled and removed).

Elephant Pass and the evocative memorial and small museum to Corporal Gamini Kularathne (see separate post) was quickly followed by the Elephant Pass War Memorial. A large, very symbolic structure in the centre of landscaped gardens.  The sculpture shows large bronze hands holding the island of Sri Lanka with, again, a lotus flower and bud on the top.

Another long drive through the Jaffna Peninsular brought us into Jaffna town and the luxurious Jetwing Jaffna hotel.   The rooftop bar enabled me to watch the sun set over the Jaffna Lagoon whilst listening to Christmas carols on the piped music!

During our tour of the Jaffna Peninsular the next day I managed to persuade Damith to come with me to Delft the following day. Another very early start and drive down a long causeway, which was barely above sea level, brought us to the ferry port.

The SL Navy ferry was just leaving but it was called back, and I was lifted on board by two sailors. After an hour across the Palk Straight we arrived at Delft and negotiated a tuk tuk for the whole day (that way we could go back on the Navy ferry which looked a lot safer than the other ferries).

The next day we left Jaffna via the Pooneryn bridge and headed for Mannar for two nights,then on to Wilpattu in search of a leopard.  No luck!  Then it was time to return to Trincomalee and say farewell to Damith.

After a few more days in Kandy it was time to depart for England again.  This time I had booked to stay in Negombo for my last night, it made the trip to the airport the following morning a lot less stressful.