Colours and Sights of Jaffna, Jaffna, Sri Lanka

As we travelled around Sri Lanka I found myself describing it as ‘India-light’. That perhaps does it a disservice, as it is very much its own country with its own identity. But it seemed to me that it had much of what appealed to me in India, but slightly muted. The traffic was less manic, the roads less potholed, the food less spicy, the colours slightly softer. For anyone who struggles to like India, Sri Lanka would be a great alternative. But if like me you love the chaos of the former country, Sri Lanka may feel a little ‘tame’. Head north however and it’s a slightly different story.

For many years the northern region of Sri Lanka was the stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, usually abbreviated to LTTE and better known as the Tamil Tigers. But when the civil war hostilities ceased in 2009, visiting the region again became a possibility. It’s a long drive north, but well worth it to see a different side of this island.

We spent two days exploring Jaffna with our friendly driver/guide Champi. He was kind enough to acknowledge that he didn’t know the city well and to hire a local to show us some of the sights. I’ve already taken you to several of the places we visited: shrines on the coast north of the city, as well as the sign at Sri Lanka’s northernmost point, Sakkotai Cape and the city centre clock tower. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).