Jaffna- a peninsular located on the northern tip of Sri Lanka and the capital of Sri Lanka‘s northern province is said to be very different from the rest of the country. On my last trip of my stay here I got the chance to explore this myself. And I have to say it really is very different for many reasons.
We started the trip from Colombo all the way up North along the western coast passing Puttalam and its salt fields, going through the Vilpattu National Park on dusty red gravel roads and passing the Vanni, which was one of the main war zone‘s during the civil war that ended in 2009. What struck me most were the huge numbers of army camps that were located all over the Vanni, next to the roads and somewhere deep in the bushes. One must think that after the „end“ of the war, people in the North would be able to start a new life without the occupation of the military in their villages. Unfortunately this is not the case. But this topic gives space for a much bigger political discussion on which I don‘t want to comment on here. Another bizarre scenery you notice while traveling through the Vanni are hectares of palm trees where the top got cut of by shelling and red signboards signalizing that the particular area is minded. I‘ve seen these scenes many times on photos and videos but seeing this yourself gives it a whole different meaning.
The roads also brought us through different vegetations ranging from the very fertile southern part to the very dry and infertile northern part were you keep asking yourself how the people manage to live here- there is no water coming from the tap and the soil is too dry to plant vegetables.
The first thing that came to my mind when we reached Jaffna was that it looks more like a big village with many small streets going of to somewhere so that you would easily get lost if you don‘t know the way. The pace of the traffic is much more relaxed and the majority of the people are driving small motorbikes or are going on bikes. Especially using the bike as a daily means of transport is one characteristic of Jaffna where also women use it. I haven‘t seen this a lot in other parts of the country.
On my second day in Jaffna I went on a little trip to explore the town with an old friend of my father who is the owner of the one and only existing pedicab (Ricksha) in Sri Lanka. He took me around town to the old railway station that got completely damaged during the war, to the busy bus stand in the center of town, to the old Jaffna Library that got burned down in the early 80‘s damaging one of the biggest libraries in Asia at that time. The burning of the Jaffna Library is one of many significant events that sparked of the civil war. Next stop was the old Fort that was built by the Portuguese in 1618 and was later also a place for many battles fought between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers. At the moment it is being renovated and made open for visitors.
Going through the streets of Jaffna on a Ricksha attracted a lot of people and in the end local reporters of the BCC wanted to interview the driver and me. They followed us with photo and videocameras for a couple of meters but we managed to escape them.
The third day of my stay was once again a Srilankan public holiday. This gave us the opportunity to go on a trip exploring the peninsular. First we went to Point Pedro which is the northernmost of Sri Lanka and afterwards to some of the Islands which make up Jaffna.
For me this was one of the most interesting trips during the past few month. And adding to the above, Jaffna really is different- the light, the atmosphere and the generosity of the people living there who have lost so much during the civil war but still try to make the best out of their life now, make this a place to be seen. But to really understand the differences one has to go their him-/herself to explore them.
We started the trip from Colombo all the way up North along the western coast passing Puttalam and its salt fields, going through the Vilpattu National Park on dusty red gravel roads and passing the Vanni, which was one of the main war zone‘s during the civil war that ended in 2009. What struck me most were the huge numbers of army camps that were located all over the Vanni, next to the roads and somewhere deep in the bushes. One must think that after the „end“ of the war, people in the North would be able to start a new life without the occupation of the military in their villages. Unfortunately this is not the case. But this topic gives space for a much bigger political discussion on which I don‘t want to comment on here. Another bizarre scenery you notice while traveling through the Vanni are hectares of palm trees where the top got cut of by shelling and red signboards signalizing that the particular area is minded. I‘ve seen these scenes many times on photos and videos but seeing this yourself gives it a whole different meaning.
The roads also brought us through different vegetations ranging from the very fertile southern part to the very dry and infertile northern part were you keep asking yourself how the people manage to live here- there is no water coming from the tap and the soil is too dry to plant vegetables.
The first thing that came to my mind when we reached Jaffna was that it looks more like a big village with many small streets going of to somewhere so that you would easily get lost if you don‘t know the way. The pace of the traffic is much more relaxed and the majority of the people are driving small motorbikes or are going on bikes. Especially using the bike as a daily means of transport is one characteristic of Jaffna where also women use it. I haven‘t seen this a lot in other parts of the country.
On my second day in Jaffna I went on a little trip to explore the town with an old friend of my father who is the owner of the one and only existing pedicab (Ricksha) in Sri Lanka. He took me around town to the old railway station that got completely damaged during the war, to the busy bus stand in the center of town, to the old Jaffna Library that got burned down in the early 80‘s damaging one of the biggest libraries in Asia at that time. The burning of the Jaffna Library is one of many significant events that sparked of the civil war. Next stop was the old Fort that was built by the Portuguese in 1618 and was later also a place for many battles fought between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers. At the moment it is being renovated and made open for visitors.
Going through the streets of Jaffna on a Ricksha attracted a lot of people and in the end local reporters of the BCC wanted to interview the driver and me. They followed us with photo and videocameras for a couple of meters but we managed to escape them.
The third day of my stay was once again a Srilankan public holiday. This gave us the opportunity to go on a trip exploring the peninsular. First we went to Point Pedro which is the northernmost of Sri Lanka and afterwards to some of the Islands which make up Jaffna.
For me this was one of the most interesting trips during the past few month. And adding to the above, Jaffna really is different- the light, the atmosphere and the generosity of the people living there who have lost so much during the civil war but still try to make the best out of their life now, make this a place to be seen. But to really understand the differences one has to go their him-/herself to explore them.
