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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rochel1977" data-source="post: 18673048" data-attributes="member: 371">Day 20: Point Pedro to Jaffna <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yS5dZGk9IoA/VNAmB4VtDUI/AAAAAAAAF54/Y7GmwywVjao/s1600/20aLighthouse.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> An easy, enjoyable day, completing my Sri Lankan End to End by bagging Point Pedro, followed by a delightful coast-road, wind-assisted ride to Jaffna. First I had to visit Point Pedro lighthouse to complement my ceremonial start back at Dondra Head lighthouse. Unlike that one, it's cordoned off and watched over by a (very friendly, actually) guard. Photographs are not allowed (pic). <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MP5gWRFCCgQ/VNAmQBLjqeI/AAAAAAAAF6A/zhJQW6SpNjw/s1600/20bPointPedro.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Point Pedro itself is marked in traditional extreme-point fashion with a signpost (Madagascar 4760km, Thailand 2349km etc), plus a tableau-map (pic). A small quay juts out with, presumably, the most extreme point. A group of young guys were there having motored up from Kandy, taking pictures and having a great laugh, and we had a very pleasant chat. <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hO1LM_XQmak/VNAmYVAnNzI/AAAAAAAAF6I/F5O6ms_GTnQ/s1600/20cPointPedroSign.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Anyway, here's the publicity shot: me with bike at Point Pedro (pic). The End to End aspect of this particular trip is done: 470 miles from south to north, an (almost all) delightful and trouble-free ride through a fascinating, friendly country. But a cyclist is never finished, as anyone knows who's heard one in a pub talking about rubbish local facilities. There was more biking to be done... <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tacz8yKFqPE/VNAmlqOmiRI/AAAAAAAAF6Q/z8jCWvVugKE/s1600/20eFishermen.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> It was still only half seven, and the beaches were full of fishing boats returning with their catch (pic). They were also full of bikes, the standard mode of transport round here. For £62.50 from one Jaffna's many cycle shops, a shiny new Lumala town model (28 inch wheels, rod brakes, single speed, weight approx. three tons, indestructible) is all yours. I'd be tempted to buy one and take it back with me, bar the fact that the excess baggage would outstrip the cost of the flight. <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FCEgWLRhVnE/VNAmzB0vFcI/AAAAAAAAF6Y/sqzm_aKnvng/s1600/20fFish.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> There are also fish markets along the coast, selling the catch straight off the boat (pic). In a hot climate like this, speed is of the essence. <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hp2JnNRsRFc/VNAm6cpMqyI/AAAAAAAAF6g/tpFeR0LRL34/s1600/20gTsunamiHouse.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The area has suffered a lot recently. Not only was it ravaged by civil war for a generation until 2009, but the 2004 tsunami caused widespread destruction. It was very sobering to see ruins of houses such as this up and down the coast. <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OkARtPq2KB8/VNAnC8IY5XI/AAAAAAAAF6o/3wTpVgwIGFc/s1600/20hTemple1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> A feature of the Jaffna Peninsula is the technicolour temples of the Tamil inhabitants (pic)... <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7na0abZGKt8/VNAnU16zJMI/AAAAAAAAF6w/cngL850L9-4/s1600/20iTemple2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> ...with towers exuberantly colourful and detailed, extravagantly decorated with images of the Hindu gods (pic). I wonder which one I should pray to in order to clear up my gippy tummy? Dhanvantari, the god of Ayurvedic medicine, I expect. <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9gQemUoEn_s/VNAnmFvMubI/AAAAAAAAF64/FWwXyPOgXVg/s1600/20jCauseway.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> After that beautiful coast road, I headed inland through little villages and across causeways over the much-lagooned landscape (pic) to Jaffna. Direction signs are virtually non-existent on Sri Lankan roads, so it meant a lot of asking locals the way. Reassuringly, they always agreed with each other. Sri Lanka is a different country from India, you know. <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VQJDXY9UWrI/VNAnyHP52XI/AAAAAAAAF7A/SA1VPqZ5s2k/s1600/20kCow.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Finally, as I came into Jaffna, I saw this man on a bike taking his cow for a walk. As you do. Day 21: Jaffna Islands <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-beVDPfKufBw/VNGNhFc2xXI/AAAAAAAAF7Q/BQreUOhN61o/s1600/21bCauseway.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Linked by causeways (pic) and ferries, a chain of low-lying islands surrounds Jaffna. I spent today exploring some of them by bike – not an entirely easy experience, given the high winds and endlessly dug-up roads. This photo is a rare shot of smooth tarmac. <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NrBZdmmtcHk/VNGNpIG-nmI/AAAAAAAAF7Y/Z3XlYrnYqmo/s1600/21aPanorama.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Here's another extreme rarity: a direction sign. You usually have to guess, or try to make sense of a deluge of instructions in Tamil from a bemused passer-by. This local doesn't look entirely sure where he's meant to go, either. <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CtpUrJ6k_Uc/VNGNxaNPVmI/AAAAAAAAF7g/dCTK8f94_Lk/s1600/21cLane.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Some of the island scenery was pleasant enough (pic), but the village of Kayts ('capital' of the island of Velavai) looked ravaged by war and tsunami, with ruined buildings and abandoned shells of houses everywhere. It wasn't especially uplifting. <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DCmwwXftKmM/VNGN42V8alI/AAAAAAAAF7o/2hP0A7W4SMk/s1600/21dFerry.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Tiny ferries, run by the military, connect the smaller islands with each other (pic). This one – with a single 40hp outboard motor struggling to cope with a car, taxi-trike, three motorbikes, six bikes and two dozen people – was the slowest I've ever experienced, taking quarter of an hour to go a few hundred yards. Well, the pace of life is slower here. <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JdPzuQgI7ds/VNGOB3_LTvI/AAAAAAAAF7w/NDuuWcCDfa4/s1600/21eSea.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Fishing is the main activity (pic), though everybody was on holiday because of the full moon. Or perhaps, with it being so windy, they'd just stayed in. I wouldn't blame them: my into-headwind progress across the causeway back to the mainland was slower than the ferry. <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lVR7uzQNp30/VNGOIQBwijI/AAAAAAAAF74/oQOmzjTlWnU/s1600/21fLoadedBike.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> In fact, it was so windy that even some of the local cyclists had to get off and push (pic). Day 22: Jaffna <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nvH0V4USqRs/VNRR_J9s8wI/AAAAAAAAF8I/bfzO3bsMuLA/s1600/22aBeer.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> With no train out available until the night after tomorrow, I've ended with a couple of spare days in Jaffna. Today was a delightfully relaxed affair: everything was shut because it was a public holiday (hence the full trains) and it poured down with rain. So, after a cursory bit of biking round town, I had every excuse to stay in my cosy guesthouse room. Specifically, my personal covered courtyard (pic), enjoying a beer to celebrate finishing the End to End at long last. Cheers! Day 23: Jaffna <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XKdipAQSqBg/VNRT5sRTZYI/AAAAAAAAF8U/-MSPtpQuiPk/s1600/23aFood.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> With an evening train to catch, and my bike entrusted to the Railway Parcel Office, I had another easy day. Most of the activity consisted of reading books and magazines in the British Council library (I could get into Adam Mars-Jones, you know), drinking tea and smoothies in local cafes, and enjoying delicious Rs200 vegetarian thalis (pic). <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wKGakm73DjQ/VNRULKZZg7I/AAAAAAAAF8c/cnIW2sNdq5E/s1600/23bSign.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Finally, around six, I set off for the tedious night train back to Colombo. It's been lovely staying at Morgan's Guesthouse – a real treat after my cut-price lodgings of the previous weeks. It used to be a UN guesthouse (and Angelina Jolie, whoever she is, stayed in my room when she was here on envoy duty, apparently). I presume this explains the sign on the gate (pic). Day 26: Negombo <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-664IeZSWy5U/VNdDp9t4GgI/AAAAAAAAF8s/VMcyRd_uzEs/s1600/25aCanalTown.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The previous two days, Day 24 and Day 25, I've been in Negombo doing delightfully little except eating, drinking and washing. I started exploring the old Dutch canal running north out of the city, but the towpath and adjacent roads soon run out. In any case, the paths are something of an obstacle-course of fishing gear (pic). Which gave me enough excuse to return to the eating and drinking. <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IUicorRda7Y/VNdDy8C--4I/AAAAAAAAF80/NGGmt5xGHMI/s1600/26aChurch.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> But I got out for a decent day's cycling today, heading south along the coast road that eventually leads a back way to Colombo. It's very agreeable scenery (pic) of old Portuguese churches, fishing boats, and local schoolchildren who greet you with a cheerful bye! due to a mistranslation. <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DxLP31JJ6hE/VNdD7cvlgAI/AAAAAAAAF88/x6wChJQ9WCc/s1600/26bMe.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> The road skirts Negombo's big lagoon. From that lagoon, heading south, is the other branch of the canal. It runs all the way to Colombo, and has paved lanes alongside virtually all the way – to my delight, as you can see (pic). <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X86fCHcR_ds/VNdEHe67tZI/AAAAAAAAF9E/2OeZziLUOho/s1600/26cCanal.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> It's utterly delightful, going through villages, past fishing huts and well-to-do houses, and gently busy with cyclists (pic). I notice that the Dutch didn't get as far as installing windmills, which is a pity, because today they'd have been whirling like billy-o in the headwind I had on the way back to Negombo. <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Js3s-FBRzHs/VNdES7us-rI/AAAAAAAAF9M/S3Zmbo01Tq8/s1600/26dBirds.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Anyway, I took a birdwatching boat trip into the lagoon's marshes. Not that much to see – we saw a few green herons and kingfishers (pic) among others – but a fine relaxing thing to do on a hot day. My eye for spotting avians may not be great, but en route back to Negombo, I was pleased to find that my eye for spotting fresh fruit juice bars is as good as ever.</blockquote>

Verification: Nawa warak dahaya keeyada? (Namaya wadi kireema dahaya)

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