Day Four: Getting to know Jaffna

We had a busy day, including some adventures, today!

After catching up on some sleep, Jan and I headed off for an early  morning walk to suss out life in Jaffna. 

Having no idea where we might go we just walked along some main roads and then decided to explore the laneways to avoid the motorbikes, tuk tuks, occasional trucks and the unrelenting noise of honking horns.

After a night of heavy rain we spent some time avoiding the puddles and mud.... and cow poo from a few sacred cows! We came across the market, several small community Hindu temples, a few quiet relaxed cows,  plenty of signs advertising education programs for children to improve their academic performance,  a large waterlily pond, a diverse range of housing ranging from basic to ornate, many decorative gates and a community health service.  We did discover an amazing temple which we will explore tomorrow. 

We were looking at a derelict house when a local man stopped cycling by to ask us why. He told us a common story: to avoid the devastating dangers of the civil war many families fled abroad. The man was very clear that this owner still had the deeds to the property so it will remain derelict until, if and when, the owner returns. It seems there are many neglected properties in this situation as Jaffna was at the centre of the vicious Civil War which resulted in many Tamil people fleeing overseas.

At about this moment we discovered that we were lost.  Google had been sending us home to the wrong hotel! ( And there aren't that many in Jaffna!) After initially flagging down a tuk tuk that ran out of petrol just as it reached us (honestly!), we eventually flagged down a tuk tuk whose driver knew where to take us. So our short walk turned into a couple of hours!

After breakfast we set off for a day of sightseeing and eating.

Our first stop was the famous Jaffna Public Library which was one of the first significant atrocities of the Civil War. It was burned down in 1981 by the Government Army as a warning to the LTTE, better known as the Tamil Tigers.  

Many centuries of significant literature was lost as it burned to the ground leaving a hollow shell. It has been rebuilt and we were interested to see that the Study Hall for Males was situated on a different floor to the Study Hall for Females!

Our next stop was the Jaffna Fort, a very solid pentagon shaped fort initially built by the Portuguese in 1618. It didn't protect them from being crushed by the Dutch in1658, who then spent almost the next 100 years expanding it. They only used it for a year before the British came and took over in 1795. 

Built primarily of black coral and stone, it has weathered the coastal storms and time surprisingly well. We climbed up to the ramparts to get a great view of the sea dotted with small fishing cabins, and the low profile of the town itself.

After we tramped around the Fort the next stop was the market.

We love a wander around a market at any time and the Jaffna Market was no different: bustling with people and motorbikes all trying to squeeze through narrow alleyways with every type of produce, clothes, fabrics, jewellery, dried fish imaginable! 

A cup of tea was needed and we were impressed to find a small market cafe that served tea without condensed milk! OK, the milk was evaporated milk, but definitely an improvement on yesterday.

These interesting baskets are used to make string hoppers: you make a rice dough and push it through the holes and it comes out looking like string. When you cook it it's the perfect accompaniment for curries.

The stall actually sold odd wooden blocks which were a mystery to us. Sid showed us that they were used for stools, but we were a little dubious as to whether our Australian backsides would fit!

We resisted some  OTT little girls dresses with every sort of pleat, frill and sparkle imaginable. 

I wasn't sure when these creations might be worn as they certainly weren't everyday wear! After we'd visited a few brightly-coloured Hindu temples we realised that they were temple wear for small girls: the brighter and more decorated the better!

We also resisted the temptation to buy a karaoke machine! (It was very cheap though!)

We decided to try some new snacks, with mixed success as we discovered later.

We avoided anything that looked bright orange as chances were they contained lots of chilli powder!

 Dried Palm snacks and crystallised ash pumpkin lumps were not so successful, but the potato straws were fine.

We were fascinated by a few stalls selling betel leaves and betel nuts that are stimulants. Combined with some tobacco leaves and some gum, they are chewed together and constituted a take away 'good time'. Needless to say we didn't buy any....

The word is that the bus drivers who drive the red public buses eat them a lot, so they have red teeth and drive like maniacs!!!

Not far away was an Archaeological Museum staffed by very enthusiastic women, and badly in need of some funding to retain and develop it. According to Sid there are over 700 archaeological sites in Sri Lanka ready to be explored but there is no Government funding and international archaeologists don't appear to be interested.

 

It was small but had some fascinating artefacts ranging from ancient clay pots to beautiful statues of gods to cultural items. 

We spent an enjoyable half an hour wandering around before moving on to a Minister's house, which was an example of the best of Jaffna architecture, but is now a ruin. 

The thick walls, very high ceilings and large windows to allow cool winds to sweep through, were all designed to survive the Jaffna heat. We ignored the signs and tape preventing access and tramped around and into the house. It clearly would have been a comfortable home to live in and well-suited to the climate.

Its turrets and pillars made it a very attractive building as well as a practical one.

After all of this activity we needed lunch and went to a restaurant where we eventually were served some delicious local curries with all of the trimmings. Delicious. It was our first lesson in being patient in restaurants: at almost every lunch we had to wait for a long time before receiving our food. The locals just seem to accept that nothing happens in a hurry!

To cap it all off, we went to a very popular spot, the Rio Ice Cream shop for some dessert. Despite the abundance of fruit available in Asia, the ice cream is often flavoured by chemicals and is very brightly-coloured. I looked at the gaudy colours and chose chocolate, which was very nice. The taste of the mango and pineapple ice cream confirmed my belief that no fruit had been involved in their making! The locals seem happy with it as it is a huge shop and we seemed to have timed our trip to coincide with school kids descending on the place in their pristine white uniforms and school ties.

We'd been good tourists so it was time for R&R at the pool at the Hotel, then G&Ts at six, followed by dinner in the Hotel restaurant. It serves everything from authentic Jaffna dishes like stingray (!) to pasta, tacos, and Indian curries. Quite a range  We're finally getting our heads around the local options. 

Jan and I had puttu which is a crumbled rice flour mixture cooked in a bamboo tube with spinach, coconut milk gravy, dahl and spicy sambal : delicious.  Any meal that involves a version of rice is accompanied by a range of condiments, as this was. Makes it a very interesting and tasty meal.

Off to bed looking forward to another busy day tomorrow

your well-fed and happy correspondent

Dianne