Scenic Jaffna

As organized I left from Kalutara on the first Saturday of December, to pick my friends around Panadura and Kottawa. We had planned to visit Mannar via Pomparippu, Wilpattu and Silavaturai as we were passionate to pass through the jungle, though we were not convinced about the road condition. We wished advice from the police station, army base and the bus stand at Puttalam, if the road is in good condition. We were discouraged from their answers as we had a 2WD van and which also a hired vehicle. Hence we decided to visit Mannar via Medawachchiya. On the way we visited Madhu Church.

We went to Doric Beach at Arippu having a hidden idea of having a bath as well. We understood that bathing at the place was not suitable though the sea was not turbulent. Also, we noticed a whole lot of sea plants and newly dead fishes are all around the shore. Nobody had any precise idea what the reason was; we were pretty much suspicious if illegal dynamite based fishing is done in the area. After watching Doric House we directly proceed to Mannar. We also did not forget to visit the Mannar Fort, which is now used as a police barrier.

We had our dinner from a busy shop called “Weligam Bakers” (if I’m correct) and went to see the Large Baobab Tree by foot. It was an amazing experience for me to have donkeys all the way road side in Mannar.

Madhu Church	Doric Beach at Arippu
Doric House	A peacock seen between Silavaturai-Murukan
View from the Manna Fort	Baobab tree @ Mannar

Next day early in the morning, oopps… an air drop! We had to wait till the tire repairing shops are opened and therefore got rather late. Then we proceed to Thaleimannar. We were not allowed by the Navy to get on to the peer of Thalei Mannar. As fishermen said there were about 6 km from the peer to the first observable sand reef of Adam’s Bridge sand reef which connecting India. Further it could only be seen as a silhouette to the peer in low tides.

Thaleimannar Peer

Lighthouse – Thaleimannar

The Manjula Inn’s owner asked us to visit a place called “Adam’s and Meena’s Grave” near the Thaleimannar which are said to be very big in size. But we could not find it out as neither of us knew the Tamil word for the cemetery/grave nor the folk knew the Sinhala/English word. The most amazing thing was the clearly observable tide. We were lucky to observe the rise of water level in minutes. About 600 m to the countryside had been covered by sea water due to high tide within few hours. An army personnel educated us that it was the only place in Sri Lanka that tides could be seen lucidly and it was also only in Novembers.

Effect of high tides

We were back to Mannar town and went to see a bridge called “Kalu Palama (Black Bride)”, which is a railway bride blasted by LTTE several years ago. [Prior permission is necessary to enter the premises]. We saw the salterns (salt evaporation ponds) as well. We could not visit the Kalliamman’s temple (I guess the name is Thiruketheeswaram kovil) near Mannar. It is said to be coherent with Munneswaram (Chillaw), Koneswaram (Trinco) and Rajeswaram Kovils (India) [i.e. names are according to my memory. Might be incorrect.] It is also said that pilgrims had been visited to the Kovil from India along the Adam’s bridge Sand reef.

We directly proceed to Poonaryne. On the way we had our lunch from a small shop at Wellankulam. It may be the only dinning place from Mannar to Poonaryne. We had to drive slowly as the road was under construction. From Poonaryne we travelled couple of kilometers north to see the Sangupitty Bridge/Causeway/Jetty (connecting Jaffna peninsula), which was under construction. We went to a place called K-point (Kalmunei Point), which was about 14 km west to the Sangupitty. Hardly took permission from the army as we were pretty much late. From that point we could see the SLT tower, which is in the Jaffna town. Also we got to know that there is a boat service from Jaffna to a jetty closed to K-Point. The most amazing thing was very tall (about 8 m) natural sand dunes around the area. It may be the only place where we can see sand dunes in Sri Lanka. The area we could travel was limited and we got to know the other side (and to the south) of the beach is full of very tall sand dunes and a very beautiful tranquil sea. But the navy will not allow entering the area. From there, in hurry, we directly proceed to our arranged place at Jaffna, via Nallur. We were too late.

Between Mannar and Poonaryne	An Unicorn
A blasted battle tank at Poonaryne	Sangupitty Jetty
A natural sand dune – on the way to K-point	On the way to K-point

Next day morning, we went to Manniyanthotam Jetty (turned left from the Dist. Secretariat’s office and went ahead few kilometers). One of my friend’s friends was there to guide us in the morning session and it was really a relief. We got to know that there were only 2 boat rides a day (about 7 am and 2 pm) from Manniyanthotam Jetty to the K-point side. It is said that some school teachers in Jaffna daily travel from Jaffna to K-point side Jetty and from there a bus (bus is there only 2 times a day, I guess) to Poonaryne.

Maniyanthotam Jetty, Jaffna

Then we went to Nagadeepa. I was impressed by causeways and the beautiful islands (i.e. Kytes, Punkuduthivu). Then we visited to PPD (Point Pedro). That day also we got late when return. We were lucky we had a relative army commander in Chunkanam for every help. He accompanied us to a grapes plantation as well.

The flag at Point Pedro: the northern end of Sri Lanka

Neelavar Lind; the baseless well

Next day early in the morning, we went to have a bath at Casuarina beach (the folk pronounce it as “Cassino Beach”) at Karnagar (Kareithivu island: turned right from the SLT tower, Jaffna). It was an alluring, tranquil and shallow sea almost like Passikudah and Nilaweli. After having a bath, we directly drove back to home, recalling the nice view of Jaffna. We easily realized that we need at least one month to explore and experience north and north-west.

Jaffna Grapes

Casuarina Beach at Karrnagar

Post Script on Road Conditions:

• Putttalam-Pomparippu-Silavatura: Gravel road with many pits. Suitable only for 4WD and big vehicles. Not suitable for cars anyhow.
• Puttalam-Medawachchiya-Mannar-Thaleimannar: Extremely good
• Madhu Junction- Madhu: Extremely good
• Murukan-Silavaturai: Extremely good
• Silavaturai-Arippu: Gravel road. But in a very good condition.
• Thalladi-Poonaryne: poor road. Under construction and it may take a long time tobe completed. Very first few km are concreted.
• Poonaryne-Sangupitty-K-point: Grave road. Not bad to travel even for an average car.
• Poonaryne-Nallur: Very poor
• Nallur-Paraththan: Very poor
• Nallur-Kilinochchi: Said to be extremely poor
• A9: Average
• Jaffna-Maniyanthotam Jetty: Good
• Jaffna-Punkuduthivu (Nagadeepa): Somewhat poor
• Jaffna-Karrnagar (Casuarina beach): Average