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Published: April 16th 2016
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I leave Tom & Amy on their return journey south to drop the car back to Kandyland and I myself catch a bus to Anuradhapura for a simple stay at Gordans lodge (some kind of uk funded abode) 1800 SLR for two nights including a bicycle for sight seeing. 28/03/16 bicycle around the sacred city sights of Anuradhapura a smorgasbord of dagobas, ancient ruins & temples; not that UNESCO haven't sunk their teeth into the ticketing, I cycle back after a tasty Indian. 29//03/16 catch the 5 hour bus north to Jaffna scouting out a place to stay and spend the afternoon crawling up town. A very peaceful and super polite atmosphere, lots of NGO's and Europe linked schools & colleges about sporting lots of jolly welcomes in English . It's not centre parks but considering Jaffna's war torn naughties it has some attractive religious sites sitting amongst the left bare creeky old structures & the Indian influenced population support some great places to eat (smash hit Dosas @ Mangos) and a surprising string of barn sized ice cream parlours is surely enough reason alone.
30/03/16 wake up early to catch the 6.30 bus to KKD boat jetty
for a day out on Delft; one of Jaffna's islands not connected by road, a free navy run ferry reaches delft at 9 and without any other fellow tourists at hand I hire a tuk alone to visit he handful of island sights, a desolate place lined with intriguing coral dry stone walls. Sun baked fields, with wild ponies and bird life reach across the mainland. The shallow clear sea surrounds a coastline of jagged Rock & coral affair for most with a white sand stretch on the east. I catch a return ferry & bus back to Jaffna, swing by the ruined city fort and wing back for some more tasty fodder and a 800 rupee stay at the YMCA. 31/04/16 leave Jaffna taking the coast road bus to Mannar island, a fairly poor town with little in the way of desirable sights I enquire into whether it is possible to take a bus south through Wilpattu NP ( a relatively new dirt road noted for 4x4 use and not famed by environmentalists) that I had so far been told was not an option and wasn't expecting a chance to use it..however mannar town knew all about it and
the next bus was in an hour. Time for a hair cut and an ice cream before a 4 hour wild trip to Puttalam, i recommended this journey scratching through dense forest & wild grassland, it makes for a bargain (200 rupee) white knuckle safari option if nothing else with quite a few animals sighted.
After a full day on the buses I opt to stay in the unexciting Puttalam for the night 01/04/16 head for a look around kite surfing mecca kalpitiya, a long sliver of land with some pretty beaches on both sides, lots of fishing, crab farming, lagoons & expensive tourist getaways tucked around however uninspiring suburbs, collection of wind turbines and the whiff of drying fish didn't make me want to stay so bus to Saliyawewa for a Leopard gamble at Wilpattu national park, stumbling upon a roadside guesthouse for the night, 02/04/16 lad takes me to the park entrance for 6am and manage to join a Russian couple on their jeep. Rich, tall forests with lakes consuming the gaps. 4 hours crawling the wilds, an ambitious driver, no leopards but got to see two sloth bears, crocs, boar, deer & birdlife.
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