5 April 2013

It’s 4am. Getting packed to check out of hotel here for a 5am departure to Jaffna. The trip will take 10 hours by road. Meeting another cousin in Vavuniya which is 3 hours away from Jaffna. This will be a different from Colombo as it will be less developed, I am told.

Arrived Jaffna in good time as the roads are good now. New roads are being built after the war in rapid time. The road to Jaffna was interesting. We followed the coastal A3 road from Colombo and then cut at Puttalam onto the A12 road to the ancient city of Anuradapura, which we will visit again in a few days time, and then onto A9 into Jaffna.

We went through Vavuniya which is a major town in the centre of the island and then proceeded into Kilinochchi. Here there are still military checkpoints. Just out of Vavuniya, there is a town called Omantai where we encountered a major military checkpoint. Our car had to be registered for entry. In addition, we had to produce our passports and our particulars were recorded. On the return trip, we have to ‘check out’. The military was keeping an account of everybody heading north. Following this point, you are confronted with the devastation of the war. There were minefields on both sides of the road that are still being cleared. Nearly every house along the way was damaged or had bullet holes. Still live is returning to normal in some pockets. Padi fields are extensive and in full production. Cows, goats and dogs are wondering about. Plenty of dogs around. We reached Elephant Pass in less than an hour.

Not sure why it is called Elephant Pass as there are no elephants around. The Elephant Pass is a narrow causeway that is strategic and was the site of numerous battles.

It felt rather eerie how quiet it is now. Following another hours drive we arrived in Jaffna through narrow busy streets. However roads are still being rebuilt and the town is a hive of activity. We checked into the hotel and met my relatives. We had lunch.

It is quite hot here. About 35C and dry heat. Rooms are air-conditioned in the hotel but otherwise it is basic. Nevertheless, it is comfortable. In the evening, we visited my grandmother’s first cousin who lived down the road. He is a retired public servant who worked in the central bank in Colombo for some 37 years. We managed to have a yarn and caught up on stories about relatives. I gathered some good information for my family tree project. This man is affectionately known among the cousins as ‘white-and-white’ because during his working life he dressed in a white shirt and white pants. It was probably the norm among public servants in those days.

At night, after dinner, Siraj, my cousins husband decided to take us on a quick ‘hoon’ around town. He had a Toyota Hi-lux that he borrowed from his brother in Colombo and we sat at the back for a quick tour. After 10pm, the streets were deserted except for a few eating shops. We stopped in front of one such shop and had coffee and tea brought to us. Real ‘drive-through’ service. The shop assistant did it with a smile, like Maccas, only thing is that he was an old man who probably lived through the war.