Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Of the many Hindu temples, Anipandi Sitivigniswara Alayar is visually the finest, with a
magnificent
gopuram
that's decorated with a riotous festival of intertwined god figures.
Batticaloa Market
MARKET
Stock up with tropical fruit as well as gifts for back home, like spoons made from coconut
shells and palmyra palm jaggery (raw sugar) in laid-back, hassle-free environs.
Imperial Saloon
SHRINE
Consider a haircut and head massage (Rs 400) at this utterly bizarre salon, a monument to
kitsch. Every inch is covered in decorative painting, fake flowers, sequins, filigree, stained
glass or tinsel garlands, and at the back of the salon, up towards the faux-sky ceiling, is an
interfaith shrine, from where Durga, Mary and the Buddha keep an eye on things.
St Anthony's
CHURCH
The vaguely Mexican-looking, earth-toned St Anthony's is one of the most eye-catching
churches in Puliyanthivu.
Sri Lanka Diving Tours
DIVING
( 077 061 5205, 031-371 7451;
www.srilanka-divingtours.com
;
Navalady; Mar-Sep)
This professional dive school specialises in wrecks, and Batticaloa has a world-class one:
the HMS
Hermes,
a British aircraft carrier that was sunk by Japanese bombers in 1942.
This dive is for tec divers only (the five-day certification course, for very advanced divers,
is also offered here), but there are several other dives in the area for those less advanced.
Two dives cost US$70; it's US$120 for tec dives. The dive school also operates a guest-
house here, but rooms are seriously overpriced.
Sleeping