Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This unusual structure looks like a whitewashed version of a Gloucestershire village
church.
St James'
CHURCH
This is the grandest church in Jaffna, a classical Italianate edifice.
British Council
CULTURAL CENTRE
Opening in 2014, the British Council has a library stocked with magazines, newspapers
and English literature and hosts cultural events including art exhibitions.
Alliance Française
CULTURAL CENTRE
9am-5pm)
Has a comfy lounge with English- and French-language newspapers and a library with
books in French and English. Offers occasional film screenings.
THE ROAD TO JAFFNA
During the war, the A9 - when it was open at all - was often the only permitted land route
across
Tamil Eelam
, the LTTE-controlled Vanni region. This flat, savannah-like area,
sometimes nicknamed Tigerland, was effectively another country. Travellers stutter-
stepped through Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and LTTE checkpoints, complete with customs
and 'immigration' for LTTE-controlled territory, and the trip from Vavuniya to Jaffna took
up to 16 hours.
Today the trip takes around four hours, and the nearest thing to a checkpoint is a little
shack where government soldiers may ask to see your passport.
Kilinochchi, once the administrative capital of Tigerland, is the only sizeable town en
route. The most dramatic scenery is around the
Elephant Pass
, an eerily beautiful 1km-
long causeway that anchors the Jaffna peninsula to the rest of Sri Lanka. Possession of it
was viciously fought over during the war.