Right after breakfast we took a bus to the city of Point Pedro. I think the name is from the Dutch period. It is the most northern point on the island of Sri Lanka. It is not much over 40K from the city of Jaffna, but it does take about an hour an a half on local buses.
We had never visited that area as it was considered a hotbed of the LTTE terrorist activities. Today, it seemed like a sleepy little village. It seems obvious the central government in Colombo is channeling money into the region through development projects. In the middle of town, a large bus stand was being either constructed or re-constructed. As well, roads and drainage systems were building modernized. Also government buildings are taking shape. Really during the war years, maintenance completely stopped here. Imagine two and a half decades of work to do. It's a daunting task but a much better use of resources than munitions.
We walked to see a famous lighthouse. Then we got a tuk-tuk to take us east to the beginning of the beach which stretches over 25 empty miles and even has sanjd dunes. We just peeked and had the driver return to town for a return bus.
After coming back to Jaffna we had lunch and headed off again. This time we took bus #780. It took us north again to Keerimalai. There is a famous hot springs with healing mineral waters right on the beach. The trip there and the return journey were each an hour. I am sure all my wrinkles will disappear soon although I'm still waiting ...
