The bus got quite crowded at times. We did hold it up for a few minutes at the only military checkpoint. Because we were foreign passport holders, they needed to write out a form. This time there was hardly a cursory check of Sri Lankan IDs. Passing the strip of land called Elephant's Pass really separated this peninsular from the land mass. It was interesting as it was marshland and there were lots of cranes and water birds to see. It finally got hot and sunny as we got north.
After getting into town we paid a tuk-tuk driver to take us the the YMCA. Jay went to check the rooms and returned disgusted. That building was at least 1.5K from downtown, but we simply started retracing the route on foot. There were many guesthouses. We're in Jaffna Palace Hotel. The room is big and the hot water heater works well. We walked downtown in the afternoon and found it quite a ways though. Walking round-trip takes at least 45 minutes. So when downtown, we found a brand new hotel, called The Clocktower in the middle of everything, close to the bus stations. We told them we will check in tomorrow morning.
A restful afternoon followed. There is no Sinhalese on the TV but stations from India. It carries BBC news. We just returned from eating parotta for dinner and a little shop across the street. They were very hot and luxurious, although the decor wasn't.
Overall, it's been a nice day.
