Getting there was not the most congenial experience that I have ever had. It is difficult to describe the inconvenience that everyone has to go through on the journey, the endless hours of waiting in the hot sun, the checking and re-checking of luggage by the police and army, the pushing and shoving of the crowd, the red tape and the 14 hour over night trip by Red Cross ferry. Fortunately my experiences on the 'Ola' going to Orkney helped me to avoid sea sickness and to settle down quickly on a less than totally uncomfortable spot on the deck. Once you get to Jaffna you quickly realise that you have not arrived in Shangri La. The bus that took us from the port had its windows blacked out so that we could not see the lay out of the military base that we were going through.
People go about principally on bicycles.
They still use kerosene for their vehicles. For years Jaffna had virtually no petrol and no electricity. In terms of population too Jaffna is quiet compared to the usual bustle of Sri Lankan towns. Hundreds of thousands of people have left - fled to Canada, Australia, Europe and elsewhere. Everywhere there are army checkpoints and armed soldiers.