Directions To Kaththankudi

[Sylvi]

carboy2011,

I did not answer for your question below.

also any members who have done the route please let me know about good tasty food joints,i am not asking for fancy joints but hygienic places with authentic food and places where I can buy mangoes/jack fruit ,curd or local delicacies.

Colombo up to Anuradapura you will not need much food. because you are hoping to travel early morning there are plenty of very good hotels along that route, normal Colombo chatges. after that from Anuradapura to Madwachiya, also along the road you get good hotels. if you want little rest and high slandered food then Madawachiya rest house is their it is run by Galle face hotel Ltd.

From their up to Vavuniya there are number of very good hotels. After that up to Jafna there are restaurants run by S L Army. Which are quite good and good food at reasonable cost. I visited to Delft Island hiring a boat from the point where you go to the famous Nagadeepa temple I got help of the Navy. To hire the boat for one day we10 traveled on a 29 seat A/C bus from Colombo which cost us 60 rupees per kilometer. It is A island with plenty of historic points to visit. There were only three vehicles in that Delft island to travel and take few hours the charge was rupees 1500/00. Navy runs a small Restaurant which cost of food is the same as Colombo, no extra charges better if you take your own food on that expedition. I wanted to go their again and travel entire small islands around Jafna with the same party it will take about three days to that boat trip. I have been to some islands before in 1975 when Army had their small camps.

If you want to go to Delft you should get help from the Navy officer at the said point if not boat people will request exorbitant charges. 1 Full day we only paid 7000/= Rupees. A friend of mine had gone there and he had paid 15000/= Rupees direct contact that day was a poya day and there were plenty of Pilgrims were there to go to Nagadeepa temple.

In Jafna you get plenty of hotels you can get A/C rooms food you will have to chose the correct food if not Colombo people get digestion problems due to their cooking style. Carry plenty of bottle water. Unless you take your own cook and do your own cooking. you can get very good newly built small cottages for very cheap rates, have to spend few days in jafna to see the entire island.

I was a regular visitor to Jafna Mannar before the war started, for maintenance work of industrial and electrical units. At that time they did not have national grid power only after 1973 they got power.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[trinity]

Mods... tried sharing some photos which are on Google plus account.. getting a message " You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community"... Previously i was able to share from google.. whats the issue???

[VVTi]

Somewhere between Anu and Vavuniya, Ratambe I think, there is an awesome joint where they serve some classic local fare on lotus leaves. Lunch is to die for. In Jaffna plenty of nice places. The Vavuniya-Jaffna stretch is mostly run by the Army fellas. But might be a good idea to drop in at a local joint as well as the food is really good, if you can find one though that is,.

The other stuff you mentioned, if you see a nice stall stop and buy. I as a habit always buy from the smallest joint as they trend to get ignored by the majority of travellers.

Edited November 10, 2012 by VVTi

[SeanD]

If you want to go to Delft you should get help from the Navy officer at the said point if not boat people will request exorbitant charges. 1 Full day we only paid 7000/= Rupees. A friend of mine had gone there and he had paid 15000/= Rupees direct contact that day was a poya day and there were plenty of Pilgrims were there to go to Nagadeepa temple.

If you're going to Delft then definitely do get on the Navy boat as it takes only about 20 mins...the normal ferry takes almost an hour, and is very unreliable (although I did experience the Navy boat I took breaking down also...). In addition, the Navy maintains a lovely walauwwa type bungalow that they have restored on the island, available for overnight stays with all amneties...just be wary of the weather as storms can creep up with little or no warning and disappear just as fast.

[Sylvi]

Members.

I got this Email from a friend of mine travel to JAFFNA .

From: Cecil Perera

Date: 11/13/2012 6:15:16 AM

Watch The Jaffna Town: Travel Video of Northern Tamil, Sr i Lanka ) -

ON YouTube, and Enjoy The Great Sights and Scenes !!

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[trinity]

Hi guys...

As planned, went to Jaffna and came back yesterday. So here's a briefing on the tour for interested parties..

Took off from Kalutara at 4.30am after getting blessings from Kalutara Bodhiya. Route was, Kaluatara - (A2 & A3) Puttalam (A12) - Anuradhapura - Jaffna (A20 & A9). Let me tell you my friends, the roads are Bloody fantastic... I arrived at Jaffna at 1.30 pm (only 3 stops, for breakfast, meeting a friend and Omanthei check point). When i called home from Jaffna to tell that i'm there, no one believed me.. Its a 485kms in 8 hours in Sri Lanka, no wonder any one didn't believe it..

After Omanthei check point, there are still road constructions around Puliyankulam & Mankulam... two separate stretches about 5 to 10 kms.. and again from Kodikamam to Chava. Its just matter of weeks to finish constructions.. Roads of whole Jaffan town is still under constructions also.. Its a real headache to move around the city as its heavily dusty and bumpy.

I didn't get a chance to visit Local food joints, sorry i'm unable to give any info on that, Meals were prepared by the care take of the place which we stayed and that's top quality food guys,. Ah the rice that Jaffna people eat is very heavy and i've never seen that variety anywhere else in the country... So we managed with Dosa, wada and String hoppers with prawn curry. yum yum yum.. :)

There's a Place called Rio Ice cream and Lingam Ice cream.. those are like ice cream restaurents (Situated near the famous Nallur Kovila) a quality ice cream is just Rs 100/- same one would be over Rs 400/- if you buy from carnival colombo...

Back to driving,, total distance traveled was 1092kms.. Petrol 64 liters average speed 60 to 80 and most of the time it was 80.. Kilinochchi visit two years back cost me 95 liters cuz of the bad roads..

So thats about it.. not much details as it was a quick trip..

Special thank to Sylvi for providing information about road conditions...

Cheers!!

[NPP]

Hi guys...

As planned, went to Jaffna and came back yesterday. So here's a briefing on the tour for interested parties..

Took off from Kalutara at 4.30am after getting blessings from Kalutara Bodhiya. Route was, Kaluatara - (A2 & A3) Puttalam (A12) - Anuradhapura - Jaffna (A20 & A9). Let me tell you my friends, the roads are Bloody fantastic... I arrived at Jaffna at 1.30 pm (only 3 stops, for breakfast, meeting a friend and Omanthei check point). When i called home from Jaffna to tell that i'm there, no one believed me.. Its a 485kms in 8 hours in Sri Lanka, no wonder any one didn't believe it..

After Omanthei check point, there are still road constructions around Puliyankulam & Mankulam... two separate stretches about 5 to 10 kms.. and again from Kodikamam to Chava. Its just matter of weeks to finish constructions.. Roads of whole Jaffan town is still under constructions also.. Its a real headache to move around the city as its heavily dusty and bumpy.

I didn't get a chance to visit Local food joints, sorry i'm unable to give any info on that, Meals were prepared by the care take of the place which we stayed and that's top quality food guys,. Ah the rice that Jaffna people eat is very heavy and i've never seen that variety anywhere else in the country... So we managed with Dosa, wada and String hoppers with prawn curry. yum yum yum.. :)

There's a Place called Rio Ice cream and Lingam Ice cream.. those are like ice cream restaurents (Situated near the famous Nallur Kovila) a quality ice cream is just Rs 100/- same one would be over Rs 400/- if you buy from carnival colombo...

Back to driving,, total distance traveled was 1092kms.. Petrol 64 liters average speed 60 to 80 and most of the time it was 80.. Kilinochchi visit two years back cost me 95 liters cuz of the bad roads..

So thats about it.. not much details as it was a quick trip..

Special thank to Sylvi for providing information about road conditions...

Cheers!!

great to hear. well the construction is going at good pace so they would have patched up the rain damage i guess.

did you try any of those sweet stuff ? name of the place doesn't come to mind...

what was the car btw?

[trinity]

great to hear. well the construction is going at good pace so they would have patched up the rain damage i guess.

did you try any of those sweet stuff ? name of the place doesn't come to mind...

what was the car btw?

Car.. my one & only CS1.. Machan only sweet stuff i had was Jaffna Ice cream...

[Sylvi]

Car.. my one & only CS1.. Machan only sweet stuff i had was Jaffna Ice cream...

Dear Trinity,

Very Glad to hear you was able to come back safely with memorable memories, I too was a great traveler from year 1960 mid part till 10 years back now my age do not permit to travel much.

Any how if you have any pictures taken on your journey, please up load them, Thank you, special mention to remember me on your post.

Sylvi Wijesinghe,

[Davy]

Hi guys...

As planned, went to Jaffna and came back yesterday. So here's a briefing on the tour for interested parties..

Took off from Kalutara at 4.30am after getting blessings from Kalutara Bodhiya. Route was, Kaluatara - (A2 & A3) Puttalam (A12) - Anuradhapura - Jaffna (A20 & A9). Let me tell you my friends, the roads are Bloody fantastic... I arrived at Jaffna at 1.30 pm (only 3 stops, for breakfast, meeting a friend and Omanthei check point). When i called home from Jaffna to tell that i'm there, no one believed me.. Its a 485kms in 8 hours in Sri Lanka, no wonder any one didn't believe it..

After Omanthei check point, there are still road constructions around Puliyankulam & Mankulam... two separate stretches about 5 to 10 kms.. and again from Kodikamam to Chava. Its just matter of weeks to finish constructions.. Roads of whole Jaffan town is still under constructions also.. Its a real headache to move around the city as its heavily dusty and bumpy.

I didn't get a chance to visit Local food joints, sorry i'm unable to give any info on that, Meals were prepared by the care take of the place which we stayed and that's top quality food guys,. Ah the rice that Jaffna people eat is very heavy and i've never seen that variety anywhere else in the country... So we managed with Dosa, wada and String hoppers with prawn curry. yum yum yum.. :)

There's a Place called Rio Ice cream and Lingam Ice cream.. those are like ice cream restaurents (Situated near the famous Nallur Kovila) a quality ice cream is just Rs 100/- same one would be over Rs 400/- if you buy from carnival colombo...

Back to driving,, total distance traveled was 1092kms.. Petrol 64 liters average speed 60 to 80 and most of the time it was 80.. Kilinochchi visit two years back cost me 95 liters cuz of the bad roads..

So thats about it.. not much details as it was a quick trip..

Special thank to Sylvi for providing information about road conditions...

Cheers!!

Glad you enjoyed the ride machang, and that you're back home safely. I've gotta request the same thing that Sylvi asked for... some photos if you have any.

[trinity]

Dear Trinity,

Very Glad to hear you was able to come back safely with memorable memories, I too was a great traveler from year 1960 mid part till 10 years back now my age do not permit to travel much.

Any how if you have any pictures taken on your journey, please up load them, Thank you, special mention to remember me on your post.

Sylvi Wijesinghe,

Glad you enjoyed the ride machang, and that you're back home safely. I've gotta request the same thing that Sylvi asked for... some photos if you have any.

You are welcome Sylvi...

And about the photos, i'm so sorry to disappoint you both as i could not take any photos during the tour.. i was on a limited time schedule and was in love with the drive so i ignored photo taking....

[carboy2011]

Good to know that you had a great trip man

God willing i too hope to do that trip in a coule of weeks time but in a much much older car !

Do you advice me to take the Cmb-puttalam route and not Dambulla road?

how long did it take to come to back to colombo from Jaffna?

the rice your refering to is the brown rice rich which is supposed to be good for health and locally grown i think its called 'nadu' rice if im not mistaken

You are welcome Sylvi...

And about the photos, i'm so sorry to disappoint you both as i could not take any photos during the tour.. i was on a limited time schedule and was in love with the drive so i ignored photo taking....

[trinity]

Good to know that you had a great trip man

God willing i too hope to do that trip in a coule of weeks time but in a much much older car !

Do you advice me to take the Cmb-puttalam route and not Dambulla road?

how long did it take to come to back to colombo from Jaffna?

the rice your refering to is the brown rice rich which is supposed to be good for health and locally grown i think its called 'nadu' rice if im not mistaken

Hi Machan..

Best route is Colombo - Putlam - Anuradhapura - Jaffna.. Road is perfect all the way up to Omanthei check piont. In 2010 i took Dambulla road and take my word machan, this route is way better.. I went there early morning, so did not encounter any traffic throughout the journey.

Jaffna to Colombo 8 hours (With couple of stops for food & pee ) The rice i referred is "Nadu" macha... ammo eka nam kanna baha...

Better to keep you speed in the limit as there are cops in places where you dont think that they'll be.. Anyway i did not go over 80 and thats a fine speed for a trip like this. It does not over exhaust you. Less risk and confy drive..

Take your own water machan..

Cheers!!