I had wanted to visit Jaffna for several years and researched it a fair bit for previous visits to Sri Lanka. However, fitting a visit into a 2 weeks holiday when you really want to be at the other end of the island surfing, defeated all my best planning endeavours. Now, armed with 2 months in Sri Lanka and the invite to visit my beyond lovely neighbour’s family there, it seemed I would finally be making the trip.

Naturally when travelling and meeting people, you are asked where you are off to next. I spent 6 weeks in Sri Lanka telling everyone I was headed to ‘the north, to Jaffna’, to which most answered, ‘why?’. I would counter by explaining I wished to visit my neighbour’s family there, and how after several trips to Sri Lanka it felt wrong that I had not visited the Tamil capital. Whilst on reflection, it’s a bit off that I felt a need to justify my trip, I wager this response was driven by how descriptions of Jaffna describe it as ‘ravaged by the civil war’ and nearly all guides mention the bullet holes you can still see. Regardless, I think it’s natural that when a solo female traveller, who does not exactly give off badass independent backpacking vibes, shares they want to head somewhere where few tourists visit, that people are a little surprised.

Making my way to Jaffna

Normally I am an overplanner, yet oddly despite all signs indicating I should do so, I did not book my train in advance enough to be able to buy a reserved ticket online. The last few weeks of remote work, coupled with increasingly long powercuts perhaps had sapped my brain of energy left for organization.

Top tip, don’t assume you can get on an unreserved carriage mid-route around Sri Lankan New Year, coupled with a fuel crisis… After a 2.5 hours tuktuk from the Knuckles Mountains to Kurunegala, I had a London rush hour tube moment of a wall of bodies and absolutely no way I was getting on the train. I ended up sitting on the floor by the toilets, just relieved to have gotten on at all. Next thing I knew, there was a wonderful blast of AC as a man opened the door to the 1st class carriage I was next to, and extremely kindly gave me a free spare ticket his family had. Of course I graciously accepted this invite, despite feeling uncomfortable with the privilege that meant I was given this ticket and not those around me. I tried to pay the family for the ticket but as so often when travelling, people’s hospitality and kindness is unparalleled to visitors.

After a much more pleasant few hours than I would have had from my original seat, the train started to empty out as it approached Jaffna. The landscape became flatter, although I could not see much more than silhouettes at this point as evening fell. I felt that thrill of arriving somewhere new, even as I began to worry slightly about trying to get a tuktuk alone in the dark. I stepped out of Jaffna Fort railway station with my phone trying and failing to find a PickMe (a local uber equivalent), to a very quiet unlit street. I had a minor moment of panic, all the times, even on my train journey just ended that people cautioned me to be safe and not be alone at dark in Jaffna by myself, passing through my mind. I decided moving was better than staying still as the front of the station got quieter and quieter as those also alighting made their way home, and walked out towards where I could hear more bustle. Of course within seconds I got a tuk tuk and 10 minutes later was safely arrived at my guest house, zero problems.

As this is the time of power cuts, I was interested to establish that it was not dark by the station as there was a power cut, but just because certain areas were not lit at all at night anymore, to save fuel I assume. I therefore hot-footed it to grab dinner so I could walk there and back with some street lights before the next power cut started. The guest house owners seem baffled as to why I would even ask if it was safe for me to walk in the dark, and in the next 3 days I would not feel unsafe once.

Spending time in Jaffna with new friends

The next morning, alone, hot and a little unsettled of course I just wanted to be like hellooooo neighbour’s family can I just join you all now. However instead like a grown-up, I decided to do my sightseeing thinking that then I could join the family for the rest of my time, having seen some of Jaffna already. When people offer you hospitality, I sometimes find it hard to know what’s appropiate. My neighbour told me her youngest cousin, R, is a passionate couchsurfing community leader who loves to host and I should not hesitate to hang out with her. However, yes she said come over any time, but do you realise I will happily do so, chill all day, probably eat vast amounts of your food and have the ability to sit for hours chatting aimlessly? I thought it best for everyone if I arrived late afternoon, also giving me time to try pick up a gift to bring with me too! Fast forward a few brilliant tuktuk hours exploring the temples around Jaffna and armed with some fairly suspect macaroons from the one bakery open on the eve of Sri Lankan new year, I made my way to R’s home.

In the end, it was only really 20 hours of being solo in Jaffna, as once I met R, and her couchsurfing friend S visiting her from Mumbai, I essentially spent the rest of my time with them. Many wonderful hours of sitting around chatting ensued, in the gorgeous setting of R’s renovated 100 of years old colonial home that she is just completing work on.

I absolutely loved the opportunity to spend time with people with very different frames of reference from me, whose lives are miles away from the many surfer/yogi/traveller types I met in the South. After spending 6 weeks essentially in one village with a similar group of new friends, surfing, working, choosing between homestay 1 or 2 for dinner that night… To be in a new city with new people and out of my comfort zone again, left my brain buzzing.

I felt very different in Jaffna compared to the South. Although I am sure this was influenced from me having stopped work at this point – not having this structure as a crux to my day most likely adding to a feeling of being untethered and in new territory. Of the conversations that stand out the most in my mind, none were focussed on the history of Jaffna, despite one of R’s sister’s job being to help find old lane mines – but instead on the current crisis, the future and individual’s plans, such as the logistics of finishing building your house when there is no concrete to be had.

A few days passed very quickly and soon I was back on the train, this time with my own ticket heading to Colombo Fort and being treated to an excellent train sunset.

Top tips for Jaffna

• Eat at Mangos then get ice cream round the corner at Rio’s
• Don’t expect things to be open late – especially if you are there around a holiday or festival
• Don’t accidentally wander in to the fort through a military exit, then get back out the same way once the guard has arrived by pointing out that he was late to the gate if he missed stopping us on the way in…
• Book your train in advance! The 1st class carriages from Colombo-Jaffna are new and very spacious and comfortable with good toilets too
• I was not hassled at all, but the speed at which things feel very quiet and dark at night is a bit scary in its own way and don’t assume you will always be able to find a tuktuk
• Definitely go see all the temples scattered through the countryside
• Remember to just walk around the residential neighborhoods and enjoy the scenes and beautiful houses, all different and with their own use of colour
• Visit the market and pick up some palymera products. It was mostly shut as I was visiting around new years but it’s definitely worth visiting and there is also a lot of amazing street art scattered round the area
• The vast majority of women are traditionally dressed – you will probably feel most comfortable in loose long clothing which will also keep the extremely hot sun off your skin