The Tamil north
Jaffna
A different Sri Lanka: Hindu temples, palmyra palms, wild ponies, and the best crab curry in the country.
Jaffna reopened to visitors after 2009 and still sees a fraction of the tourists the south gets. The Nallur Kandaswamy temple glows gold at its evening puja, the Dutch fort looks over the lagoon, and a causeway leads to islands where wild ponies graze among baobabs. Food here is hotter, sharper and unforgettable.
What we do here
- Nallur temple at evening puja
- Delft Island by ferry
- Jaffna market and a crab curry lunch
- Point Pedro, the northern tip
Worth knowing
- The Nallur festival in August runs for 25 days
- Delft Island has feral horses descended from Dutch-era stock
- Jaffna is reachable by direct train from Colombo in about 6 hours
- Nagadeepa is one of the 16 sacred Buddhist sites of Sri Lanka
