The North

I next headed right to the North of Sri Lanka, where things were quite different to the South. Everything is very dry there and evidence of the war is clearly visible. Many of the buildings have been half demolished and lots are covered in holes/craters, which is really very sad to see. The further North you go, the more military people and police checkpoints there are. On the way to Jaffna - the main town there - I had to show my passport and answer questions about my intentions whilst I was there. I felt a little sorry for everyone else on the bus, as being the only tourist I was the only person who had to do this. I discovered that although the people who live in the North are Tamils, all of the policemen are Sinhalese.

I visited a little village called Manalkadu, which lots of people were very helpful in showing me how to reach. Here there were sand dunes and the ruins of St Anthony's church and graveyard half buried in the sand.

There was also a pretty beach as far as you could see. All along the shore was a line of little shiny blue things that had been washed up by the sea. At first I thought they were some sort of litter or part of a plant, but after a closer inspection I found they were tiny sea creatures. They were only about the size of a thumb nail and felt like jelly. They had little kind of wings which looked almost feathery at the tips. I've no idea what they were as have never seen or heard of anything like them! Any ideas??

I went to a little town called Manar where there apparently is the largest tree in Asia. It's a Baobab tree like the ones in Africa although here it's called a Biobab tree. It was quite short but did have a huge trunk, and unlike all the ones I saw in Africa, also was covered in leaves. Another addition to the town were lots and lots of donkeys, often looking very thin.

One thing the North and South of Sri Lanka definitely have in common is the wonderful people!