Photos of a day trip I did from Jaffna to Point Pedro on the northern coast of the Jaffna Peninsula. One quirk of Jaffna is the preponderance of very old English cars on the streets, presumably because of the region's decades of isolation during the civil war. Outside Jaffna General Hospital, I found two extremely old ones operating as taxis and decided I wanted a ride in one. The oldest was decrepit indeed and, despite its dashing lipstick pink upholstery, I passed over it and chose the second oldest, an Austin Cambridge, A55.
Having no special destination in mind but just wanting a ride, and having done a car tour of the Jaffna Peninsula on my previous visit, I had an inspiration: a visit to Point Pedro, the furthest point on the Jaffna Peninsula.
Off we went, over roads that varied from atrocious (in the suburbs of Jaffna) to excellent, out in the countryside, and bowled along at dizzying speeds of up to 60 miles per hour with the quarter vents open. At Point Pedro I visited the market, then explored the town centre before having a late lunch of vegetarian curry and rice. For dessert I went to a "cream house" (ice-cream parlour) for a sundae, then returned to Jaffna - regretfully. My expedition was a lot of fun.