05-Feb Heading north - the express train to Jaffna

Kattuwa station

early morning train

We woke up at 5:00am, packed and showered, then headed by tuk-tuk to the local train station at Kattuwa. The early morning commuter train to Colombo (cost 100 LKR each) and it took about an hour before arriving at Colombo Fort station.

commuters

We stored our luggage and bought first-class tickets for Jaffna. With a few hours to spare before our departure, we ate a late breakfast of coconut roti, dahl and string hoppers, then headed to the waterfront. Many of the streets were closed off because the President of the Maldives was visiting for today and security was tight around the Presidential Secretariat Building.

We saw the land reclamation area and new development being funded by Chinese investments, creating an almost entirely new city within Colombo Port District.

port city development

tickets please!

1st class

Collecting our backpacks, we boarded the 11:55am train for our journey north. Tickets were 1700 LKR each. The train was quite busy until Anuradapura where we were able to switch seats and sit together for the remainder of the 8 hour journey. A tuk-tuk took us through the busy streets of Jaffna to our hotel and we ate vegetables and rice at a restaurant around the corner from the hotel and bought some Lion beer and bottled water at the grocery store.

Colombo Fort station