Jaffna - Sri Lanka

On the train ride to Jaffna I met Sri Lanka John and chatted with him during the 4 hour train ride. I asked him about Hinduism and the civil war and he asked me about football and the Nazi era in Germany. When you arrived in the northern province, you could still see many bombed-out buildings and bullet holes in the facades and soldiers with machine guns. John also told me a lot about the suffering that the civil war brought with it.

When we arrived at the hostel, we immediately went to the Nallur Temple Festival with two Germans and the local Ramesch, who I had previously met in Anuradhapura. A Hindu festival that lasts a whole month and attracts Tamils from all over the world. It was great. Colorful, loud, magnificent, fraternal and beautiful.

The next morning we went to the Delft Islands with Ramesch and for the first time I felt that my European stomach was still adjusting to the local dishes :D

After a 6-hour journey and a wild boat trip, we arrived on the island hungry and ate local food and cracked open crabs to eat with dahl. We looked at the mystery of the "growing stone" (a stone that grows year after year and no one knows why or how) and a tree with a diameter of 6m that can fit 10 people :D

The special thing about Delft is that all the walls, castles and houses were built from coral. The limestone looks totally surreal.

The return journey was much faster due to the tailwind and waves and the sun set beautifully over the Indian Ocean. With the light of the sun and the salt crystals on my glasses from the sea water, the landscape appeared like a nostalgic Claude Monet painting.

After another trip to the Nallur Temple Festival and an Indian dinner in a group, the clock already struck 00:00. So off to bed :)

Tomorrow we'll take the bus to Sigirya. The destination I was/am looking forward to the most. A small village in the middle of the jungle.

Nature. nature and nature.