Permission to travel

From January 2012 you will need to obtain permission to travel to Sri Lanka by completing an on line registration form which should be processed within 24 hours but you will be charged. See the website: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/asia-oceania/sri-lanka#visas

The good news is that you no longer have to get a military pass to visit the northern territories of Sri Lanka. Since August 2011 the government have relaxed this requirement and you can now venture forth into the area from almost any direction. The most used route is the A9 from Anuradhapura straight to Jaffna but we have also travelled on other routes such as A32 from Mannar to Pooneryn and across the new bridge into Jaffna and from the east coast on the A35 via Mullaittivu, Puthukudiyiruppu joining to A9 at Kilinochchi.

Travel News October 2011

A9 – Anuradhapura to Jaffna

You will still need to produce your ID and passport when you go through the military check point at Omanthai north of Vavuniya.

The A9 is subject to a massive rebuilding exercise and there is hardly a stretch of it which is not free from road works. You can expect everything from patches of pristine tarmac which has not yet been white lined and aspires to be two lanes wide on both side of the road, to sandy tracks, subsidence and pot holes. In-between are huge sections where the work is taking place. Approach these with caution as they are hell holes of dust, machinery, people (men and women) with scarves tied round their mouths and noses labouring with pick axes and shovels to feed the mighty tarmac laying beasts.

Fed by endless legions of 4.5 tonne bright yellow Leyland tipper trucks of sand and grit, water tankers spraying the surface and surveyors with tripods and maps, you will have to navigate by instinct as any rules of the road are suspended here. The work is more organised in some places than others and has people waving red or green flags but you still run the gamut of bikes ignoring all traffic control and forging ahead regardless of the space on the road and the tendency for when the flag does go green for all vehicles to spread and set off six deep like a Le Mans start. This is no place for a hesitant driver or a nervous passenger and at sunset the light is blinding and you cannot see anything for dust clouds and glare.

Kilinochchi is particularly bad. What was only last February a tiny passing place on the A9, a one horse town, is now turning into a dual carriageway of motorway proportions with equivalent differences in height between carriageways which you have to be careful of when you switch from one lane to another. You will not get either a peaceful or smooth ride for some time but all will be well when it is done….. meanwhile, beware!

Jaffna roads

Subject to road works as above but most are narrow and rutted. You will be stopped still at checkpoints, roads signs are few and far between so you have to stop and ask people the way. On the islands the military will quiz you as to why a foreigner is out there and ask for passport and other ID. There are no regular vehicles and some islands have only uncomfortable (no suspension) tractor driven carts – see our section of Jaffna on the main website page for further information about travel on the islands.

A35 via Mullaittivu, Puthukudiyiruppu joining to A9 at Kilinochchi

This is a track relatively used by modern traffic and only recently reopened after the conflicts but it was a main military route during the final months of war for not just the opposing forces but the thousands of civilians trying to escape from the area. In October 2011 it is littered with army and navy camps, checkpoints, lined by burnt out buildings and hosts several burnt out vehicles mounted on plinths in memory of notable actions during the final stages of the war.

Mostly an orange track it is still basically a military road but with massive road works taking place. Culverts are being constructed, which means diverting round the digging, new tarmac is being laid, and it is ploughed by loads of lorries driving like fury across ruts, lurching through potholes and showing no mercy to lesser vehicles.

You can expect subsidence, collapse of the surface, detours, huge amounts of dust, animals all over the road. At times the road shakes you to pieces, at others it swells and soars like the sea so you feel queasy and nauseous and you can never, ever take your eye off the surface as the dust makes it very hard to see the ruts, holes and major crevices.

Watched along the entire length by wary soldiers with their fingers on the trigger it is a not a hospitable area for a picnic. Unless you are interested in the debris of war, or want to see the bunker of the Tamil Tiger leader, use the A9.

Rest of Sri Lanka

Most of the roads in the rest of Sri Lanka are much improved. Gone are the long drives as you labour painfully across atrocious surfaces worrying about your track rods ends and suspension. Mountain  passes have been widened with tonnes of rock being blasted out to make room for vehicles to travel side by side. New bridges are sprouting everywhere and roads being made where none existed before.

Here is quick run down:

A4 from Ratnaupra to Balangoda

Good surface but took 2 hours to do 45Km because of the torturous bends but great scenery

From Trinconmalee to Seruwila on the north east coast

Most of the ferries have been replaced by bridges but one last one has not been done which means you cannot take the coast road all the way there. You have to go via Mutur and some worse than sandy tracks which often disappear into the salt flats leaving not knowing which way to go. There are no road signs either… You really need a four wheel drive in these conditions or a water buffalo cart.

A15 from Trinconmalee to Batticaloa

Good road, black top and fast.

From Mahiyangama to Hettipola in the Knuckles Mountains

The road is much improved in last six months and travelling time has halved but beware as it becomes a mountain track at Pallegama.

By way of another contrast, here is what we reported in September 2008, only two years before…..

travel-and-security-in-the-north-and-east-updated-4109