The Day We Missed the Boat

A Bad Start

We had a day visiting Delft Island, although all didn't initially go to plan.

We left the hotel at 7.20 to catch the public or navy boat to Delft, both these boats are free but online recommendations say go for the Navy boat as in the other you are basically travelling in the bottom of the enclosed boat and the hour crossing can be quite choppy. Pinto had said he would come with us which sounded good if anything got confusing.

The journey to the port was excellent, a 40 minute drive most of which was on causeways across the estuary. The water is full of fishing nets, small fishing boats and sea birds. When we got to the port me and Karen headed towards the public boat as it was due to leave in 5 minutes and lots of people getting on. Our guide went the other way but didn't tell us why! When we caught up with him, he'd found out the Navy boat wasn't running just as we saw the public boat setting sail! The next public boat left at 2.30pm so not an option for us. We were stuck.

A guy came up and offered to take us there and back for $100! After some negotiation he agreed $70. Despite being on the phone to his boss there was no offer to pay some of this from our guide!

A Scary Boat Ride

Pretty much as soon as we left the jetty the sea became really choppy. The waves were crashing into the front of our small boat sending us high then really low. Our driver was an old guy who only spoke a Hindu language but seemed unperturbed he kept turning with his hands off the wheel, laughing with his thumbs up. As we got closer to the island the roughness of the sea seemed to get worse. We were delighted when we finally docked.

We were undecided if being in a bigger boat would have been better but our journey was certainly exciting and we still had the trip the other way. At least we could see the waves and anticipate the bumps. Stuck inside on a full ferry in this heat may have been worse. The guy who organised the ride insisted going back would easier. Karen has put a video of the journey on facebook together with a photo comparing our boat to the public ferry.

A Busy in Delft

On the island we paid a tuktuk guy for a tour round the island, this was excellent although a bit crowded with 3 in the back of the small vehicle. However it was a fascinating place we saw the obligatory temples, wild horses, a fort partly made of coral, an old hospital, a Boab tree and a banyan tree. Really interesting was the growing stone it dates back 1500 years and is slowly getting bigger. It has become a shrine for locals and travellers. The island almost feels like a sleepy Norfolk village then you go round a corner and see a group of Hindu ladies in bright and brilliants saris.

We then headed back to the mainland, we gained 2 government officials who asked to travel on our boat but no contribution was offered to the cost! The trip back was much calmer with the waves crashing behind us. This meant the old fella was even more laid back to the extent of trying persuade Karen to take over the driving whilst he went to the front we think for a toilet break over the side..

Back in Jaffna and Food Stops

When we got back to Jaffna we visited the fort there, from the 1600s. The gallows were still there but roped off. We then finished the afternoon at Rio's for ice cream. This is a famous ice cream shop in Jaffna initially Pinto took us to Lio's which was a roadside ice cream van!

Jaffna is only 60 miles from India so our curries have become more Indian influenced and a good excuse to keep eating them.

Despite a dodgy start and a bit more expensive than we hoped it has been a great day