Cycling to Jaffna

29 August 2010 03:50 am

By N. Parameshwaran


A 60 year old man from Deniyaya in the Matara district has ridden a bicycle all the way to Jaffna on a sight seeing tour and is to return to his home town today on the same bicycle.

Malawarachige Ratnapala, speaking to Daily Mirror online, said that he arrived in Jaffna last week after cycling from Matara for eight days and making overnight stopovers at police stations and army camps on the way.

“During the war I never got to see Jaffna so with peace finally here I had to see the area and I felt the best way to do that would be to ride my push-cycle all the way to Jaffna. The police and army camps on the way gave me accommodation and I'm so grateful to that,” Ratnapala told Daily Mirror online.

Ratnapala said that his family opposed the idea of him heading to Jaffna on a bicycle but nevertheless he went ahead with his trip and is now a happy man. (Daily Mirror online)