Alvin Sallay
The Rio ice-cream parlour in the shadow of the famous Nallur temple in the heart of Jaffna town is bustling with customers as we walk in for a taste of sweetness highly recommended by a friend in Hong Kong. On the surface, life seems to have returned to normalcy on the Jaffna peninsula. But the scars of a three-decade-old war can be seen all over. Every other building is pockmarked with bullet holes. Most are in ruins.
It has been 19 months since the Tamil Tigers were decimated. Along with my family and friends, I travel the infamous A9 highway to Jaffna. This road, the only major artery that links Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, has been grimly fought for. Thousands have lost their lives and there are monuments reminding visitors of the bravery of the Sri Lankan Army. All sign of the Tigers has disappeared. To the victor goes the spoils - and the last word.
It is my first visit to the centre of the struggle for independence from the majority Sinhalese community. The road is potholed and cratered. It's like the surface of the moon. Our bus inches along carefully. There are burned tanks and armoured cars along the way. The signs of war are everywhere.
But there are also signs of peace. HSBC has opened a branch in Jaffna. A leading supermarket franchise has also opened a sales outlet. A forest of telecommunication towers stand like sentinels as rival mobile telephone companies pitch their sales. The ice-cream parlour is busy with tourists.
Our guesthouse keeper says that if not for the bad weather which stranded thousands of people in Europe, there would have been more foreign visitors in town. It is not only in northern Jaffna, but all Sri Lanka is bustling with hope and ambition. Plans are well-advanced to net the 2018 Commonwealth Games for Hambantota, a sea-port town in the south, which is also the home town of president Mahinda Rajapakse.
China is investing millions in building a major port and international airport in Hambantota. These will be ready in the next couple of years. A new cricket stadium close to the town will host matches at next month's ICC World Cup.