My nephew, a forum member who paved way for me to Lakdasun, came back from abroad with a very expensive set of camera equipment to test in our poor country. So we decided to try Gal Oya National Park. When inquired, Park Officials suggested us a place to stay over night. The owner of the lodge has a jeep and Wildlife Office was able to facilitate a land trip as well as a boat trip.

What more to ask? So we proceeded.

Day One

We started from Maharagama around 1.00 am and reached Aranthalawa Monument by 6.00 in the morning.

As the place was deserted, we were able to do morning rituals and had our breakfast in peace.

.	Aranthalawa Monument – Past best forgotten

After the short break, we headed towards Rajagala.

A name board made us to de-route to see a remains of an old temple Pulukunawa Raja Maha Viharaya.

This temple is in ruins and yet to be dug and restored. Ruins are scattered in a large area. One monk is looking after the place. According to him, after seeing a body of a mother who was brutally killed by LTTE, the other monk de-robed and joined the army sometimes back. He was Hasalaka Gamini.

The resident monk is living in a temporary shelter and living on what he is offered and what he can cook. Our Ashan has visited the place in 2012 and wondered whether authorities are blind on this place!!! There is no change since then. The wilderness is claiming the place and they are still blind.

.	Largest Asana Gharaya

More Ruins

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No End

We were unable to spend more time at this place as our aim was Rajagala. We took our leave from the Resident Monk with a minute offer.

Please visit this place and strengthen the Monk who has lot of dreams to realize.

After that, we headed towards out main target which is Rajagala Hermitage. At the entrance point, we were lucky enough to secure the services of an undergraduate of Ja’pura campus who is working there to complete the project. The excavation of this unbelievable treasure is presently done by University of Jayawardanapura and they are doing a good job.

There is an untouched hill to be excavated and recently the Government has provided a hefty sum for this.

First Glimpse of an Archaeological Treasure

Chathraya – Commonly found symbol of worship before Buddha Statutes were introduced

Early Stage Mura Gala

seven Hooded Protector

It is a tough climb – Now there is a stepped route from other side but it is longer

Mihindu Seya where remains of MahindaUththiya Theros were embedded

Exposed Sel Lipiya

Long shot of the lake under renovation

Kuda Gala (Umbrella Rock Cave) – First Cave that can be accessed at the summit

Mistaken as cart tracks connected to Shakya – Koliya battle!!

Gaping History

Imagine this abandoned !!!

Being Excavated

Water Basin

Famous Spring – Now it supplies drinking water to entire project.

Ruins under excavation

Ruins restored

Confused Identity

The nearest person in blue is our guide

Another Chathraya with stem

Sri Pathula – Another symbol of worship before statutes

Vandalized in search of treasures

Unfinished Stone Statute – Work abandoned due to unknown reason

second Climb Towards Caves

This complex of caves gave shelter to Aranyawaasi Bikkus

Named Cave

It is a huge cave

Another cave with remains of human touch

We used the stepped path to come down. It is longer but easier for tired feet!

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After this unforgettable trek through the history, we proceeded to our guest house, took a quick lunch and went for a jeep ride through Galoya National Park. The guest house owner has a jeep, so it was easier for us.

As the Inginiyagala reservoir is full of water, we did not see any animals except few birds. According to our ranger, lot of elephants can be seen during dry season.

The camp site is superb for a night out.

Most of park fotos were taken from Chamil’s camera as he wanted to test his new toy.

Park Entrance

only life seen in the park except us

.	Camping site is unique

Our Guest House Owner was bit upset as we have not seen any animals, so he took us to tank overflow to show it. It was a long de-route!!!

Inginiyagala Tank Spill. In blue shirt is our Guest owner

This is the end of the first tiring but fulfilled day!!!!

Day Two

Bandula, our guest house keeper prepared some sandwiches for breakfast to carry and we rushed to Park Office by 6.30 in the morning.

We had to force open the office to make the payment for boat ride.

Inginiyagala Rock and Reservoir

Getting Ready for a fantastic ride

110 feet deep end

Vigilant Eye saw the elephant

Lone rogue

Did not approve our arrival

open Challenge

Withdrawing

Getting down on an island for breakfast

Swim in unpolluted water – Rare chance

Hunter awaiting

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Wild as ever

Birds’ Island was full of birds

.	Building a nest without a housing loan

coming Home

Killer among innocents – Waiting for a chance

Clustered population

Beauty

After the boat ride, we came back to our guest house, packed and left. While on our way back, we visited Buddangala Raja Maha Viharaya

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.	He is so tame!!!

Then we visited Deeghawapi Viharaya

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End of fun for boys near an unknown tank

Introduction

At 7:30 am on 29 October 2014, a landslide struck the Sri Lanka district of Badulla, killing at least 16 people and leaving an estimated 200 missing. The landslide was triggered by monsoon rains, and occurred at about 7:30 AM local time.

The landslide occurred in a hilly region, hitting the village of Koslanda in the Haldummulla division, 190 kilometres (120 mi) from the capital, Colombo. The landslide was triggered by monsoon rains and was about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long. According to Sri Lanka’s National Building Research Organization, it had issued a warning of possible landslides on the night of 28 October, but the Disaster Management Center (DMC), which was responsible for broadcasting the warning, had failed to deliver to the Badulla area; the DMC denied the claim, saying it had sent the warning but residents were not able to evacuate before the slide occurred.

Initial reports indicated that as many as 300 people were missing, while officials said that six bodies had been found on the day of the slide. The following day, however, the number of missing was lowered to 192, while the number of bodies found had been reduced to three, according to Pradeep Kodippili, an official at the country’s Disaster Management Center (DMC-SL). However, as rescue efforts continued on the 30th, the number of confirmed dead rose to 16, while officials said that it was unlikely any of the missing would be found alive. The confusion over the number of missing was compounded by the destruction of a local office, which had contained records of the area’s population.

Physical damage caused by the slide included some 150 houses buried, as well as several road and railroad washouts.

Several hundred rescue workers, including government personnel, local aid workers and other volunteers, reached the site within a day of the slide, as well as 500 military troops. Heavy equipment was later brought in, as well as an additional 200 troops, by the 30th. Continued rain, as well as unstable terrain due to ground saturation, impeded rescue efforts, and late in the day on the 30th, the entire operation was suspended overnight due to rain. Following the slide, authorities ordered several hundred residents of nearby communities to evacuate due to the risk of further landslides.

Two secure centers were set up at Koslanda Tamil School and Poonagala Tamil School. On 30 October 2014 the centers accommodated 522 and 317 people, respectively.
Source – Wikipedia

As you all know this big disaster was impacted to our lives also, because we were shocked by seeing this kind of disaster to this innocent people. After few weeks we quickly went to Meeriyabedda to see this area. Actually our target was to go to the top of that mountain.

We came there around 10am and had enough time to walk along that area. This was a very risky for us because there were plenty of germs since there were many dead bodies under the ground which weren’t taken by the army. The ground was fully filled with mud and water streams. We never touch the water since it might can made healthy issues. Finally we came to the top of that mountain where the landslide was begun. There was a small water stream which looks like a 5m high waterfall. That whole area was dangerous, there were many huge rocks on the way and the mud was very dangerous.
However after we finished our tour (actually this is like a research on there) we left from there around 4:00pm. Unfortunately this tour made a big damage to my life also, first one is I lost my Rs.45,000/- worth smartphone and the other one is a wound. I was suffered around 6 months from that wound which was a germ attack.

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What would you give to be able to lose yourself among the virgin cloud forests of Sri Lanka? Well, I’m sure you would be ready to sacrifice quite a lot to experience the freedom and peace inside the protective womb of the Mother Nature. I, sure as hell, would go to extreme lengths to feel the chilly winds on my cheeks, the icy-cold dew on my skin and on top of everything, the soothing music of the rustling leaves in my ears. That alone is enough to lift you from the greater depths of sorrow, frustration, depression, pain and anxiety. Mother Nature, after all, is the best doctor you can find in this world for innumerable physical and mental disorders.

Now you might be wondering whether you’re reading a nutcase’s unrealistic imagination. Well, you are correct about the former but not the latter. Aren’t we all crazy in our heads in one way or another? It’s just a matter of containing the insane characters, rather overpower them with the sane ones. So long as you do that, well there’s nothing to worry. Even though you may not be able to do that, the chances of anyone knowing about it are minimal, I suppose.

Well, that is about it the psychology lesson for today and be sure to do some research into it in your spare time and find out who you are and what your craziness is. Remember, when you know who you are, the mental hospital is not so far. Well if you are not crazy about the nature, you wouldn’t be reading this article in the first place. The reason is only a fellow nature-crazy person can understand the symptoms of another. Ok, let’s dig deeper and find out what the Santa has brought you for this Christmas, shall we?

I’m a dreamer, a wild one at that. Once I’m obsessed with something, I won’t let anything get in the way in my quest to make it come true. Thankfully I bought myself a camera not a packet of cigarettes or any other dangerous drugs when I could afford it. My passion for visiting the nature and photographing her has kept me safe and away from many harmful things, especially the drugs which has, is and will continue to plague the innocent lives. So I’m grateful for my wisdom that steered me towards the Mother Nature. If you are a worried mother or father about your children and their future, buy them a camera and take them to the nature a couple of times. You can’t go wrong with that. Well, I’ll leave the decision with you.

From the first I heard about Galagama Ella, I fell in love with her. It’s not love at first sight (like it was with Lakegala) but at first mention. There were so many theories and stories relating to her and even the very existence of her itself was shrouded in mystery. Finally, Ashan pulled out a stunner and revealed this hidden beauty to the rest of the world. As he correctly put it, that really was unveiling one of greatest mysteries of Sri Lankan natural beauties. I’m sure the Google Earth too needs to be congratulated for helping solve this puzzle.

When I heard about Ashan’s visit, it was pure torture to wait for the report. The day I read it made my heart beat so fast I was wondering if my ribcage was strong enough to keep it inside me. It hammered hard against the bones screaming at me to go see this beautiful girl. I was in love, once again, probably for the umpteenth time. Well, willingness to go see something is great, especially if it’s as good looking as Galagama Ella but making it happen is a completely different ball game. So it took almost one year of deliberation for me to make this dream come true. I’m gonna tell you about it and get yourself comfortable.

Getting on the Journey

The year-end holidays brought with it so much freedom and opportunities for my passion. So I decided to take advantage of it and visit one of the most-wanted ones. Galagama Ella was the natural first choice. I put it to the interested parties and managed to find Atha and long-lost Tony as the crew. We then decided on the 27 Dec and were ready by 3am.

We left Kolonnawa just after 3am and drove along the old road towards Kaduwela and Avissawella. There was a noticeable difference especially about the shops either side of the road which are usually closed till 6-6.30am, as they were open very early. Then we realized it was the Sri Pada season thus the reason for them to remain open probably 24/7. We stopped at our usual shop in Ratnapura for an early snack and some coffee. Even they looked busier than they usually are.

Anuruddha, one of our friends in Balangoda, was to join us but we found him still in bed after a late night so decided to leave him behind. The dawn had broken out over the mountains to our left, most notably the Hawagala (aka Haagala) and Dethanagala. It was nice and sunny but there was this strange gloominess hovering above it all. We were hoping for clear weather coz it’d been nice and sunny over the past few days.

We reached Belihul Oya and I called Premadasa and got the directions to his place along the Belihul Oya-Landuyaya road. Yeah, you guessed right coz another beautiful waterfall known as Pahanthudawa Ella is also located on this road. Premadasa’s house is in Galpoththenna, Ibbanwala about 3km from Belihul Oya. However we missed him and drove all the way to Ihala Galagama School. It was a good thing coz we could see the Galagama Ella in the far distance and so far higher in the mountains bordering the Horton Plains. The elevation difference was around 1000m (yeah 1km) or probably more. Nagrak Bungalow is located well over 7200ft (almost as high as Sri Pada). Therefore Galagama Ella must be one of the falls located at the highest altitudes in Sri Lanka, of course in closer competition with Baker’s Falls aka Gonagala Ella.

We turned around and came back to Galpoththenna where Premadasa was waiting for us. We then drove to his house which was less than 1km away from the road. It was around 7.45am when we reached his house and without further delay, got ready to start the hike. This was one of those hikes that took us completely off guard as we didn’t expect it to be that strenuous. So don’t expect any freebies. Carry some water as the streams are sort of polluted by the estate and the line houses above. Also take as much as possible to eat. Leech protection is very important coz the first 2-3km you will find millions of them, especially if it’s the rainy season. So be prepared and boy are they big? Ok, here are a couple of pictures before we take to the path.

That’s Nelu

Closer look

At the start of the path, all smiles but at the end we were almost in tatters and tears

On the Way Up

We started walking up a fairly wide road, about 10-15ft wide. Premadasa explained that this was the horse trail used by the planters in the past (in the 19th century till mid-20th century) to travel between Belihul Oya and Nagrak. Interestingly enough, he’d worked at the Nagrak Bungalow since 1978 till 2000. If you had read my Nagrak Report, you might have seen the remains of some buildings behind the main bungalow. According to Premadasa, that complex had been his and other workers’ quarters.

The path from Nagrak bungalow to World’s End used to be a Gamsabha Road (RDA Road), according to him and older workers at Nagrak. However the declaration of HP as a National Park had changed things. Especially the inability of the Wildlife Department to man this beautiful and easily accessible trail now has become illegal which is a great pity. The same fate befell on the Dayagama Trail and Bagawanthalawa Trail (Bridle Trail) as well. The closing of these trails has deprived the nature enthusiasts of experiencing a true natural feeling. Not only that, it’d also invited the poachers, illegal gem miners and loggers into this sensitive natural habitat as they are no longer in use by the public.

If the Wildlife Department thinks that they can curb these severe illegal activities with the skeleton staff they have, well they have another thing coming. The best way to protect and conserve this is allowing the public to enter through these trails which will greatly discourage the hunters, miners and loggers. I wonder if the lame excuse of not enough staff to man these entrances given by the Wildlife Department is really an indirect helping hand to these illegal activities. I sincerely apologize from the respective powers that be if it really is not the case. However from what we have seen, especially how corrupt our government agencies are, it’d not be a sinful thought I suppose. If they really want to open them, they can certainly do it and it’ll also create a number of jobs for the people in the villagers nearby. It will also reduce the insane congestion created at the only two entrances at weekends and holidays. Unfortunately that might remain a dream forever. If they decide to close one of the remaining two entrances, well don’t be surprised.

Well, I suppose I got carried away a bit. Ok, let’s go on. Mighty Hawagala was now behind us but the gloominess hovering above us made the view bleak. We soon entered a thick Pines Forest. We kept taking short cuts which cut down on the distance along the original horse trail. Premadasa said that it’s 7 miles (around 12km) from the Galpoththenna to the Nagrak Bungalow. So we had a good 9-10km hike all the way up with an elevation gain of around 1000m. My legs started to shake coz we had another 2-3km hike to the Galagama Ella from the 33rd bend. All in all, something between 22km to 26km hike going up and down.

“Take it easy chum, you can do it”, my pep talk sounded too feeble. To our horror the pines plot was full of vicious leeches from 1mm to more than 2 inches. They kept coming after us and we had to keep moving or be bitten by them. There were many different ones, with two strips, single strip, greenish, brownish and blackish. Atha said most of the army ranks were represented by the number of strips they had. It had a mysterious beauty inside the forest but we had very little time and peace to enjoy it amid the constant attacks by the merciless creatures.

“How about some batter-fried leeches?”, I asked Tony who licked his lips mischievously. “I wonder if anyone or any predator eats the leeches” I asked the others. In fact, I’d thought about it numerous times. Well a simple Google search showed an article that says Fish (nearly all freshwater fish especially the Red-Eared Sunfish), Turtles (aquatic and semi-aquatic freshwater ones) and Birds (the ones regularly feed on insects and small fish) prey on leeches. Well it doesn’t look like there is any (if there’s any at all) that feed on leeches are found in Sri Lanka.

We walked hurriedly along the pine needles littered path evading the spear-carrying leech terrorists. Finally we managed to come out of the pine forest and entered a bushy area with some intermediate hills looming ahead us. We just stopped at a rock to assess the damage and have something to eat. You can enjoy these pictures till then.

Hawagala or Haagala, another of camping dreams

The path led to the pine forest infested with leeches in many sizes

Pine cones, used as an ornament too with a touch of silver or gold spray paint

Just love these tiny plants

Lots of shade but no peace coz of the leeches

Already panting twenty to the dozen

Reaching to the skies

Here’s the horse trail, must’ve been pretty wide and well paved

Seen some tapping

Defying the leeches

Looks serene but you gotta come during the dry season to enjoy this

Sun appeared at last

Looks gorgeous

Like cotton wool

Non Pareil Road is beyond this

Getting dark and gloomy

Like clad in velvet

Towards Belihul Oya

Ok, let’s go then. We soon entered a semi cloud forest and the leech population was somewhat less in here probably due to the altitude gain. The shade offered by the trees was of no use as there was no sun shining. It looked dark and I was very worried about the rain. After a while we emerged out of the forest to find we were surrounded by hills except towards Belihul Oya which lay way below. Beyond that was the long range of Hawagala or according to the villagers Haagala. Looking up at the path we had to take sent shivers down my legs. This was going to test my poor legs to the breaking point. Already Atha was feeling the brunt of the hike largely due to the less hiking recently. Even I’d not done any serious hiking for a long time and it’d prove almost fatal. Well, let’s find out how we’ll fare until you check some more pictures.

Situation getting critical

Hanging creepers

Oh wow

Closer look

Another

That shade of green is unbelievable

View from a higher position

Hawagala looking grim

Typical ones

Not come across her before

Standing tall

Just got about halfway

Right, get ready to climb along the steep slope. “How on earth did a horse manage this?”, Atha sounded unbelieving and I too shared the same thought. Probably in the past this might have been in a better situation as constant rains and sun might have eroded it over time making it steeper and dangerous. One slip would probably help you get to Belihul Oya faster but not in a very good condition. It was rugged terrain with a narrow uneven and winding uphill path through thick Mana bushes.

The view was superb but the lack of sunlight made it less glamorous. The greenery of the surrounding countryside didn’t have the lushness as a result. Not to mention the dull grey in the sky. The nagging feeling inside my mind increased as the clouds got thicker and darker signaling the imminent threat of the rain. There was hardly anything we could do as it was next to impossible for us to increase our pace. If only we were as lithe and strong as Premadasa. He climbed with such ease and grace like a Mountain Goat leaving us burning with envy. Ok folks, I’m sure we’ll soon have to put the camera in as the mist was also coming thick and fast. We’ll see you at the line houses closer to the main Nagrak Road. Until then, check out these pictures.

Where we have to go

Didn’t miss them

Atha looking up, feeling exhausted already

Found them too

One of them is a vantage point you can come to the edge

Full length of Hawagala

Maha Rathmal

Life on the hard rocks

Dead tree art

This doesn’t seem to end

There comes the mist

Now we have to go through this thick cloud

Looking majestic

Color of love

Some others too

Closer look

Finally climbed the steep part and found this narrow but clear footpath

It was as if night

Final Push

After a back-breaking, knee-creaking and thigh-burning climb, we arrived at the first line houses which was within the sight of the 31st bend. Premadasa explained that there had been more than 80 families residing here but they had left in the 80s and presently only a couple of families are living here. The rain finally eased giving us a break. Thankfully there were no leeches after the semi cloud forest. Otherwise climbing up that steep path would’ve been a killing field.

“There must be a sign at a particular height saying No Leeches”, Atha marveled at their absence. We traversed up while the mist cleared up. We also saw a basement which had been used to handle the sending of tea leaves downtown towards Belihul Oya using a long cable. It’d be used quite successfully in almost all tea estates in the upcountry in order to avoid taking them over difficult terrain.

Arriving at the sign board near the 31st bend was one of those most relieved moments. There were new electricity poles and a transformer placed and we were told that they would be getting the electricity soon from the main line. It’d help the line houses and the Nagrak Bungalow. We walked up towards the next set of line houses where Nishan was waiting. It was gone 12 noon but it looked like the early evening. Premadasa said that he’d stay here while we went in search of the Galagama Ella. Oh I almost forgot to tell you that Atha decided to stay behind as well coz his cramps had become unbearable. We had a long way downhill and then he had to do the driving too. So as a precautionary measure, he decided to take a break. We tried to find a way to go to the main road but as it was a Sunday, none was available. Ok, take a look at these pictures for now.

The drizzling eased a bit

Wet after the mist and rain

Maha Bovitiya, beautiful but an invasive plant

Another commonly found flower

First set of line house, only a single house is there now with 2-3 families

Found some more

Endless

That’s the Nagrak Vantage Point where Ashan had been recently

Towards the 31st bend

Mist and clouds in the distance hills

Popular point and see the elevation

Had to take a pic there

The oldies

Dream Comes True – Galagama Ella

We walked up the Nagrak road which is familiar terrain as we were here last February. There were a couple of more additions of concrete paved sections. However it is still a tough road to maneuver around in an ordinary vehicle. We reached the 33rd bend which is painted with green and quite distinctive. The drizzling kept on while the mist hung stubbornly around us. “Are we gonna get a clear view?”, that was a very worried me. “It’ll be ok and give us a chance”, that was a not-least-disturbed Nishan. Well he was the expert and I was quite happy to accept his verdict on the weather.

Following the Nagrak Bungalow road

Nishan and me at the 33rd bend where you have to enter the jungle

The road continues towards Nagrak

We entered into the dense cloud forest by the 33rd bend. Getting in was very difficult due to the slippery and muddy slope. From here we were faced with a densely packed tiny path which was muddy, slippery and uneven. So there won’t be many pictures as the water kept falling on us especially from the trees when we leaned on them for balance. At first, it looks like the path is straightforward but as you enter deep into the womb of the forest, there are many paths branching off the main one and it’s not possible for ordinary folks like us to identify the difference.

So I highly recommend you take Nishan on this journey despite having to pay him Rs. 2000/-. As I mentioned earlier, one group had tried to do this the day before without Nishan’s help and had got lost for more than 6 hours. Finally they had got back without even seeing the waterfall. There are two main streams that you have to cross which I think the same ones flow behind the Nagrak Bungalow. If you have been to Sera Ella, there’s a similar stretch where you have to walk parallel to a huge rocky wall.

All along the way, the rain persisted and I was very worried about being able to take a decent picture. We could hear roaring flow of many other streams and the going seemed never ending. We kept tripping over the roots splashing mud all over the clothes. Only good omen was the absence of leeches. It’d have been a nightmare if they were present like the ones we found below. “Is it far?” was the only thought in my head all the time. Finally we just got onto a mound and to our right through the trees was the most-sought-after lass falling majestically. My first thought was of Diyawini Ella as it too was a similar experience.

I had already pulled a muscle in my left leg and was wobbling with a great difficulty but the sight of this beauty made every pain and difficulty evaporate and I can’t remember how I got to the base of the falls. I was more than ecstatic and wanted to dance around but there was very little space for that sorta thing. It was still drizzling and the mist was coming at us real fast. “Take the pictures soon before the mist”, warned Nishan. I had taken the umbrella and used it to take pictures but a miracle happened right then.

The rain stopped so suddenly and the clouds of mist that were heading our way had vanished without a trace. Mother Nature had taken pity on her sons and decided to treat us with some clear weather. We rested a bit and I started my marathon photo shoot coupled with selfies. She’s probably as tall as Ramboda Upper Falls or a bit shorter than the Diyaluma Ella. She falls in a straight line into the rocky boulders below. There’s no base pool to speak of and the water then flows through the huge rocks downstream. We used the window offered by the weather to the maximum extent. Well, I guess I’ll leave my vivid imagination for now and let you enjoy the pictures.

Found on the way

Ooops, dangerous

The mist kept hovering

Dead trees playing with mist

Oh my gosh

The top of her

Falling silkily

Hitting the rocks below hard

Portrait view

Closer

Zoomed in

Tony couldn’t resist this

Nor could I

Nishan and me

Oh yeah, I feel that happy

Beautiful is not the word

Not enough after so many clicks

She’s not so fat

The head and the shoulders

Closer look

Just majestic

Another

Looking radiant

Another close up

View below

Time to go

Making patterns

Back on the road

Return Journey on Injured Legs

After about half hour, we decided to turn around mainly due to the fact that we still had a very long way to go. As if on cue, the mist descended from the top of the falls covering her as if it was the end of a stage play. My right leg gave in on the return journey and it was sheer agony getting back to the line houses to meet with waiting Atha and Premadasa. Coming back to the main road was a great relief but the thought of having to climb down all that made my legs weep.

On top of everything, we were feeling ravenous too. There was very little food with us and the little shop at the line houses had only biscuits. After a plain tea and a much needed rest, we resumed our journey. The rain was back and this time more than drizzling. We walked past the last of line houses when it increased in force and covered the whole area with a thick blanket of mist. We were glad Premadasa was with us. Otherwise we’d certainly have lost the way.

Climbing down with two injured feet can send you insane. The rain and mist made things even harder. The uneven path took its toll on the joints and muscles. We walked as if in a trance and what a relief it was to enter the semi forest patch.  However, our troubles were just starting to get worse. There had been a message to the leeches that some juicy meals were on the way. So they had gathered in numbers and were waiting for our arrival. As soon as we crossed the forest patch, we were attacked from all the corners. We had no choice but to surrender to the brutal attack. It felt as if our skin was pierced with sharp needles.

After it felt like an eternity we reached Premadasa’s house around 6pm. We’d been on the move for 10 grueling hours. There were leeches everywhere from head to toe. After a plain tea and a short break we left for Colombo nursing our wounds. We reached home around midnight meaning for the past 21 hours, we’d be on the go.

Well folks, I’d have loved to have taken more pictures and posted them here but the circumstances were such, it was the last thing on my mind. Despite everything, this really was a dream come true and we enjoyed it and learned a few lessons too but the hard way.

Hope this will help you go see this beautiful lady through a different route but try to go on a clear day as the views would be simply breathtaking. Also be prepared for the strenuous climbing.

That is the end of my hiking for the 2015 and hopefully there’ll be more in the 2016. This is Sri signing off for now and hope you all will have an eventful year ahead. Take care!

Sinharaja Rain Forest

Sinharaja Forest Reserve is the most famous rain forest of the country. This tropical rain forest is a living heritage. Bio diversity of the forest is very high and a large proportion of the flora in this forest is endemic to the country and some endemic to the Sinharaja Forest itself. This is a very good place to see many endemic birds. There are clear cut roads in to the jungle provide easy access to the forest. This important forest is a Man and Biosphere Forest reserve and it is considered as a World Heritage Site. It is situated in the south-west lowland wet zone of Sri Lanka, within Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces. It is bounded on the north by the Napola Dola and Koskulana Ganga, on the south and south-west by the Maha Dola and Gin Ganga, on the west by the Kalukandawa Ela and Kudawa Ganga and on the east by an ancient footpath near Beverley Tea Estate and by the Denawak Kanda. 6°21′-6°26’N, 80°21′-80°34’E. Sinharaja forest was notified as a national heritage wilderness area on 21 October 1988 (Gazette No. 528/14). The area according to Gazette No. 528/14, the total area of the national heritage wilderness area is 18,899 acres and 12 perches (7,648.2ha). It’s attitude ranges from 300m to 1,170m (Hinipitigala Peak).

Sinhagala is the rock situated within Sinharaja forest, said to be the good view point but not the highest point (highest point of Sinharaja is Hinipitigala Kanda)

We have reached the ticket counter around 6 am and reserved a guide after paying Rs 1400. It was back to back attempt to Sinhagala for 2nd day. First day we came there around 8am and we were not allowed to climb.
Sinhagala trail from Kudawa is 12 Km and it is a relatively flat terrain except last 1-1.5Km of steep ascend. First part of the trail (1.5Km) was a jeep trek and it branched off towards Education center and rest of trekking trails. Next stretch (1.5 km) up to research center was similar to previous section. This part is good for bird watching and we have noticed few bird lovers were patiently waiting there.

Information about Sinharaja

Map of Sinharaja. Two white dots are shown between Kudawa entrance and Sinhagala

Starting the journey in early morning. This clear jeep track can be seen up to research center.

Concrete sections

Ticket checking Office. Here road divides into two. One towards education center and other route to rest of trails.

Directions

The jeep track following ticket office.

The jeep trek following ticket office

Weather was good

A resting place

Morning sun rays kissing the ground

Branching off to the trail of Mulawella

End of jeep track and reaching to research center

Automated forecasting point placed at research center to collect data

Following research center the foot pathway started and we could notice the trekking pathways to Giant Nevada Tree (යෝධ නවෝදා ගස) and Gal Len Yaya (ගල් ලෙන් යාය) started from main track. There were few water streams to be crossed on the way to Sinhagala and respectively called “Kaduna Dola” (කැඩුණ දොල), “Heen dola” (හීන් දොල) and “Kadan dola” (කදන් දොල). After Kadan Dola we started actual hiking to Sinhagala. It was a continuous ascends for 1-1.5Km and ended up at the second highest point of Sinharaja called Sinhagala.
On top of Sinhagala you can have a view towards Pothupitiya (පොතුපිටිය) side and Hiniduma (හිනිදුම) side. Rakwana peaks were visible as second line and no panoramic view from there. We have spent 4 hours to reach the peak and return journey was done in two and half hours.

The pathway to Giant Nevada tree-0.5km from here

Our guide is leading. Note he is wearing leech socks

Obstructed foot pathway

Gal Len Yaya trail started

Nice foot pathway lay on flat section

Passing “Kaduna Dola” -කැඩුණ දොල

This is section is not a primary forest. It is a secondary forest. They have cut the trees upto Sinhagala in old days and replanted trees later

It was nice to walk in a rain forest

Down growth

Weather was perfect

The obstacle has been removed

“Bandura”-බාදුරා

Under the tree

Relatively wide foot pathway-evidence of old jeep track up to Sinhagala

Flora of rain forest

“Heen Dola”-හීන් දොල

Crossing another water stream

Tree canopy

Crossing another water stream

Before starting of actual hike

Ants

Climbing up…..

A land mark

Last few steps before the peak

On top of the peak….View towards Pothupitiya side and rest of Sinharaja rain forest

View towards Pothupitiya side and Rakwana Mountains were seen in second line

View from top of the peak

Towards Hiniduma side

Towards Hiniduma side

Two man team on the peak

With the guide

Having a break on top….

The foot pathway to Pitadeniya is marked in white arrow and yellow arrow shows the way to Kudawa

Getting down

Quick return journey

Jungle Fowl-National bird of Sri Lanka. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Commonly seen in Sinharaja rain forest

Female of Jungle Fowl

Other trails
1. Giant Navada Tree
This is the trail from (0.5 km from main track and 5 km from entrance) to an endemic big tree called Navada. At the time of measurement it was 43 m tall and 6.5 m in circumference.

Giant Navada trail

Crossing a water stream

The bridge

Giant Navada tree

Information

How big compared to us

Giant Navada tree

Sinharaja forest is famous for Butterflies as well.

2. Mulawella trail
The distance from ticket center is 4 Km. At the end you will get on to a rock where you can have a nice panoramic view of surrounding area. I think view point is better than Sinhagala view point.

Starting Mulawella trail

Common theme

Tree arch

View of Sinhagala from Mulawella peak

Surrounding view from Mulawella peak

Surrounding view from Mulawella peak

Surrounding view from Mulawella peak

3. Gal Len Yaya (ගල් ලෙන් යාය) trail-Didn’t do

4. Hal Mandiya Dola (හල්මoඩිය දොල) trail-Didn’t do

5. Sinharaja Education and information Center
This place can be directly approached by a road. It provides information about Sinharaja forest.

Sinharaja education and information center

Education and information center

Need to think

Museum

Thank you for reading

Hello everyone! Hope you’re all well and getting geared up for the up-coming festive season. Well, all the glamour of the festive season would’ve been over by the time you read this article. However, after our previous hike based at Kande Ela, there was a transitional period, very much like the “Nonagathaya” aka inauspicious time during April New Year. I was going mad with nowhere to go and was ready to walk up a wall when finally Hasi came into my rescue and we managed to do a small Waterfall Hunt in Colombo.

If it wasn’t for that, I’d’ve had to be admitted to a sanatorium.  Even after that, there was a long wait before our scheduled journey to the Koslanda, Bandarawela and Demodara. The constant rains made me think of those gorgeous cascades falling majestically having been fed by the increased volume of water but I was stuck at home with no means to go see them. However, we planned to visit a few of them during our journey, most notably the Upper Diyaluma Falls or according to Dr. Eberhard Kautzsch who wrote the book “A Guide to the Waterfalls of Sri Lanka”, this could even be the Kudalu Ella.

Many others had been to this place before and I was itching to go and see this remarkable lady. I must’ve gone through the reports hundreds of times and had very clear picture of her in my mind. In addition to her, we planned to do a small rail hike too from Kital Ella to Demodara visiting the 9-Arch Bridge. Atha, Prasa and I did our first-ever rail hike from B’Wela to Uduwara more than 2 years ago. Still, I wanted to go see this architectural marvel built by our ancestors. So I kept counting the days impatiently like a little boy waiting for the school holidays.

Day 01

Finally the most eagerly-awaited day arrived and we as usual left Malabe at 3am sharp and were on our way towards Avissawella to pick Prasa. The ride as always was full of recollections of our previous journeys and discussions on current socio-economic issues, budget proposals, etc.

Tour Highlights: 

1. Bambarakanda Ella, Kalupahana.
2. Haldummulla Ella, Haldummulla.
3. Galkanda Ella aka Nisansala Ella, Nikapotha.
4. Upper Diyaluma Falls aka Kudalu Ella, Makaldeniya.
5. Top of Diyaluma Ella, Makaldeniya.
6. Ravana Ella, Kithal Ella.
7. Rail Hike from Kithal Ella to Demodara.
8. 9-Arch Bridge
9. Gotuwala Ella, Demodara.
10. Haldummulla Portuguese Fort aka Katugodalla Fort, Haldummulla.
11. Surathali Ella, Halpe.

The roads were slick with the water from the previous night’s rain mixed with the oil yet we made good progress and reached one of our regular morning coffee shops in Kuruwita. There were fresh vegetable roti and egg rolls so we had a pre-breakfast with strong black coffee. It was still very much dark and while we were passing Balangdoa, D came up with the idea of paying a quick visit to Bambarakanda as the water levels might be healthy.

So I called Mrs. Mayakaduwa and informed her about our imminent arrival. The sun was up and shining beautifully and to our left over the lush green paddy fields and foreground dark green hills, we saw the twin peaks of Dethanagala that is pointed and located close to each other resembling a woman’s breast. Passing Brampton Falls and Surathali Ella, we were tempted to stop as they were full of white foamy water but it was still the early hours and the poor lighting made the decision for us not to stop by.

The water levels of Belihul Oya and Hirikatu Oya had risen due to the inter-monsoons and our hopes of seeing more water on Bambarakanda soared high with that. Well, only one way to find out, let’s go and see.

Bambarakanda Ella

We took the turn at Kalupahana and the 4km journey to the Bambarakanda Rest was a pleasant one. However there were a few places where the earth and rocky boulders had fallen onto the road as a result of the rains in the past few weeks. We could see the abandoned Udaveriya Tea Factory so high above us and it brought back the sweet memories of our trek from Ohiya to Bambarakanda. Couple of seasonal cascades could be seen falling from the rocky hills above. Wangedigala, Balathuduwa and Gon Molliya bordered the left flank where it separated Bambarakanda from the Non Pareil and Nagrak Divisions. I’m sure you remember our Nagrak Journey we did last February.

Taking the last turn before the rest, we came across the tallest lady in Sri Lanka, Bambarakanda Ella falling some 800ft along a rocky boulder. Well the height of her is also a bit of confusion coz some say it’s 263m (or 863ft according to Wikipedia) and others refer to it as 241m (791ft according to Amazing Lanka). I wonder if it is calculated with or without the Bambarakanda Upper Falls as the difference in heights sort of matches her height. Well, it’s something for you to ponder about when you’ve got nothing better to do.

As usual she looked amazing and unbelievably tall. However the water levels had not risen to levels expected by us but was healthier than usual. The sky was heavily pregnant with charcoal grey clouds and looked as if ready to have her baby any minute. Gon Molliya twin peaks reminded us of Dethanagala. Right now, let’s go and talk to Mrs. Mayakaduwa and take some pictures of this beautiful lady from there.

She was pleasantly surprised to see us and welcomed us warmly. We declined her offer for breakfast as we’d taken our own sandwiches with us. While she prepared tea, we took many pictures of the Bambarakanda Ella and started on our pile of sandwiches. You guys can enjoy the pictures but don’t ask for sandwiches coz there’s hardly enough for us.

From the window of Bambarakanda Rest

Closing in

Getting more beautiful

Vertical

Me with my beloved

Some sun finally appeared

Portrait

Reflected in the sun

On our way

Do you see the rainbow towards the bottom

Clear now

Can’t get any better

After our breakfast and some tea, we bid our farewell to Mrs. Mayakaduwa and left for Beragala. However on the way, we saw a breath-taking scene. Bambarakanda Ella had decided to give us a royal welcome and had chased the gloomy weather and invited a bit of sunlight. The greenery after being washed cleanly by the rain looked so beautiful and sensual I just couldn’t make up my mind to leave her. To make things really interesting and tempting, a rainbow had descended across her towards the lower section. It was a painting done in the heaven and brought to the earth especially for us. After a few pictures, we sadly bid farewell to her and promised to be back again.

Haldummulla Ella

We travelled along the A4 and reached Haldummulla where there are remains of yet another Portuguese Fort. You’ll see the archaeological sign at the old Haldummulla Town which is towards Beragala. We were planning to make it to the fort on our way back. Passing the old town, we stopped at a bridge with a relatively large waterfall right by the main road (golly, I forgot to get the Bridge No). I’ve seen this many times while going on this road but never had the means to stop by to admire her beauty. I wonder how come she was not documented before as she must be about 40-50ft in height and very beautiful too.

Here are some pictures and you can decide whether she’s worth documenting. I’m not sure if she’s already a documented one either. So hoping she hasn’t been, I’ve named her Haldummulla Ella.

Base right by the road

The full picture with two sections

Upper part

Time to go

One more full length portrait

What do you think? She’s a real beauty, isn’t she? Ok, now that I’ve introduced her to you, let’s move on from here and go to Beragala where we have to continue further along the A4 that goes via Koslanda. I used to think the A4 was the road that goes straight towards Haputale and B’Wela coz it looks like the main road. However, I was proved wrong and I keep wondering if this stretch between Beragala and Wellawaya is fit to be called an A Grade Road. Very much like the Badulla-Bibila Stretch.

Galkanda Ella aka Nisansala Ella

We drove on and turned at Beragala towards Koslanda. The Walawe Basin looked beautiful with many different landscapes such as light green paddy fields, darker shades of forests patches, pointing hills and beautifully shaped placid tanks and reservoirs. However the memories of Meeriyabedda tragedy sort of spoiled the mood. Koslanda is known for terrible landslides and has probably the only active landslide area in Sri Lanka which is under inspection and studies by the geologists and students.

Our next attraction was the Galkanda Ella or Nisansala Ella. I came across her in one of Ashan’s report and managed to visit her last year and was hoping for more water due to the relentless rains. Passing Nikapotha we came across a fairly large bridge which dates back probably a century where the fall can be seen in three separate segments. Upper and Mid Sections are to the left of the bridge (when coming from Beragala) and the Lower Part is on the other side created by the water flowing under the bridge.

Only the mid-section is seen from the road and as she’s not that tall most of the travelers just drive through without stopping to see how beautiful she really is and as a result miss the other two parts, especially the lower section that is the tallest and most beautiful. As expected, the water levels were higher but not exceedingly high I managed to go and take these pictures for you. The sight of this beautiful lady alone was enough to make me feel human again. She was like a warm and delicious coffee that revives yourself after a tiring day. The difference is that she refreshes the whole of you, the body, mind and the soul. That’s the main reason I need to go see some of them again and again to keep myself sane and make me feel that I really am living a life. I’m sure you too will find the same serenity and happiness if you embrace the Mother Nature. She’ll wipe off your tears, take all your burdens onto her shoulders and relieve you of the tension which is building up inside you to the breaking point. So I suggest you go find sanctuary in her and teach your kids and loved ones to do the same not in drugs or internet.

Well, while you guys enjoy the beauty, we’ll drive to Koslanda and take the Poonagala Road which is to the left at the town. Oh, I’m afraid there won’t be any pictures of Diyaluma Ella coz our turn off was well before the falls.

The upper most part

Closer view

Portrait too

Another

Mid-section right by the road over the bridge

Another view

Upper half of her

Portrait

Lower and most beautiful of all

Closer

Head & Shoulders

Feet

Portrait

Closer view

Upper Diyaluma Falls aka Kudalu Ella and Top of the Diyaluma Ella

Here was the tricky part coz finding the exact location to get to the path was a real challenge as there is more than one location you can enter the savannah like forest patch where the stream that feeds Diyaluma Ella goes onto create Kudalu Ella. So we kept driving up the road towards Makaldeniya which is about 4-5km from Koslanda.

If you go through the posts I’ve given above, you’ll see that they’ve gone to the top in different routes and the bad news is most of these paths are now overgrown and difficult to manage according to the villagers. To make things worse, there are many tiny leeches in this area. The problem is they’re hard to see coz of the tiny size and you wouldn’t know until it’s way too late. So be extremely careful.

I’ll tell you the path we took and it looks to be the most sensible one even though it probably is the longest one. So here we go:

• Drive up to Makaldeniya Junction (4.5-5km from Koslanda) and turn to the right from there. Remember the left one is the main Koslanda-B’wela Road that runs via Poonagala.

• Once on the right hand road, you’ll see a construction site with around 10-15 houses which are being built by the SL Army probably for the landslide victims. You’ll have to go passing this and then there’ll be the soldiers’ camp too. The distance up to this point from Makaldeniya is around 500-600m.

• Go passing this but if you come in a vehicle, this is a good place to leave your vehicle and start walking.

• Continue along the road till you reach a gate to your right (the road will fork into a Y shape). The gate should have a notice board saying “Poonagala Nature Resort”. It’s locked and doesn’t look like having opened for ages but you can enter from the right side. It’s about 100-200m from the Army Camp to this point.

• Once you enter the gravel road into Nature Resort, the road will fork into two. The straight one will take you to the Nature Resort but you have to take the right hand road which will become a footpath after another 200m or so. Just remember, it’s always advisable to ask permission from anybody at the Nature Resort.

• Well, from there just follow the footpath for another perhaps 1-1.5km in total. I’ve given you a picture of the Google Maps below to help with that. It’s easy to find this path so long as your phone gets connected to GPS.

Black Arrow – Makaldeniya Junction; Green Arrow – Turn off at Poonagala Nature Resort; The Grey Line – Path to the Top

We followed the footpath which ran through Mana bushes and Nelli Trees. The mountains and plains of Wellawaya and beyond could be clearly seen. The sun was up but we could see he’s fighting real hard to keep the menacing grey clouds at bay. Just to be on the safe side, we took umbrellas with us. The razor sharp Mana blades bit into our calves drawing blood while the hard-to-spot leeches sought refuge inside our socks. The humidity was as high as it could get and we were sweating like pigs in no time.

The views and the bitter Nelli helped us some way and we arrived at an open space with footpaths branching off to the right and straight. If you take the right hand one, you can go to the top of Kudalu Ella and the cascades of the stream. There’s a huge nice flat rocky surface where you can rest. If you take the path straight, it’ll take you to the top of Diyaluma Ella and about halfway, there’ll be another right hand path to the base of Kudalu Ella as well. I’m sure you’d like some pictures up to this point, wouldn’t you? So here they are:

Entering into the path to the right

About a dozen or so paces, take the path to the right where Ana pointing

About 1km into the path, it gets so narrow like this

Mountains towards Uva-Wellasa

Nelli, our own bitter version

Whole bunch of them

It was full of them and brought back memories of Jaffna Nelli Crush

Very tasty when you get used to it

Nest?

Now the path is somewhat clear

We went on merrily

There goes my team ahead of me

The whole area resembled like the place around Kalthota Doovili Ella

More scenic views

Wide plains like place, the turn off to the top cascades is just ahead

Straight ahead will take you to the top of Diyaluma, but now let’s go to the right

We took the right hand footpath and after about 100m, reached the top of Kudalu Ella with the huge flat rock I told you before. There were a few mini cascades here and we took a small break too. The stream wasn’t that huge but the signs on either side of it told her that she could get quite big in heavy rains. We then proceeded parallel to the stream towards the top of Kudalu Ella.

Be very careful as the path is covered with grass and you tend to sprain your ankle. The water was falling beautifully over a rock about 20ft in width making many (at least 7) cascades along the way to create this sensual but shy lady. We spent about half hour admiring her and taking pictures. Afterwards, we decided to get back to the main path and continue towards the top of Diyaluma.

As we were leaving, the clouds opened up and it started drizzling. Thankfully we had three large umbrellas that helped cover our cameras and phones. However, the Mother Nature, as usual, took pity on her children and decided to chase the naughty rains away after a few minutes. We were very grateful for that and continued without any issue except for those ant-size leeches. While we carry on, you can enjoy the pictures so far:

Turned to the right

There’s the Kudalu Ella

Udawalawe is beyond those hills

Tips of a Pine Tree

They were very tiny

Almost stepped on him

Very large rocky surface

Upper cascades are there

Zoomed in view

The stream that creates the mighty Diyaluma Ella

Tiny cascades

Closer

Another

Top most one we came across with a nice base pool

Hariya would’ve jumped with no second thoughts

Tiny cascade

Upper part of Kudalu Ella

Closer view

Another

Nice place

We were going to the top of that part

Tiny cascade

There she is

The flow of Kudalu Ella goes onto make Diyaluma Ella

Another pic

Time to go

We carried on towards the top of the Diyaluma Ella. The rains had eased somewhat but there was a slight drizzle probably to keep us nice and cool from the humidity. Well this looked like a place which sees very little human activities and there was virtually no human-dumped garbage throughout the path. So can I request you to keep it that way should you tempt to go there after reading this article? I don’t wanna be responsible for any harm that comes to this place as a result of my article now, do I? I hope you get the drift and refrain from polluting our environment regardless of where and when. When should we protect our environment? The answer is fairly simple, we must care for our forests, wildlife and natural resources always.

It’s about another 200m to the top of Diyaluma from the turn off to the top of Kudalu Ella. On our way, we encountered almost 5-foot tall Mana bushes which blocked the path and scratched our skin wherever it’s exposed. The bonus point was we could see the beautiful Kudalu Ella from the path and I managed to veer off the main footpath and get closer to her for more pictures. I’m sure you wanna see them too and here they are.

Now we were going towards the top of Diyaluma

Covered with trees

She’s very tall too

There, hard to see

Now she’s out in the open

Getting closer

A nice bride

Sensational is not the word

Just love her

Lower section

The top part

Right at the bottom

Well, we must go on

But tell me how to miss out these

Again and again

One last look

How do you like them? Gorgeous, ain’t she? The clouds are gathering once again trying to conspire against us and I don’t think our guardian angels can keep up with their job for long against the overwhelming odds. So let’s hurry up and make to the top of the 3^rd Highest Waterfall in Sri Lanka. This was a dream coming true coz I’d been longing to come here ever since I heard about the possibility of getting to the top. So here I was finally after a lot of day-dreaming. Prasa was probably more excited than I was coz the number of selfies he took increased every passing minute and he beat us all to get to the top.

Oh hello! I was ecstatic with joy and wanted to dance around but the rocky surface was slippery so had to restrain myself with a difficulty. The whole team was mesmerized by what we saw. The stream (well I was very surprised to see how small it is) flowed and entered a couple of rocky pools before coming out through a narrow galley to form this marvel creation of the Mother Nature. The butterfly-shaped rocky pool was like a Jacuzzi but I don’t think you should attempt to bathe in them as the undercurrent must be really strong. So stay at a safe distance.

Over the edge, we could see many miles into the southern and south-western border of Sri Lanka. The dark sky prevented us from getting a clear distant view but what we could see was enough to keep us enchanted. There was the Diyaluma Inn below looking like a kids’ playhouse and the A4 was like a tiny pencil line drawn across a painting at a very peculiar angle. The bridge in front of the Diyaluma was so small I thought it was built for the ants. Well, sure enough I saw a few ants crossing it as I was looking down (of course from a safe distance from the edge). Zooming in those ants turned their shapes into humans with colorful dresses. They were playing with toy vehicles but further zooming revealed them to be buses, tuk-tuks and lorries.

There was a group of people who noticed me and I waved at them. They were very surprised and started talking among themselves very animatedly. They probably have though either I was trying to climb down the falls or going to commit suicide. Well they were wrong on both counts. While my focus was on the area below, Diyaluma Ella could be seen at an angle but only slightly. I didn’t wanna get a better picture coz it’d have sent me over the edge and I’d never have lived to see that picture. So I decided to be content with the tiny view I got from where I was standing. My team in the meantime was busy with taking pictures and I must also go and join them. You can enjoy these pictures while I do my photo shoot.

Bit gloomy

There’s our destination

The stream just before falling over 600ft

Good for a sauna

The last bit gushing down

I’m on top of the world

It was very scenic

Angle view of Diyaluma falling down

Portrait view

Diyaluma Inn

The bridge at the base

“Anna Arun Paninna Hadanne” might have been what he was telling the others

“Polisiyata Call Karanna Weida?” they must’ve been contemplating

They simply walked on without giving a toss

The Famous Five

Boys will be boys

Oh yeah, it’s me on top of the Diyaluma

Hotel Mount Pleasant

We retraced our steps back to the vehicle and as we were leaving, the skies opened up like a gigantic cave and unleashed her power in the form of gram-shaped drops. It was falling so hard on the vehicle roof I was scared it’d pierce through like armor-piercing bullets from a 0.5 browning machine gun. The drive turned out to be very challenging and Ana had to wrestle with the steering to keep us moving safely. We had initially planned to do the Millennium and Pilkington Point. Oh there’s a little joke related to the Pilkington Point as most of the people tend to mispronounce it as Bill Clinton Point. Those who know the real one then ask where the Monika Lewinsky Point is. Well our plans were rain-swept so we decided to come back another time to go see them and decided to head straight to B’Wela. Oh blimey, the time had flown and we were already way too late as it’d just gone 12 noon.

The rain kept up till we reached B’Wela and on the way we passed the Doolgolla Ella about 6km before B’Wela. I’m sure you can remember it coz I visited her last time I was in B’Wela. The link on the notes would take you there if you’ve not seen her. We got to the hotel around 2.30pm and immediately went to have a nice hot shower. The rains were still falling but it wasn’t so cold as I was expecting. As I mentioned at notes, Mount Pleasant is a boutique-type hotel with 3-4 rooms but luxuriously furnished. It’s Rs. 6500/- per triple room (B&B) and Rs. 5500/- per double room (B&B). Well, it’s worth for the price but the downsize is the meals are expensive even though they are delicious. So I suggest you eat outside if it proves too much for you. The washrooms are larger than most of the hotel rooms and very clean with fresh towels. Linen and beds are fresh and clean and very comfortable giving you a good rest. Their service is also really great and they’d make you feel at home tending to your needs promptly. Ok, while we have a bath and lunch, you enjoy some of the pictures of the hotel so that it’d be easy to make up your minds.

Hotel Mount Pleasant

It’s a small boutique hotel, former Chinese Hotel

Garden chairs

Side path

Full bloom

Wow

All red, color of X’mas

Some shades of purple too

Entering

Sitting area

Dining area

The triple room

Where I slept

Very old stuff

Another, not the Eiffel Tower

Many more like this

Stamp like enlarged

Our lunch ready

Oh blimey, such delicious meal

Well, we took a nap afterwards and then around 7.30pm, walked towards the B’Wela town which is less than half a km away from the hotel. Our plan was to take the night mail coming from Colombo at 5.30am from B’Wela and go all the way to Kital Ella and do the rail hike from there towards Demodara. However, Sri Lankan Railway being SL Railway is notorious for arriving on time. The only thing they seem to do is departing on time from their home stations. They are still highly dependent on the colonial-era signal system which has rarely been upgraded or maintained properly thus causing these never-ending delays almost all the time.

Afterwards, it was time for, well you guessed correctly knowing our patterns, a much needed dinner. After a hearty meal which tasted delicious, we all tucked in our comfortable beds and were dead to the world in no time. Good night and see you at 5.00am.

Day 02

Good morning, I hope you all slept well and of course we slept like yule logs thanks to the comfortable beds and feather soft pillows. It was so hard to open my eyes and look at the time coz it felt as if they were sealed tight with wax. Prasa made some coffee (you’re given some coffee sachets and an electric kettle in the room too) and I dragged myself from under the blankets as if a hibernating bear coming out of his cave. It took a while to get the focus on and after a wash and a steaming mug of coffee, I felt human again.

We got ready and were given a packed sandwich breakfast to be taken with us. By 5.15am we were at the station which was isolated except for a couple of pools of water which glistened in the halogen lamps. There was no sign of the train coming on time and we managed to find a sleep-walking worker who informed that there’s a delay due to some earth slips or something and it might be 6.15 or even later by the time the train arrived. See I told you that they can never be trusted.

Well, we had no time to kill coz we wanted to be on the move at first light as the rains would come midday. So we decided to improvise and took a Wellawaya bus and got off at Ella Tunnel.

Ella Tunnel

Ready for the journey

Ravana Ella

It was just after 6am and we decided to walk towards Kital Ella along the railway up to Ravana Ella and then retrace our steps and walk up to Demodara. There wasn’t a hint of the rain yet we carried our umbrellas just in case and they acted as walking sticks throughout the journey. The railway line and the sleepers were very slippery due to the constant drizzle in the last few days so we stepped on very cautiously. The sun was battling his way up from the east lighting the Ella Rock off Kital Ella Station. It was a very welcoming sight but the distant layer of clouds kept interfering with the photographs.

All of a sudden we heard this massive roar and jumped out of the track coz the night mail was due at any moment which we left at B’Wela. The roar kept coming but no sign of the train. So we very carefully walked forward and realized it wasn’t the night mail that was creating so much noise after all. It was the roaring flow of water from the Ravana Ella. Within a very short time we arrived at the first sight of her. Well she had more water compared to the previous occasions.

This is what’s so amazing about waterfalls. No matter how many times you see them, you’ll always find them amusing and enchanting every time you revisit them. Ravana Ella (I guess I’ve done enough explaining about the difference between Bambaragama Ella and Ravana Ella) truly is a sensual and lustrous lady who never ceases to keep me captivated. I was rooted to the ground while I admired the sheer beauty unfolding in front of my eyes. To be honest, I’d never have heard even if an Airbus A380 landed right next to me. She was that mesmerizing and I have to keep indulging my addiction to seeing the waterfalls again and again. Well folks, I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Here are the sensual pictures of this lady.

Sunrise over the mountains

Closer look

This is the Ella Rock

There’s our beauty

Zooming in

Nice, ain’t she?

Portrait

Another

Top part

And the lower

Ella rock being bathed in morning rays

On the prowl

A nail?

Well, it’s a leech, just look at it waiting for a passer-by

Up to 9-Arch Bridge

We started walking back towards Ella as our target for seeing the Ravana Ella was fulfilled. The sun was breaking out through the clouds bathing the surrounding with his golden syrup colored rays. The wet leaves glistened in the morning light and a slight mist left their tips evaporating the dew collected overnight. The oil-slicked metal sleepers were deadly slippery so we had to step on with caution. On the other hand we had to keep looking over our shoulder as the Badulla-bound night mail was due at any minute. Ella station came into view in no time and we hurried on. A long and sleek sky blue S12 was waiting on the outside track which is the Colombo-bound Podi Menike. She had to stay until the night mail passed her.

Suddenly we heard the unmistakable rumble of the old German granny coming fast towards the station as she was already very late. They met at the station and the German lady frowned at the young Chinese lass showing her disdain at this cheap looking heap of hard plastic. While they exchanged glances we decided to take a break and started on our breakfast. After all it was not just the train engines which were growling, our tummies too. So while we satiate our rumbling tummies, you can enjoy some of the pictures including the encounter between the German and the Chinese. I’ll back Germans any day over Chinese, lols.

Ella station

Signalling the Badulla bound night mail

She’s the Podi Menike going to Colombo

Here comes the night mail after a delay

Crossing each other

Taking the tablet for the waiting train

She took off

One of the main attractions among the foreigners

At the station

Love the colors

Deserted after the trains have gone

The boys of Ella

The breakfast was tasty but barely enough for us. I kept wishing for more and managed to grab some off Prasa. Well, we saw some police officers at the station standing and waiting. I know the uniforms of Railway Guards and ordinary cops are very much similar and most of the time you mistake one for the other but these were real cops. However we walked past them and entered onto the railway line and found a very strange notice board which seemed to have place fairly recently. It’s best I show it to you before moving further.

Newly erected

Well, what do you think about this? We found the real reason behind these newly erected notices. There’d been a mugging incident recently where two old foreigners were threatened with knives and robbed of some money (we heard it was around Rs. 6000/-) after throwing chili powder at them (I hope those stupid robbers didn’t see these foreigners as a pot of curry). Since then the police had entered the scene and started patrolling the railway line from Ella all the way up to Demodara. Can you just imagine the amount of manpower, time and money wasted on these errands just because of some greedy and probably drug addicted thieves’ acts?

It’s a great shame on us as a country but well we can’t expect the same decent behavior from everybody alike, can we now? We met quite a few cops along the railway line patrolling with guns and two of them were even stationed on the small hill at the other end of the 9-Arch Bridge where there’s a café called “Asanka Café” and we managed to have some tea while enjoying a panoramic and aerial view of this architectural marvel in Sri Lankan Railway History.

We walked along the fairly isolated stretch of railway till the 40^th Tunnel beyond which lies the 9-Arch Bridge. If you can remember, this was the first of my rail hikes which we did from B’Wela to Uduwara more than two years ago. There was another warning sign near the tunnel and here are some pictures till then.

Isolated

Old ones but going strong still

Mountains over the Badulla main road

Factory found some way off

This is so far away on the top of the mountain range I showed you before

Turns

Dangerous signs

Some more due to the heavy rains

Namunukula towards Passara

Twin-engine airliner

Posing midway

A mist is hovering in front

There among the pines

Making it safe for the passengers

Tunnel before the 9-arch bridge

Can see the other side through it

That’s the parapet wall of the bridge

Inside

Came out and you can see the warning signs here too in blue & white

As soon as we emerged from the tunnel was the moment of truth. The mighty 9-Arch Bridge was in front of us in her sensual form that attracts visitors from all four corners of the world. She’s a sight that can make anybody wow no matter how many times they’ve seen her before. It’s always a brand new experience and we were no exception. Just moving slightly to the left of the railway we could see the full height of those neatly bound rocks towering almost 100ft to the deep raving below. There were wasp nests along the rocky wall which get disturbed every time a train goes over the bridge. So it’s not safe to walk along the bridge as soon as a train passes.

We had timed it perfectly to see a train on the bridge but still had about 1hr to kill. So seeing people on the hill across the bridge, we started climbing up hoping to get a better view. There was a sign saying “Asanka Café” and we thought of having a cuppa tea from there. Climbing up we began to realize the prospective views we’d be able to have and I almost ran uphill wanting to make sure that I was really seeing what I was seeing. The bridge went lower and lower as we climbed higher and higher. We were beginning to get a bird’s eye view of the bridge and finally when we got to the top; it was nothing short of sheer amazement that welcomed us.

There were two cops on watch duty and they were very friendly and talked with us while Asanka, the owner of the house and the would-be café, went to make some plain tea for us. There were 3 young boys too who were very curious to show us around and share their knowledge. They were very fond of Ana and even posed for a picture with him. Wonder if he reminded them of Santa Clause as this was early December.

While we’re waiting for the second S12 coming from Badulla (Udarata Menike), you can enjoy some pictures.

Here we are

Marvel of the ancient architecture

Still standing tall and no prob

99-foot high pillars

It curves to meet the railway line at the other end

Distant hills

You can see the Asanka Cafe to the right on the hill

The ravine below, almost 100ft

Looking back

Solidly built

On the other side

The curve has added extra beauty

Impeccably crafted

Very tall

From the other angle

Closer look

View from the above

Sensational sight, ain’t it?

Zoomed in

Another

You can see the full length with no prob

The team

And me too

Another of mine

Through the cafe

We could’ve taken millions of pics

They were on the cafe floor

Mahadanamuththai – Golayo Roththai?

Ok, it’s the time for the hallmark of the journey, isn’t it? The most-awaited time of the whole journey was about to come true as the Udarata Menike was revving up her huge diesel engines at Demodara waiting to come and show us how beautiful she’d look on one of the most remarkable railway bridge not just in Sri Lanka, but in the whole world. Everyone was highly excited, especially us coz this was going to be one unique experience for us.

The hill where the train goes around at Demodara (Demodara Leap) was visible at the far distance and we saw the faint blue caterpillar winding its way around this but the distance and the haziness of the fiery rays of the sun made it so hard to take a quality picture. After it felt like an eternity, we heard the distant growl and after a while we saw her crossing the open ground just before the Rock Tunnel (No. 41) and managed to take a few pictures.

I gave a 60-second training on how to take amazing videos using a Lumia to one of the boys and got him to press the button and hold the phone rock steady at the bridge while I concentrated on the pictures with my point-n-shoot. There came the moment of truth and we took a few decent pictures and I was still anxious about the video. I shouldn’t have worried coz that little fella had held the phone like it was mounted on a tripod and the video was crystal clear. I was ecstatic. Well here are the pictures you’re itching to see.

There she is before entering the Rocky Tunnel, No. 41

Entered in

Zoomed in

Last bit before being swallowed by the tunnel

Here she comes

Step by step

Filling the pic

She’s so long

Entering into the Tunnel 40

There she goes

Disappearing slowly

Bit more

Can you see the onlookers?

There they are

Well, all over

Time for us to get down and make a move

Having bid our farewell and thanking profusely to Asanka and the little boys, we resumed our journey towards Demodara. The sun was in full force and a couple of grey clouds were appearing from Ella. The ferocity of the sun signaled of rains so we stepped up our pace. Not long before we heard another huge rumbling coming behind us and got panicked coz there was no other train scheduled at that time. Could this be a goods train which has got very late? Knowing the notorious reputation of those slow moving snails, that was quite possible. So we jumped to the side of the track and turned around just in time to see a rail cart coming downhill like an F1 Car. It was so frightening and had we not been alert, it’d have knocked us clean out of the track killing us instantly. I wonder why they can’t use some kinda horn to warn the people on the railway without blasting their way like maniacs.

We passed some beautiful scenery and reached the Gotuwala Ella. Well it’s the name I gave her coz she’s located by the railway in Gotuwala Village. There was a substantial amount of water thanks to the intermittent rains and you can check out these pictures till then.

Difficult to leave her just like that

One final look

Going towards Demodara

Glistening in the sun

Closer look

This made a booming noise like a train and almost knocked us over

There they go without a care

Must’ve been touch to make the railway here

Another of those majestic bridges

Gotuwala Ella

Healthy water levels compared to my last visit

Top of her

Mid-section

Let’s go on

Crops on either side

The rocky tunnel

Almost hidden

Looks deep and long

In we go

Atha and D bringing the rear

Surprised bystanders

Just amazing the lengths they’d gone to preserve the soil

Clear blue sky ahead but it would change in no time

D helping a lady to carry this bamboo tree

We walked on

Nice bends

Life among the rocks

Almost there

Here we are

Where’re the people?

Beauty at the station

Out comes the German monster

It’s not as long as the S12

Only 6 carriages

Just before

The clouds were coming thick and fast and we had to keep going in order to avoid getting soaked. Our initial plan was to go see the Demodara Black Bridge too before getting into the train but the rain made us change our plans. We decided to take the next available train without waiting for another one hour for the next Kandy bound one. So when we reached the station, there was a large group of people had gathered behind the station to witness the train appearing underneath the station via the Tunnel No. 42.

We too joined the parade and managed to squeeze through a gap in the human wall. All of a sudden the ground started shaking as if an earthquake. Then with a huge flume of smoke appeared the grumbling M6 carrying 6 more heavily laden carriages behind her. She then took a right turn at the far corner and we returned to the station to wait for her. It started to drizzle and we managed to jump into a third class carriage (well the only one) and sat by the window.

My plan to capture the 9-Arch Bridge through the window shattered as the rain intensified making it impossible to take the camera out. So I simply sat and enjoyed the view getting soaked in the dripping water. But as the bridge got closer, I couldn’t resist my temptation and quickly snapped couple of pictures but only a couple was in decent quality. Ok, it’s time we had some break and you may enjoy the rest of the pictures.

On the train and managed with difficulty due to rain

There’s another group of people

Ancient one at B’Wela

The evening went without an incident and we repeated the day before schedule. Lunch, nap, chat, dinner and bed once again; exactly in that order. We’ll see you tomorrow at another historical place which is the Haldummulla Portuguese Fort, or whatever remaining at the site among the pine trees.

Day 03

We got up early as usual and got ready for an early departure. By 6am, we were ready for our breakfast. After a sumptuous meal, we bid our farewell to the Mount Pleasant and its staff who were very friendly and hospitable and were on our way. The whole surrounding up to Haputale was under the cover of mist but the sun was coming up lighting the distant mountains. We reached Beragala and started to keep an eye out for the archaeological sign of Haldummulla Fort.

There are two paths to the fort site. The first is at the Old Haldummulla Town where the archaeological notice is found. You can climb up in front of the board through the tiny footpath. You have to go up (according to a villager near the signage) for about 3/4km. As the path was too steep and was infested with leeches, we asked the same person if there was any alternative route. He is an ex school principal and went onto show us a book written by him about the historical things in and around Haldummulla. He then pointed out that there’s a well paved road to the Needwood Tea Factory from where it’s a nice and short walk to the site. We decided to take that road.

You have to take the Needwood Factory Road at the 176^th km post and drive about 3km to the factory. Then go through the factory gates and there’s a path around the right hand corner of it. From there it’s just a matter of finding your way asking around. Trust me, it’s a walk in the park. We found the place with no problem but it was hard to believe as the remains were nothing but a mound of earth completely covered by pine needles and an L-shaped portion of a rocky parapet wall. The pines have added a sort of mysterious look and the fort complex was completely shady thanks to the towering trees.

We walked about taking pictures which I’m gonna show you now.

Archaeology sign at Haldummulla

Feeling cold

Factory where you have to take the right hand path

We walked on

Now it’s behind and over the roof you can see the Idalhashinna Mountain

Colorful

Idalgashinna Mountain zoomed in

Entered the pine forest

Endless

Finally we found it

Here it is, very little to speak of

Mounds of earth signaling the parapet walls

Only rocky wall remaining

Another look at it

The whole team near the wall

It’s not even as tall as me

Must’ve been very small

Another look

Gon Molliya Range

Dewy flowers

Other buildings

It looked gorgeous

Lush green lawn

Time to get on

Surathali Ella

We carried on and got back in to our workhorse and headed downhill calling it a journey and go home. Passing Bambarakanda turn off made us wanna go there once again but the mind overpowered the heart so we went on. Near the Surathali Ella where you can see her above the tree line was too much of a temptation so we stopped and went on foot to take a look at her.

She had more water than the last time I saw her which was very pleasing. Yet, it wasn’t her full flow so we have to wait patiently for our chance. Unfortunately the gigantic tree near the tiny cave closer to the base of the falls (I hope you remember it if you’d been there before) had fallen probably due to the heavy rains blocking the original footpath. Nothing to worry coz you can circle around the base of the tree and get back to the falls. It really was one helluva tree coz the diameter of the trunk was so huge.

Well as some might say, she probably had the most appropriate amount of water coz we could see this pure white creamy flow and the rugged but worn out rocky surface. It was a sight worth seeing especially when mixed with the blue and white sky above and the lush greenery around. Ok, here are the pictures coz I know you’re impatient to see them rather than reading my vivid imagination.

View from the road

Closer look

Vertical

At the base

She’s richer than I saw her last

Portrait

Just the right amount of water

Base

Another view

Time to go…

Well, that’s about it guys. Hope you enjoyed it as much as me. Will see you again with another fairy tale. Until then, take care and keep wondering around.

Sri…

It was December holidays again we decided to have a family trip and we opted to cover part of the East this time. On a Friday I made some calls to two friends at Ampara and Trinco and got 2 hotels booked. This was intended to be a road trip with time to rest in between.

Summery

Day 1, 3 and 5 were more or less travelling and days 2 & 5 were visiting places at a relaxed pace.

The places visited are not discussed in details. If you wish to know the exact locations, more details or driving directions on google maps you can click on the links below listed places.

1. Udawalawe National Park
2. Veheragala Archaeological site at Thanamalvila
3. Senanayake Samudraya Fishing Harbour
4. Senanayake Samudraya Dam (Inginiyagala)
5. Rambakan Oya Canal Ruins
6. Rambakan Oya Archaeological ruins near the Dam
7. Rambakan Oya Reservoir
8. Niloba Wewa
9. Kiralagas Wewa
10. Mahaoya Hot Wells
11. Aranthalawa Massacre site
12. Buddhangala Monastery
13. Trincomalee Lagoon
14. Kathiraveli Prehistoric Burial Grounds & Archaeological Site
15. Pashana Pabbatha Viharaya
16. Lankapatuna Samudragiri Viharaya
17. Seruwila Raja Maha Viharaya
18. Girihandu Seya
19. Kokilai Lagoon
20. Arisimale Beach
21. Kanthale reservoir and the ancient stone sluice gate
22. Kala Wewa
23. Awkana

So we were off on a Saturday at about 4.30 AM from Moratuwa and we were at Udawalawe around 7 AM. We had our home made breakfast at a peaceful location  bordering Udawalawe National Park.

Breakfast with a view at Udawalawe

Breakfast with a view at Udawalawe

Just before Thanamalwila Junction, we noticed a Kalu Board called “Veheragala Archaeological Site” and took a turn in to the road. We travelled quite a distance without any success and one elderly gentleman showed us a temple on a rock little away from the road. We could see the site and figured we would take about 1 hour for the detour with the kids and decided to visit the temple on another day due to timing restrictions.

Veheragala Archaeology Site

We couldn’t resit stopping at this guy on the way to Veheragala

We came back to the main road and a friend at Monaragala recommended us of a nice eating place near the famous Biso Pokuna called Siyambala Sevana for lunch.

Lunch Break – Siyambala Sevana at Monaragala

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Our next stop was Senanayake Samudraya Fisheries Harbour point. The waterline of the reservoir has receded about 200 meters at the Harbour since my visit in January and lot fresh growth could be seen on the exposed tank bed. It was about 3 PM now and elephants were already appearing on the dried up lake bed adjoining harbour point. We spent a good 45 minutes there enjoying the scenery and took a tea break.

Senanayake Samudraya Fisheries Harbour

Senanayake Samudraya Fisheries Harbour

Senanayake Samudraya Fisheries Harbou

Elephants @ Senanayake Samudraya Fisheries Harbour

Tea Break @ Senanayake Samudraya Fisheries Harbour

Then we were off to the Senanayake Samudraya dam at Inginiyagala. After enjoying the scenery we took off on the final leg for the day – destination Ampara. We had booked the Kings Jay, a new hotel at Ampara solely on the friends recommendation but found it to be an excellent place. Rooms were more than we expected and service and the facilities were also impressive.

Through Galoya

To Inginiyagala

Next day was our visiting day. First, we took off to Mahaoya to visit the Rambakan Oya Ruins which was on my list of places to visit for some time.  The site lies about 12 kms off Mahaoya. The road is being constructed and there are number of stretches lined with crushed stones with sharp edges.

First you will come across the massive ancient canal built by king Giri Abaya in the 3^rd century BC of prince Saddhatissa (2^nd century BC) about 500 meters before the dam.  Huge Rectangular cuboids cut in granite creates a two channel canal for over 250 feet. Why this project was not completed is unknown.

Rambakan Oya Ruins – click to enlarge

Rambakan Oya Ruins

For a perfect fit

Next we travelled a further 500 meters to reach the Rambaken Oya Reservoir which was deserted  other than for us. Spending a good time there we came down the gravel path from the bunt to see another “Kalu Board” in middle of shrub jungle declaring it an archaeology site.

Rambakan Oya Reservoir

Rambakan Oya Reservoir

Weaver Bird Colonies from the Rambakan Oya Reservoir Bund

Rambakan Oya Reservoir

The area was completely covered in thorny bushes and creepers. We managed to get in to the area under a large tree with some scratches and found few granite remnants of an ancient building. There should have been more ruins further in but it was not possible go walk any further.

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.	Ruins hidden by Jungle. Couldn’t make out what lied here thousands of years ago.

One thing we noticed was this area was abundant with weaver bird colonies. Some birds had gone to the extend of building two levels in their nests.

Ruins hidden by Jungle.

Note the double decker nests of some enterprising Weaver Birds

So after washing off the scratches we came back to the Mahaoya town.

There are 3 minor lakes which had been renovated with the Rambaken Oya project on the route from Mahaoya to Rambaken Oya. We missed the  Pollebedde tank but made stops at Niloba tank and the Kiralagas wewa tank on the way back.

A tree of a weaver bird colony

Niloba Wewa

Kiralagas Wewa

Kiralagas Wewa

Unfortunately we were unable to locate the Hinguremada Archaeological site which is supposed to be on this route.

Our next stop was the  to the hot water wells of Mahaoya. After a refreshing bath at the wells, we returned to Ampara and and made a stop at the site of Aranthalawa Massacre. The first time I visited this site was in 2009. The site was in the middle of a jungle with only a footpath towards the monument. It was very sad to see that today it has turned in to a fully fledged business operation. A large area has been cleared, buildings constructed and a temple has been set up to run the business.

Around 4 PM we took off the Buddhangala Rajamaha Viharaya. The temple is known to enshrine the relics of Sariputta and Mogalana maha theros. Compared to what this temple was in 2009, this temple too seems to be getting more and more commercialised.

The chances of finding wild elephants on the road to Buddhangala is is quite high after about 6 PM

Buddhangala Monastery

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Buddhangala Monastery

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Day 3 was again a travelling day and our destination was Trincomalee. We drove through Kalmune, Kanthankudi and Batticaloa. Seeing some large flock of birds we got down at the Batticaloa lagoon and found the edge of lagoon infested with Jellyfish. At the rocks on the edge we could see jellyfish in the ephyrae stage. May be it was their mating season.

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Click, click, click and we were off again. We stopped at the Kathiraveli Prehistoric Burial Grounds  & Archaeological Site to find that it has been turned in to a Tourist Park.

Its still not opened and gates were locked.

Kathiraveli Prehistoric Burial Grounds & Archaeological Site

Kathiraveli Prehistoric Burial Grounds & Archaeological Site

Our plan was to go to Seruwila and then to Lanka Patuna and possibly Foulpoint Light house. But we saw a signboard directing us to Lanka Patuna after passing Verugal, we decided to make this visit first. On the way we came across the Pashana Pabbatha Viharaya, an ancient temple complex which was used as a base for the LTTE terrorists and their transmission station.

After liberation, the incumbent priest has taken over and held on to the site under many difficulties from the politically motivated Tamil community. TNA (Tamil National Alliance)  has made number of attempts to grab the land belonging to the Temple to build an Hindu Kovil.

The priest, Rev Dr Devananda thero is a tough charactor fighting a lone battle with the tamil political parties in the east. He is a medical doctor who had taken up robes at the later stage of his life. Without a single Buddhist in area, he stated that he doesnt even stay the night at the temple due the threats to his life. ‘Is that why I see cops at the entrance?’ I asked. “They not here to protect me but to protect  the Kovil. The kovil owners has put a case against me stating that I have burned their kovil, and the case is still going on” he said. His final words before departing was “මේවා අපි බලාගත්තේ නැතිනම් කවුරු බලාගනීවිද මහත්තයෝ” We climbed up to the top of the rock passing few rock inscriptions which had etched the history of this ancient site. At the top you can see remains of a stupa, now

overgrown.

View from the top @ Pashana Pabbatha Viharaya

View from the top @ Pashana Pabbatha Viharaya

Remains of a stupa at the top

One of the many inscriptons

Next destination was to be the Lanka Patuna at the end of this road. But we found that the bridge to the other side of the lagoon was still being built and we had to travel on boat to get to the other side. This being a 4 day holiday, there was a quite a queue for the boat. So we decided to give it a miss considering the time we had.

Lanka Patuna

The bridge is being built across the lagoon

We turned back to the road which we came, and proceeded to the ancient Seruwila Rajama Viharaya built during the reign of King Kavantissa (2nd century BC) containing the Lalata Dathun Wahanse (sacred forehead bone) of Buddha.

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Then it was to the hotel we had booked at Trincomalee. After getting lost number of times we finally managed to find the hotel.

We planned to go further up for day 4. First stop was Girihandu Seya at Thiriyaya. Driving along the Pulmode Road, there are 2 routes to access Girihandu Seya. One route is from Kuchchaweli, or else you could travel further upto Thiriyaya and then take the turn towards  Girihandu Seya. The road from Kuchchaweli is not carpeted but that is off set by the surrounding natural setting. Considering the drive, this is by far the most picturesque route.

Girihandu Seya lies on a hillock. 300 steps will take you the main Watadege site. The walls of the Watadage is well preserved and you can observe the pillars which held roof lying all around the temple grounds. This is considered the first ever stupa built in the world and enshrines the hair relics of Buddha.

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To the right of the stupa house lies steps going down to a different level of the hillock where you will find ruins of number of buildings which has been used by the monks.

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Ruins of the Monastery

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After Girihandu Seya we took the road to Thiriyaya and drove further up to Kokilai Lagoon which is a declared bird sanctuary. We ended up in a fisheries harbour and the lagoon turned out to be an birds paradise. We walked along the edge of the lagoon a bit enjoying the flocks of birds and the eagles surrounding them.

On the way to Pulmude

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@ Kokilai Lagoon

@ Kokilai Lagoon

@ Kokilai Lagoon

@ Kokilai Lagoon

We turned back after about an hour and returned on the Pulmde road until we reached the turn off to the Arisimale. Arsimale is an beach hidden near a navy camp. You need to drive about 2 km on a gravel road to the reach the site. The road is motorable but washed away in few places.

Once you park the vehicle at the Navy camp site you need to walk about 500 meters through thick thicket to reach this beach hidden away from any public view. As the name suggests the sand particles on this beach is large like rice grain.

Although its so much hidden, being a 4 day holiday, the beach was crawling with activity. Most of the people had come here by lorries and 3 wheelers. So probably they were youngsters from  surrounding areas. Since we didn’t find the tranquillity we expected we decided against taking a bath.

Path towards the Arsimale Beach

Path towards the Arsimale Beach

Path towards the Arsimale Beach

Sand like Rice

Seems to be a popular bathing place for locals.

This was the last stop for the day and we returned to our hotel around 4 PM to have a sea bath in front of it.

Few things about Trincomalee. Being on the Eastern beach, sunset and sunrise was awesome, with the sun setting against over the land and rising over the sea, it gives a different view compared to sunset from  west.

Sunset in the east. The tall building is our hotel

Sunrise in Trincomalee

We couldn’t find a single decent pastry shop in the town but there are enough Saivar Kada. These didn’t look decent enough for a family, so going out for a meal is a not a option unless you know of a good place.

Kanthale Reservoir

Kanthale Reservoir

Kanthale Reservoir – Ancient sluice gate

Restoration memorial of the Kanthale Reservoir dated 1875

Day 5 was getting back to to Colombo. We left Trincomalee after a late breakfast and decided to make a one last vist to Awkana. Passing Kanthale and reaching Habarana, we took the Maradankadawala Road and took a shortcut to Kekirawa and reached the Kalawewa around 1 PM. After a stop at Kalawewa, we were off to Awkana Statue.

Kala Wewa

Some attribute Awkana statue to king Dhatusena of the 6th century AD, when he was living in a temple called Sinhagiri Vihara. Still others say it was built during the epic reign of King Parakrama Bahu the Great of the 13th century, AD.

In addition to the massive granite Buddha statue, walking passing stupa will take you to 2 ancient inscriptions, a large rock pond and a fantastic view of the area.

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.	Protected inscriptions

The stupa at Awkana

The stupa at Awkana

More protected inscriptions

View from the Stupa

From Awkana, we came back to Galewela and from there it was back to Colombo

through Kurunegala, Giriulla and Katunayake ending a 1300+ km 5 day family trip.

Thank you for reading

I had never heard about this place until I visit Werapola kanda which is situated in between Wariyapola & Kurunegala. On the way towards Nathagane Mountain in August 2016, Ashan & I saw Werapola Mountain, then paid attention to that as a warm up hike & when on the top of Werapola we noticed a small peak with a pagoda on the top of it in Wariyapola side, from then both of us keen to know about this small peak. Finally, our minds were bit cleared with the information given by Chief priest of Werapola Rajamaha Viharaya regarding that unknown peak is called as “Kadiragala”.

Later on, ashan was able to visit this place & he didn’t forget to inspire me to visit this place by appreciating the beautiful sceneries of the place as he said that “Kadiragala is a nice place to see the sunrise as well as sunset”.

On the morning on Unduwap full moon poyaday Prakash & myself headed to wariyapola, from there we took the Piyumgolla roas as per the directions given by a three wheel driver. After riding 1 km along Piyumgolla road we turned left then we rode another 500m to reach Kadiragala Rajamaha Viharaya.

As the Chief Monk was not there to get the permission to visit the mountain we clearly explained our intention to few villagers then started our mini hike. Finding the path was not a problem at all, so we reached the top within 20-30 minutes in that ensued.

There was a recently built pagoda, a Buddha statue & we could identify the remains of an old sthupa on the flat summit. Most of the prominent mountains in north western province were clearly visible motivating us to stay there for long time to enjoy the sceneries around.

Steps to the top

few steps more

Slope

Kema

Wellagala & Yakdessagala

Kuwenigala

Wellagala, Yakdessagala in its backdrop

Wellagala & Yakdessagala

Nathagane, Werapola & Mahakeliya

Medagama, Dematawa kanda

Andagala

Coconut estate

Remains of Old Sthupa

Dolukanda seen

This is what we noticed @ Werapola

Werapola kanda

Dematawa kanda zoomed

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Two man team

Kadiragala RMV

After spend about one hour we decided to get down to visit Kadiragala Rajamaha Viharaya situated at the base of the mountain.

Image house

Inside the image house

Kadiragala RMV

Katharagama Dewalaya

We were keen to know the historical information attached to Kadiragala but, unfortunately we couldn’t talk with Chief Priest or any other elder person at that time.

Thanks for reading…

History

Kandy is considered as one of the main and historically important cities in Sri Lanka. In 1371 King Wickramabahu established his kingdom and named this city as `Senkadagala’ in remembrance of the Brahmin called Senkanda’ who lived in a rock cave in Udawattekele forest. Thereafter all the kings who ruled took appropriate measures to conserve `Udawatte-kele: forest and regarded it as a part of the Royal Palace. This resulted in declaring the forest as a property of the crown and a restricted zone (Thahansi Kele) for the public. The royal family used this forest as a pleasure garden. During foreign invasions and wars, this forest helped the royals to retreat and hide themselves and also as a’ passage for them to flee to other safer areas.

Biodiversity

Udawattakele forest being situated in the mid country within the intermediate climatic zone, the species composition has been complemented by both wet and dry zone species. Studies revealed that there are about 400 species of plants inclusive of ferns, herbs and orchids. The Park is mainly covered with some introduced tree species, while the area around the lake is dominated by exotic Mahogani (Sweetenia macrophylla) and Myroxlion balsamum. The native liana called “Wevel” (Calamus sps.) and other exotic creepers provide the forest a breathtaking beauty. The rich vegitation of the forest is a home to many wild animals. The park hosts 15 defferent mammals, more than 80 species of birds, 32 species of butterflies and several varieties of reptiles and amphibians. Among the large mammals, Barking Deer, Wild-boar and Tree living mammals species called Toque-monkey are commonly seen in the area. Birds including Black-rumped Sharma and endemic Sri Lankan birds, Dark fronted babbler, Grey horn-bill, Hill myna and Layard paraquet are found in the park. Other bird species such as Owls, Eagals, Kingfishers, 44k4, Wood-peckeres and Fly-catchers are also common. fresh water turtle species called Black Turtle and fish species called Thilapia are common aquatic fauna in the Royal pond.

Attractions of Udawatta Kele;

1. Lady Horton’s Road
2. Royal Pond
3. Giant Bamboo
4. Senkada Cave
5. City View Point
6. Information Centre
7. Hermitages and Caves
8. Kodimale (Flag Point)
9. Pus-Wel (Giant Liana)
10. Iron Wood Forest

Lady Horton’s Road

This 3km long road was constructed in 1834 by the governor Wilmot Horton and named after his beloved wife as a remembrance and it is the first and main road passing through Udawate-kele. Among the few other smaller walks, which branch off from the main road, Lovers Walk encircles the Royal pond. Lady Gorden’s drive which was constructed by governor Gorden in 1881. This track ideal for bird watching, many bird species including Fish-owl can be seen at all-time of the day.

Royal pond

According to the legendary information It is believed that the pond located within Udawatekele forest was used by the Royal family for bathing purposes. People also believe that a gold pot carrying valuables belonged to King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe is hidden at the bottom of this pond. They also believe that there was a tunnel connecting the pond with the Kandy Lake.

Giant Bamboo

This large bamboo tree called Giant Bamboo (Dedrocalamus giganteus) is an introduced species for ornamental purposes which is native to southeast Asia. It can attain a height of about 35 meters and a diameter of about 35 centimeters.

The Senkanda Cave

A hermit by the name ‘Brahmin Senkanda’ has lived in this cave during the tenure of King Gajaba who ruled the country from 114 to 136 AD. Nearly 1200 years later, human settlements started in Kandy. In 1371 AD, King Wickramabahu established his kingdom here and named it as “Senkadagala” in memory of the Brahmin Senkada who lived in the cave.

City view point

This place provides fantastic panoramic view of the Kandy city and Lake. The close view of Hantana and Alagalla Rocky Mountains also can be seen.

Information Center

The Information Center in Udawattekele Forest provides all information regarding the forest to the visitors.

Hermitages and Caves

There are two hermitages located within the forest named “Senanayaka Aramaya” and German Temple. They function as meditation centers. Two rock caves named “China Visuddhi lena” and “Maithree lena” are also used for meditation by Buddhist monks.

Kodimale (Flag point)

There is a ridge-way leading to a point which is about in height.This is the hieghts point within the Udawatte kele Forest. During the period of Kings rule National Flag had been raised in this point.

Puss-Wel (Giant Liana)

A giant liana called Puss-wel(Entada puseatha) which is 200 years old an spreading over an area of nearly 2 hectares can be found within the Udawatta Kele Forest. In spite of its enormous length, it carries a large pod which is nearly 5 feet long.

Ironwood Forest

Ironwood tree (Mesua ferrea) which is locally called as “Na” is the national tree of Sri Lanka which belongs to the family Clusiaceae. A patch of forest consisting of this species are found within the forest which is relieved to be planted in 1926. It has beautiful foliage consisting of bright red young leaves and fragrant white flowers. Timber of this tree is very hard and used for beams when constructing sacred buildings.

Map – click to enlarge

Name Board at the entrance

It says about all attractions

The Entrance/Ticket counter

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Just entered

Directions/Map – click to enlarge

Royal Pond

Royal Pond

Royal Pond

Save Forest – click to enlarge

Royal pond

low water

Beautiful path

Beautiful path

Beautiful path

Towards city view point

We saw a Barking deer in this place

Don’t know the name

Direction

City view

City view

Bahirawa Kanda Buddha Statue

Viewing desk

Kandy Lake and city

The Island in the Lake

Queens Hotel & KCC

.	Path to Garrison Cemetery – CLOSED

Their Home

Instruction near Information center – click to enlarge

Information centre

All information you need

Hambawa

Knuckles region

Hut in the Mini Worlds End

Information about Knuckles

Information about Udawatta Kele

More Information

More Information

More Information

Jack Tree

Nature Walk

Lover’s Walk

Directions

Towards Kodimale

The Flag Point

Kodimale

Liana

At Flag point

Taking him on hands

He wanted to swing

Lady hortons road

Lady hortons road

Puss-Wel

Explanation – click to enlarge

Puss-wel

All around the area

Beauty

Be watchful

We saw 3 snakes in 3 places

Iron wood Forest

Forest

Sky view

Giant trees

Giant Bamboo with pond

Pond

We spent around 3 hours within the Forest park and returned back to home. On the way we did a quick visit to the lake.

Island

lake

Hotel-Dalada Road

Visitors

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Boat Ride

Around lake

Thanks for reading..

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Initially there were 5 members (3 of my old school mates, me and my better half) for the trip. We wanted to be little adventures and the destination chosen was Yala Nationala Park.

Day 1

The first stop was at Udawalawa Elephant transit home. As per our findings on the web, the feeding times are scheduled as follows

• 9 am
• 12 pm and
• 3 pm

We were too early for the 12pm time slot.  There is a museum of elephants and elephant skeleton in the front, where you can pass time. So we decided to go in.

Udawalawa National Park – CLICK TO ENLARGE

Skeleton of an elephant

You have to buy a ticket in order to see baby elephants feeding. I cannot recall the ticketing fee though. The observation point was at a distant from the location where elephants were fed. This may be to minimize the disturbance from the crowd.

Waiting in the queue till the gates are opened

Here comes the first to feed.

Yum Yum

Play time in muddy water

After the session, we were heading to our next interest of the day “Katharagama”. We took the left turn at Lunugamwehera and found the road is under construction. However, the road condition is OK to travel by a car.

Katharagama Devalaya

By the time we reach “Katharagama Devala” premises there was a Perahera, which added lot more colors to the sight.

.	Media coverage for Perahera

Katharagama Kiri Wehera

That’s all we have planned for the Day 1 visiting.  We were on our way to lodging at Thissamaharamaya.

What all of us waited was the next day Safari at Yala. After arriving at the place we met the trekker and the driver of tomorrow’s safari. They offered us safari + one-day camping at Yala together with some other group. Although this would extend our trip by one more day, without a second thought, we all agreed.

Day 2

After completing the official procedures at Block 1 entrance, we were permitted to enter. The combined group (about 15) could not fit into the jeep and van, as we had to carry all the tools and equipment for camping. So we had to join in one of the cars too.

Here we come

They were everywhere

We were much interested on seeing a leopard. The trekker said that it would be entirely depends on the luck though. We were hanging around here and there looking for them. Then we spotted him while taking a short nap on a tree.

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Lot of vehicles behind and in front of us, were waiting impatiently to see him. He didn’t bother about the shooting taken place in his territory. It seems he was taking a much needed sleep after an exhausted day. Everybody wanted a well posed photo of him. Suddenly he raised his head, slowly climbed down and disappeared in the jungle. I haven’t had a DSLR at the moment and this is the best I could do with the camera I had.

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He didn’t want me to take a full blown picture of him

Crocodile is getting a rest under a tree

After a successful safari we were heading towards the camping site at Yala Block 1 named as “Kosgasmankada”.

Unloading the camping equipment

After cleaning the area, we started setting up the camps.

These are used as supporters to the tents

Going to provide lighting to camp site

Busy with work before it is getting dark

It was a ready-made tent

Yeah!! We are done

Digging holes in the river bank to get filtered water

Panoramic view of the camping site

The next essential item was to set fire covering the camping site. Three vehicles were parked covering the site and entrance. A small irrigation system was made around the huts to save the floor from possible raining. Some spread kerosene around the area. The trekker explained the idea was to chase away the snakes that would be coming in.

Set a fire

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We had to sleep in turns when one group is watching the camp site while the others are sleeping. In the morning we noticed trails of a bear close by camp site. Also the river was full of crocodiles at night. In the dark their eyes were reflecting blue color to torch light.

Trails of bear

The trekker said crocodiles would not attack humans normally. But it is advisable to be extra cautious and get into water as a group.

Upper part of “Manik” Ganga

After having the breakfast at camp site, the adventure was almost complete. We said good bye to our camping companions and decided to visit Kirinda beach few kilometers away from Yala. The sea was bit rough. We were managed to take few snaps.

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As we refreshed ourselves for few hours there we decided to come back to home town keeping the wonderful memories­.

Thanks for reading!!!

Thunhisgala/ Kalupahana is a prominent peak of Knuckles massif with 1627m height. It is situated at center of Knuckles area-Kalupahana which was covered with Cardamom estates 30 years ago. KMP Wadiya is the only remaining cardamom hut at Kalupahana where you can stay overnight. The reason for the name Thunhisgala is due to three peaks in climbing. (Thun+His+Gala) (තුන්+හිස්+ගල). Alternative meaning is three ridges meet together to form the mountain.

Thunhisgala was in my to-do list for a long time after I read Ashan’s report.
Before I planned this trip, I got instructions from Ashan, Amila and Harinda. They instructed me to have a guide to KMP Wadiya and Thunhisgala as none of us have been there. I contacted Sinniah at Lebanon estate as I couldn’t contact Thayagaraja who was the guide for both Ashan and Harinda. At the end he introduced me a new person Kiri Banda who promised to bring us to Thunhisgala.

We stayed overnight at friend’s place at Peradeniya and got the first bus to Waththegama from Kandy. It was about 7.30 am when we got down at Lebanon estate / Malgudi junction (මල්ගුඩි හන්දිය). This is about 1km before Thawalanthanna (where bus parks). We met Kiri Banda Mama there and started the journey without wasting time. Soon we entered the estate road it divides into two the left hand one directs to Liyangalla division where you can view Lebanon estate waterfall. We climbed up along right hand side road to reach Rathnagiriya estate. The trail head begins from Rathnagiriya division. First it goes through Mana bushes and entered into forest cover. We were able to enjoy the beauty of surrounding mountains and plains as weather was excellent. Piduruthalagala range, Hanthana range and Hunnasgiriya were clearly seen with fainted view of sacred peak.

Kalupahana in Knuckles map

Begin of the journey from Lebanon junction / Malgudi junction

View of Kandasamy Gala (කන්දසාමි ගල). Circular shape rock is seen at Thawalanthanna.

Division of the road. Left hand side road goes to Liyangalla division where Lebanon estate falls situated.

Along estate road….

Using short cuts

Reaching Rathnagiriya estate

We didn’t follow the proper road. Used the short cut along tea estate.

We didn’t follow the proper road. Used the short cut along the tea estate.

Liyangalla division of Lebanon estate