Andiri Lena believes that this belongs to king Wlagamba, since he lived in forest for hideouts. Balangoda Buddhist monk stated that is there is a huge cave behind Pettigala Mountain. And the entrance is at Opanayake. He said he has gone to this cave 15 years back. Also told inside this is very huge as BMICH and its true. I started to search this cave, but couldn’t get any information. Finally after a 1-1/2 of searching, I found a blog (written by Sulakkhana Chamara), where he has gone to this cave in 2013. Now the planning begins; with Nishani, my office mate with the help of her cousin Pradeep. I contacted Pradeep and he gave us a great help of arranging the trip. On the 28 Feb 2015, we started the exploration.

We started our journey form Colombo at about 1.45 am in the morning. The crew was two from Colombo and four joined from Opanayake (which includes 3 guide). We got into the Badulla bus around 1:45 am, reached Opanayake around 5:15 am. We told the conductor to wake us at Opanayake, but he felt sleep and ultimately we were dropped at beyond Udawela junction, and told us it’s just 20/= distance to Opnayake☺. So please keep your eyes open. When we got down from the bus it was pitch dark, and full of mist and had to walk up to Opanayake town to get some breakfast. Luckily there was a shop open for us (Ratnagiri Hotel & Bakers). Had tea and breakfast and started the journey.

Spectacular view; which Andiri Lena resides.

On the way to ‘Kande Vihara Purana Rajamaha Viharaya’ junction the view is spectacular.

.	Early morning view at Opanayake

We met the guide at the entrance to ‘Kande Vihara Purana Rajamaha Viharaya’ he took us in his 3-wheeler to his house.

This is the entrance to the ‘Kande Vihara Purana Rajamaha Viharaya’ junction.

We stopped the 3-wheeler at his home and started the journey by walking through the village. Very nice and calm village, and able to see beautiful paddy fields.

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After 20 minutes’ walk through the village, we entered the death zone, leach attack through the jungle! The path was bit hard, and it took about 1-1/2 hrs to reach the cave, but hard path to follow.

At last we managed to reach the cave entrance and surprise was waiting for us.

Cave entrance from outside.

Cave from inside view…

A Green Pit Viper (Pala Polanga) welcomed us :-)

At the entrance, were welcomed by a Green Pit Viper (Pala Polanga), but the guide (Tissa) managed to safely remove the Viper. They said that it it’s vulnerable. When we saw the entrance, we all had question, ‘Are we going in there?’ I really got scared when I saw the entrance, such a small path way. Only one person can go in at a time and it’s by creeping in.

We somehow managed to creep in one by one. After going in I thought it’s is worthwhile coming in. The cave was huge in size, I had a feeling like going in to the BMICH, such a huge area.

The main hall of the cave.

There were several path ways where you have creep in, once you go in, there will be a another huge hall. Likewise there were a lot. But couldn’t go to all the rooms, and because we took only few torch, we were scared if we run out battery, it will be a trouble like hell. If you want to experience the word “DARK’ then you should go there.

Make sure you take extra batteries and touch light that spread the light around, something like a lamp. At at-least take few of them. Since the cave is huge, if the light doesn’t spread around you won’t be able to see the beauty. And if take flash for your camera if you taking photos inside.

Path way to the next hall

Snake like drawing is on the wall

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.	Andiri Lena Cave – Click Image to Enlarge

Click Map to Enlarge

More photos can be found at my Facebook Page.

I have attached the KML also.

Diyaluma waterfall is considered as the 3rd highest waterfall in Sri Lanka which is situated at A4 road in between Koslanda and Wellawaya. Most of the travelers who come to this area enjoy the beauty of this waterfall but only few of them know they can go to top of the waterfall. I have been there about 4 years ago and thought to revisit at top of Diyaluma waterfall.

We departed from Colombo early morning and reached Beragala around 9am. When we got down at Beragala there was a bus waiting for Wellawaya. Latter part of A4 road from Beragala to Wellawaya was not in good condition. From Koslanda we got a trishaw to first visit at Meeriyabadda (මීරියබැද්ද) Land slide site and then Diyaluma waterfall.

Meeriyabadda Land slide site
Meeriyabadda drew outside attention due to recent land side incidence happened on 29th Octomber 2014.
You will come across Koslanda-Meeriyabadda road about 1km before Koslanda town from Beragala side. You can reach the site after driving about 3-4kms.

Koslanda-Meeriyabadda land slide site

What remained

Following land slide

Following land slide

Following visit at Meeriyabadda land slide site, we came to Koslanda town back and drove up along Koslanda-Punagala (පූනාගල) road to reach upper part of Diyaluma waterfall.

Diyaluma waterfall (දියලුම ඇල්ල)

Diyaluma waterfall is the 3rd highest waterfall of Sri Lanka with 171m height. It is originated from Punagala Oya. The name Diyaluma came from “Diyahaluma”-දිය හැලුම. Meaning of Diyahaluma is water-gush.

Punagala Oya (පූනාගල ඔය) flows to Koslanda basin after making Diyaluma falls and joins with Kuda oya (කුඩා ඔය) to form Kirindi Oya (කිරිදි ඔය).

Punagala Oya creates few cascades before Diyaluma Falls. Kudalu Falls is one of them.

Diyaluma waterfall is situated 6km from Koslanda and 14km from Wellawaya in A4 road.

Kudalu Falls (කූඩලු ඇල්ල)

This 20m tall waterfall is originated from Punagala Oya just before Kudalu Oya.

When you drive along Koslanda-Punagala road, just before 4km post you will come across a bend. We entered into the Mana patch there. According to villagers and three wheel driver there was a foot pathway to top of Diyaluma and Kudalu Oya from here, but no traces now.

We were instructed to go down to reach Punagala oya and cross it to opposite direction. Then we walked along the bank of Punagala Oya and reached top of Kudalu Oya.

We went down in right hand side of Kudalu Oya through the forest patch to reach the base of the waterfall. After enjoying the beauty of Kudalu oya we walked further down to reach the top of Diyaluma waterfall.

On top of Diyaluma waterfall you can view A4 road, Punagala Oya and Koslanda plateau.

Direction-where we entered to Mana patch, just before the bend at 4th km post.

Reaching Punagala oya

Punagala Oya had less water

Creation of shallow basins

Nice place to have a bath

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On top of Kudalu Falls

Kudalu Falls

Lateral view

Another view

Different way to watch the waterfall

Shapes

Reaching top of Diyaluma Falls

From top of Diyaluma Waterfall-Koslanda-Wellawaya road A4

Diyaluma Inn-zoomed view

Black arrow-A4 from Koslanda, Green arrow-Punagala Oya following Diyaluma falls, Blue arrow-A4 towards Wellawaya. – Click Image to Enlarge

Gush of water

Bridge over Punagala Oya

Just before falls

Our next plan was to getting down the waterfall in it’s left hand side. We followed the foot pathway on left side of top of the waterfall and after some distance entered into the forest.

It was bit adventurous exercise to get down through the forest with acute steepness. With the help of bushes and some creepers we came to bottom of Diyaluma waterfall. After having a bath there we got a bus to Beragala to wind up day 01.

Little bit of climbing before get into the forest

Kudalu Falls- Full view

Adventurous

Adventurous

Where flow starts

Diyaluma-side view

Reaching the road

Reaching the road

Classic Diyaluma

Diyaluma-Full phase

Diyaluma-Full phase

Day 02  

My initial plan was to climb Beragala Mountain on that day. Therefore we stayed the night at Halatuthanna at my friend’s place. But this day was gloomy and it rained intermittently. So it was not a good time for hiking.

Then we decided to trek from Halatuthanna to Idalgashinna station.

We had a late start from Halatuthanna due to rain. We bypassed the regular road from Halatuthanna to Haldummulla and followed the foot pathway with acute ascend. Then we reached Haldummulla and crossed Colombo-Badulla road. Next part was another climbing till Need Wood tea factory though Pines trees. Once you reach flat section at Need wood estate you can visit at Haldummulla old protégées fort. (Last time I went along different route to reach there but this is easier).

Then we clarified our way from estate workers and climbed through the tea estate till Idalgashinna station. Later rain has gone away and surrounding was clear.

We got the train to Haputhale and finished our journey.

Trekking from Halatuthanna to Idalgashinna

View towards Wellawaya and Koslanda on our way towards Haldummulla

Little bit clear view

Crossing Colombo-Badulla road. You can notice Archeology board showing Old Protégées fort. Get the cement foot step in opposite side.

Gloomy Pines forest

Haldummulla catholic church-Zoomed

Framed Colombo-Badulla road

At junction- Black arrow shows our way from Haldummulla, red arrow shows the direction to fort and Yellow arrow shows the way we followed.

Need wood tea factory

Road from Halatuthanna to Idalgashinna-There is a bus service also.

Directions following Need Wood factory. Black arrow from Need wood side and red arrow shows Idalgashinna road. Green arrow shows the way we followed.

Get the short cut shown by black arrow

The way through tea estate

Balathuduwa, Gommolliya and Wangedigala were seen in our left hand side at back drop of Hortain plains.

Surrounding view

Another junction

Reaching last set of line houses

Summary of the journey. Our starting point shows by black star-approximate.

Fainted Idalgashinna Mountain

Another landmark

We came across nice summer house closer to Idalgashinna. It might provide good view in a clear day.

View towards Halatuthanna and Haldummulla from summer hut.

Samanala Wewa reservoir

Line houses.

Reaching Idalgashinna

Idalgashinna-highest railway station in Sri Lankan railway line. Waiting to celebrate Independent day

Click Map to Enlarge

Two maps get together- Black star shows starting point at Halatuthanna and blue star shows end point at Idalgashinna. Red line shows our pathway to Idalgashinna. – Click Map to Enlarge

Thanks for reading

Another Random weekend and nowhere to go suddenly decided to visit Meegahakivula but in my wish list there were only two places. Early morning I reached Loggal oya to witness a lovely sun rise and from there I proceeded towards 16^th mile post of Meegahakivula road and took the left hand turn towards Arawa.

The map – click to enlarge

simply wow

Sun rise at loggal oya

spill of loggal oya

Purana saman devalaya, karadagahamada

Passing Loggal oya I reached Karandagahamada temple. When I met the head priest he was ever so humble to provide me further information about other interesting places. He handed me a magazine called “Mihituru” and it had many places of interest in it and the edition I saw was all about “Wiyaluwa” (Meegahakivula + Kandeketiya + Ridimaliyadda). This temple in said to be done by King Kavanthissa and also it is believed that lord Budhdha had “dane” at this place while traveling to Muthiyanganaya from Mahiyanganaya. You could get more info on this from this link

livelihood of meegahakivula

loggal oya

Purana saman devalaya, karadagahamada, meegahakivula

Saman devalaya with monoliths

ruins

the bo tree

view from the temple

Polgahaarawa Kaluwala cascade

Next in line was a cascade known as Kaluwala. Long ago on our lakdasun forum Chamara pointed out about this place (click the link). And I wanted to visit it since then. To reach it one needs to reach Arawa and from there take the road towards Kalugahakadura via Polgahaarawa. The cascade is by the side of the road. Please note you need a vehicle with good ground clearance for this.

Polgahaarawa Kaluwala cascade

zoomed a bit

Komarika (කෝමාරිකා) Ela

From Arawa I returned back to the main road (Meegahakivula rd) and proceeded towards 17^th mile post. From there I took Pallewela road and at the beginning of this road you would note a canal, this is called Komarika Ela. This shunts water from Loggal oya to the surrounding paddy fields and its 18km’s long. This was initially done by a prince called Kumarasinghe to cultivate paddy fields belonging to Muthiyangana temple.

18km long Komarika ela

childhood

Rantati Deke Diya bubula (රන්තැටි දෙකේ දිය බුබුල )

Proceeding along the road to Pallewela for 1km will bring you to Wiharalanda. There are few houses with a small paddy field and a water tank at one point. 20m away you would come across this interesting fresh water spring. There is much folklore related to this spring. One of those is a “farmer seen two golden plates knocking together and floating on top of the spring”

Ran theti deke diya bubula

golden water

where the spring water meets the natural stream

Alakolagoba (අලකොලගොබ) purana viharaya

Passing Wiharalanda and proceeding 1.5km’s took me towards Alakolagoba temple. One could easily note the ancient sthupa which now harbors the bo tree on it and monoliths of an ancient “tempiti wehera”. There are two guard stones with female figures at this temple symbolizing that this was done by the queen’s craftsman. The chief monk was so kind and helpful in every sense and the visit to this Temple which was done by king Walagamba was worth the effort.

Ruins at Alakolagoba Purana viharaya

ancient pagoda been engulfed by bo tree

Randoliya diya ne Pokuna (රන්දෝලිය දිය නෑ පොකුණ )  

The head priest of Alakolagoba temple gave me two teenage monks to show me the way to an interesting place where king Walagamba’s queens have washed themselves before entering the temple premises for religious rituals. This natural tank like place is located in Loggal oya which flows close to the temple and one needs a guide to reach this place. There is evidence that once a roof like structure lied across this tank and racks to hang their clothes was there, now only the holes which supported those structures could be seen.

guiding me

loggal oya

Randoliya diya ne pokuna this is where king walagambas anthappuraya had there bath

evidence from the past

Raanagala(රෑනගල) girilen Purana viharaya

From Pallewela I returned back to the main road and reached Meegahakivula town where I took the left turn towards Ketawatta. From Keselwatta I took a 2mile uphill road towards this temple. It is believed to be done by either King Kumarathissa or Walagamba. There are many caves in this mountainous area and some are very large to even hold a complete Sunday school.

steps towards the cave

extremely friendly dog

Renagala purana viharaya

another cave

with a big hall

Jeewan ella / Deevan ella

To reach this one needs to take the Ketawatta road from Meegahakivula for 2 miles and take a left turn towards Pimburaulpotha. After proceeding 500m you will find a stair way to the left. Go along this stair way until you see a clear path to the right to reach the base of the fall.

beautiful jeewan ella

lovely

Wee Atuwa(වී අටුව)

Pass the stair way to Jeewan ella and proceed towards Pimburaulpotha get a guide from the village to show you the place with ruins. “Wee atuwa is” the table like structure where villages offered paddy to the kings palace and there was a caretaker for this place too. Now one could only see the remains of the pillars scattered around.

ruins at the ancient Wee atuwa

ruins of the table like structure

Kovila mulla

Proceeding along Ketawatta road will bring you to Gurumada junction from here ride along Kalugahakadura rd until you reach Komarika gama where above mentioned Komarika canal could be found. From the village get a guide to show you around. This place has remains of an ancient kovil and there are few short pillars, Bo tree, rocky wall to justify its ancient existence. This is believed to be done by a local ruler called Kumarasinghne.

Ruins at kovilmulla at komarikagama

pillars

ancient bo tree

komarika ela shunting water from loggal oya

Where king Kumrasinghe’s palace ones stood (මාලිගාවත්ත)

Passing Komarika gama one needs to proceed towards Kalugahakadura where Wendesiyaya Praja shalawa could be found from here take the left turn towards Ambagahawela. Get a local guy to show you this place. It is believed King Kumarasinghe’s palace was done by wood plus clay and that’s why none of its parts could be found. This local ruler supplied water to his palace from a large fresh water spring which the locals call “Maligawe linda”. This fresh water pond is still been used by locals.

where king kumarasinghes Castle was, place is called maligawatta

the spring is used by locals too

Weebeddegedara(වීබද්දේගෙදර) kadura ella

One needs to proceed toward Kalugahakadura from Meegahakivula and reach the board saying “Kalugahakadura Saranapala Maha vidayalaya” take the road to the school and you will reach this cascade.

weebeddegedara kadura

plunging

Maduwalla kadura ella

Passing Kalugahakadura one needs to proceed along Ellalanda road for 1.5km’s to reach this. Though I came across a cascade the image given in the magazine didn’t tally with it. After enjoying this cascade I decided to end the day and proceed towards Badulla where I planned to spend the night at.

maduwalla kadura

zoomed

towards kalugala

On day two I was accompanied by Nalinda and both of us were determined to conquer a local mountain but the heavy mist made us rethink about it. So plans were changed and we decided to do some cave exploration in Meegahakivula.

Akurukaduwa Lime stone cave and its cascades

Would you believe that if I said there is a huge lime stone cave in Meegahakivula. Yes there is one and it has only a small entrance like a window. To reach this one needs to get to Meegahakivula and take the Ketawatta road for one mile. After you reach Akurukaduwa Gramaseva office take the rd towards Galkada and get in touch with J. M. Jayasundara (only few knows how to reach the cave). There is a paddy field where infinity could be seen and at the edge of it is a drop. Along that drop there is a “Siyambala tree” the cave is on the right hand side of this and few feet below on the slopes. The entrance is so small that you would neglect it that’s why you need a guide. This is the largest limestone cave I have been to and the find was worth every effort. There is a beautiful cascade which starts at the left hand side of the paddy field and we did manage to see it when we lost our way initially.

guiding us towards the mysterious lime stone cave

a small cave

outer view of the small cave

entering the main cave

bit of light

huge cave

dripping water

window view

flashed

plenty of bats

the lime stone cave cascade

close up

Binge landa(බින්ගේ ලන්ද) galge

One needs to go forward 2km’s along above mentioned Galkada rd and climb a mountain to reach this huge cave which lies on top of it. You would need a local guide for this though. It is said that this cave has connections with Denagala RMV, Ran puhulawala, Walapane, Senkadagala and Seegiriya. It is also believed that king Walagamba used this during his rebellion.

guiding us towards bingelanda

where the entrace is

entrance to binge landa

huge cave

can see roots too

Godunna Randunnagoda sri Sumangalaramaya

From Meegahakivula we reached 21^st mile post and headed towards Kandeketiya. From Kandeketiya we went 12km’s towards Gala uda and reached Godunna. The temple is 1km away from the main road. This is believed to be done by king Walagamba. It is said that the king once was searching for his bow at this place and asked his soldiers “Ko dunna”? Later this area got its name called Godunna because of that incident. There are few ruins and the rock pile in the temple is believed to be the place where the king’s bow was once hidden.

Godunna randunnagoda sri sumangalaramaya

where the golden bow was hidden

ruins

a lamp

ancient steps

Mundagamuwa bo tree

While returning back towards Kandeketiya we came across the ancient bo tree close Mudagama. This tree is believed to shelter the tired “Mundaka Bamuna” 2000 years back. Now there is a temple at this location with the bo tree.

Munduka bamunas bo tree

beauty

Kiri wehera (Unanagamuwa RMV) – Kandeketiya

Passing Wewetenna junction and proceeding towards Kandeketiya will bring one towards Kiri wehera where an ancient temple could be found. This temple has been modified by many kings and this is one of the sacred grounds in the region. There are pillars and many ruins in the premises. The small ancient sthupa and the new bell shaped sthupa with a lovely backdrop make this place worth a visit.

Unangamuwa kiriwehera RMV

old pagoda

ruins

old drainage line

tamed deer

Ran puhulawala(රන් පුහුලාවල)

From Godunna while proceeding towards Kandeketiya we took the Tennepanguwa road and reached a junction called Wewatenna. And from here we took the road towards the Ran puhulawala power house. Passing the power house and taking the uphill road will take one over the spill. Few meters away from it is a foot path to the left which ends in Badulu oya. At this location Ran puhulawala and its cascade could be seen. This seems to be a nice location to camp during the dry period. It is believed that a Goddess with a golden Gourd (puhul) fruit can be viewed at this place.

spill of badulu oya hydro project

flowers

badulu oya

Ran puhulawala cascade

Ran puhulawala hole

paddy

Kandeketiya Maluwegoda RMV

From Kiri wehera and 1Km towards Kandeketiya there is a road to Thennepanguwa. We took this road for 14km’s and came to a sharp left bend (better to ask from locals) where a road branched to the right. This took us towards this ancient temple. The temple seems to be influenced by Anuradhapura and Kandy eras. The old sthupa is now covered by the new one and ancient monoliths could be seen scattered around. The old “chatra” stone of the sthupa is also seen at the premises. There has been a “sandal wood” statue here once but now one could notice only its base stone. The image house with the modern day Budhdha statue is one of my favorite attractions at this temple.

Kandeketiya maluwegoda RMV

re built

image house

what a wonderful image house

souvenirs from dhambadiva

huge clay pot

what remains of the saddle wood statue

a lamp

the chief monk showing us around

Buduge kanda RMV

The road towards Thennepanguwa was a very scenic one and the hair pin bends one had to tackle was more than the famous 18 bends at Hasalaka. Passing Thennepanguwa we came across an acute right bend and from there to the left was the road which will take one to Buduge kanda (better to ask directions from locals since everyone knows the place). After a 4km ride along this road we reached the ancient temple. At this temple there is a large caved image house and this is the main attraction at the temple. The paintings belong to Kandyan era and out of them the paintings about hell has an important position since this is the second place in SL where you could see those (can’t recall the other). There is a large Buddha statue in this cave which has suffered few attacks from relic hunters.

scenery from Tennepanguwa rd

more scenery

Budugekanda rmv

another view

parts of the makara thorana

makara thorana

apaya seen at budugekanda only other place one could find such paintings is at thantirimale

perahera

more frescoes

the statue

explaining

Kolongahamadiththa(කොලොන්ගහමදිත්ත ) ambalama

After visiting the temple we headed towards Badulla via Soranathota and on the way we came across Kolongahamadiththa ambalama too. We reached Badulla at around 5pm where I said adios to Nalinda and went towards Monaragala to end my unplanned but successful trip to Wiyaluwa.

Kolongahamaditta ambalama soranatota

Soranathota cascade

Although I reached to SriPada in many times by various ways, I was eagerly waiting to reach there by using “Dehenakanda way” for a long time. When I said my idea to my friend of Lakmal who lives in Rathnapura, he also wasn’t walk to Sri Pada on this way. However we selected a date after the exam for this journey & get aware the crew.

At very first there were 15 guys, but at last we could gather 7 guys only for this. As discussed earlier all of guys who came from various areas are gathered in to Rathnapura town & our friend Lakmal was late by one hour to come Rathnapura. After bought all the things which needs to the journey, we get on a “Wewalwatta” bus to friends’ home. (It needs 40 rupees ticket to our friends’ home who said always “We are the guys of Rathnapura.”) After a hard, whacked journey we got down at Nugepola junction & reached to his rural village.

Our friends’ first try is to carry us to get a bath to forget the bad experiences those we taken by now. However it was very successful & it was pass 7.00 pm when we reached to the home back after bathing. We planned to sleep early after having dinner because of next day journey. But anyone didn’t sleep until 12.00am.

However we could catch the first bus to “Dehenakanda” with awaken every guys. We got down at Sri Pada entrance which situated on “Hapugasthenna” estate at about 7.45am & also went to Kovil & journey was started from that. Lakmals’ 2 friends are joined with us from Hapugasthanna estate & we start the journey at about 8.30am from their house. We walked along the foot path which falls on middle of the tea estate and again we enter to the road. Then we enter small shrine of Lord Buddha which situated at the starting point of journey. We entered to jungle after worshiping & memorizing Saman Deviyo.

Just get down the bus

Entrance to the path – Click Image to Enlarge

Fane of “Hapugasthenna” estate

Inside of fane

Swami…

Commence the trail

Commence the trail

Cool morning

Don’t light the fire

Dew…

Welcome to “Hapugasthenna” colony

Sacred place in colony

Looking Curiously

Nice view

Using shortcut

Go forward

Little buddha image house

Bid farewell to tea estate

Name board

Crossing Rath ganga

We entered to “Somaratna Ambalama” with crossing “Rath Ganga” & start the journey again after having breakfast at about 9.15am. Though there was a dry weather condition since few days without rain, we had faced leeches attacks continuously at the start. So some guys who wear slippers make inconvenience for that. The way is fallen along a plane area after passing small ascent & then passing “Wewalwatta dola”, again we met another small ascent. We entered to “Rama cave” at about 10.50am & again start the journey after taking a small rest.

After a hard journey like this, we pass the “Rathkanda” & take some rest at “Baana Samanala”. Because of the misty weather condition we couldn’t see “Baana Samanala” clearly & the way was fallen along the plane area & it was gain a help to our walk.

Too much of stone

Passing Somarathna ambalama

First ascent

Wild beauty

Treat well for leeches

Passing Wewal waththa dola

Green world

Enter to bamboo forest

“Wellakkara gal lena”

Want some rest

The foot path which go to the “Helakanda”

Is it leopards’ works?

Through the green world

Feeling relax

Get a rest at “Rama Guhawa”

Amazing nature…

Through the bushes

Resting place near “Bhathiya dola”

Bhathiya Dola

Road barrier

Reach to the plain area

Road block everywhere

The way is consist of long descend after this and it was finished from a beautiful valley which fallen “Baththalu Oya”. All guys taken a bath as their wish to remove the tiered & it was 2.45pm by then. The way which called as “Gettam Pahana” or “Woshimale”, who are the devotees walk and we also worship & took the permission to enter the forest of God Saman. The time was 4.30pm, when we left there, after had the lunch. There was a hard ascent from here & it cause to decrease the speed of the journey also.

There after the way is consist of plane & we could herd the “Hevisi Sound” of Udamaluwa by then. Definitely it made minds’ of everyone inspired. We could see a clear view of sacred Sri Pada after passing little distance & it seen an angle which we hadn’t ever seen before.

Long declivity

First comers rest in without stint

“Baththalu Oya” (Someone say “Menik ganga”)

It’s fall down

Lemon for bath

Ice bath

Ready to jump

swimming as he wish

Worship at “Wushimale”

කරුණාවයි!! කරුණාවයි!!

First clear view of sacred “Samanala”

Uda maluwa

We could enter to the “Sri Pada” Mountain at about 5.30pm after walking like this. It was little hard to go forward from here, because of the small ascent. Because the way is fallen an area across which covered by “Nelu Trees”. It was starting to drizzling by then & getting dusk also. It was 7.15 pm when entering to “Rathnapura way”, by using the light of our two torches.

We took the dinner from the nearest canteen & stay there small time to take a rest 7 then we enter to “Udamaluwa” rest room. We were laid on the corner of there with the intention of a good sleep.

Now enter to “sripada kanda”

Destination at hand

The moment which enter to the “Rathnapura” way

Rotti for dinner

“කෝඩු” worship “Ehala kanuwa”

Passing “මහගිරි දඹය ” at rathnapura way

The junction which connect Rathnapura way & Kuruwita way

We reached to “uda maluwa”

We couldn’t see the “Ira Sewaya” because of existing bad weather condition & we stay at “Udamaluwa” until decreasing the crowd of “Hatton way”. We start the journey to downward along the Hatton way at about 7.15am. After taking the breakfast from a shop on the way & it was remove the tired easily by a cool water spring.

It was 11.15am at Nallathanniya with ending another “Siripa” journey. Our gang was dispersing from Hatton very friendly

Hopeless moment

rainy clouds

No any sign of sun

Try to get warm

Looking majestic

Golden fence

It’s new one

I was fortune enough to bell ten times

Now it’s old

Morning “Budhdha offering”

Offering for lord budhdha

සාධු.. සාධු..

Sama chaithya (Hatton way)

Misty morning

Nice view

Heen piduruthalawa

Makara Thorana (Rathnapura way)

කුණු දිය පව්ව

Beena samanala

Close to heaven

“මාඋස්සකැළේ” reservoir

It’s time to leave “Udamaluwa”

කරුණාවයි… කරුණාවයි…

Flags…

“Bhagawa Lena”

“මහගිරිදඹය”

Clear way

Less traffic

Still cool…

“Geththam Pana”

Devotion is not old

Now it’s at hand

Familiar view of sacred “sri padaya”

“සාම” pagoda

Nice pattern

End of another successful hike

Majestic “මකර තොරණ”

සාධු!! සාධු!!

Have a long bath

Powerful kingdom

Sripada estate

Sadu!! Sadu!! Sumana saman dewi pihitai!

Thank you very much to reading my long report.

Have a safe & nice journey!!

“වදින්න යන ඔය නඩයට සුමන සමන් දෙවි පිහිටයි”!!

Lahiru joined me at Fort railway station around 7.15 p.m. on Friday evening and waited till Badulla bound night mail train arrives to the flat foam. Soon after the train came around 7.30 p.m. we got in and were able to grab 2 seats. Being at the railway station in advance allowed us not to experience the difficulty of going standing specially in the night for long time. The train left Colombo at 8.15 p.m. and reached Haputale around 6.00 in the morning. After having a rest for a few minutes, we headed towards Ohiya.

Favorable weather condition prevailed in the morning enabled us to enjoy the mesmerizing scenery of the hill country. After walking through the Thangamale sactuary, we came across tunnel no. 36 just before Idalgashinna station.

Sky in the morning

Ready to start from here

Namunukula

No idea of this peak

Hunnasgiriya range

Beauty in the morning

The bend

Leafless

Colorful rail track

Hard life

Wow

Scenery

The drop in the right side

Colombo bound train

ඩක්කුව

Red & Green

Turpentine patch

Fines patch

Its tunnel no.36

Tunnel no.36

Manhole

Inside the tunnel

Looking back @ T 36

Happy hikers

By walking a few meters towards Ohiya from tunnel no.36, we noticed a foot path that lead to the uphill of the tea estate on our left side. We took that foot path and climbed up to top of the tea estate within 15 minutes. Though it was a better place to view the southern area of the country, the view was not much clear due to the mist. We stayed there for few minutes and continued our hike till we reach Idalgashinna.

Foot path to the uphill

View towards T 36

Covered by mist

View from the top

Idalgashinna

Petals

More petals

Dark & light green

Towards katharagama

Towards balangoda

Tamil School @ Idalgashinna

Sub post office

We bought some food items from the shop nearby Idalgashinna station and started the rest of the hike. Then all of a sudden weather condition changed from sunny to rainy allowing us not to continue for about half an hour. So, we had to stay at a workers’ hut. Once the weather condition became normal we were back on the track. From there we walked 8.8 km through 19 tunnels passing tea and turpentine plantations. In most of the tunnels we could see “wehilihini nests” and had to feel the bad smell of wehilihini dung.

Before the weather change

After the weather change

Owner

Well maintained

What’s that light?

Get out of my way

A tunnel through a tunnel

Tunnel no.27

Wehilihini nest

Wehilihini nest

Just before we reach Ohiya, lahiru got a phone call from his mom saying that his grandpa was dead. Though our original plan was to do the rail hike up to Pattipola, we had to give up that idea and returned to Colombo. After having lunch from a shop in front of the station, we cought podimenike train to reach Nanuoya. From there we had to come by bus via Nuwaraeliya as it was the easiest way to come home at that time.

At the end

Another view of Ohiya

It’s me

Lahiru

Thanks for reading…

Year and Month	March, 2015
Number of Days	02 Days! Yes I know 02 days at the same waterfall
Crew	06 People
Accommodation	Friend’s House in Handapanagala, Wellawaya
Transport	Private transportation
Activities	Abseiling, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Photography
Weather	Awesome weather! (Not a single drop of rain)
Route	Colombo -> Udawalawa -> Thanamalvila – >Wellawaya And return on Wellawaya -> Koslanda -> Haputale -> Balangoda -> Colombo.
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Preparations and safety Kindly avoid littering The short trail to the summit of the waterfall is challenging due to the terrain conditions, hence a minimum of 02 people are recommended Avoid heading to the summit late evening if it is about to get dark since the trail is challenging to tackle in the night (Learned it the worst possible way) Better not to leave your belongings unattended since there are few monkeys in the vicinity
Author	Thinuwan
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread 05-March, Visit to Surathali Ella, Belihul Oya

Though I have heard of the waterfall and its magnificent play ground it was only very recently that I was able to visit the vicinity by myself.
The waterfall, located alongside the A4 road passing Belihul Oya is a beauty! Not just for the majestic flow of water it brings down on you but also for its tempting rock formation that gives you the much anticipated chills.

Name board that you can easily spot along the A4 road (Below)

Once you reach the name board located to your left hand side, just before the bridge (heading towards Badulla), you will notice a path that leads into the jungle. As you walk inwards soon you will come across a “Y” junction from where a path will head up the small boulders to your left while the other will move forward on an equal terrain condition. If you follow the path forward you will reach the base of the waterfall after climbing over a few slippery boulders.

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If you are to reach the summit of the waterfall then you need to take the path to the left from the “Y” junction. Note that the trail can be graded as moderate due to the terrain it covers. Although it is not a long trail you will face multiple steep ascends over boulders as well as on loose soil, hence you need to be cautious not to slip because a slip at the wrong place, you may end up rolling down on a steep 20m – 30m drop which will not be a pleasant experience!

Ascend to the summit of the waterfall

During the very last part of the hike to the summit you will be challenged with considerably a large set of boulders on which you are expected to sit and slide down rather than trying to be the hero by walking over them since there will be a considerable drop to your right hand side.

With the upper stream flowing through the forest converting itself into a series of miniature cascades before the big fall off I was already making plans for another camping session the moment I was exposed to the beauty, for the view from the summit of the waterfall, is quite a rewarding scenery indeed!

Miniature cascades from the upper section

Final drop point of the main waterfall, Surathali Ella

View below from the summit

Surathali Ella seen from the base of the waterfall

Base of the waterfall

All and all it was a good entertaining visit to the waterfall vicinity and looking forward to exploring some more new places in the near future

Cheers!

We all get these impulsive thoughts of doing things out of blue moon every now and then. Something like that happened when we visited Eli Hatha deep inside the Sri Pada Forest Reserve off Uda Maliboda in the first week of February. That journey, one of the dreams of Hari, turned out to be a great success, probably the best ever. During this journey I kept thinking of visiting the Most Sacred Mountain, Sri Pada  via Uda Maliboda trail, one of the six known paths to the summit.

I was longing for it by the time we returned from Eli Hatha and didn’t wanna do anything else but that. So when I presented the thought to Dodam, my mate for the Beloved Lakegala, he seconded it with no second thoughts. So we fixed it for the 15 & 16 Feb. Thanks to Hari, I got the contact number of Yasawardhane mama, a real nature-loving gentleman who is very friendly, humble and helpful. When I called him to check the status of weather conditions and the trail, he gladly offered to help us. I, being the cautious type, asked if he could find a guide for us at least till we reach the Kuruwita trail but he said that there was no way we could go wrong yet promised to get someone at least for a part of the journey.

Then I called Shanthasiri, our host during the Eli Hatha journey, to get our meals fixed. He agreed to provide us with breakfast and lunch packets. So it was all set within a very short period and after a couple of phone calls. As usual, the waiting game began and I kept looking at the calendar urging it to move faster but it just stared blankly at me.

Day 01

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the day arrived and I met Dodam in Avissawella around 5.45am intending to catch the first bus to Deraniyagala. It was parked and waiting when we got in an on the dot of 6am, we left for Deraniyagala. The road to Deraniyagala is still under construction and in terrible state as a result.

It’d be a nightmare if you travel in the day time as it’s full of dust. The bus kept going tackling the road and the road closer to Deraniyagala is nearly complete. We got to Deraniyagala around 7.15am went looking for the Uda Maliboda bus. Well, not many people are aware of it as we had to go on asking from many people yet not getting a proper answer. Some said there is no Uda Maliboda bus, some simply said that they didn’t know about a Uda Maliboda bus, some went on to say it goes only up to Maliboda but not to Uda Maliboda due to extremely bad road and others said it goes at 1.30pm. Golly, that’s the last thing we wanted. Finally I called both Yasaeardhane mama and Shanthasiri to inform about our arrival and to check on the bus. They said that there was one around 7.30am and we decided to wait at the bus stop.

Around 7.30 there came a bus with a board Maliboda-Deraniyagala. “Ok, we’re going to have to hire a tuk-tuk after all”, I told Dodam wondering how much it’d cost. Finally we spoke to the driver who confirmed it was going all the way to Uda Maliboda. What a relief it felt and we hurriedly went to a nearby shop and bought some dry rations such as dates, cheese and biscuits for the journey. Then we settled in for the driver and conductor to come in when they did it was past 7.45am. We took off, well not like a Boeing 747, but closer. The road up to Pothdenikanda is in decent condition and the real nightmare starts afterwards.

There is hardly any bit of road in decent condition. According to the villagers, it’s not been repaired for the past two decades, yeah, you heard it right the first time, not in the last twenty years. The lorries and tractors of the tea estate keep breaking it beyond use. It’s no wonder anyone not wanting to go there in their own vehicle. We were very much surprised to see the Deraniyagala depot had opted to operate the bus service despite them breaking down every now and then. That is the lifeline of those people in Maliboda and Uda Maliboda. One alternative route is to go to Kuruwita and take the Erathna road. There is a road connecting Erathna to Maliboda which is surprisingly in very good condition. However it won’t avoid the worst part of the Maliboda and Uda Maliboda stretch. Mainly people in the area using either motor bikes or tuk-tuks that take real beatings from driven along these pot-holed roads.

We felt like being rocked in a boat amid a rough sea, waves pounding either side rocking the bus from side to side. Finally we came to Uda Maliboda around 9am. There was a delay getting our breakfast and lunch packets that cost us precious half hour or so. One piece of advice for you when hiring tuk-tuks from Uda Maliboda. Always, tell them exactly where you wanna go and ask for the fee. If not you would end up having to pay cut throat prices. It was nearly 10am when we reached Yasawardhane mama’s place who was waiting for us. He invited for a cuppa tea but as the time was getting flown away, we declined politely. He then joined us to go to the trail head. It starts from one of his relatives house, Piyadasa mama. When we get there he was waiting for us. At the request of Yasawardhane mama, he agreed to come with us for a short distance so that we could get a feel of the trail.

Yasawardhane mama is my kinda person who vehemently opposed to the mini hydro power plants which kill those beautiful waterfalls under the false banner, development. In his own words “you can always build a power plant, but not a waterfall”. I couldn’t agree more. According to him, the real development comes from protecting our natural resources such as virgin forests and waterfalls that are real attractions for the tourists. He’s very passionate about the Eli Hatha and Maliboda trail. He keeps referring to the Eli Hatha as a world heritage and very much against the power plant that kills the first two falls. Unfortunately our voices are not heard by the powers that be or even if they did, they appear to be deaf. Yasawardhane mama is a member of the Deraniyagala Pradeshiya Sabha and doesn’t draw his salary giving it to the charity to improve the facilities of the kids’ education. This country nowadays needs many people like these, just wishful thinking.

From left: Nimal, Piyadasa Mama (our guide), Me and Yasawardhane Mama

Uda Maliboda to Kuru Ganga (6.9km – 4.5 hours)

Finally with his blessings, we started our journey with Piyadasa mama. The trail is clearly visible and we had to cross the Modara river or Sithawaka river at first and the trail goes steadily uphill. The track is in the middle of the virgin forest reserve of Sri Pada. There were plenty of Walla Patta plants cut and destroyed by the ignorant locals with the help of greedy outsiders in the hope of getting rich the easy way. The destruction is enormous and with that many other endemic species of plants and animals must have come under great dangers. These kinda virgin forests are destroyed by people trying to find things like that and the end result is we’d be heading for a desert. It’s nice and cool inside the jungle. Save for a few crickets, hardly a sound came. Even our footsteps didn’t make any noise. It’d been raining steadily in the evenings for the past few days and the ground was wet paving the way for the leeches.

Morning rays filtered through the thick tree cover making patterns. We didn’t feel the ferocity of the sun thanks to them and went on a slow but steady pace. Leeches kept coming after us but not many succeeded in grabbing at our feet. Dodam had brought a Salon Pas as a leech repellent and it did a reasonable job of keeping them at bay. However, nothing like the Alum (Aluminum Sulfate) which is by far the best of leech repellents I’ve come across. It wouldn’t be a great feeling to come this way in the rains. The leeches would have you at their mercy for 8km and by the time you get out of the forest, if you ever do, there wouldn’t be nothing much left. So avoid it at all costs in the rains, not only because of leeches, but also the flash floods. The path crosses hundreds of streams and at places it goes along streams themselves. As Yasawardhane mama had said, the trail was easy to make out and had been cleared recently. There were traces of human touch as we saw quite a number of toffee, chewing gum and biscuit wrappers left behind carelessly by those clumsy travelers along with couple of water bottles too. After an hour of steady hiking brought us to a larger stream where we stopped for breakfast.

Entering the reserve

Modara Ganga aka Seethawaka Upper River

Piyadasa mama explaining how to plant a Pus Tree out of a seed to Dodam

Morning rays penetrating the forest

On the prowl

The path is narrow and bordered by the thick forest

Plenty of these

One of my favorite things to photograph

Clear path

Salon Pas treatment for leeches

Wana Raja, commonly found in Sri Pada Reserve

Is the tree holding the rock boulder?

Dummala Tree

Like silicone

Continously going up and down

Another of my favorites

Piyadasa Mama before bidding us farewell

According to Piyadasa mama, we’d come one mile (1.6km) and we unwrapped our breakfast of Rice with Polos and Dhal, fully vegetarian. I would go to great pains to remain vegetarian especially when I visit the Sacred Mountain. It’s always advisable not to consume any meats inside a jungle as it might attract the wild animals. You might disagree with me but I’ve experienced it first-hand it does pay dividends to be vegetarian on journeys like these. After the breakfast we parted company of Piyadasa mama, who had to get back to his day’s chores. He said if he was informed well in advance he’d have been able to accompany us to the summit as he’d not been there this season. We were on our own, just two curious hikers defying the wild and trying to reach the most sacred mountain in the world hoping to worship the footprint of one of the greatest philosophers who had walked on this earth. We had closer to six and half kms to tackle in the thick jungle that is frequented by the wild elephants. However so far no harm had come to anyone from them proving even those wild animals understand the sacred pilgrimages to the holy mountain.

The path is far from even, you gotta keep your head down and eyes peeled to avoid falling down. There are many obstacles right throughout such as roots, rocks, creepers and fallen trees blocking the path. The slightest mistake will leave you with a sprained ankle which will jeopardize the whole journey. That is one disadvantage when traveling small groups. You gotta stay focused all along and not let your guard down. I always prefer to travel in small groups and it helps to save time and make decisions easy. The climb became steeper and slowed our pace. We had the whole forest to ourselves and millions of trees looking from all directions curiously at us. The rays filtering through got fiercer but didn’t bother us much. There were many streams flowing every now and then with cool and tasty water. Thanks to them we didn’t have to carry a lot of water that eased our load considerably. We had very little sense of the distance covered. It’s hard to gauge it, if you don’t have the equipment, especially when you’re inside a jungle. It doesn’t help to panic but to keep to the track and go on without making a lot of noise.

The Kuru Ganga seemed far away and couple of times we got deceived having heard water gushing down but when reached it turned out to be another of those streams. Things got scarier when we saw the first of elephant dung along the path. Just imagine being deep inside a forest covered all around with trees and finding jumbo poo which are not too old. We were rattled alright but forced ourselves to remain calm and keep going. Afterwards there were many of them scattered across the path, couple of times we saw what seemed to be a jumbo probably suffering from loose motion had left a long trail of poo. Kuru Ganga didn’t come anywhere near no matter how far we went. Piyadasa mama warned that when going for the first time one would feel the distance and we certainly did. The leeches kept crawling towards us hoping to have some juicy meal. Thankfully their attacks were minimal thanks to the dry weather from the previous day. The effects of Dodam’s Salon Pas were wearing out allowing leeches to grab at our feet rather easily.

Nelu and Bamboo (favorite meals of the jumbos) bordered the path increasing our fears. There were birds and butterflies flying around us but too fast to capture them on our lenses. Some of the pics were blurred and out of focus probably due to shaking hands. We came across a couple of rocky surfaces that would make ideal camping sites. However, with roaming jumbos, it would mean a helluva adventure. I’d not recommend it unless there is nothing else to do. So be mindful to do this trail within the daylight. Ideal timings would be between 8am and 4pm. Too early you would probably have a difficulty with mist and cold. Too late, it’s the light and the jumbos you have to be careful about, and the threat of rains. So timing is crucial for the journey. So far the path was pretty straight forward and no confusing trails branching off. However, about a mile before the Kuru Ganga, we came to a Y junction with the path dividing into two.

The left side branch goes slightly uphill while the right (rather straight one) goes downhill. We were in a dilemma coz we didn’t expect anything like this. We decided to check both and Dodam went along the right hand path for a bit and found a toffee wrapper. There were even logs used to make the path. However I wanted to check the left one too just to be on the safe side. After a few meters it branched once again into two and both of them were just ordinary animal trails. So you gotta take the right hand downhill path. I even broke a small tree and put it as an indicator for the future travelers. I’d never been happier to see a toffee wrapper in my life before but I don’t think it’d justify leaving them behind as they surely weren’t meant to guide others. From here it was a continuous downhill path and we increased our pace. Elephant poo was no more and we heard a distant roar of the water and it sounded large enough to be the river. At last we arrived at the mostly sought river of the day, Kuru Ganga.

Shining

Rocky door frame

Entering into the jungle fortress

Hhmm

Leeches were there but not many

Joe Root?

Wish they were edible

More Roots

Plenty of streams to cross and it’d be a nightmare to do it in the rains

One person can go at a time

Well, just a beautiful leaf or maybe a flower

Mushroooooooooooms

Hairy looking

Poisonous Hondala

First of many Jumbo Poo

The path continuously went uphill

Only one we managed to capture

Jumbo suffering from loose motion

Keeping our eyes wide open

Many of them

The path goes along these streams

Freshly cut

Never ending

Ooops

Just imagine trying to walk along them when the water levels are high

Some kinda orchid

More mushrooms

Few of open places like these, looks ideal for camping but very risky

Where’s this Kuru Ganga?

Hundreds of them but only this I took

Thick forest

Natural Spike in the middle

Tiny bamboo, favorite meals for Jumbos

The stream just before the Kuru Ganga

Finally here we are

Has to go uphill a bit

Where we bathed

Kuru Ganga to Erathna Trail (1.1km – 45 mins)

We reached Kuru Ganga just after 2.30pm, had taken 4.5 hours to tackle that 6.9km. In the rainy season, this would be a tricky place as it’s full of unexpected flash floods. As soon as you get out of the forest and reach the river, the trail won’t be there on the other side of the river as you would expect it to be. Now don’t get alarmed coz you haven’t come all this way for nothing. To find the trail you gotta go to the left or up river for about 50m. Not a lot but keep going along the river with your eyes peeled. You will find the path and it’s nothing difficult. We were warned about this before by Hari, Atha and Yasawardhane mama as well so we knew what to do. There were a couple of shopping bags hanging from tree branches to mark the paths.

We were relieved to finally have arrived at a key destination. Crossing the river was of no challenge as the water levels were very low. I felt exhausted both physically and mentally. The glistening water was inviting for us to take a cool dip and I gave myself to the temptation. Unloading our backpacks, we soon found ourselves in the cool water and felt all the tiredness wash away. The cool water revived our sweat-soaked bodies and a mild wind kept whirling around. Gosh, that was a heavenly feeling and we devoured our lunch of rice and curry. Even though we badly wanted to stay couple of hours simply lying down, the time the elephant factors were against it. So reluctantly, we got back on the trail just after 3pm hoping to emerge out of the forest before 4pm.

The bath and the meal gave us a big boost and with the renewed energy we increased our pace. The first couple of hundred meters was steep climbing that wore us out in no time. We knew it was only a matter of time before we reached the Erathna trail. After a while, we heard voices and listening carefully found out it was a group of people saying the typical poems like things on their way down.

“Ape Budun – Api Wenda,

E Ran Pathula – Api Wenda,

Perali Perali – Api Wenda,

Dedana Nama – Api Wenda”

“Kiri Koduth – Wendewwa,

Dandu Koduth – Wendewwa,

Kodu Sewoma – Wendewwa”

It’s really something to sing in unison. We finally got out of the trail and it’d taken close to three quarters of an hour to get there from the Kuru Ganga. Golly, what an extraordinary hike it turned out to be.

The path from the Kuru Ganga, note the shopping bags

After a steep climb

Three musketeers?

Flat terrain

More	Blocked path

Just before meeting up with the Erathna Trail

A sigh of relief, here’s Kuruwita Trail

Final Push from End of Maliboda Trail to the Summit along Erathna Trail (4km – 3.5 hours)

We were knackered, I admit but felt exhilarating too looking back our achievement. We started our hike now going continuously uphill but to be free from occasional leech attacks was a comforting feeling. Now the trail was wider and to our surprise there were quite a lot of people were coming down and going up. Coming Tue was a government holiday thus the increase in the number of people. We mingled with them and those who going down sang like this:

“Wadinna Yana – Me Nadeta,

Sumana Saman – Devi Pihitai”

And we going uphill returned:

“Wendala Bahina – Me Nadeta,

Sumana Saman – Devi Pihitai”

Some cheeky ones however felt like this:

“Ehema Kiwwa – E Nangita,

Pahala Kaden – Kopi Ekai”

It was real fun and made us forget our aching limbs. After a while we came to the Geththampana and it gave a panoramic view of the Sri Pada. The mist had covered the top as if waiting for the chief guest to arrive before unveiling the curtain. Well, here we are I thought out loud, it’s time you show us your beauty before the dark envelopes you, I kept pleading. We stopped for a quick cuppa lukewarm tea which helped to warm our bodies somewhat. The crowds kept rising and suddenly it was like the Hatton route.

We were planning to spend the night at the summit underneath the sacred footprint, one of my long time dreams. Looking at the number of people, I suddenly felt depressed as there was very little room at the summit for the pilgrims to stay, especially away from bone-chilling winds. It only made our pace quicken but Dodam, who’d been largely out of touch all of a sudden started to struggle. Nevertheless we managed to overtake quite a lot of people on the way increasing our chances. The evening light was beginning to fade yet compared to the ordinary days, it was surprisingly better. Seeing Gal Wangediya, where Sri Palabaddala trail joins Erathna in the distance, brought a smile on Dodam’s face. Yeah, we were making good progress.

The path is so much eroded exposing the rocks

Dodam was surprisingly struggling big time

Kunu Diya Pawwa looking like Sigiriya and Bathalegala

Steady climb

They were going downhill

Very difficult to get a pic without people

The power lines

Animal trails

Sri Pada is up there

He was making a phone call informing his relatives about the achievement

Slippery rocks

Kunu Diya Pawwa tall as ever

Colorful

Geththampana where we stopped for a cuppa tea

Back on trail

Through the trees

Flat areas like this were a big bonus

Majestic

Geththampana taken from the path uphill

Mountains in the dusk

Not sure what but looks like a miniature Wal Del

Colorful

Jutting out rocks made it hard for the bones

Dead tree arts

Sri Pada still hiding

Galwangediya

Dodam was laughing from ear to ear

Most of the people rested their tired feet there but we kept going coz we were a team with a mission. We couldn’t rest until we reached our goal even though it’d be a failure we had to give our best shot to avoid being regretful later. We pushed on while the sun started his descend behind us beyond the Kunudiya Pawwa. We felt the warm rays on our backs but the trees either side offered comforting shade. Having slaved a lot we arrived at yet another milestone, Andiyamalathenna around 6pm. The light was still great and I asked Dodam if we should push on to the top or call it a day here and bunk down for the night. He was ready to push on despite the risk of us having to climb down once again if there was no space at the summit. We decided to give it a go and kept going.

It was time to unveil the curtain and show us the gorgeous summit. The Mother Nature obliged and the mist was lifted off revealing the amazing beauty of this wonderful mountain. Fading sun stopped in mid-way as if not wanting to leave for the day missing all the beautiful scenery unfolding. Copper colored rays fell on the summit while the sky turned into a deep blue. The leaves covering the top of the mountain glistened and waved at us. A cool breeze blew across making us tighten the muscles and the sky turned into a deep orange and the last rays of the day reflected on the clouds turning them into bright orange, pink and purple. We were in heaven, surely this was heaven, I kept staring at the magical power of the Mother Nature. “Hey, let’s go, it’s getting late”, Dodam brought me back to the earth out of my reverie.

This was my sixth visit to the holy mountain. Three times I’ve climbed via Hatton trail and once each via Sri Palabaddala, Rajamale and Uda Maliboda. There are only two more to complete the complete package. Gosh, I really want to do it as soon as possible. We kept up increasing the speed while the sun dipped behind the horizon reluctantly plunging us in darkness. As if on cue, the lights along the path were switched on creating that pearl necklace. The cold was getting unbearable but we didn’t wanna stop to wear the sweaters. So in the freezing cold, we climbed up while the mist came from all corners making us feel like we were floating in a milky sea. Finally, feeling numb but excited we reached the summit and without wasting a second rushed into the halls where people can stay for the night.

From Galwangediya

Found a kid finally

Sri Pada slowly unveiling

Almost

Buddha statue was being painted

Reddish leaves

Dusk was setting in

The concrete paved path

Fading sun

Orchids

Galwangediya Ambalama and other structures

Managed to get this black eagle

Reddish spots

Royal blue sky

Dark red Nelu leaves

Very hard to capture these ones

Setting sun illuminating the mountains

This one looks like the Horn of Africa

The moment of truth

Simply gorgeous

Closer

The summit

From Andiyamalathenna

Tiny flowers

These railings are a great help

Wish we were at the summit

Final rays

Clouds came from everywhere

Galwangediya seen from above

Being enveloped by the mist

The last bit

Remains of how our ancestors used to climb Sri Pada

Must’ve been a nightmare

Good night!

The time was just after 7pm and there were already people coming in and settling down for the night. The first had very little space so went to the second and bingo, we struck luck and found a better place to stay overnight. There was a family from Moratumulla who helped us settle down even offering a spare blanket to Dodam. They had been staying at the temple near the peace pagoda and climbed that day. When they heard of our trail, it surprised them to no end. We kept cracking jokes while shivering like skinless polar bears. I decided to take the chance to go have a wash. It was so cold and I had to cut it short and got back indoors and changed into more suitable attire. Leaving Dodam with the baggage I went up to the summit that was surprisingly empty and worshipped the sacred footprint in peace.

The inner peace you feel when you kneel down at the sacred footprint is hard to express. You gotta be there and feel it for yourself. I got back and sent Dodam to do the rituals. There were two foreigners settled down near us. They were very friendly but suffered from the cold more than us. I got into the sleeping bag, the savior of the day and settled down. However the cold and continuous shuffling of people coming and going, complaining about the cold, some girls crying hysterically clinging to their family members kept me up throughout the night. It was all mayhem and I saw people who had never seen or met before hugging and sleeping together in order to get some warmth.

The cement floor was so cold and the flimsy mats that were worn out didn’t help much. I saw people trying to cover themselves with plastic sheets that were next to useless. They kept moaning about, turning around, mumbling to themselves, and pampering the kids and this and that. Nothing seemed to work. I felt guilty being somewhat warmer than the rest. The winds picked up speed and kept hitting the walls and I felt sorry for the pilgrims who had no choice but to stay out waiting for the morning. Many people hung around the oil lamp getting some warmth. The hall got crowded with no space even to keep a foothold. The night wore on but very slowly as if mocking us. However nothing could deviate the peacefulness I felt being so close to the Lord Buddha’s footprint.

Crescent up in the sky

Shivering like skinless polar bears

Huddling together

Day 02

Throughout the night people got up and started to get down not being able to bear the cold. More people came in to fill the vacuum but they too took leave. It was like a movie and we watched all this unraveling before us helplessly. Finally the dawn arrived, with it the cold was pushed back and the prospect of witnessing the sunrise came forward. Around 5am, most of the people were beginning to stir, with them we too followed suit. The summit was cramped with people and the security had a tough time controlling them. We got up and bid farewell to the family next to us and went down the Hatton route for about 100m before settling for the sunrise.

It was so packed with people trying to get a better view not giving a toss about the surrounding. We were forced to go further down, the announcements kept coming asking for the path to be cleared and let others either come up or go down. They all fell in deaf ears coz those who got a better position wouldn’t dream of giving it up. Number of foreigners kept increasing much more than the locals. Some of the people were still coming up timing their arrival to coincide with the sunrise but most of them were highly disappointed when they were stuck around the Bhagawa Cave. We were not in a better position either but had to be content with it. Wearing gloves limited the maneuverability of the fingers so I reluctantly removed them. Within seconds I didn’t feel a thing and taking pictures balancing at the edge of the path holding onto the iron railings were a real nightmare.

The sky just above the silhouettes of the mountain tops started to get colorful. There was a layer of red, orange and yellow above the outline of the mountain tips. It kept rising up widening in size spreading more colors across the sky. The crescent moon was so far up the sky. The whole sky was devoid of any cloud, none at all. Down below, in the distance Moussakelle looked placid while the forest was largely dark. The Rajamale trail was barely visible and just below the mountain tips, we could make out the Horton Plains-esque Gawaravila.

Towards Rathnapura, Balangoda and beyond were the milky mountains. There were millions of clouds bunched together covering the whole area only the dark tips of the mountains were visible. Marrow-chilling cold was forgotten, numbness in my fingers was no more and I was in a dreamland. Orange glow kept brightening and the crowds were getting impatient. Most of the people voiced their disappointments out loud as if the sun purposely kept them waiting. 6am came and went, still no sign of the lava-red ball that should be up and about.

Some of the people who could no longer wait or bear the cold started to leave reminding me of Indian cricket fans who have no patience to wait till the show is over. However majority of the crowd, very much like Sri Lankan cricket fans who don’t abandon their players come rain or sunshine, kept their composure and waited and waited then some more waited. The surroundings were now more or less fully lighted. Still sun refused to appear as if a 10-year old kid refusing to get up in the morning to go to school. “Isn’t the sun coming up today?”, I began to wonder. Even the NASA has given only 99% probability of sun rising and I was wondering if the 1% finally here.

Finally, closer to 6.30am, upper part of the lava circle appeared above the mountains. Most of the crowd cheered as if we won the world cup, they didn’t stop there and gave a big round of applause too. The older people chanted “Sadu! Sadu!! Sadu!!!”. Within seconds the sun was fully up, unlike other days when he flirts with the clouds. Today there were no clouds and it must have been the reason for him to have been so reluctant to appear. We decided to get down amid the sea of people and reach Del Housie soon.

Here comes the painter

Silhouette of the mountain tops

Maussakelle in the morning

Clouds hanging onto the mountains

Orange hue

No sign of the sun yet

Packed crowd to witness the sunrise

Some are going after waiting for ages

He’s had enough and ready to come out

There he is

Finally

Amazing sight but a couple of stray clouds would’ve have been grand

Last bit of scenery

Getting Down along Hatton Trail

We came to the first shop and had a cup of steaming coffee. It shot some warmth into our bodies. I could feel my fingers once again and the blood circulation got back to normal. Afterwards we tackled the Mahagiridamba and kept going at a brisk pace.

Geththampana, Rathu Ambalama and Seetha Gangula came but we didn’t stop for a break. The mountains were showing their beauty in the morning rays. We arrived at the Peace Pagoda just before 9am. Finally it’s seen a coat of paint and glistened in the sunlight. Yaka Andu Ella looked abysmal, just a pencil thin line of water falling along the rocky wall. Even a demon would have cried at the sight of this level of water.

While the vendors who must have had a late night trade were opening their shops once again, we reached Del Housie. The CTB bus that was next in line for departure all of a sudden changed its mind. Instead the conductor and the driver pushed us to a private bus that had just arrived from Hatton. I’m not implying they got up to any mischief. Same thing happened when we were going via Sri Palabaddala trail last year. It was good to know that CTB bus drivers and conductors are in good terms with their private counterparts.

Amazing sights

I’m lost for words

Endless view

Peace Pagoda below

Contrast

Above the trees

This blue sky is only available when seen from up country

Buddhist Flags

We’re making good progress

There comes the Sherpas of Sri Pada

I just can’t imagine their plight

Lights of the path

Sri Pada now bathed in the sunlight

Closer

Amazing view

Closer

Yaka Andu Ella, what a poor sight

Far away

Foreign couple we met

The rocky mountain behind the Peace Pagoda

What?

Oh dear!

Many of them

Parting shot

We reached Hatton closer to 11am. As usual the tug-of-war between the buses and passengers were in full force. It was so sad to see the pilgrims are being inconvenienced over and over again. Feeling depressed and angry we finally managed to get into a CTB bus and reached Colombo plenty of daylight to spare.

Finally, another dream of mine came through. It’s surprising how our focus and directions change so quickly. Last year, I was all over Meemure, well not quite but explored a decent chunk of the area. The icing on the cake was the Lakegala, that I still consider the pinnacle of my traveling career. This year it’s so far mainly been around the Most Sacred Mountain in the whole wide world. Hopefully, there will be more to come and if and when they do, you will be the first to know.

Hope you enjoyed my narration of one of the most difficult trails to the Sri Pada. I’m sure it must have taken a helluva lot of time. I hope it was worth the trouble.

Keep traveling and be safe. This is Sri signing off for the time being hoping to come back once again with another delightful fairy tale.

Sri…

Kadugannawa (කඩුගන්නාව) is the highest point of Colombo-Kandy road (A1) and the lookout point of old Sinhala Kingdom. I thought to have one day trip to visit at tourist attractions in Kadugannawa.

Tourist attractions in Kadugannawa
1. Dawson Tower
2. National Railway Museum
3. Balana Ancient Fort
4. Mudukirigla
5. Balumgala

Dawson Tower
This Tower was made to commemorate Captain William Francis Dawson who was the Royal Engineer who designed and built current Kandy road form Colombo. He died on March 29, 1829 before finishes his work and this column was mad by his friends. Kadugannawa tunnel is a remarkable place of Kandy road. Therefore they have placed this memorial tower at Kadugannawa.
You can climb this tower and enjoy the surrounding view of Kadugannawa.

Dawson Tower-Kadugannawa

Dawson Tower, Kadugannawa Railway line and Kandy-Colombo road

Dawson Tower

How it rises up

Historical Information

In monochrome

Climbing up….great engineering work of good olden days

Getting out

Kadugannawa at a glance

Classical view of Knuckles

Mudukirigla is seen-view point of Kadugannawa

Might be peaks of Matale Hills

National Railway Museum
National Railway Museum is situated next to Kadugannawa Railway station and it started 2months before. It demonstrates the evolution of Sri Lankan railway history.

National Railway Museum

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Name board of old Nuweraeliya station

Story behind Nuweraeliya station

Sri Lanka-America friendship

Demodara Bridge (දෙමෝදර පාලම)

Earlier they used boy’s school names to name the trains

Memorial ……These were issued when railway lines started

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.	Kadugannawa in monochrome

Railway Museum at night

Balana Fort (බලන කොටුව)
Balana rock fort was the watch tower of ancient Kandyan kingdom. It has been used since Protégées era. Once you get down at Balana-Kadugannawa road there is a board indicating Balana fort.
Balana fort provides nice view towards Bathalegala (බතලේගල) and Ura kanda (ඌරාකන්ද).

At Balana Railway Station

Showing the direction

Historical information

Foot pathway

Balana Fort

Bathalegala is shown in black arrow and Ura Kanada is shown in red arrow

It is getting forested

Alagalla (අලගල්ල) –Captured on our way back from Balana fort

Mudukirigala (මුදුකිරිගල)-Highest point of Kadugannawa
Mudukirigala provides a good view towards Kandy, Gampola and Kadugannawa towns. As it is the highest point there, it is saturated with transmission towers. The road towards Mudukirigala starts in front of Kadugannawa library. It can be driven up to certain extent and then have to follow the foot pathway.
It’s old name called Mundagiriya (මුණ්ඩගිරිය) where a temple was situated.

Foot pathway with Alagalla back drop

On the way up

Ambuluwawa (අම්බුලුවාව)

Alagalla

Balumgala-another view point of Kadugannawa. It provides the view towards Mawanella and Kegalle

Knuckles back

Pilimathalawa (පිලිමතලාව) town

Hanthana range. Glad to tell I have walked over this range. Black star shows Ura Ketu Gala (ඌරාකෙටු ගල), red star shows Katusukonda (කටුසුකොන්ද )and yellow star shows the hill where transmission towers placed

Isolated Matale Hills

Train passes Kadugannawa town

View point and transmission towers

Buddha statue

Balumgala (බැලුම්ගල)
Balumgala provides another bird’s eye view towards Kadugannawa town and Mawanella side. We attempted to reach there and came back due to lack of time.

Foot pathway towards Balumgala

View of Dawson tower

Hunnasgiriya (හුන්නස්ගිරිය) Mountain

Another photo of railway line

Evening view of Mawanella and Kegalle side

Summary of the day
We reached Kadugannawa town around 10.00am by bus as we were unable to get into 7.00am intercity train from Colombo. After our breakfast we visited at Dawson tower but care taker was not there to climb up. Then we went to National Railway Museum and after finish half of it got into the train towards Balana. From Balana station we hired a three wheeler to the fort and on our way back we came along the road from Balana to Kadugannawa. Then we completed rest of railway museum and mean while we were able to contact the care taker of the Dawson tower. After enjoying the view from Dawson tower we tasted our lunch from Kadugannawa town and got directions towards Mudukirigala. We walked up to Mudukirigala and attempted to visit at Balumgala as the last objective of the day. We reached Colombo by Podi-Menike train around 9pm.

Black circle-Mudukirigala, red circle-Balumgala and blue circle-Balana fort

Thank you for reading.

The map – click to enlarge

Ah it’s time to do another “Secrets of….” album and this time I wanted to do one on Badulla. Look out for the new additions when you guys pay a visit to Badulla again.

Rambukpotha RMV

This ancient temple could be reached via Badulla – Passara rd. when you reach 1^st mile post (after passing the university) there would be an Archeology board directing to the left. Take that road and reach the temple. It’s believed to be done by King Udaya and it has sheltered many leaders of Wellassa rebellion. The main attraction is the Image house. This is beautiful piece of architecture; out of everything I loved the heavy wooden door. There were paintings belonging to Kandyan era in it. The bell has an interesting story; it’s said to be done with old railway lines by the Englishman.

image house at Rambukpotha RMV badulla

the entrance

inside the image house

kandyan era

more paintings

paintings

the pagoda

the ancient bell done with rail lines

Lindamulla Pattini devalaya

Just before reaching Badulu Oya Bridge from Passara side there is a turn off towards Spring Valley. Traveling few kilometers along this rd will bring one towards a beautiful Pattini devalaya which is a must visit place if you ever come to Badulla. The outer wall paintings of this devalaya are the hallmark feature at this place.

Lindamulla pattini devalaya

note the large pus wela

wood work

frescoes at Lindamulla pattini devalaya

more frescoes

and more

upper section

lovely isnt it

Badulla inscription

This interesting inscription could be found at the center of Senerath Paranavitharana library. So to visit it you need to go there when it’s open and keep in mind to be silent. This was initially found at Soro bora lake (Mahiyanganaya) and later shifted to Badulla.

Badulu tem lipiya

translation – click to enlarge

small sorouwwa

cute ha??

Welekade star fort

Welekade fort has an interesting shape and its right by the side of the road. This is located close to the hospital on Bandarawela road.

Welekade fort badulla

current residents

Badulla ambalama

This fascinating piece of architecture could be seen in the premises of District secretariat behind the Buddha statue of Badulla. To visit it you need permission from that office. Luckily the security guard was a distant relation so I got the opportunity to snap it. The archeology board at the site mentions:-

“දේශිය  වාස්තු විද්‍යාත්මක ලක්ෂණ වලින් සමන්විත දැව කැටයම් හා විශේෂ ආරුක්කු වලින් ද පේකව වලින්ද අම්බලමේ උපයෝගීතාවයට උචිත පරිදි කෙටි බිත්ති වලින්ද සමන්විතව  ක්‍රි:ව: 19 වන සියවස මුල් භාගයේදී ඉදිකර ඇති දුර්ලබ ගණයේ අම්බලමකී. රාජකාරී කටයුතු සදහා කච්චේරියට පැමිණෙන සේවාදායකයන්ට තම කටයුතු ඉටුවන තුරු රැදි සිටිම පිණිස මෙය කරවන්නට ඇතැයි සිතිය හැක.”

Badulla ambalama

note the tiles

Medapathana

Medapathana is a scenic location at Badulla and to reach it one needs to travel along Mahiyangana road and at Ridipana take the Medapathana cemetery road. The road condition up to the cemetery is good! From here onwards it’s best to have a walk. It’s simply an mind blowing location with a panoramic view. Badulu oya runs along its eastern boarders and one could attempt to reach the top of Dunhida falls from here.

walking along medapathana

wow

and wow

Narangala

namunukula covered with mist

lovely landscape

badulu oya valley just before dnuhida falls

meegahakivula side

yet another

badulla town and eladaluwa peak

a pano

Dunhida and Kuda dunhida falls

Passing Ridipana and traveling 3km’s towards Mahiyangana you could reach the ticket counter of Dunhida. To view kuda dunhida one needs to get to the high grounds where the toilet is located at the beginning of the trail.

kuda dunhida

the best i could do

dunhida beauty

when she is thin

top

side view

Kataragama Devalaya Badulla

This ancient site is believed to be done by 1^st Wimaladarmasuriya king and it’s located in front of the Uva provincial council building. The paintings of the outer wall were similar to the ones seen at the Lindamulla pattini devalaya. The “Kapu mahaththaya” at this site was very kind and helpful. He did show me around the place without any hesitation. The main sections are the Kataragama devalaya, Pattini devalaya, Kitchen and quarters, Bo tree and Singhasana mandapaya.

entrance of badulla kataragama devalaya

lightig up the path

main premises

resting place of the kapuwas

kataragama devalaya

paintings

tiles

a lion

top part

ruins

oil bucket

makara thorana

instruments used at the perahera

another moon stone

paththini devalaya

its paintings

more artefacts

sinhasanaya

its carvings

Muthiyanganaya and Uva museum

Apart from historically important Muthiyangana Dhageba my main interest was on the museum (which should be approached from the temple premises). There were pictures from many places of Uva province and also the artifacts were very unique and interesting.

Entering Muthiyanganaya

muthiyangana sthupa

choose the odd one

modified

from the past

ah loved this one

museum of uva

a barrel

many together

mainahama

dolawa

weapons

Reelpola Godegama RMV

While going towards the railway station by crossing the Badulu oya there is a road to the left called Wewalhinna road, traveling along this road for few kilometers will bring you to this temple. There is an ancient image house which is under renovation. Some of the statues found in the image house is said to be done in wood. The paintings found here belongs to Kandyan era.

Reelpola Godegama RMV

inside the image house

frescoes at Reelpola Godegama RMV

wooden and cement statues

partly done by wood

the door looks interesting

the key

roof paintings

more frescoes

Galgepitiya RMV

To reach this temple one needs to proceed along Wewalhinna rd and turn left at one point. Better to ask directions from locals because it’s very hard to describe. You also could reach this from Spring Valley road quiet easily. At this temple a caved image house with and inscription could be found. In this image house you could note similar statues as found in Reelpola temple which is under renovation.

image house at Galgepitiya rmv

entrance

the new statue

side view

partly done

god kataragama

Eladaluwa peak

To reach Eladaluwa one needs to take Wewalhinna road for few hundred meters and turn on to Eladaluwa road which ends up at the communication towers at its summit. Though it’s not as scenic like medapathana the whole of Badulla town could be seen easily. You would need a 4wd to tackle this one.

I’m glad that I could visit all of these places and I’m privileged to introduce these unknown places to the common traveler.

view from eladaluwa rd

more scenery

end of the road

summit of Eladaluwa

badulla zoomed out

badulla

What would you give to spend a couple of days in a comfy bungalow more than 7000ft above the sea level which is bordered by a cloud forest? Well I would go to greater lengths to make it a reality. I’m sure you would too. Tell me you wouldn’t give a toss and you would win the first prize for the biggest lie. I’ve been lucky to have visited some wonderful places where you could get completely isolated and feel heavenly. Ginihiriya Bungalow at Horton Plains, Fishing Hut, Morning Side are some of them. This is when we came across Nagrak Bungalow, a place highly rated for its location, comfort accommodation and most of all the awe-inspiring views it offered.

There have been a few online posts about it and we decided to give it a go as well. The highly controversial but very tempting Non Pareil Trail to the Horton Plains begins near the bungalow and it added flavor to our intentions. Ana as usual led the planning and all we had to do was tag along. The charges for one day is Rs. 15,000/-. I know the moment I heard it, I felt the same way how you just felt hearing that. “They must be joking”, I thought out loud. It was however true and we had to haggle over whether to go for it or not. Finally having weighed pros and cons, we decided that there was not much choice but to give it a go. “But for how many days?”. We asked each other many times that question. Even though the experience is wonderful, if it’s not affordable and beyond our reach we wouldn’t be able to go for it. If we try to do everything wonderful, it’d soon leave us beggars.

We passed the idea this way, that way and the other way and still got nowhere. After what felt like an eternity, we came to the conclusion that we need minimum two nights. We couldn’t anyway afford more therefore settled at two. Having arranged everything we set off on the dawn of Saturday, 21 February. Just a word on the way we were given the instructions by the Nagrak Management. They gave us the account details promptly to deposit money and other than mentioning about the electricity which is available from 6pm to 12 midnight, there was no other information given. It’s a major lapse from their end because the way Fishing Hut Management (click on the link to check the info sent by them) sent out the information was simply brilliant. They had gone to great trouble to put everything in writing so that there was no misunderstanding. We knew exactly what was they were giving and what we had to take. Further, what we could do and shouldn’t do. It was just great and I feel Nagrak Management failed to meet those standards. They have some catching up to do and do it fast coz that small lapse could lead to very unpleasant things and disappointments.

Day 01

Driving up to the Bungalow

We made good ground and arrived at the Non Pareil road passing Belihul Oya as the sun was beginning to appear. According to the estate sign board, it is 21km to Nagrak but the provincial council notice, World’s End is 32km away. Well it’s a bit confusing as the Non Pareil trail to the world’s end is about 4km. Well, it’s the way and let’s not waste too much breath over it. One thing I can tell you is that the elevation gain from A4 to the bungalow is well over 5000ft. We drove on passing a couple of hotels and then a couple of abandoned big houses. The road was tarred and in fairly good condition.

After a few kms we came across the CTB bus coming from the Non Pareil estate. The road is very narrow and very few places where two vehicles pass each other. We saw a couple of cascades falling but didn’t stop for a picture. Then we arrived at Hirikatu Oya Educational Center. It’s about 6km from the A4. Passing it and feeling ravenous we stopped for our breakfast of sandwiches while the mountains were showing their shades of green. Many of the Mana-covered Mountains looked like a light green velvet has been draped over them. The morning wind made us shiver and we badly wanted a scalding cup of strong coffee but it was just wishful thinking.

Hirikatu Oya Ella

We came to a school then and taking the next turn we came face to face with a beautiful waterfall. We couldn’t ignore her and stopped for a photo shoot. Despite the lack of rains, she still had a fair amount of water flowing from the Horton Plains. She must be something close to 100ft and above her loomed the Non Pareil Tea Factory. Later on, we realized this as the Hirikatu Oya Ella. Looking around we saw many cascades, of course with very little water, falling from great heights. So a journey during the rainy season is in order and I saved all the locations in my already packed brain for future use. There are 35 hairpin bends before we reach the bungalow along the snaking uphill estate road. Going up maneuvering around made me think of 18-bends below Udadaumbara. It was nothing compared to this even when it was in bad shape. Ana’s expertise in driving took us safely up and it must have been a nightmare without power steering and auto gear.

We reached the factory and the road from there is closed. However our permit took care of it and we were onto the most strenuous part of the road. Thanking our stars for not having to climb up walking, we drove on tackling one bend after the other. The sun was shining down fiercely but the cool breeze coming from Horton Plains kept them at bay. The road has been repaired in places with stretches of concrete paved patches making it relatively easier compared to what it was. The season for Nagrak starts from late February till late April so that must be the sudden urge to make this road better. Even the road closer to the bungalow was being repaired using earth.

We then came to another milestone, the Baker’s Bend which is almost like a horse shoe. It’s located 5000ft above sea level and is the 23rd bend. We got some beautiful and panoramic views from here but the sun made it tough for our cameras that were not so sophisticated. The surrounding mountains stretched miles and the Samanalawewa Reservoir was visible clearly. There was a group going uphill when we reached the Baker’s Bend. After the usual picture taking, we got going and reached another milestone, the 33rd bend with a signage saying it was 1km to the bungalow, 4km to World’s End and 5km to Belihul Oya. This is 6990ft above sea level which meant we had climbed over 5000ft within 20 or so kms. You can imagine the climb, can’t you?

Finally we got to the bungalow passing a few people who were repairing the road. The gardener was there to open the gate and then we drove in to find one of the best places to spend a holiday.

Here we are

Wonder if this is true if it’s only 21km to Nagrak

Isolated road being illuminated by the morning rays

Surrounding mountains

Having breakfast with serious faces

Hiya!

Just passing the school

Warm welcome

There she is

Closer

Portrait

Lower part with the base pool

The road ahead

Leafless

Sun is fully up and running

I simply love the shades of blue here

The factory

Could’ve gone in but others decided against it

Velvet Mountains with Royal Blue

Climbing

Landmark

What do you say to this?

Gon Molliya Range and Balathuduwa

Samanalawewa Reservoir zoomed in

The happy wanderers

Another hairpin bend

Another landmark, see the notice, especially the elevation

Endless views

Border of HP

Sun shining through the leaves. Ana was quick to spot this

Terrible road condition

Our bungalow is at the corner, if you look harder, can see the summer hut at the edge

Road under repairs and maneuvering was hard

Where’s everyone

BBQ hut

Front

“Anybody home?”

Nagrak Bungalow

To say that we were impressed is an understatement. The single story typical colonial-era type bungalow painted a dull green or similar to deep grey with a matching greenish tin roof looked majestic in the middle of a huge garden full of perfectly trimmed plants, well-cut grass and vividly-colored flowers. There were many large windows allowing the natural light in. At the edge of the garden is the sloping tea patch. Further away velvet green mountains looked grand. Beyond them we could see the Pambahinna Town, Samanalawewa Reservoir, Walawe Basin and further away faintly visible through the haziness of the glowing sun was Udawalawa Reservoir. There was a nicely built summer hut at the edge of the garden allowing visitors to enjoy the view shielding from the sun and rains. To our left was a long mountain range. From Wangedigala via Balathuduwa towards the Gon Molliya (double humped peaks) Range, it looked menacing. Bambarakanda, Lanka Ella and the Kalupahana-Ohiya Road that goes through the Udaweriya Estate were behind them. Further towards the end we could see the edge of the Horton Plains where millions of people visit every year. The famous World’s End was a bit away hiding from us. Non Pareil Trail to the World’s End runs behind the bungalow through the Horton Plains. The back garden borders the Horton Plains Reserve with millions of trees and many shades of green. It was a sight worth seeing over and over again.

We ran around like a bunch of kids taking in the scenery and breathing the mountain air filling our parched lungs. The grass was like a carpet especially laid for us. Not even bothering to unload, we kept shooting this way, that way and the other way. Ana taking pity on us carried on unloading allowing us to be play around. After a heavy shooting we decided to go see the interior as well.

Ready to unload

Just look at this, especially the royal blue background

Closer

Entrance

The garden and the summer hut at the edge

View

Towards the side

Gardener doing a good job

Some more art work

Border of the garden

Wow…	Gon Molliya through the trees

Out in the open

Me, hiding inside the giant bush

Towards Samanalawewa

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Lady Bird

Flowers

More Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Going in we were greeted by a huge fireplace and a large set of comfortable settee set kept in a big sitting area. Either side was two rooms and the passage through the sitting area, led to a room to the right and the dining room to the left. Further along there were two other rooms either side before the passage led to the kitchen. In the back passing the kitchen were servant quarters, storage and the boiler room where they have a typical firewood-powered old boiler to provide hot water. Now they have a solar-powered hot water system as well but not so effective compared to the old one. The ceiling is wood paneled along with the floor helping to keep the cold out. The rooms are so spacious, bigger than any I’ve seen in a place like this with two beds each. There are four fully equipped washrooms which are clean and well maintained. Thick, long and matching curtains are hung along the windows. Even the rooms had their own fireplaces. Well, now you know what this place is like, don’t you?

Interior as soon as we entered

Dining room

The refrigerator powered by gas and can also be used with electricity. If anyone knows where to get one of these, let me know

One of the bedrooms, note the wooden ceiling

Another

Can you see the fireplaces and different color combinations used?

Inside one of the bathrooms

The boiler area

Working better than solar

Ready for a nap

We settled in our rooms while the workers got busy. There are three workers in the bungalow, a cook, gardener and an assistant who served meals. Unfortunately the cook didn’t turn up on time delaying our lunch. Fortunately we had some pre-cooked curries with us. We got very little information about the number of people in the bungalow and we had to take meals for them as well. Nevertheless we managed to weather the storm and make do with the resources we had. Finally we sat down for lunch with Rice, Polos, Chicken, Gotukola Sambol, Papadam and followed by Cashew Nut Chocolate. After a bellyful lunch, we took to our comfy beds for a nap wrapped in clean and warm blankets.

Our delicious lunch

Just a word on the workers in the bungalow.

Gardener – Does a superb job of keeping the garden and stay away from the visitors keeping to himself.

Assistant, Kumar – Very polite and attentive. Always ready to help you.

Cook – Can cook really well. But can be a nuisance too coz he kinda expects us to offer some liquor. We were asked by other workers not to offer alcohol to him as it can be troublesome.

Amid all this, we heard a roar of a huge engine, very much similar to that of German M6 engine and we were wondering if the railway line was closer. Out of nowhere appeared a SLAF Bell 206 Jet Ranger circling the World’s End. At the time we could no longer make anything out but later on came to know that it was looking for a fallen Dutch tourist. Initially it was communicated that was a Chinese national who had fallen but in fact it was a Dutch. We were only a few kms away from the World’s End.

Here’s the Jet Ranger looking for the Dutch who’d fallen. He was miraculously stuck among a few branches and later rescued by the Sinha Regiment Soldiers

There are remains of another bungalow type structure behind the current one and we found out one of the superintendents had illegally cleared the reserve building a house of his own hoping to stay there forever. Well looking at how serene and tranquil the surroundings, I’m not surprised he went to that length. Now it’s in ruins as the officials had finally claimed their territory but the area still hasn’t got any typical Horton Plains plants. Instead it’s just grass that covers the entire area. Apparently that fella had planted vegetables as well such as potatoes, carrots and some others.

From the car park

Well, don’t know the name

Like dhal or even green gram

Crooked

Maha Bovitiya

Buds	Gigantic mushroom

Water stream coming from HP

We followed it up a bit

Ruins of illegal construction

Afternoon Stroll in the Drizzle covered with Mist

After a nap, we had a nice cuppa tea and decided to go for a stroll downhill just to unwind ourselves. The sun was on his way down but there was plenty of light. We walked down the road where we came from hoping to experience the atmosphere around 7000ft up. Kumar offered to accompany us but we declined as we didn’t plan to get lost. Now that the sun was behind us we could see the Gon Molliya range very clearly and a mist was heading our way. We reached the 33rd bend to find the weather had changed completely. Rain clouds loomed threateningly and we had to cut short our walk and head back. The rain caught us before long but thankfully there was a medical center where we sheltered for a while. It kept drizzling and we decided to walk in it. The mist covered the entire area within seconds making it hard to see anywhere.

Walking tucked my sweater under the arm, feeling the tiny drops of water pricking the exposed skin sending a chill right throughout was a new kinda experience. The evening wore off amid chit chat. The bulbs flickered into life when the generator was turned on at 6pm. With it came the mobile reception. Anyway we wouldn’t have minded the poor reception coz it adds to the calmness. Later on after a hot shower we sat down for an early dinner which was sumptuous. The solar panel is not maintained properly, especially it needs washing to clear of the moss and oiliness of the rain water. Unfortunately the workers at the bungalow were not aware of this when Ana explained what needs to be done to improve the efficiency. Thankfully the good old firewood-driven boiler was our savior.

We then got into our beds which were nice and warm. The temperature dipped below 14 degrees and the winds picked up howling around the bungalow but it in some strange way it felt great. The drizzle kept on but it hitting the tin roof was muffled thanks to the wooden ceiling. Having wrapped the thick woolen blankets around us just like mummies we settled down for the night. The sleep slowly crept up on us dragging us slowly into a dreamland. Well before I become dead to the world, lemme wish you good night.

Out they come

The line houses below our bungalow

Our summer hut zoomed from the road

Road repairing underway

Through lush greenery

Here comes the mist

Fading signs

Cotton wool like flowers

Compost pit

Black clouds appearing

Lorenzo De Almeida pose

Isolated road and the rain is imminent

Oh my goats!

Goat just ran away

Found a short cut

Towards Samanalawewa, everything is blocked by the mist that could be hacked with a chain saw

Our garden slowly being invaded

Let’s call it a day

Day 02

Sunrise over the Mountains

The shuffling noise brought me back to earth and getting up I saw Ana as usual making coffee. The cold was back now I’m out of the protecting layer of the blanket. Strong and sweet coffee tickled down the throat warming the interior. The time was closer to 5am and our noise brought the rest of the household into life except Hasi who was still snoring like hibernating grizzly bear. Throughout the night it was a snoring contest between three rooms. Ana backed Atha was the first to take part closely followed by the selfie king, Hasi but they were no match for Prasa who kept up snoring throughout the night moving between various rhythms. Ana was the first to notice the faint glow in the sky and we ran out not caring a toss about the cold. The thermometer read as 10.6 Celsius but our focus was far away.

The whole mountain range comprised of Gon Molliya, Balathuduwa and Wangedigala were silhouetted against the glowing sky. The Walawe Basin was faintly visible through the thick fog that hung above it. Red, orange and yellow strip of light kept expanding up the sky while sun was doing his morning rituals before turning up for work. Towards the world’s end, the sky looked like a milky sea full of thick clouds cluttered together. We were all pointing our cameras firing them off occasionally disturbing the stillness of the environment. The garden was still largely in darkness but we kept moving about looking for that perfect angle.

I just simply don’t have the capability to express the events unfolded within the next hour or so. But lemme try all the same. The first rays of the morning captured the subtle hues of the valley below. Twin humped Gon Molliya was the most prominent among the mountain tips but sharp point of Balathuduwa was looking grand too. We just tried to picture the tallest girl in the country waking up for the day and being bathed in the golden sun rays. There were a couple of clouds hanging just above the tips of the mountains. The golden rays colored them in vivid pink, purple and magenta. After what felt like a millennium, the sun peeped above the mountains and then came slowly up until he was fully out and shining down on us.

The fragrance of the flowers and the trees was so great and we were shivering in the morning breeze. The bungalow looked stunning standing in the middle of all this. We spent a long time being washed by the morning rays before going in for yet another splendid meal.

Just appearing and the temperature was around 11 degrees

The flash lighting the flowers foreground

Sunrise on the way

Mountain silhouettes

Closer

Gigantic fern tree

Can you see the milky sea to the left? That’s the area behind Gon Molliya

Colorful

The time is close now

Any time

Hhmmm?

I’m getting frozen

Almost

Grrrr

Finally, can you see the outline of the cloud?

There

Good morning lazy man

Come on up, don’t be shy

Hurting my eyes

The milky sea still there

Up in the sky

Good morning old lady!

Hike through the Cloud Forest

After a grand breakfast, we decided to do a bit of exploring. We took a short walk through what we usually refer as the cloud forest. The thick foliage kept us shielded from the sun and the chirping birds sang along with us. The dew had gathered on the leaves, flower buds and petals looking very kissable. We walked in single file very much like a six-man reconnaissance team not making a noise. It felt like a crime to disturb the tranquility inside the forest.

After a steady hike we came to a place very much similar to the popular World’s End. Below us were the Non Pareil Estate, its factory and line houses of the workers. Further in the distance were the Walawe Valley, Samanalawewa Reservoir and Velvet Green Mountains. Horton Plains stretched out to miles with her unique beauty. We saw the snaking road we took along the estate to reach the bungalow.

Out of nowhere reminding us the uncertainty of the weather, a great cloud of mist appeared as if to signal the end of the show. We all had taken a whale lot of pictures already so there were no qualms about having to leave. We got back around late morning to find the bungalow along with the garden plunged into a thick layer of mist.

“There’s a Giraffe”

Clear surroundings

Ana ready to rock n roll

Dew covered grass

On our way

Hanging beards

Vivid colors

Giant ferns towering above us

Tiny pathway

Samanalawewa in the distance

X-rayed

Dead tree arts

Like blood veins

Nelu

Prasa looking proud while Ana humble

Thick forest

One of my favorites

Another

The path was slippery

Beard tree

Here the team

Life

Barriers

Non Pareil being unveiled slowly

First of Maha Ratmal flowers

Closer

The line houses below and the snaking road

Mountains beyond World’s End

Sitha Pera

Fern buds

Egg yolk like

Clear view that runs for miles

Below

Zig-zagging path

Non Pareil Tea Factory zoomed in

Clearing in the forest, to the right is World’s End

Towards HP

Towards KGP if I’m not mistaken

Clear views

Not a lotus

The end of the show, here comes the mist

Amazingly beautiful but very narrow

The sad story of the day, invading Eulex found among the trees. Wish we could uproot and destroy it but didn’t wanna ask for trouble

Heading back