Few months ago myself and Mithila got together and thought of doing the last two remaining trails of Sripada which were Dehena kanda/Hapugastenna trail and Morray/Rajamale estate foot path. We intentionally postponed this journey to march hoping that the path would be cleared off by then. This was a long awaited dream for me and this year it came true. This time our group was a huge one comprising 7 Lakdasun members and others been Theshantha’s family members. I knew this was going to be a unique experience that i will never ever forget and indeed it was.

After 4 days of planning it was time to go on this special pilgrimage. As planned all of us arrived at Mukkuwatta of Hapugastenna upper division around 10am (by a hired van) and started packing up our stuff for the last time. At the starting point there is a small shrine and at the backdrop of it one can appreciate the mountain ranges of Sripada reserve standing tall like a wall. After finishing religious rituals we got down through the tea patch towards the miniature stream of Rath Ganga where few leeches were there to welcome us. After crossing over towards Somarathna ambalama (which is the only ambalama we came across during our whole journey) we applied Alum (AlSO4) and started climbing uphill through a well cleared forest path. The forest was full of bamboo and other huge trees giving the surrounding environment a 100 percent greenly appearance. Somehow after about 500m we reached our next land mark which was Wewal dola. From here onwards it was a continuous uphill journey. Not like other trails Dehenakanda route is full of ascends and very little flat terrain. After traveling more that 1km we reached our next landmark which is Wellakkara galge. It was a small less spacious cave which sheltered all ten of us from an unexpected passing shower.

happy faces at hapugastenna

Directions

Hapugastenna upper division

top of the tea estate

sadu sadu sadu

off we go

Rath ganga

Somarathna ambalama

our only enemy

on the way climbing through the forest

Wewel dola

petals

life

resting at wellakkara galge

After refreshing ourselves we got in to our raincoats and off we went. The nature of the trail became tough than we expected the ascend was a non-stop continues one and we were forced to take plenty of pit stops and sips of occasional Jeevani. We did come across two caves and the last one was a where we decided to have a break. The last cave was Ihala rama gala(Bedigala?) according to our assumptions. From here onwards it was like we were never going to stop climbing and the knees were almost knocking on our chins. The only advantage we had was the path been wide and clear. We were winding around Rath kanda all this time and at last we reached Bothiya dola where we sat and shared what we brought for lunch. At this point i decided to go downhill along the stream to find a small waterfall which Chaturanga and the gang had seen during their visit. It was indeed beautiful and totally worth the effort.

giant millipede

the path

more to climb(despite the rain)

Pahala rama gala cave(not sure)

green it was

misty path

ferns

ha here are some illegal activities commonly carried out

ihala rama gala cave(where we rested)

ඇටි කෙහෙල්

wow it was well arched

Bothiya dola where we had lunch

a waterfall at bothiya dola

When we restarted our journey it was passed 4pm and once again it was a steep climb that awaited us. We were exhausted within no time, Podda had been shifting from one shoulder to another all the way and his parents were exhausted more than anyone. Just before and after Bothiya dola, peak of Bena samanala could be seen. It was getting darker by the minute and we were rushing in search of Battulu oya where we planned to camp. We were now traveling along the base of Bena samanala and the terrain was almost flat for about 1Km for the first time. We also did note Adams peak for the first time thanks to its well lit up summit. Though the trail was flat it was pitch dark and the roots crossing the path were death traps so we had to use our head lamps to overcome this difficulty. After passing three streams and a Mana patch we decided not to continue further. We found a clear area on the path suitable for camping and this was indeed our night resting place. After dropping down our stuff Kasun & I went back to help the rest of the group who were yet to come while Mithila and others started pitching the tents. After regrouping we decided to cook some noodles at around 8pm. We were lucky that the sky had cleared off and there were no major threats of further showers. We started at an elevation of 700m and ended up close to 1600m at the end of the day while traveling something close to 7km. We were so exhausted so within no time we felt a sleep but on back of our minds we were little bit worried about elephants and notorious bears of Benasamanala.

colours of nature

plenty of bark mushrooms

and more

still traveling its passed 6pm

Bena samanala

it was getting dark but the terain was flat

through the marshy land

our dinner

Next day at around 5am birds started to chuckle but the cold temperature didn’t warrant us to creep out of the tents. Somehow we decided to wrap up things quickly and get to Battulu oya where we planned to cook and reorganize ourselves. From where we camped to the river it was about 700m and just before we started descending we saw the summit of Adams peak clearly for the first time and the words “sadu sadu sadu” came effortlessly. The river Mahaweli/Menik as known to the locals is actually Battulu oya and the location is undeniably a paradise! There is a buildup shrine on the opposite bank where people can engage in their religious rituals. The river forms a beautiful cascade at this site which tempted us to climb down for a clear view. Further upstream there is a huge water collection based by sand and pebbled rocks which is a wonderful place to swim around and Harinda couldn’t resist the temptation . Dry fire wood was hard to find and cooking took some while because of that. Few of us didn’t forget to jump in to the icy cold river and last at least for few seconds . After having some rice with “seeni sambol” and “karavila” we repacked quickly because it was already 11am. Just before we left this paradise a local “nade” from Wewelwatta arrived from Dehenakanda and they were bit surprised to see us. According to them about 200 locals get-together and clears the whole path in two days yearly as a “sharamadane” but this year they have not cleared (clearing abandoned due to bad weather conditions at that time) the last stretch and we did note the significance of that later on that day.

next day morning getting ready to leave(we camped on a flat path)

dawn

the tree which everyone photographed

බෝවිටියා

unique to mountanious forest

first clear view of adams peak

summit zoomed

Paradise

Battulu oya cascading

reflection

wow and wow

morning rays

slow shutter speed worked well

and it flows towards fishing huts

webbed

my shadow

burning dirt

note the sand bed

a small cascade

life is everywhere

rays

best ever swimming pool

crystal clear

smoked

wushimale(geththampana) near the river

a nade

We had to ascend again and after about 1km we reached a flat area where Adams peak was seen clearly again. Few hundred meters downwards was the last stream we would come across. When i checked the maps and google earth i found out that this was the main feeder of Battulu oya. After regrouping we decided to start the final ascend. After giving room to the previously mentioned “nade”(who were passing us) we started creeping through the tall Nelu trees which were not cleared off this year. The weather got bad to worse and the thick undergrowth was not helping the cause. This was going to be a never ending climb and we couldn’t see any further than few meters ahead, with our luggage on our backs and fronts it was simply hazardous, the only plus point we had was our walking sticks which worked as a third leg. No words can describe what we went through during this last 4 hours. Finally we emerged out of the thick forest cover and the surrounding peaks were getting clearly visible with each foot we climbed. And at last we saw what we were climbing all this time. Yes it was the “maha giri dambe” and seen it per se boosted up our spirits. The loudness of our “thun sarane kavi” was magnified and we gained strength through this spiritual feeling. At around 4pm we met the cemented steps of Rathnapura/Erathna road close to a cemented water tank 50m below Ehela kanuwa.

more hatu

rooted path

Samanala kanda as seen some where close to the last stream

main tributary of battulu oya(base of adams peak stream)

through the desartarous path

had some life to smile

while climbing maha giri dambe

bena samanala and darmarajagala as seen while climbing maha giri dambe

we emerged out somewhere close to the water pump room on the left of the Rathnapura route

heramitipana

adiyamalatenna

life after the rains

prominent peaks

towards Pettigala(we came through this gap

7 virgins

beautiful

All of us were wet and exhausted but with less effort we got to the “uda maluwa” and halted ourselves in a hallway. While we were at the “uda maluwa” we met the “nade” from Wewelwatta who completed the path in 8hours and they were a very kind and sharing group who helped us in many ways. We were lucky enough to witness a sun set, it was a wonderful site seen how the setting sun lighting up the lagoons in the western coastal belt. The head priest and Mr Nilantha was kind enough to allow us to stay in a small room and also offering us some tasty pol sambool + parippu + rice which was like a feast from the gods for us who were exhausted after completing the 12km trail from Hapugastenna.

Maussakele reservoir

silver skys around sri pada

plenty of yellow eareds at the summit

warmath from dolos mahe pahana

Seethagangula 1 ella

towards sama chittya at nallathanni

just before the mist

pettigala emerging out of the mist

all 3 peaks finally caught together

sun is setting

the western coastal line and lagoons lit up

wow cotton effect

magical

living in heaven

Nallathanni and maskeliya at night

Rathnapura and Erathna trails as seen from Ehela kanuwa

Rathnapura at night(take from the toilet)

Day 3 at 5.30am we went on to the freezing “uda maluwa” which was jammed pack by pilgrims who were waiting to see the sun rise(Ira sewaya) which no one has witnesses for the past 7 days because of the bad weather. But it was our lucky day we witnessed the rising sun over Horton plains and also the unique triangular shadow of the mountain over Kunudiya parwathaya. Been the 4th highest peak and also been isolated from the central hills Adams peak is the best Arial view point of Sri Lanka. The list of land marks is never ending so i will not list it out here. At around 8am after finishing our religious rituals at “uda maluwa” we started descending through the Hatton route and 100m below the summit we came across the Bhagava lena where one can find a painting of king Nissankamalla and a quite long inscription signifying his visit to Adams peak. We came across another small cave with an inscription further down.

Maussakele at 5.30am

Piduruthalagala seen far away

towards balangoda Pettigala

summit of sri lanka

brightening by the second

Totupola,Kirigalpoththa and agrapathana peaks

Sadagalatenna as seen from the summit

pinkish moussakele

towards wewelwatta

summit of Piduruthalagala

wow here she comes

wow at last it was 6.15am —

ඉර සේවය

sun rise from horton plains

good morning sri lanka

Hatton route jam packed

shadow of adams peak created on mist

the four peaks

shadow at the backdrop of kunudiya parwuthaya

towards erathna & kuruwita

ahas gangawa

Dharmarajagala

Bena samanala

colouful

towards lakshapana

towards Redella

bells of heaven

shadow proper

proudly waving flag

Kabaragala and far away is Alagalla

crowdy uda maluwa

far away mountains belongs to knuckles range

කෝඩු පදුරු

නඩේ

maoussakele reservoir

භගවා ලෙන

King Nishshankamalla

the inscription – Click Image to Enlarge

clear skies

towards redella and piduruthalagala

another inscription at another cave

side view

සාම pagoda

Just after passing the last “kade”(boutique) and just before the railing and steps ended there was a turn off to the right, this is the trail end of Morray estate path. First few hundred meters should be traversed with caution because chances of stumbling upon human dumping is high the path is very scenic and initially the terrain is not so difficult but with no time You will come across a steep descent which one needs to tackle with caution. The path is well cleared and it will not be a difficult task even during the off season. After getting down from the “maha giri dambe(long descend)” we had some bread as breakfast at a flat area.

end point of Morray estate trail

down we go

changing shape

towards gawarawila

beautiful scenery

patterns

perfectly framed

climbing down maha giri dambe

contrast

mountanious forest

on the way scenery

the peak

a rare flat path

About 1.8km from the summit is the midpoint called Sandagalatenna which is a wide open area where one can have a picture post card view of Adams peak while lying on the flat rock. We were forced to have a break under the sun for a while at this point. Lokka and Podda on the other hand loved running around at Sandagalatenna while others had a sun bath . Though the sky was crystal clear in the morning the clouds started to build up in no time so it was time to rush down. After Sandagalatenna we came across the first stream which was 800m away. We had to refill at this point because our water store had depleted. About 500m away from the stream we were trekking parallel to Battulu oya which was flowing producing a huge roar. We came across a small flat rock less than 100m from the above said point. From here onwards the last part of the journey was a steep descent. After about 1km we reached a relatively flat area and just before the end of the trail there was a stream drooling along a rock across the path. Finally after 3 days of strenuous hiking we successfully ended our pilgrimage at the tea estate. There was a nice ice “paella” which washed away our tiredness. There was a van waiting to collect us from the trail head which was arranged by Theshantha’s friend. We arrived at Hatton and dropped ourselves at “Matara bath kade” where we “bada palenda kewa”. From Hatton we got in to a bus and went towards our end destinations. This was one of those amazing adventures one can ever experience in their life time. The unity and like mindedness was the one and only factor that contributed to the success of our journey. And from the eldest to the little 2 year old, all played their part in this great spiritual adventure to Adams peak

beautiful view of adams peak from සදගලතැන්න

the peak as seen from sadagalatenna

wow

paradise of sadagalatenna

and the path continues

the cleared path

at last water

the stream where we refilled was crossing the trail

small flat rock

a second to stop and smile

down the pallam again

obstacles

the last part

gates to civilization

finally the end

our peela

gloomy scenery

a tea hut

Rajamale(Morray estate)

towards gartmore

This was a long awaited trip to Embilipitiya for my personal matters. Then I decided to visit at some places on the way to Embilipitiya and following whole day was used to visit at places at Kollonna. Later I went in another separate day to visit at some places at Godakawela.

We got the Embilipitiya bus from Pettah at 4.15am and got down at Godakawela.

Godakawela was our first place to visit due to Mahindarama Tam piti Wiharaya (මහින්දාරාම ටැම් පිටි විහාරය) and Ammaduwa Katharagama Dewalaya (අම්මඩුව කතරගම දේවාලය).

Mahindarama Tam piti Wiharaya (මහින්දාරාම ටැම් පිටි විහාරය)

Mahindarama temple is situated in Godakawela town. Meegasthanne Adhikarama (මීගස්තැන්නේ අදිකාරම්) has built this temple under instructions of King Keerthi Sri Rajasingha කීර්ති ශ්රි රාජසිoහ (A.C 1747). Today you can see the image house of tampiti temple and Saman Dewalaya. It is hard to see a Tampiti temple in southern Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately we couldn’t go inside the image house as it was closed.

Image house of Tampiti temple. There are paintings of Saman and Vishnu on either side of the entrance

Tampiti temple

Then we visited at Ammaduwa Katharagama Dewalaya which is situated about 5km from Godakawela town. We got Ammaduwa bus from Godakawela town and got down right in front of Dewalaya. If you are going by Galkanda bus, you have to walk about 500m to reach Dewalaya. But that walk is worth as there are scenic views of paddy fields.

Ammaduwa Katharagama Dewalaya (අම්මඩුව කතරගම දේවාලය)

Ammaduwa Katharagama Dewalaya

Historical background

This was built during Kotte period (14th Century). A group of devotees have come to worship Uggal Aluthnuwara Dewalaya උග්ගල් අලුත් නුවර දේවාලය. (Refer the trip report on Visit to Uggal Aluthnuwara, (Balangoda), former Etharawa Koralaya in search of a fromal Traditional temple centered village in Sri Lanka. Its historical sites and other connected temples.) As they didn’t have accommodation at that place and got angry. Then they left their sacred things at Ammaduwa area. One of a regional leader got to know it and built this Dewalaya to worship those sacred things. Later King Parakramabahu of Kotte has allocated villagers for the service of this sacred place.

Main building is 88feet long and it has four parts as Kattaha Maduwa (කට්ටාහ මඩුව), Wattaram Shalawa (වට්ටාරම් ශාලාව), Diggeya (දිග්ගෙය) and Store room. The floor can be seen above Diggeya and store room, named as Maligawa (මාළිගාව). It is the place for ornaments of the god. There is another floor above that and nothing can be found there.

Image house, Kitchen, Kundasalaya (කුණ්ඩසාලය) and Paththini dewalaya (පත්තිනි දේවාලය) can be seen around the main building. There is a passage from main left exit of the Diggeya to Kitchen, named as Diga shalawa (දිග ශාලාව).

Kundasalaya is the place to watch dancing of Perahara.

Sinhasanaya (සින්හාසනය) is another room can be found near to main entrance and used to get a rest following Perahara.

There is a parapet around the Dewalaya for safety.

Main building of Dewalaya

First floor is Maligawa. Ornaments are there

Entrance to Kattaha maduwa

Kattaha Maduwa is closed

Kundasale is used to watch dancing at perahara season

Down view from Kundasalaya

Main entrance, Sinhasanaya, garden and surrounding environment

Sinhasanaya – used to get a rest following perahara

Scenic view met on the way

Current state

Every Wednesday evening they open doors of Dewalaya and have a puja to God Katharagama. Annual Perahara festival is in September month. Unfortunately we couldn’t see inside the Dewalaya as it was closed at morning time. Therefore better visit on Wednesday evening if possible.

After worshiping Ammaduwa temple we came back to Godakawela town and got a bus towards pallebadda. The road towards the Kamburugamuwa (කඹුරුගමුව) brought us to two places – Udagama Duvili Ella (උඩගම දුවිලි ඇල්ල) and Wavulpane (වවුල්පනේ) cave. Anura was our guide as well as driver for these places. (Later he became a good friend of us. T.P.0723577599)

Udagama Duvili Ella (උඩගම දුවිලි ඇල්ල) and Udagama Handapan Ella (උඩගම හදපාන් ඇල්ල)

To reach Udagama Duvili Ella, you have to go to Udagama junction in Kamburugamuwa road (2km) and then towards Udagama. There is a foot pathway towards the waterfall, first through the paddy fields and then within a forest patch. It is bit difficult to reach there without a known person.

It’s height is about 30m and origin is Miyanakoladeniya oya (මියන්කොලදෙනිය ඔය)

Where foot pathway starts

The way through paddy fields

A friend met on the way

Had to cross a water stream

Udagama Duvili Ella

Miyankoladeniya oya flows

Udagama Handapan Ella is situated about 100m away from the Duvili Ella. You have to cross the water stream and climb little bit up to reach this beautiful waterfall. It is 200feet height.

Udagama Handapan Ella

Water is collected for Hydro power project

After enjoying the beauty of two waterfalls, we moved towards Wawulpane lime stone cave.

Wavulpane lime stone cave

To reach wavulpane cave, you have to travel in Kamburugamuwa road towards Waulpane-about 15Km (Without turning to Udagama). If you use public transport, there is a van from Pallebadda to Wavulpane only on Mondays and Fridays. (Fair days). You can reach Wavulpane primary school by that van.

By a private vehicle, you can reach Wavulpane primary school and need to walk about 500m. It is bit difficult to travel there by a car. Four wheel or “three wheel” is ideal.

Anura guided us here as well. (Although his first visit to lime cave!) There are alternative routes to reach there as well.

This is the largest and oldest lime stone cave in Sri Lanka and only lime stone cave with an underground waterfall in the world. It is 457feet long and height of the cave differs from place to place. The forest patch surrounds the cave is called Wavulpane forest conservation. This cave is old as 50000 years and stones are belong to Cambridge era.

First we came to the entrance of the cave and changed our clothes.

The road towards the entrance. Board indicating that. The road in front of the board is to exit

On the way to entrance we came across hard water origin. It produces 26L per second contains CaCO3, Fe (OH)2, Mg salts. – Kiwul Diya Ulpatha (කිවුල් දිය උල්පත)

It’s yellowish in colour

People believe bathing of this water will cure skin diseases

This water stream flows in to the cave through a hole called “Andaraya” අඪාරය to make world’s only underground waterfall

Two parallel entrances

Halwini dola flows out through one entrance

Other entrance

Have to go through this to watch the waterfall

Underground waterfall, about 150feet height

This is the home for more than one million bats. About 7laks out of them are carnivorous

There are about 12 side caves inside the main cave. Most of the times need a ladder to reach them

Ample of cockroaches being food to bats

Coral formation outside the cave

Outer walls of the cave. Note stalactites formation. Stalactites are lime stone columns that hang from the cave roof

Need a superb flash light for this expedition. This is our guide

Another friend we met

After watching the underground waterfall, we came out and then walk towards the exit door.

Nice rock formation at exit – Stalactites

Halwini Dola flows into the cave

Exit

Getting down from the exit is hazardous. Droppings of bats with water make the floor extremely slipper

Note thousands of stars in the dark

They describe a small cave on right side of the exit as a labour room for bats. This is called Malwathu Room. (මල්වතු කාමරය

Rock formation

We didn’t forget bath at Yodaya Kapu Wala (යෝදයා කැපූ වල)

Then they describe about Madu Hen Yaya (මඩු හේන් යාය) which is situated about 2km from the cave. It has about 4000 Madu tress and reminds about Jurassic period. But we couldn’t go there.

Scenery I captured on my way back

Following Wavulpane cave we came back to Pallebadda town and had lunch.

Anura voluntarily dropped us at next destination, Pussadewa tomb. (ඵුස්සදේව සොහොන)

Pussadewa Tomb- ඵුස්සදේව සොහොන

It is in left hand side of the main road, few kilometers away from the Pallebadda junction towards Embilipitiya

The cemetery of great warrior of King Dutugamunu-Pussadewa

Then we stopped at Sankapala (සoඛපාල) ancient temple and we said good bye to Anura.

Sankapala temple (සoඛපාල)

This is one of a famous places found in Embilipitiya road, 7km from Pallebadda town. The great warrior of King Dutugemunu-Pussadewa has deposited his conch shell-“Jaya sankaya” (ජය සoඛය) in one of rocks found at this area. Therefore this area was named as Sankapala.

Following the war, King Dutugamunu has offered a village to Pussadewa. “Labadda” (ලබැද්ද) is that village. Later it becomes Pallebadda (පල්ලේබැද්ද)

Current temple and surrounding cave temples are belong to Kandayan era. There are caves with drip ledges in the mountain area belong to Anuradhapura period. Following Anuradhapura period, this temple was forested and King Rajadhirajasingha (රාජාධිරාජසිoහ) has donated this village to the great poet Korathota Dammarama Thero (කොරතොට ධම්මාරාම හිමි)

Entrance of Sankapala Temple

.

New constructions

Stone pillars scattered within new constructions

Second and third image houses-paintings belong to Kandyan period

Drip ledge with cone shell

Newly built Stupa

A poem written by Korathota Dammarama Thero on the door of image house – Click Image to Enlarge

This temple carries another importance as famous poet called Gajaman Nona (ගජමන් නෝනා) also learnt poetry from Korathota Dammarama Thero at this temple. There are number of caves in the rock which is situated behind the temple, but I didn’t visit there.

Sirinaga temple (සිරි නාග විහාරය)

Our last place of visit of that day is Sirinaga temple (සිරි නාග විහාරය). It is situated at Walawe junction (වලවේ හන්දිය). (Where Udawalawe road meets Embilipitiya road). If you are going by bus, get down one bus halt before the junction.

King Mahanaga (මහානාග රජතුමා) has built this temple and there are evidences of a Tampiti temple.

Today it has only few stone pillars and otherwise completely a new temple.

Remaining stone pillars

That day evening we reached Embilipitiya and stayed at Sarathchandra guest house

Day 2

After finishing my personal activities at Embilipitiya, we started the journey for second day. This day I decided to visit at few places in Embilipitiya-Kolonna (කොලොන්න) road.

Panamure Elephant Kraal (පනාමුරේ ඇත් ගාල)

Panamure is situated at 5km from Embilipitiya in Kolonna road. You can reach there by any bus going to Kolonna. To reach Elephant Kraal, you have to get a three-wheeler from Panamure junction to Ethgala (ඇත් ගාල).

There was a famous elephant kraal at this place during British colonial period. You can notice a perennial spring here. Elephants came to drink water there because of mineral tasty. Then people captured elephants and tamed them.

Famous Panamure Elephant is not a tusker (although called giant tusker), were also captured here. But it was so furious (Literature says because of a mating elephant). In that case, this huge elephant was shot and killed. This made a big issue in the country and parliament has banded the kraal. This ends the last elephant kraal of the country (1896-1950).

Nowadays you can see the Kraal restricted to a small land which consists of a museum, monument of Panamure elephant (to be opened) and water spring.

“Diya bubula’’ දිය බුබුල water spring

It flows behind the kraal

Monument to be opened

Panamure Elephant

This is he

Old Kraal was like this

When this elephant was shot. Thanks for the person who is looking after the place for supplying these photos

Then we came back to Panamure and travelled till 8th mile post to visit at Sri Sandagala Temple-Botiyawawa. You have to get a three wheeler from 8th mile post to reach this temple and road condition was not too bad. It is about 3km to the temple. The importance of this temple is, it has the highest wooden Buddha statue of Sri Lanka. It has no historical value and made on 2005.

Sri Sandagala temple-Botiyawewa (ශ්රි සදගල විහාරය බෝටියවැව)

.	It was made by Rukkaththana (රුක් අත්තන) wood

27 feet high

Our next attraction was famous architecture during colonial period, Maduwanwela walawwa. The bus dropped us in front of Walawwa.

Maduwanwela Walawa (මඩුවන්වෙල වලව්ව්)

This was started to build in 1700 by Wijayasundara Abayakoon

Ekanayaka Mudalithma (විජයසුන්දර අබයකෝන් ඒකනායක මුදලිතුමා).There was a fight between a cobra and a mongoose here and Cobra won. As result this land was selected to build it. Following him, others have expanded this bungalow and J.W.Maduwanwela Disawe ජේ. ඩබ්. මඩුවන්වෙල දිසාවේ (1844-1930) has made current one. Maduwanwela Disawe was very famous at that time.

Stone entrance to the land

Parapet around the Walawwa and garden

Second entrance

Maduwanwela Walawwa and garden

The Bo tree was used to worship

Pioneer of the Walawwa-Wijayasundara Abayakoon Ekanayaka Mudalithuma

View of a courtyard. It had 21 courtyards and now can see only 7

This upper floor is named as Burutha Maligaya (බුරුත මාලිගය) as Burutha wood has been used for it’s constructions

Tile designing

It had a labor room as well. It had 121 rooms

Ancient bath tub

Ruins

Stone inscription found there

Pirith Mandappaya පිරිත් මන්ඩප්පය

Grinding stone

Moon stone

A great part of walawwa is in the process of restoration by the archaeology department.

The ancient well

Following enjoying this great mansion, we came to the main road to visit at our last place of the trip- Maduwanwela Duvili Ella.

Maduwanwela Duvili Ella (මඩුවන්වෙල දුවිලි ඇල්ල)

You have to follow the road in front of Maduwanwela Walawwa to reach this waterfall.

Following the cart road, have to follow the foot pathway which goes through paddy fields and then parallel to the Araporuwa River (ඇරපෝරුව ගග). You will come across three significant waterfalls, but third one is usually named as Duvili Ella-25m high.

Maduwanwela Lake

Foot pathway goes through the paddy fields

Cascade 1 -10m height

Cascade 2- 12m height

Foot pathway to down

Cascade 3 named as Duvili Ella

Araporuwa Rive continues her flow and makes Neralu Ella (නෙරළු ඇල්ල) which is situated about 3km away from Duvili Ella. This foot pathway continues towards the Neralu Ella and then to Ranchamadama. We didn’t have a time to follow it. After having a bath at Araporuwa River we finished our journey.

Thanks for enjoying it.

It was one of the dream trip for Dhanushka and myself to Go around Srilanka on our motorcycles. We thought why not call it “Around Srilanka in 80 hours” and to circumnavigate around Srilanka in less than 80 hours.

We decided to leave on 18th February 2012, Dhanushka rode 35 km from Colombo to Negombo and we both left around 11am. The plan was to ride to Jaffna and stop over for the night.

Saturday 11am, Starting point, Negombo

From Puttalam we take B379 to Mannar Via Wilpattu National Park

After riding non-stop for 2.5 hours we reach Puttalam. The ride was smooth with mild traffic. We knew the next 250km ride is going to be a rough one with literally no tar roads.

Entering the wilpattu national park

After the army check point we enter the Wilpattu national park

We had to stop to produce our documents at the army check point. They advised us to leave the forest area before 5pm.

Partially stable bridge as we leave the army check point

Wilpattu National park board

No tar… and gravel road all way long……

Bit of wet land and water buffalos cooling off..

SLTB bus heading towards Puttalam from Mannar

The cloud of dust was so thick we had to stop till it settled

Few houses pop up as we reach the end of the thick Wilpattu forest

We had to ride parallel to keep the dust from the rear wheels getting in our way

The road condition was really bad and some places we had to go at around 10km/h. As we got closer we had to tackle the sand and the bike tires sank almost an inch. After about 3 hours of riding on gravel and sand we joined the Medawachchiya – Manaar road. We sighed after seeing the tarmac and stoped by the Yoda wewa to admire the beauty.

Yoda Wewa. Water level had gone down way below but quite a sight it was

Yoda wewa on the left and the famous rice bowl of Srilanka on the right

We decided to ride 3.5km to manaar take a picture and ride towards Jaffna

So we officially made it to Manaar. We were running out of time and it was around 3pm we had about 102.5km to Jaffna

Enroute to Jaffna Via Pooneryn (A32 road)

At the army check point we were told that the concrete road ends after 10km and till Jaffna the road is still under construction. We wacked the concrete section under 10 minutes and came to another check point after which the road was in bad condition.

Gravel road again…

My license plate came off from the mount after that extremely bumpy ride

Dhanu on top of Sagupitty bridge

We made it to Jaffna around 8pm

The Sagupitty bridge was constructed recently and the we missed the view of the causeway connecting Pooneryn to Jaffna peninsula. The causeway is about 4km and this area should be travelled during the day time to witness the beauty.

After making it to Jaffna we checked at “Jaffna Inns” and the room is clean and the price was also reasonable. We were so tired after the long day and worst part of the journey was the dust. Sneeze and cough settled in and we were slightly worried about our health condition during the rest of the journey.

Day 2

We woke up around 4am and checked out from the inn. After a quick breakfast in the town we set course to Point Pedro, the northern end of Srilanka

An Old Austin parked near the Jaffna Bus stand

Dhanu on Karizma ZMR, day 2, another long ride ahead

Our bikes in front of Jaffna library

After about 30km ride on smooth carpet road we reached the northern tip of Srilanka

This is it northern end of Srilanka, we did it

The road from Jaffna town to Point Petro was a silky smooth road with mild traffic and we managed to cover the stretch in 20 minutes

Iconic lighthouse in the northern tip

Then we ride south via A9 road

We planned to take the Mullative road from Paranthan and head south. When we reached the Paranthan junction cops told us that the roads were under construction and the 40km road takes about 3 hours to cover. Dust from the construction vehicles was so dense and we recalled our previous day on Pooneryn road. We both agreed to drop that route and head towards Vavuniya via A9 road and then head east via Horopothana. The roads were back to tarmac and we were doing decent 70kmph.

En-route to Trincomalee, thick coat of dust on both bikes after our little off-roading

By after noon we were in Trincomalee

After reaching Trincomalee we headed further down and decided to stop over at Pasikuda. Bikes were in tip top condition and I had to oil my bike chains as we had already clocked 500km from start. Dhanu’s Karizma had chain cover and had coped well against the dust and sand

Open road, no cops… could you ask for more

Rented a cabana in Pasikuda

By 4pm we reached Pasikuda and rented a cabana for the night. The beach was walking distance and we called it a day. Till now we had clocked 805km and the next day was the last stage of our journey where we would reach the eastern and southern most point, Sangamankandy and Dondra head respectively.

Day 3

Alarm goes off at 3am and we wake up for the 3rd stage of our adventure. None of the shops were open at that time for even a coffee so without wasting time we set course to Batticaloa. Pasikuda to Batticaloa was only 30km and the smooth tarmac didn’t fail us to hit red line on our machines. We kept around 90kmph and we were the only traffic for next 30km.

Ride was only 20 minutes and we stopped when we saw a coffee shop. The tea served with milk hoppers was heavenly and the energy was back. From Batticaloa we cruised at the normal speed to avoid any incidents and cops.

400km to go home, A4 road longest road in Srilanka

Day breaks, Sangamankandy

Eastern most point in Srilanka, Sangamankandy

Pottuvil…

Through the paddy fields

Pottuvil is one of the beautiful places with the green paddy fields. The view is absolutely stunning.

Acres of paddy fields and the tarmac across it. Pottuvil

Lahugala, Enroute to Siyambalanduwa

Inside Lunugamwehera national park

Hello Big guy….running into a wild elephant

While riding through Lunugamwehera we looked out for wild animals and birds, we didn’t expect the surprise just before exiting the forest. We saw an elephant wandering on the road and from the first look he was very calm and seems to be not bothered by the traffic on the road.

Friendly wild elephant. Close to Sella Kataragama

Passers by fed the elephant with bread, fruits and biscuits and the elephant seemed quite content.

Tissa wewa, Tissamaharama

We made it to Hambantota around 2pm

Dondra head, Southern most point in Srilanka, Matara

Scorching sun was at its peak when we crossed Tissamaharama. We passed Hambantota and Rode non-stop till Dondra head, Matara.

Most iconic Dondra head light house. Matara

This is it, Southern end of Srilanka

Heavy shower near Hikkaduwa

As soon as we passed Galle the sky became dark and started to rain near Hikkaduwa. We were glad it was the last stage and we had covered 90% of our journey. We were so exhausted after two days of riding and wanted to go home as soon as possible.

Weather improved after Aluthgama and traffic became the next concern. It was Monday evening and as we approached Colombo during the peak hours the traffic was the next unbearable thing.

By night we made it to Colombo and After bidding Good bye to Dhanu as Ratmalana I rode the next 40km to Negombo

We clocked 1453km in 72 hours right around Srilanka

This was my 3rd visit to Meemure and this was after 6 years of the 2nd visit. When I had my first visit in 2004, it was the time that Meemure was getting popular with ‘සූරිය අරණ’ film. In those days it was a village which was hardly developed. That means there was only a single vehicle to the entire village and we could see people carrying goods by ‘තවලම’. But now they have several vehicles, Tuk Tuks, Motor bikes, etc. and no ‘තවලම’ anymore. Most importantly now they have electricity from a mini hydro project.

But it still preserves the beauty and glory of Lakegala and surroundings.

We started our journey from Colombo by 5.00AM and we had breakfast at Kandy. Then we went to the Adikarigama via Raja Mawatha to visit Victoria Power generation complex. After visiting that we came to the Victoria Dam observation center via Victoria Dam by crossing the Mahaweli River. Then we came to Hunnasgiriya and had lunch there. We had to buy some stuff from there and by 3.30PM we started our journey from Hunnasgiriya to Meemure. Distance is 31KM. But it took 3.5 hours for us to reach Meemure.

Roadside Water fall – Hunnasgiriya – Click Image to Enlarge

More random water falls with rain

First 15 km was a little OK, but then it was worse. Road condition was terrible and thick mist was there. You couldn’t see even 2, 3 meters ahead. We came to the Corbet’s Gap and had little rest there. It would have been a fantastic place if the mist was not there. With the mist and heavy wind we were not able to stay longer there and so we started the journey again

Thick Mist at Corbet’s Gap (අට්ටලමෙට්ටුව)

Corbet’s Gap

Corbet’s Gap

Thereafter road was terrible; we had to get down from the van several times and literally “make temporary repairs” to the road before moving the van.

In the middle of a lot of obstacles, by 7.00PM we were able to reached Meemure. It was night time by the time we reached there; and due to the heavy rains during the day time it was very difficult for us to setup the tent. So we decided to stay at one of our good old friend Nawarathne’s place for that night. He has built a separate section attached to his house to rent out to visitors. It was quite a good place and can be recommended for others as well. After having chats with a few villagers we went to sleep.

Next day we got up early morning and the plan was to hike Lakegala. After having breakfast we came to the Meemure village center and had a chat with several villages about Lakegala hike. But their advice was not to hike Lakegala that day due to the heavy rains during the last couple of days. They said the rocky trail will be too slippery and would be too dangerous. With that information we had to drop our idea of hiking. Then what to do…..

Everybody decided to setup the tent and have a cool dip on ‘Heen Ganga’ and relax the evening by experiencing the beauty of Meemure. After setting up the tent we all went to the ‘Heen Ganga’ to have a bath. It was fantastic.

Evening we relaxed and met several villages and had casual chats about their day to day life and history about Meemure.

Glorious Lakegala at his Best

Symbolic ‘Mee’ Tree at Meemure Village Center

Hope You All Remember this, “ඉරෙන් හදෙන්….එලිය අරන්…” We should protect these resources for our next generation

‘Heen Ganga’

Bond with nature at best…

What a nice place for Camping – Click Image to Enlarge

Getting ready for Bon Fire

In the night we had our usual sing along session with a BBQ. But we made sure the natural silence of the village night was not disturbed

Everybody has their own duties as planned

Until next morning

We just got up

Next Day Morning… – Click Image to Enlarge

Lakegala with clear sky – Click Image to Enlarge

Breathtaking… – Click Image to Enlarge

We had to construct the road ….!

How difficult it was

View of Lakegala from another angle (between Kaikawala & Corbet’s Gap)

View towards Meemure

View towards Meemure

View from Corbet’s Gap in a clear morning (not in this trip)

View from Corbet’s Gap in a clear morning (not in this trip)

After awesome 3days away from busy, complex life we returned to Colombo. Thanks for reading this awesome experience.

දුම්බර කදු නගිමින් – අලුගල්ලෙනත් බලමින්- අරඹා බඹරැල්ලෙන් – නිමකලෙමු තංගප්පුවෙන්

After Lakdasun 2nd gathering I got to know some wonderful people and was able to go on some trips with them. So my first trip after that was with  Mithila, Ashan, Sheham, NG, Kasun , Theshantha etc. Interestingly that was my favorite place on earth “ Sri Pada”. Then I recently went on with two other wonderful members of LAKDASUN, SANKETHA and ATULA. Interestingly that was my second favorite place on earth , “Knuckles the Misty Mountains “. How lucky I am. So here is the story of our wonderful journey “Bambarella to Thangappuwa”.

Although I am the writer most of the pictures belongs to Sanketha, Athula ,and Wuminda. So all the credits should go to them. I am herewith mentioning the names of person whom the picture belongs to.

As some of us had to attend family commitments in the morning we fixed Friday 1.00 p.m. as our departure time. Snaketha picked Me and Wuminda at Pelawatta and came to pettah by his car (his father was driving) and Athula with Prasad already had come there. We boarded ourselves to a Kandy A/C Bus at 1.30 p.m .and got off at Ihala Iriyagama at 4.30 p.m. We walked the rest 700m to the Rest house. We had tea there and had a quick wash, came back and proceeded towards Temple of Tooth by bus. It’s about 15-20 minutes journey.

Our plan was to rest that day and leave rest house around f 5.00 a.m. nest day to reach Bambarella before 8.30by hired van .Meanwhile we planned to hunt few waterfalls too.

Our calm , economical resting place .we booked two rooms + dinner ( PHOTO: SANKETHA)

Our Crew from Left to Right Atula, Prasad, Sanketha, Wuminda, Harinda (PHOTO: HARINDA)

DALADA MALIGAWA Seen from distance ( PHOTO: HARINDA)

The Sacred Place at night (PHOTO: HARINDA)

INSIDE (PHOTO: SANKETHA)

Thewawa ( PHOTO: SANKETHA)

PATHTHIRIPPUWA ( PHOTO: HARINDA)

After purchasing some items from Kandy we came back to our place around 8.00 p.m. After having a delicious dinner, we re packed our bags. Other than our personal stuff Athula’s friend was carrying a portable gas cooker with three small cylinders. Sanketha and me were carrying our tents and other stuff was shared with Athula And Wuminda. Each one carried 2 l of water toooo .

We left the rest house sharp at 5.00 after settling bills. Somewhere closer to Bambarella there was a place where we could see the beautiful view of Knuckles.

Getting ready .We were given free bed tea…….. (PHOTO: HARINDA)

View of knuckles mountains (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Misty mountains seen on the way (Photo: Sanketha)

Panaroma view (PHOTO: ATULA)

Then we started our waterfall hunting. Around 6.30 a.m. we reached Hulu ganga town and enjoyed the beauty of HULUGANGA FALLS. From Huluganga there is a route towards ALAKOLA estate and when you travel 3-4 km you could see Thaliya Wetuna ella. We actually skipped that due to time factor and low level of water. Actually only Huluganaga had a sufficient water level. Jodu ella was poor looking and we saw a cheeeeeeeep SHARIYA. What to do. You can see jodu ella from the main road towards Bambarella . There is a concreted road towards left just before bambarella town and you have to travel nearly 1 km up wards to see the SAREE fall.

First glimpse of Huluganag Ella (PHOTO: ATULA)

She was beautiful (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Ella With the palama…………………………….. Great shot by Athula

Poor looking Jodu ella (Photo: Atula)

Capturing Jodu ella (PHOTO: HARINDA)

The Van we hired cost only Rs. 4000/- Peradeniya to Bambarella (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Near Sari Ella (PHOTO: SANKETHA)

The land mark ( Hut ) seen at saree Ella( Photo: WUMINDA)

Sari Ella (PHOTO: SANKETHA)

BLACK& WHITE (Photo: ATULA)

We came to Bammarella Small town around 7.30. Since the van couldn’t go further we sent it off and decided walk the remaining 2km or so to the trail head.

WE planned to purchase some ready made diet like rotti, Bread and hoppers for breakfast and lunch from the shop at Bambarella and we had bought noodles from Kandy to have for dinner and b.f next day

BUTTTTTTTTT. Nothing was there except some wandu and old buns. So we had to purchase some more noodles for lunch which made us to have three complete meals as noodles. Most of us didn’t mind it but my friend Wuminda was yelling at me……….. So if you want to buy a good ready made meal better you purchase around Kandy.

We started our journey around 8.00

Starting point of the journey around 8.00 a.m. (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Shortcuts through tea estates (Photo: ATULA)

On the way scenery (Photo: SANKETHA)

Magnificent view of mountains from tea estates (PHOTO: ATULA)

On the way to the trail head we had to cross several water streams. We re filled our bottles and applied Alum from there. There were considerable amount of leeches although it was dry at knuckles. We reached the trail head around 9.30 and re started our hike.

1st water stream (Photo: Harinda)

Second one where we refilled ( PHOTO: HARINDA)

After applying Alum, Siddhalepa etc ( Photo: Atula)

Trail head……. we have to climb the steps….. don’t go alone the concrete road (PHOTO: SANKETHA)

LAND MARK (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Some water streams we met (PHOTO: WUMINDA)

Knuckles Falls ( PHOTO: HARINDA)

I’m reveling a secret ( He is the Birth day Boy – Climbing Knuckles)(PHOTO: SANKETHA)

After passing few hundred meters of Knuckles falls we met the Last Remarkable water steam . Remember.No water till you climb and comeback here or find a water source at Thangappuwa trail. You have to walk nearly 8 km either way. So fill maximum after knuckles falls and save your water. Although we nearly filled 10 l it was over at the top of the peak due to hot conditions and for preparation of lunch. I have done tough trails than knuckles. But in those trails water was plenty. Normally I and my friend Wuminda consume lots of water when hiking. So we faced a new challenge here. That’s to hike for long consuming less water. If you hike knuckles in dry season you extremely have to consider about water.

Fill Maximum here. Sun is Hot………………………(PHOTO: HARINDA)

Nice scenery along the way (Middle part of the trail is not that difficult except walking under the hot sun (Photo: ATULA)

A dried water steam on a rock surface (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Wow ……….PATHANA ( PHOTO: SANKETHA)

Resting………………..More to go (Photo: ATULA)

Panaroma view of knuckles peaks (PHOTO: ATULA)

We could experience different Landscapes and different climates in every 30 minutes we walk. Nearly 1 km before the peak we saw the sign board showing Alugallena/thangappuwa route. Direction was correct but we understood the very next day it was an elastic 3 km stretched about to 9km to Alugallena cave. Luckily from Mahesh post we had a rough indication about the distances. Yet that board misguided us and changed our plans a bit. I’ll explain how little later………..

Through dried forest (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Wow…………………………………………Is that Pitawala Pathana……………(PHOTO: SANKETHA)

Trail trough the bushes (PHOTO: SANKETHA)

RESTING PLACE (PHOTO: WUMINDA)

Trail is getting tough ( PHOTO: ATULA)

The sign board……….Distance is Fake ….remember that………….(PHOTO: WUMINDA)

After a difficult climb we reached a place where we thought as the first peak. But it was not prominent. Later we knew that actual first peak was the peak that we thought as 2nd or third peak. Luckily we were planning to visit third peak. So we preceded forward. Otherwise we would have returned back at this point.

We rested a bit. Then prepared and had our lunch. Kept our bags Then started further climbing…………….

Lonely man watching around (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Lakdasun Friendship ( at the false peak/ Lunch peak)(PHOTO: SANKETHA)

This is the first peak with a flag on the top. More to climb,(PHOTO: SANKETHA)

Preparing lunch. Useful gas cooker. Made in Korea. Brought by athula’s friend (PHOTO: HARINDA)

Hard climbing (Photo: ATULA)

Some more (Photo: ATULA)

How we see the peak we had lunch when further climbing. ( PHOTO: ATULA)

On Top of First Peak .We reached here around 1.45 p.m.(Photo: Athula)

According to Some posts I have read this is 3rd peak. But there were two reasons us to believe this is the first peak

1. Flag post and the path was not clear after this. We knew that forest department clear the path up to first peak
2. Some villages confirmed that the peak with the flag was the first peak.

If both of the above reasons were false ………….ha ha ha then we must have gone up to the4th peak including the next peak we went. But my wildest guess Is THIS IS THE FIRST PEAK. Scenery was unbelievable. Photos don’t the express the real beauty. ( AWILLAMA BALANNA). It was mist every where. There was a proper camping place too. If you are FIT, tough hiker and if you can live long with little water I suppose do all five peaks and comeback and camp here before dark.

Wow…………………(Photo: SANKETHA)

Second peak seen from first peak (PHOTO: SANKETHA)

Surrounding Mountains (Photo: SANKETHA)

What a way to relax (PHOTO: SANKETHA)

There was a path to the second peak. But it was not cleared. So we had to creep through bushes to reach it.

Creeping through bushes (Photo: HARINDA)

Descend to second peak through bushes (PHOTO: ATULA)

Second peak seen from the it’s base (Photo: SANKETHA)

Calm an quite Birthday Boy at the second peak (Photo: SANKETHA)

If we had climbed further it would have been a real adventure. But we had some other plans such as go to campsite before dark. It was 2.30p.m. Also we had only half a bottle of water. So keeping that target in a separate journey we returned back.

This peak was covered with mist every time (Photo: HARINDA)

Three HAPPY Lakdasun members …………………………… taken by WUMINDA

Panaroma view By Sanketha

We put on our bags at where we kept them and within a shorter period we reached ALUGALLLENA TRAIL.

We put on our bags at where we kept them and within a shorter period we reached ALUGALLLENA TRAIL.

Alugallena Trail (Photo: SANKETHA)

GOST trees (Photo: ATULA)

After sometime we reached a large rock surface .we rested there and preceded our journey. At this movement we were badly needed of water. (Diva gilenna Thibahai ). Luckily after walking for another 15 minutes or so we reached a small water steam. We drank plenty of water and prepared our 5th or 6th bottle of Jeewani of the day. We fill all the other bottles with water although we knew there was water at camp site. That was a wise decision taken from us because we saw water at campsite was not good for direct use.

View of the Mountains (Photo: SANKETHA)

LARGE Rock bed – Another Land Mark (Photo: HARINDA)

KOTI WADA? Can you seethe remaining of bones According to villages, this time at this part of knuckles Aliya – not possible, Walaha –unlikely……….but KOTIYA is POSSIBLE (Photo: HARINDA)

Filling water (Photo: SANKETHA)

Closer to camp site……………common in this area (Photo: HARINDA)

We reached camp site sharp 4.45 P.m. Let me explain the nature and the surrounding of camp site.

• It has two well made places somewhat higher than ground level (opposite to each other) for pitching two tents.
• There was an open area for a campfire 15 meters away from the camping place first we thought very far but considering the small particles evolving from the fire it was a wise decision.
• There was a stream and a well close by . Some places at the stream water were stagnant and some places water was flowing. So we did not take a chance to drink that water. We used for washing ourselves and pans, spoons etc. We used water we filled earlier for drinking and cooking. But next morning collected some water from it and boiled and filled our bottles before leaving the campsite as we didn’t have any idea of the next water source.
• There was a toilet some which was what ok, 50 meters away from the campsite which no one had used recently .and we cleaned it a bit and used.
• Leaches were there in moderate amounts
• Campsite was an open area where you can observe 360 degree view of the sky and observe so many star patterns. So far this was the best place I have observed stars

Wow ………our camping site .left ( yellow) tent was mine and Right ( green) was Sanketha’s (Photo: ATULA)

No sooner we came we pitched our tents and collected fire wood. Then only we did all the cooking, washing, cleaning and changing cloths etc.

Well (Photo: SANKETHA)

Atula was cooking (Photo: SANKETHA)

Mist came from no where (Photo: SANKETHA)

We started the camp fire. We sat around it and had dinner. After dinner we enjoyed the view of the stars and sang two three songs.

Camp fire started

Gini Thapuwa -Kusa piruwa-.Tharu Baluwa_.Gee gayuwa …..still remember the wonderful experience

We slept around 8.00 p.m. But two thee times we heard some noises like some one poking his nose around our tents .we calmly waited and It disappeared quickly. We made our mind thinking it might be a small one like Urumeeya or uguduwa . Other than that we had a good night sleep. Athula had got a cramp at midnight and he has taken care of Jeewani bottle……!!!!!@@@

Morning rays Photo: Harinda

View of the mountains ( where we came from) (Photo: HARINDA)

Prasad was cooking and I was supervising (Photo: WUMINDA)

We woke up around 6.00 p.m and. we were in no hurry. I’ll explain how we misread the situation.

According to the sign board it was mentioned 3 km to the Alugallena. But it was almost 3 km to the camp site. so we thought in between 2-3 kms we could reach it. So we left campsite around 9.00. we should have done it more earlier. From camp site It was more than 5km to the Alugallena. Other thing it was not an easy walk at all. Some places Path was not clear. And we have to climb up down. As an average we had done a descend. We had to go to the base of a huge rock / mountain. (Don’t know the exact name of it )

After saying good bye to Camp Site (Photo: WUMINDA)

Continuing the journey (Photo: ATULA)

A place we could see a clear view of the mountains (Photo: ATULA)

Zoomed (Photo: WUMINDA)

Another View (Photo: SANKETHA)

After 1 km from the camp site we came to a junction where Alugallena & Thangappuwa trails intersect. When you are coming from campsite you have to take a sharp turn to left (Almost a U turn) to reach Alugallena. If you choose the other path slanted to right hand side you will end up at Thangappuwa. Similarly when are you coming from Thangappuwa Road left will take you to camp Site + Knuckles peaks and road right will take you to Alugallena.

So simple to understand

1. ALUGALLENA 2. CAMP SITE 3. THANGAPPUWA (Photo: SANKETHA)

From here we took the left path (my left hand path/no 1) and kept walking. 2-3 Water streams were there in this path. But undergrowth and bad under foot conditions made it difficult to travel. We felt this path is rarely used by people as some places path was disappearing. Some times we had to creep though bushes, cross large fallen trees, go here and there and find the continuation of the path. But if you search carefully finding path is not that difficult as the path is continued to the cave.

On the Alugallena Trail (Photo: SANKETHA)

Water Streams (Photo: ATULA)

Bamboo trees (Photo: HARINDA)

Can you see the path (Photo: HARINDA)

Place where we kept our bags and continued( 10.00 a.m.) (Photo: HARINDA)

It was more than one hour walk but we were yet to see Alugallena. We were in some doubt about the trail as we have not seen a trail guide or trip report on this place. Only thing we knew was there is a path to Alugallena Cave. Since we had to come back and reach Colombo before night thought of searching this quickly. So we kept our bags at one place and took only two water bottles almost ran through the path. We all decided to continue till 10.30 and if we didn’t meet alugallena by that time ……..return back.

We were passing so many dried streams like this (Photo: WUMINDA)

So many rocks like this also. But we couldn’t find any clue of a cave. So we continued (Photo: SANKETHA)

Again Trail was missing (Photo: HARINDA)

Things were getting worse. At 10.30 we observed a steep descend to a base of a mountain. But still we didn’t want to stop. At this point we told our fast and furious hikers WUMINDA & SANKETHA to continue for another five six minutes. While Me ,Athula and His friend Moved slowly. WUMI AND SUNKETH were rocketing. I was telling them loudly if you didn’t find it comeback again. But thanks to their effort they signaled that the presence of the cave. After getting the signal It took us more than five minutes to reach there. Finally we did it. We achieved our target Sharp 10.45. Thanks million times To SANKETHA & WUMINDA. Thanks Athula also as he came behind the big boys( ME AND HIS FRIEND) although he also had the ability to go fast . Well done Boys. It’s a well planned team effort. Well Done Our TEAM………..

We had to get down to this mountain to reach the cave (PHOTO: HARINDA)

The drop (Photo: WUMINDA)

YEH………..We have done it …………..Reached there 10.45 (Photo: SANKETHA)

See the man made walls…

There was facility to camping also (Photo: Wuminda)

CAVE …..Stone walls …..what do you remember (Photo: SANKETHA)

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS (Photo: WUMINDA)

KITCHEN (WUMINDA)

Toilets

As I think this cave is used by monks for meditation or villagers as a resting place (specially at night) when waking to another place. But where???????? Athula suggested that that construction of walls are similar to Meemure. He was right. Villager at Thangappuwa confirmed that there is a foot path to MEEMURE from Alugallena .

Ha ha …..I can imagine what you think….”Bambarella to Meemure via knuckles peaks”……….May be next time . Call me also if you go earlier than me………………………..

It’s amazing. When you explore knuckles you get to know about more and more trails. It’s very interesting .That’s why I LOVE Knuckles

After spending 15-20minutes we came back around 11.00 a.m. coming back was much difficult as we had an overall elevation.

Ready to come back……..See the arrow…………. see what have done by some stupid men (Photo: WUMINDA)

Around 1.00 p.m. we came the junction where we meet Thangapppuwa &Knuckles trails. On the way we had some biscuits with cheese. After walking about 500m further or little more to the Thangappuwa side we met some stone pillars .Further traveling we came a flat area where we could see entire range of knuckles peaks. Scenery was so splendid so most of the time we were going backwards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rock pillars (Photo: WUMINDA)

Flat Area (Photo: ATULA)

See the knuckles peaks (Photo: SANKETHA)

WOW (Photo: ATULA)

Paradise ( SANKETHA)

BEAUTIFUL (Photo: SANKETHA)

Going towards Thngappuwa (WUMINDA)

1533 m Border of Knuckles forest and Thangappuwa village (Photo: SANKETHA)

PLACE people pray before enter the forest (Photo: WUMINDA)

THANGAPPUWA seen far away (Photo: WUMINDA)

THANGAPPUWA Zoomed (Photo: WUMINDA)

Closer to the village ….just before the tea estate ( Photo: WUMINDA)

Nice scenery closer to village (Photo: ATULA)

Nice tree and the side view of the village (Photo: ATULA)

Where we came ……………………………It was not easy from thangappuwa side either (Photo: Sanketha)

Just 1 km before the village we rested a bit and had a wash from near by small stream. Also changed our cloths for the Journey towards civilization.

Rested a bit and had some glucose (PHOTO: SANKETHA)

THANGAPPUWA VILLEGE

We reached the village around 3.00 p.m. and had some bread with Katta Samble for the time being. Shop owner was very kind and showed us a room to have our meals. Also informed many things about Alugallena trail. He informed that he can provide accommodation and food if somebody do the trail from thangappuwa side. See the number on top.

We got in to Theldeniya Bus (via Rangala) at 3.45 and it reached Theldeniya around 5.15. We took a bus from there to Kandy. After having some refreshments From Kandy we took Colombo Bus and came our homes around 11.00 p.m.

Till I Come again Good bye My Lovely Misty Mountains!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Notice board at Thangappuwa. All the information seems to be ok except the elevation of Alugallena. Our guess is it’s less than 1454( the elevation of campsite)(SANKETHA)

Day 1
We started the journey on 28th early morning at around 3.00 am. We reached Mahiyanganaya at around 11.00 am. Next, we visited was Maha Oya hot water springs where we had a bath.

Mahiyangana Stupa

Senanayake Samudra

We reached Ampara around 1.00 pm. We had to pick our two friends from Dayata Kirula exhibition stall. Therefore, we spent 1 or 2 hours visiting the exhibition. Next, 8 of us went to the friend’s place where we were spending the night. It was extremely very difficult to book a hotel or a government circuit bungalow as it was the Dayata Kirula exhibition period.

While on the way to the friend’s house, we stopped for a while near Senanayake Samudra. It was around 5.00 pm when we reached the house. Since, everyone was tired due to long journey and the hot weather, we decided to have a rest even though we had ample time to travel more.

Day 2

We started our journey for the day around 6.00 am and we prepared and took the breakfast with us. The first place we were planning to visit was Deegawapee stupa.

We reached there around 7.00 am.

There were interesting paintings in the shrine rooms which describes the history of the Deedawapee Stupa.

Deedawapee Stupa

Shrine room

Click Image to Enlarge

A picture which describes how a monk fallen from the stupa while the stupa is being constructed, was saved due to the power of Dhajagga Soothra – Click Image to Enlarge

On our way to Deegawapeeya, we saw crocodiles having sun bath on a tiny island on a small lake. As we stopped our vehicle to get some photographs of them, they slowly slipped away into the water.

Next, we visited Deegawapee Pariwara Stupa. You have to travel in the same road towards Ampara a small distance and turn to another road to reach this place. This stupa is located on a small rock.

Deegawapee Pariwara Stupa

Deegawapee Pariwara Stupa

Deegawapee Pariwara Stupa

View from the summit of the rock

View from the summit of the rock

3 different stages of Sugar cane cultivation

After having our breakfast, we set off to Buduruwagala. Again, it was a temple on a small rock. Since, these days the climate was very sunny and very hot, it’s difficult to walk with bare feet even it was just around 9.00 am. So, we felt that if we could reached there little earlier, it would have being better.

Buduruwagala rock

Tortise in the pond

Eagle trying to attack fish in the little pond on the rock

Skeleton of a tusker

Click Image to Enlarge

After that, we set off to Monaragala.

It was around 2.00 pm when reached Monaragala. Lunch was ready at the circuit bungalow and we were so tired as the weather is very, very hot. We gobbled the food in no time.

After having a small break, at around 4.00 pm we decided to visit Maligawila and Dematamal Viharaya.

First we visited Maligawila. There are two important places at Maligawila, Lord Budda Statue and Statue of Avalokeswara Boddhi Sathva.

Maligavila bear archaeological sites – Click Image to Enlarge

Click Image to Enlarge

Lord Budda Statue

Statue of Avalokeswara Boddhi Sathva

Dambegoda Pillar Inscrption

Click Image to Enlarge

Next, we visited Dematamal Viharaya. The name Dematamal Viharaya derives from ‘Dutu Mal Viharaya’. The legend says, after a small battle with King Dutugamunu, his youger brother Prince Tissa has seek protection from Sanga by arriving this temple. The chief Sanga, has asked the prince to hide under the bed.

Dematamal Viharaya

King Dutugamunu has suspected that his brother is in temple and has come to meet Sanga. When he inquired the monk about his brother, the monk has replied, Tissa Adehi Natha- Tissa is not on the bed.

The king has understood that this means, even though brother is not on bed, he might be under the bed. While worshipping the monk, he has bend, looked at under the bed and verified that he is there.

The king then ordered his men to guard outside the temple premises. The chief monk understanding that, Tissa won’t be ever able to leave temple premises in this condition, requested four monks to carry Tissa, pretending to carry an expired body of a monk.

King understanding it is Tissa, not a dead body of a monk, said ‘Tissa, Sangun Pita Noyaw”. Anyway, later the dispute between the two brothers was resolved by the guidance from Sanga.

Day 3

The last day of the trip, we left the circuit sharp at 6.00 am. First place we wanted to visit was Yudaganawa.

Yuduganawa Stupa

Chulangani Stupa

Yudaganawa is another place related with King Dutugamunu.

It is said that, Prince Gamunu went to hide in Digamadulla after a dispute with his father, King Kavanthissa. The dispute was the old king’s reluctance to fight with King Elara. After several years, King Kavanthissa expired and Prince Tissa came to throne.

Prince Gamunu received this news and requested his brother to give him the tusker Kandula and Mother Queen which are essential to be the inheritance of the throne. Since, Prince Tissa rejected the request; Prince Gamunu has no other option but to fight with his brother.

In earlier battles Tissa won against Gamunu as he was powerful due to his large royal army. Therefore, Gamunu had to be tricky to win the fight. In a battle at Yudaganawa, Prince Gamunu on his horse-back jumped across Tusker Kandula. The tusker feeling ashamed of the person who is handling him, threw Tissa down. Thus, Prince Gamunu came to throne.

It is also said that King Dutugamunu started the war against Elara from this place.

Buduruwagala

A hole in the rock with a shape of a flame

Ruins in Buduruwagala area

After that, we set off to Buduruwagala. The way to budurugawala was very beautiful. The path set across a beautiful village, along paddy fields and next a small jungle with lakes blossomed with red lilies.

It’s a really beautiful sight and we as travelers need to keep in mind not to harm its beauty.

Way to Buduruwagala Ruins

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Way to Buduruwagala Ruins

On the way, we saw Udawalawe tank and I could capture few photos.

We reached Ratnapura at around 12.00 pm. We decided to have lunch near Saman Deewalaya.

Udawalawe Tank and we can see a waterfall in a very far mountain range

Saman Dewalaya

Sankapala Vihalaya

On the way someone suggested us to visit another temple, Sankapala Vihalaya where one of King Dutugamunu’s giant men was later meditated as a monk.

A ape family – son, mum and dad @ the temple

We reached Colombo around 3.00 pm. I forget to mention, on 28th night, one of crew who was at Ampara, had seen this moon ring (220 moon halo) which is called ‘Chadra Mandala’ in Sinhala. This a very rare occasion as I know, since full moon and humidity of atmosphere is required for this phenomenon to occur

moon ring – ‘chandra Mandalaya’

There are plenty of scenic roads around Sri Lanka offering breathtaking views intersecting different landscapes. This was such a “photo journey” along three scenic roads offering unique views where Hambegamuwa – Welioya – Kaltota through Paddy centered low country dry/intermediate zone, Balangoda – Bogawantalawa – Norwood through Tea centered mid/up country, Dickoya – Delhouse through Tea centered up country reservoir banks. Diversions on the way to see some cascading beauties were icing on the cake.

We started around 5.30 am from Tissamaharama and moved towards Tanamalwila. From there we took the left turn to Uda Walawe road. Travelling few kms along this road there is a sign board for the turn off at Bodagama indicating it is 40 km to Welioya. We avoided this turn off as it was early in the morning and driving through this isolated road through the jungle is an unnecessary risk. Hence we proceeded further up to 17½ kanuwa junction and then took the right turn towards Hambegamuwa/Welioya. This road connects to the road coming from the previous turn off after few kms.

This road is running through a famous Elephant corridor named Galkatukanda located between 17½ kanuwa junction and Balaharuwa junction. This stretch is through the jungle and possibility of meeting an Elephant is very high. So in this area, jungle is cleared up to 15-20m either side of the road.

Since it was early morning there were no vehicles coming from that area to inquire about Elephants but we slowly kept on moving forward. Fortunately a small bus came towards us. As the driver confirmed that there are no Elephants, we hurried up and very watchfully crossed Galkatukanda.

We reached the first landmark of the day, Balaharuwa junction. Road coming from Kuda oya (A2) is connecting Hambegamuwa/Welioya road here. Road we came so far was narrow, bumpy and badly washed away at many places. We had to travel very slow and drive carefully to prevent rocks and ridges hitting underneath.

Balaharuwa junction

After having a look around and having a chat with the shop owner there, we started moving towards Hambegamuwa. Road condition improved a little but was still a testing time.

Reaching Hambegamuwa. Point of satisfaction after an extreme drive. But this is about Police area. Town may be miles away

Hambegamuwa

Hambegamuwa school. Happy to see these rural people have been gifted with modern infrastructure

Hambegamuwa town

Another morning to Hambegamuwa. Town has not come live yet

At Hambegamuwa we did not forget to witness the morning beauty of Hambegamuwa wewa. At Hambegamuwa town there is a narrow concrete road towards right which is leading to Hambegamuwa wewa. It is just a walk of around 500m. It was indeed a lovely sight.

Concrete road leading to Hambegamuwa wewa

It was early morning

Green touched water

Jungle on water

Mirror

After enjoying the scenery there, we started moving forward in search of a relaxing place to have our breakfast. After a few minutes’ drive we found a nice shade close to a water body.

The bonnet breakfast

Then we started moving towards Welioya where we witnessed most eye catching “on the way” scenery. There were several water bodies full of Olu mal. Endless lush green paddy fields with mountains at the back drop were a wonderful sight which cannot be expressed by words and pictures

Green all round

What a scenery…

Hut under shade

Endless…

Up to the mountain range…

Wow

Olu pipeela wila leladenawa…

Beautiful…

Another milestone

Welioya town

It was a drive through relaxing greenish landscapes blended with irrigation channels, water bodies, structures like Sapattu palam, etc. all the way up to Kaltota.

Conveying life

Sapattu palam are the means to cross many waterways

What a ride

Huge trees by the road. Villager said this is “Panu Muguna”

Famous Kaltota Sapattu palama

Welcome

From Kaltota we took Balangoda road and after 2 km we took the right turn to see Kaltota Duwili falls. It is a 3.3 Km travel along a paved road but there were 4-5 damaged segments where it was difficult for the car to tackle.

Road which motorbike comes is Balangoda road. Other one is towards Budugala ruins.

Road to Kaltota Duwili falls

Road closed. She is there to issue tickets and open the way.

Unmatched Duwili falls of Kaltota

Coloured by the rainbow

Front view. But I like the unique side view most.

Duwili duwili doowiliii…

Full flow

Leak of Samanalawewa reservoir is a blessing

View from Kaltota – Balangoda road

If I was a bird…

Then we rushed to Balangoda and had lunch there. We started from 17½ kanuwa junction at 6.00 am and managed to reach Balangoda by 1.45 pm with plenty of stops to enjoy the endless scenery and slow driving along rough bumpy road. It has 39km from 17½ kanuwa junction to Kaltota and 28 km from Kltota to Balangoda.

After lunch we were ready for the second scenic drive of the day which was Balangoda-Bogawantalawa-Norwood and it was 2.30 pm when we turned on to Balangoda-Bogawantalawa road. Journey started without much scenery at the initial segment but scenic Dethanagala was moving around us changing the view creating a magnificent sight.

Interchange of the “drive thru”, Balangoda

Directions

Dethanagala kissed by mist

Turning around

Green all round

After passing the village Pinnawala, Dethanagala started unveiling the cascading beauty from her shaulder, Gerandi ella. A drizzle started blocking the view but we stayed until it settled to get some sort of a clear view.

Gerandi ella

Maximum my lens could reach

After Pinnawala, it was the endless view of lush green Tea plantations. The road was narrow, rough and bumpy. But not much pot holes or heavily damaged areas. Only thing is, as we were travelling in a car with low ground clearance, very rarely we could speed up beyond 25km/h and had to reverse even for in coming three wheelers.

It was a fantastic ride all the way through the Tea plantations offering magical views.

Here onwards it is all about tea

Dethanagala in another pose

Crates to transport tea!! Happy to see they are adopting best practice to meet quality standards.

Busy day

Dressed in blues

Art

It is Tea…

Into a forest patch again

Colourful

Submerged in mist

Roadside decorated by many of these

Through pines

Unusual blend of colours. Someone has set fire!

Artistic but not natural

Vantage point by the road

The view

Crossing the boundary – Click Image to Enlarge

What a place to live

Vegetables under the patronage of scarecrow

And it winds…

How to make up mind to leave here

Scenery

Endless…

Fresh Tea shoots

Further decorations

Reaching the final landmark

It was 6.30 pm when we reached Bogawantalawa and around 7.30 we managed to end the day at Upper Glencairn bungalow, Dickoya.

On the next morning it was the beginning of another scenic drive from Dickoya to Delhouse through Tea plantations along the banks of Castlereah and Maussakele reservoirs. It was 8.00 am when we stared from Dickoya and was around 9.00 am when we reached Delhouse.

On the way by Maussakelle reservoir

Maussakelle dam

Sacred mountain on the rise

From Delhouse police check point (About 500m before Delhouse, along Maskeliya – Delhouse road) there is a turn off towards left, to Moray estate. This is the turn off towards Fishing Huts and plenty of direction boards available. Only thing is this road is running downwards and from the main road you do not see it properly. We took this road to see the two famous cascading beauties, Adams peak falls and Moray falls.

It was a typical estate road and it was in very bad shape for a car. Anyhow, my “4 wheel drive” tackled the road and took us up to the turn off to Moray Tea factory. It took 45 minutes to travel that 3 km. After parking the car there, we started walking up to the factory which was 900m away as I did not want to get the car damaged. A car with good ground clearance would have made it up to the factory. Turn off to Fishing huts is located on the way and from there onwards only 4WD is allowed.

The road “condition”

Place where I parked the car. Further up straight will take you to Tea factory.

The hut at the junction

Road from junction to Tea factory

On the way. Right turn and 7 more km will take you to Fishing Huts. Keep moving straight to reach the factory.

This is the Fishing hut road. Only 4WD allowed beyond this point.

The common estate cruiser

From the factory, there are two concrete roads starting and the one leading downwards should be taken (Downwards at the start but ascending as it continues). Walking along this, there is a sharp bend towards right where a path closed by a gate could be seen towards left at the bend. We have to walk through the gate and a guard took down our names and vehicle number. After a short walk, the beautiful Adams peak falls could be observed. It was indeed a lovely sight.

Moray Tea factory

The sharp bend of the concrete road. Have to take the path which this lady is going, and should enter through the gate to see the waterfalls.

Beautiful Adams peak falls

Breathtaking

Directly falls to Maussakelle reservoir

To reach Moray falls there we have to walk further along the path. A small nameless waterfall too could be seen on the way. The path becomes narrow towards the end. End of this path opens door to this beauty.

The path

Reduced to this shortly

Nameless waterfall met on the way

The grand Moray falls. This too directly falls to Maussakelle reservoir.

Middle segment

Although hours passed by, we could not change our mindset to leave these magnificent creations of the nature. At the end, we turned back with the intention of spending some good time by the road side beauty, Mohini falls.

Mohini falls

Diversion

Plunging down

It was evening when we reached the bungalow at Dickoya and we have not even had our lunch. But the minds were full of happy memories all along.

Year and Month	April, 2013 (23rd to 25th)
Number of Days	Three Day Trip
Crew	2 (between 29-30 years of age)
Accommodation	Navarathna Ayya’s House in Meemure – 081-3804191(Funny thing coz we kept calling him Navarathna Ayya and Mama both all the time. He’s 49 years old and you can decide what to call him )Highly recommendable and one of the best places to stay in Meemure. You can experience the real village there. There’s nothing he doesn’t know about Knuckles and Meemure and will take you to unreachable places.
Transport	Public Transport / Tuk Tuk / Mostly on foot Col to Kandy – By Bus Kandy to Hunnasgiriya – By Bus (Kandy-Mahiyanganaya) Hunnasgiriya to Meemure – Hired Tuk-tuk (Navarathna Ayya’s) Back to Hunnasgiriya – Meemure Van
Activities	Photography / Hiking / Waterfall Hunting / Sight-seeing & much more
Weather	Excellent (Couldn’t have been better)
Route	Colombo -> Kandy -> Hunnasgiriya -> Meemure via Mini World’s End, Corbert’s Gap, Loolwatte, Kaikawala and return on the same route.
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Meemure has only an old but reliable ISUZU van as public transport once a day to and back from Hunnasgiriya. Depart Meemure to Hunnasgiriya at 5.30am and Reach Hunnasgiriya 7.30am // Depart Hunnasgiriya around 1.30-2.30pm and reach Meemure around 3.30-4.30pm. Weather in Meemure (Oct-Jan = Heavy rains / Feb-Jul = Moderate / Aug-Sep = Very dry). Mar and April would be ideal. Tickets need to be bought to visit the mini world’s end at Deanston Knuckles Conservation Centre (Rs. 30/- each) – The trail is about 2km in length. Athula (0717-015400) is one of the best guides apart from Navarathna Ayya and try to get Nava or him to lead the way. Electricity is a major concern in Meemure and take a portable charger or extra batteries for your phones or cameras. However, Nava Mama will be able to have them charged from the nearby Kaikawala Village or at the Temple where they have a generator (They had managed to get a turbine and supply power but it’s now broken down and a fix is not in sight as yet – Again check with Nava Mama). The tuk-tuk from Hunnasgiriya to Meemure will cost (Nava Mama’s one) Rs. 2000/-. The van will charge you Rs. 140/-. Meemure is still not spoilt, so don’t do anything to spoil it. Don’t leave even a scrap of polythene there. They have plenty of natural water streams so drinking water is not a problem at all. However, if you are doing a trek, do take a small bottle which can be filled easily. Nava Mama’s house has basic but clean and adequate facilities. He also has a camping site at one of his paddy fields where you can see the surrounding mountains, especially the beloved Lakegala, really well. The Fuel Station at Hunnasgiriya is highly unreliable due to constant power failures. If you’re traveling by you own vehicle, do fuel up around Kundasale or Theldeniya. People at Meemure are very hospitable and innocent and when dealing with them, try to blend with the environment. Most of the times, we were a bit worried coz we use lot of English terms in our day-to-day and it seemed that it caused some inconveniencies for the villagers, so be warned. Leave only the foot prints and don’t forget to buy their signature product, Jaggery (Rs. 450/- per kilo). Mobile reception is very weak there but Mobitel does at certain places on and off. (I found this great coz it’s the total isolation I was looking for from the outside world. I didn’t use my mobile for full 48 hours ). Nava mama was not only just a humble villager. He would’ve been a great stuntman in super hero movies. (Check the details at the end of the report) There’s a plea from the people of Meemure regarding their power supply and I’ve given details at the end of the report. Do check if you can help them in some way.
Related Resources	Attraction: Knuckles South – Deanston, Corbett’s Gap & Traditional Villages Trail Guide: Mini world’s end trail from Deanston
Author	SriAbey
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Jaunting off to the Most Beautiful Village on Earth – Meemure

““Once upon a time, there was this fella who happened to come across this remarkable word and it stuck very deep in his mind. Everyone who’d either been there or heard about spoke very highly of her and this fella kept dreaming about it all the time. He didn’t have the means or the resources to visit her then and dream was the only option he was left with which he was very good at. On top of everything, Meemure wasn’t ready to welcome him just yet.

So he developed his own version of Meemure, about its people and the environment and lived in that world for a long time. Days turned into weeks, then months and finally into years but his dream wouldn’t come true.

However, after many years, this fella’s guardian angles took pity on him and decided to grant his wish. They fast-tracked the proceedings at lightning speed and dates were fixed and accommodation was arranged.
In the meantime, Meemure too was getting busily ready to welcome this stranger. She put on her best dress, garnished with lush green, paddy fields were ploughed and new seeds were planted to grow nicely. The rains clouds were chased away, waterfalls were asked to preserve their water levels and the environment to be nice and balmy. Leeches were asked to stay away from the foot paths and not to disturb this special visitor. Finally everything was ready to welcome this fella and I’m gonna tell you his story””

I met my friend Dimuthu at the Fort station around 5.15am (even though I’d asked him to make it around 4.00am, he only managed that and I was getting the jitters already ) and went on to check the bus time table at the CTB stand and they had nothing to offer and checked the Kandy AC bus and there was one leaving at 6.00am and they actually promised it reach Kandy by 8.45am. I knew better than to believe that but having no better option (Even 5.55am Podimenike Train wasn’t so reliable) and decided to push my luck a bit more.

Thankfully it reached Kandy around 9.00am and having a quick cuppa tea, we got on board the Mahiyanganaya bus and it was due to leave around 9.30am. (The conductor refused to issue tickets saying that we might have to give our seats to Mahiyanganaya passengers asked us to wait and see. I found this to be a bit hilarious but we had no option. However, there were not many passengers and we got our seats and tickets – Rs. 60/- +). It took ages to reach Hunnasgiriya and finally it was around 11.30am by the time we got off and Chanaka (Nava Mama’s relative) and the tuk-tuk. We then had a quick snack of bread and curry, and went to the Hunnasgiriya fuel station for petrol and it was chaotic there as the power supply is so random and getting fuel is very difficult. Chanaka then got Nava Mama’s son to send the petrol in the Meemure van and finally left towards Deanston along Meemure road.

Tour Highlights:

• Mini World’s End trail @ Deanston
• Suriya Arana falls trail
• Navarathna Ella Trail (Through Daluggolla Ella / Ice Wala and Falls) – Named after Navarathna Mama as he was the one who found it.
• Akula Ella (Meemure Ella) trail
• Lakegala Trail up to the base of Lakegala.
• Eli Hatha (Seven waterfalls) in Kaikawala.
• Nava Mama – The Stuntman

Day 01

1. Mini World’s End Trail: 2km

Easy

We reached Deanston Knuckles Conservation Centre around 12.30pm and bought tickets at the counter. The trail is about 2km in length and it goes a full circle of 1.5km and comes around to the beginning. The paths are sign-posted well even with GPS coordinates and easy to tackle. The distances given in the boards appear to be accurate unlike places of Sinharaja and Kanneliya.
You’ll be disturbed by the Reheyyas (crickets) a lot. They kept screaming at the top of their voices and the legend is they live only about a week. After that they simply die wherever they are. It’s surprising the noise they make apparently by rubbing their tiny wings together. To our amazement, I saw the first-ever live cricket that’s green and becomes brown when died. To make thing more interesting, I saw a lizard trying to eat an insect (probably a cricket) and got it on frame.

We reached the observation point 1 after 750m and the view was amazing. You can see a whole mountain range and A26 Mahiyangana highway as well. Thelambugala, Kehelpathdoruwa, Yahangala and many more mountains can clearly be seen from there. I was speechless and the wind was not so strong and we all (even Chanaka, our tuk-tuk driver) were mesmerized by what we saw. We even saw the farmers working in the ravine below.

Surprise, surprise it was Chanaka’s first visit to the mini world’s end. After about another 150m, you can reach the observation point 2 and from there you can see the somewhat dried up Gedaramada Ella and Garandi Ella in the distance. On our way back, we came across what appeared to be bones and a skull of a Stag.
We came back and got into the tuk-tuk to reach Meemure around 1.30pm.

Entrance

Yeah, it’s for us… – Click Image to Enlarge

The first of many millions wows

More to bloom soon

Very artistic

You can rely on these – Click Image to Enlarge

Live ones…

Here the dead ones

Having lunch

Observation point 1 – reaching towards Mahiyanganaya throught Udu Dumbara

Many a miles

Not a big fan of panorama, but had to take it

Farmers at work in the ravine below….

Observation point 2

Almost dried up Gedaramada Falls

Gerandi Ella looking dismal due to lack of water

First of hundreds of thousands

Apparently a stag

I put them all in order

It says it all

General information about Meemure:

• There are about 100 families (population of about 400-600)
• Farming and Toddy tapping are among the main ways of making a living
• Meemure & Kaikawala are surrounded by so many mountains such as:

Kumbukgolla, Kosgolla, Udawatta, Dumbanagala, Attalamittu ,Kaluwelbookka, Sudugala, Gerandi Thalawa, Hellenagala, Mahapatha, Palleherekku, Aluth Deyyange Kanda, Andirigala Kirindiketiya, Warawwa, Palle Wannimana, Kata Kithula , Wannema

• The signature of Meemure, Lakegala is held in place by 4 key mountains. They are:

Komalewa, Labulessa, Galahagommana, Meeriyagolla

• They use a leaf called Thalaa for chewing with the usual ingredients such as tobacco, Areca nut (puwak), lime etc. (given a pic down the report) instead of betel leaves. It tastes like mint and free of stains. Thalaa grows freely all around and has an endless supply unlike betel.
• The water in Meemure (coming down from the Knuckles mountains) is undoubtedly the tastiest I’ve ever had. It makes you feel refreshing, invigorating, revitalizing, reviving and some more
• From Hunnasgiriya, it’s 33km to Meemure (32km to Nava Mama’s house) – The road for about 10-15km is adequately tarred but afterwards it’s paved with different varieties of concrete mixtures and as a result some parts are not up to standards. Anyway, any vehicle can tackle this road, you gotta be careful if traveling by car.
• Along Meemure road you’ll pass Deanston, Loolwatte, Corbert’s Gap, Kaikawala.
• Meemure Primary School has up to grade 5, for up to GCE O/L, they have to go to nearby Kaikawela School (about 2km from Meemure)
• They have a Health Centre that opens only on Sun. So if anyone happens to fall sick, there’s a native doctor at the village or they have to go to Ududumbara for a decent medical facility.

Reaching Meemure

We set off from Deanston around 1.30pm and the road to the Meemure is among the best scenic routes I’ve ever traveled. All around you could see mountains stretching into the horizon. Hare park estate has a big tea plantation in the first half of the road and after that it’s solely Knuckles forest.

We reached Corbert’s gap and the view was simply awe-inspiring. I felt really lucky to have been born in this great island that has and continues to give us the best of the best.

Unfortunately, we saw 2 allegedly illegal constructions in the Knuckles high sensitivity area. They can easily be seen among the thick forest patch. There were numerous mentions on the newspapers by the environmental-friendly groups but they apparently had been for no avail. It’s a clear sign of our corrupt system is busy at work.

We then reached the biggest bridge you see on this road at Kaikawala. In January, this year there had been a massive wave of water which had flown right over the bridge (it’s about 30-35 feet in height) and the concrete surface has been moved by about 6 inches. The shop near the bridge had also been washed away and we can still see massive tree trunks stuck nearby. Athula said, it was one the worst water levels he’d ever seen.

Below the bridge, you can see a small waterfall which I called the “Kaikawala Falls”  coz they’ve not been named. They have hundreds of unnamed cascades like that scattered all around and only a handful of them have ever been visited. However, Navarathna mama knows the whole area like the back of his hand and if you have the time, there will be plenty to see.

We reached Nava mama’s house around 4.00pm and his wife had thankfully prepared lunch and we hungrily wolfed it down. They have a very intelligent dog named “Dinkey”. He’s not friendly towards strangers but won’t bother visitors coz he knows them. Anyway you shouldn’t try to pat him or get too close to him. Nava mama had gone to pick some French tourists from Narangamuwa and when we finished our lunch and waiting for Devadasa mama to take us to Suriya Arana falls, he arrived with a French couple who immediately got into conversation with us.

Along the way, sorry looking road but breath taking mountains

Landscape

One of the allegedly illegal constructions

Simple life style

What would you call it coz my vocab is very poor

Grandeur

Click Image to Enlarge

Thousands of waterways enriching those lives

Attractive

Such beauty

Do read it carefully – Click Image to Enlarge

Kaikawala Bridge, see the huge tree trunks stuck? Water went over this

Father and daughter

You are a lucky girlie, you know that?

Meemure – The land of the mountains

Our escort

He wouldn’t let me picture them

Were there to welcome us, sent by Lady Lakegala

Nava Mama’s house

Here’s Dinkey, very loyal and intelligent fellow

The skull and the horns of the buffalo along the Navarathna ella trail

Water Container

2. Suriya Arana Falls – about 2-3km return journey

Easy-Moderate

However, I was longing to go see Suriya Arana Ella and Devadasa mama took us along the path. All along the way we could see the majestic Lakegala watching us lovingly, she was so beautiful and remarkable. Meemure and Lakegala are bonded very closely and it’s inseparable. In this journey we came to know about the Thalaa leaf that replaces betel in Meemure. It has a mint taste and doesn’t leave stains like betel.

Passing beautiful paddy fields (which had grown nice and lush green to welcome the special visitor) we came to a very familiar place. I felt Suriya Arana film was being played in front of our own eyes coz they were all too familiar.

Further down, through the forest we came to the view point of the Suriya Arana falls and I felt exhilarating just to see her from afar. There was plenty of water despite the lack of rain over the last couple of weeks. It has three parts, the top is about 5ft in height and coming down very wide the middle part is also about 6-8ft but narrow. The third bit is the tallest of all, about 20ft and narrow.

Above the falls, there were those creepers where the little monk and the boy play and no wonder they chose that location over many others. Thanks to the director and many others, people all around the world got to know about this heaven on earth.

It was getting darker by the minute but my friend insisted on having a dip in the natural pool. While he was having a cold bath, I took the liberty to roam around and saw a Madu flower. Devadasa mama said that around it grows small white flurry like things that ultimately turned into delicious Madu pittu. On our way back, we met a farmer and my friend wanted some tobacco and lime for a Bulath wita. He gave him a bunch of Thalaa leaves and the ingredients.

We passed a dream house built using mud and leaves where a small family lives. I was very thirsty and asked them for some water. Gosh, it was so tasty and I had a few glassfuls of them in a row. It was so overwhelming to see how hospitable and simple those people are. That’s the way I’d love to live.

Lakegala as usual was waiting for me to come back from the falls. I was so happy to see her again over the lush green paddy fields. She was smiling down at me as if to ask if everything was ok.

We reached Nava mama’s house around 7.00pm and had a nice cup of coffee. Then it was time to reflect the events of the day. The French couple joined us in the crossfire and it was their first time in SL. It felt good to be able to get their pic of my country and they’ve been really amazed at how beautiful this country really is.

After a hearty dinner we got together to make plans for the following day. Nava mama suggested, after my continuous appeals, to do two waterfalls and tackle the Lakegala base falls. Then to our surprise, he revealed one of his closely guarded secrets, “Eli Hatha” in Kaikawala. I’ve heard about 7 falls before from my buddy Harinda and other members from the Lakdasun but this is something different. Nava mama said he hadn’t taken anyone there before, only an officer of some sorts who had helped them with the electricity.

He then suggested not doing the Lakegala full trail up to the top, instead go to the base of it where there’s a nice base fall and a gorgeous pond. After that we were to return home by 3.00pm max and do the Eli Hatha in the evening. Well it’s easier said than done but I was determined to do everything at all costs. He introduced us Athula (an excellent guide) as he wasn’t able to join us in the morning. Even Athula hadn’t been to Eli Hatha. We decided to meet up near the famous Mee tree around 7.00am.

Hiya Lady, here we are finally, sorry couldn’t come before

Lush greenery everywhere

Picture perfect

Would love to spend a few days in here

Along the way to Suriya Arana Ella

Tiny tiny ones too

No idea who this belong to, so we left it alone

I want this in my room

Go on….

The famous waterway…

First glimpse

There she is

Such beauty only created by Mother Nature

Top of the falls

See those creepers where they played

The biggest part

Flowing serenely

This fellow was huge

My friend couldn’t wait anymore

Madu flower

When the mud is washed out, people like these are suitable to be kings…. he’s got a pocket full of Thalaa leaves

Here the thalaa plants

Another panorama

Day 02

We woke up early and had tea. Nava mama’s wife had prepared our breakfast and we got it and started to walk towards Mee Tree and met up with Athula.

Lakegala was looking gorgeous in the morning, wearing a white shawl around her shoulders. The sun was rising above the mountains and the sky was vivid with all the colors you can imagine. Farmers were starting to appear carrying their equipment. Birds were humming their favorite tunes. It was the perfect start for a hike.

I was staring at Lakegala and Athula had to shake me to break the trance I was in. Then away we went searching for the rarely visited Navarathna Ella. It’s named after Navarathna mama as he was the one who found it.

3. Navarathna Ella trail: 6km (via Daluggoda falls: about 3km and Ice Wala: about 5km)

Height – about 100ft

Moderate to Strenuous

The trail started quite easily through paddy fields but started to take its toll later on. The sun was looking down on us making us sweat but I’d trade sun for rain any day on a trail like that. it’d be hazardous to do this on a rain day coz the rocks would be slippery and the trail will be infested with tons of leeches.

However, we were hardly ever disturbed by leeches (coz they had been chased away by my guardian angels) and went happily up and up drinking straight from springs and waterways that delicious water. (I bet it’s better than world famous Evian water)

After about 3km, we reached a small falls that didn’t, as usual, have a name. So I took the liberty to name her Daluggolla falls after the village she’s located. It was a welcome sight and good resting place. We were beginning to get tired and that water kept reviving our body and the fresh air and the lush green kept us going.

Further 2km and we reached the famous Ice wala (Ice pit). As the name goes, the water is bone-chillingly cold and we didn’t have second thoughts of not wanting to go for a dip there. Further up, we came across bones of a buffalo that had died after being sick sometime ago. Villagers had tried to save him by treating without success. His skull and two horns are at display at Nava mama’s house.

Then it was all the way to the Navarathna ella. So many crickets tried to scare us away but we weren’t intimidated by those repeated threats. Athula suggested about 1km before the falls to hike along the waterway but I decided against it coz our energy was sapping at a faster rate that I’d thought and wanted to preserve every joule to combat the rest of the trails. So we chose the path through the forest and finally reached the ultimate goal.

Gosh, how come they are so beautiful? That’s the mystery of the Mother Nature. They simply look gorgeous and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Athula suggested we take our breakfast then and had giant roti and coconut sambol with that tasty water. After about half hour, we decided to climb down through the waterway as the water levels were low and the rocks didn’t look slippery. The going was faster downhill and about an hour later we reached our starting point and took a left towards the Lakegala crossing the river through Nava mama’s paddy field where there’s a nice camping site.

She was so gorgeous in the morning sun

Looking at us

Gosh….

Blades with droplets of water on them

Me and Athula

Daluggolla Ella closeby

Daluggolla Ella, named by me

Got two parts

Got enough to keep us interested

Such wonderful arts

Ice wala

Ice wala ella

Jaw of the dead buffalo, the skull you saw at Nava mama’s house

The grave full of bone

Where Athula wanted to tackle the waterway uphill

Silk sarees are all around

Navarathna Ella – Massiv

When she’s in full flow, I don’t think anyone can go anywhere near

Roti and Sambol… we didn’t forget to bring the papers back

Welcoming us with Rainbow colors

The base pool look a bit deep but better not attempt it

The top

We came down along the stream, seeing many more cascades nourishing the downhill

Wherever you look, it’s a pic worth taking

Down we went

He was busily finishing his work, but didn’t forget to have a few words with us and even offered a cuppa tea

Nice place for a dip

Hi mate, is it far?

Belonged to a porcupine, but I lost it on the way

Dumbara Kethe Bala Maa Wee Pasenne

4. Akula Ella (Meemure Ella): 3-4km

Height – about 20ft

Easy-Moderate

There was a funny thing about naming the falls. Athula said it didn’t have a name and then I asked the village name she’s located in. she was in Meemure all right and I then decided to call her Meemure Ella. But Athula asked why we couldn’t name it after him and I saw his point. I then suggested Atha Ella and he didn’t too happy about it. However, later that day, Nava mama came to our rescue and said she should be named Akula ella coz Akula means thick forest patch in Sinhala and she’s among a thick forest bit all right.

Along the way through the paddy fields, Athula showed us what they call Diya Holmana (Water Ghost) that the farmers use to chase the birds and other animals away. It really is a piece of giant bamboo with a cover in the middle and either side is cut off to have openings creating two separate containers. It’s balanced in the middle with and one side is facing a water stream which fills it and raises the front side and when the water is released the front bit comes down crashing on to a black stone making one helluva noise. This is a continuous process so long as the water is running and as result, birds and animals tend to keep away from the paddy fields.

The Akula water falls turned out to be yet another gorgeous one. She wasn’t in full flow but it made things easier for us to shorten our distance coz there were creepers hugging the rock through which the water falls down. Hanging on to them you could climb to the top of the falls (It sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? But I wouldn’t do it if it was really dangerous). Athula showed us how to do it. It turned out to be pretty easy coz plenty of very strong creepers hugging the rock bed and a nearby tree made going up easier than anyone thought.

There had been visitors before to this place and you can do rock sliding and do Tarzan-like stunts using the creepers hanging above. I wouldn’t do any of it but Athula showed us how to do them.

Crossing the river for our next adventure

Athula showing us how the Water Ghost works

From Nava mama’s paddy field

Down hill

Water levels were low, making it easy to tackle the path

There she is, at last… Akula a.k.a. Meemure Ella (we climbed along the creepers on the right of the pic)

Good to go for a safe bath

You could climb to the top and the thick creeper is like a bench

Where we came from to the top

From the top looking down

Ahtula showing his skills, we didn’t attempt it though

He was in the top pond

Where you can do rock sliding, according to Athula, very safe

5. Lakegala Trail to the base: 9-10km

Strenuous

From Akula ella there’s about 5-6km to Lakegala base and we started our hike. It got more and more challenging every minute and we had to take breaks constantly. I even felt like abandoning it and head home have lunch and do the Eli Hatha in the evening, but my conscious won’t have any of it.

It can make you feel more exhausted when you are travelling through thick forest and you can’t see the sky or far away and the forest is somewhat dark. Athula was a great and experienced hiker but even he started to struggle due to the intensity of the pace we’ve been going from the beginning. He said nobody has ever done all of those in one day (let alone trying to do the Eli Hatha in the evening) and I wanted to do the impossible and try new ventures.

My will alone kept me going while my legs were rubbery, knees continuing to buckle and energy leaving me like Atlantis to the Int. Space Station. I kept mumbling that I’m gonna get there somehow or the other and thought about the prospects of reflecting back when we will be coming down.

About 4km I heard a waterfall and immediately felt cheerful coz it sounded like a big one but couldn’t get a clearer view through the forest. I asked Athula if he had ever tried to get there but he hadn’t and I wanted to check it out on our way back. Feeling somewhat my spirits up, we hurried on and about 1km up, heard a second fall, apparently smaller than the first one. It too was unreachable due to thick forest and the steep climb downhill.

Another 1km took us into the open and there she was in full height looking down on me as if to say “well done fella, you made it at last”. All my tiredness vanished in no time and we hurried on up the rock. There was a small pond and the bottom was clearly visible and boy, the artistic picture on the floor was simply astonishing. Just above that was a fall about 10ft in height. That place was a part of heaven, let me tell you.

We had some biscuits and my favourite drink, water from Knuckles Mountain Range and what’s more a nice cool dip in that artistic pool. We had our deadlines set and left her around 12.30pm. On the way back, I tried to climb down to the first fall we came across but the climb was too steep and I decided to abandon the idea. (To my utter disappointment, Nava mama said later that day, there is a strenuous path to both those falls along the rocky outcrop – so next time, I said to myself)

We reached the village around 1.30pm and had some plain tea with milk toffee. That tea was superb too. Everything in Meemure is nothing but the best I guess. I had two cups and saying a silent thank-you to my beloved Lady Lakegala, came back home. There was a nice lunch waiting and after that we rested about half hour till 3.00pm to go see Eli Hatha.

Unfortunately not edible

Even Athula was finding it difficult, we were pushing to the limits

Thankfully we didn’t have to climb this:)

Completely different shape from the side, Lady Lakegala waiting for us

Along the way up, got a little breather

Athula the hiking legend

Finally some flat terrain, I could feel my legs smile for the first time

We are there… Hurraaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh…..

The pond at the base of Lakegala, She has drawn and painted a nice pic just for us

The Lakegala base falls, tine but irresistible

My friend trying to get close and bath like it was a shower

View from the bottom

God, somebody’s drowned??? My friend trying his diving skills

Butterflies, and many more

Butterfly conference… they are trying to decide who goes where

Mushy mushrooms adding more colours

Coming down, bit dejected not being able to reach the Lakegala falls

Another panoramic view from down hill

Just over the blades of paddy

Bidding our farewell to Lady Lakegala… Thanks for everything and will see ya again

Typical house built of rocks and tin sheets

6. Eli Hatha (7 Waterfalls – it’s also called the Annicut or the Bunt): about 5-6km from Nava mama’s house

Short climb down to the falls and up is not so difficult.

We took the tuk-tuk the whole distance passing the Kaikawala Bridge and reached Kalu mam’s house where for the first-time, we tasted toddy made of Kithul trees. After that Nava mama and Kalu mama told us about the names of the surrounding mountains and there were so many (must have been around 30+) and I managed to get as many as I could. Then it was time to do the Eli Hatha and we parked the tuk-tuk and climbed down to the Bunt where there was a fall about 40-50ft in height. Such a grand fall missed out by so many, I was both thrilled and shocked.

We were getting an exclusive guided tour to one of Nava mama’s secrets. It was Athula’s first visit to that place. Further up there were 3 more falls in a row, which were somewhat smaller, than their big sister. The other falls were below the big one and we couldn’t attempt them coz the path was so steep and dangerous.

This place is called Pusse Ela and it’s where two rivers (Karambaketiya oya and Maa oya) meet each other and turn into one. So quite significant place and to make it more interesting, there’s a perfect cylindrical hole about 10ft deep like a well and at the bottom it has a hole which the water flows out. This must’ve been a result of water whirl pooling around the same place and creating that well-like shape.

Wanna eat now now now

More mushrooms decorating our path to the bunt

This must be the biggest of all 7 falls

Simply awesome

Flowing downhill, apparently there are more falls down there

The next fall,

On the left there’s like a cave, that’s where the opening at the bottom of the well like place

Three consecutive beauties coming down

Got another one of them looking like one

Here’s the perfect cylinder, note the opening at the bottom

Up close

Flowing freely

The one at the top…

From left: Nava mama, Athula behind, Kalu mama and me

This is where Maa oya (right) meets Karambaketiya oya (up)….become one (left)

We were blessed and protected

7. Nava Mama – The Stuntman

Be warned, that only Nava mama can do those stunts and it’s deadly dangerous for others. I’m putting those pics to show how capable that person is. People like us, well we’re better of watching the magicians at work

The icing on the cake was this 49-year-old humble village man’s love and passion for his people and the village and the environment. He said that he wanted to show us what he can do not to make money or become popular, but to get some donors or the government to help him get two major issues sorted as soon as possible.

He climbed down the well and showed us the hole by putting his head and then legs out, then like an arrow from a bow, simply jumped out into the base of the fall. I was speechless and it was a bit frightening too coz I was scared what would happen if something happened to him. But Athula was not a bit worried coz he knew this person all his life and he swam like a fish out of the water.

Then he climbed along the rock to the next fall and jumped from it about 20ft high right into the base of the pool. (If you’ve seen the stunts those boys making at Galle Fort, you know what I’m talking about. However, this was not so high like the fort but for a 49er it was something remarkable). I was mesmerized by what I saw and told Nava mama that hopefully things will work out for his people and the village fine.

Nava mama getting down to the well

Sitting as if on the couch in his house

Looking through the opening at the bottom

Jumps out and swimming away

A relief to see him surface

More action

Now the big moment

Waving at us

The moment of truth, caught in mid-air… I had no time to set my camera to burst settings

Like standing and waiting for a bus

End of the show folks

Ending:

We then reached home and had an early dinner to get up early to catch the 5.30am van to Hunnasgiriya. Got up around 4.30am and bid our farewell to Nava mama, his wife and of course the Dinkey. Got into the van (surprisingly we got seats) and the journey was unforgettable. The sun was peeping through the mountain tops and the sky was the colour of my water colour box. However, I couldn’t convince the passengers and the driver to stop the vehicle for a quick pic.

We had to keep our windows closed due to the cold air coming through, soon the van got filled and the matters got worse coz the Kaikawala van had broken down and we got more passengers and the ISUZU company would’ve been proud of their handy work had they seen it. It was practically bursting at the seams. Along the way, there were songs playing in the van’s CD player and one specially stuck in my mind coz it expressed exactly what I felt right throughout.

The master, W. D. Amaradeva sang this bit.

“Sasara Wasana Thuru – Niwan Dakina Thuru

Pinketha Hela Ran Derane – Yali Upadinnata

Hethu Wasana Wewa – Hethu Wasana”

We all are so lucky to have been born in this wonderful country and even more luckier to see the beauty of this country.

Reflecting the events of the past two days, we reached the Hunnasgiriya town around 7.30am and had sponge cake, banana with what keeps me going, Black Coffee.

After that…? Well it’s another fairy tale of mine but in another report

Do hope the fairy tale turned out to be what it’s supposed to be “a fairy tale” and helped you plan your trips or refresh your memories

The realy beauty of Meemure can’t be expressed with my limited vocabulary, so you gotta go there and feel it in real life. Nothing like actually experiencing it.

Meemure is just like a village out of a fairy tale and hope you enjoyed reading Sri de Meemure and the pics.

P.S. The plea from Nava mama and Meemure people.

They had sweated and toiled night and day to make electricity a reality for Meemure. Nava mama and their welfare society had gone into all the ministries and relevant authorities to get the funding and resources. They had managed to get funds and cables worth 5 million. You’re not gonna believe what I’m about to say.

Coz, they, the villagers, made 180+ concrete electricity poles in the village and put them up and did the cabling and got the houses wired anticipating the electricity will soon come. UNIDO (part of UN) had got a turbine and fixed it in Kaikawala and given the power for about 3 months before it broke down. Then it was taken back to Colombo and repaired and returned to be broken again after about 2-3 weeks. Now the UNIDO claims they don’t have the funds (Around Rs. 100,000/-+) for the repairs and the whole project is at a standstill. The kids can’t do their studies and they find it difficult to move about in the night without power.

The road condition (a lot better than it used to be) is still in dire need of renovation. This is mainly due to the low quality work of the contractors and corrupt local politicians who chase only money not people’s needs.

So if you happen to come across any donor organizations, do direct them to Nava mama so that something can be done to those people in need. There’s a very sad story behind that wonderful village and people.

අපගේ මෙම සංචාරයේ මූලික අරමුණ වූයේ සිංහරාජ වනාන්තරයේ සිංහ ගල සොයායාමයි.

කඹුරුපිටියෙන් උදේ 7ට පමණ ගමන් ආරම්භ කර අනෙක් සාමාජිකයින් 5 දෙනා සමග අකුරැස්ස, උඩුගම හරහා නෙලුව බලා ගමන් ගත් අතර මංජු සහ ජයනෙත්ති පිලියන්දලින් ගමන් ආරම්භ කර දක්ෂිණ අධීවේගී මාර්ගයේ වැලිපැන්න පිවිසුමෙන් පැමිණ පැලවත්ත හරහා නෙලුවට පැමිණ අප හා එක්විය. නෙලුවෙන් අවශ්ය ආහාර ද්රාව්ය හා අනෙකුත් භාණ්ඩ මිලදී ගැනීමෙන් පසු අප පලමුවෙන්ම නෙලුව ලංකගම මාර්ගයේ නෙලුවේ සිට 7km ක් පමණ දුරින් පිහිටි කොස්මුල්ල දුවිලි ඇල්ල නැරඹීම සඳහා ගියෙමු. අප එම ස්ථානයට ලඟාවනවිට වර්ෂාව ඇදහැලෙමින් පැවතිනි. වර්ෂාව නොතකා ඇල්ල නැරඹූ අප, අපගේ දිවා ආහාරය එම ස්ථානයේදී ගැනීමට සූදානම් කර තිබුනත් වර්ෂාව නිසා දිවා ආහාරය නොගෙනම එම ස්ථානයෙන් පිටත් වී ලංකගම බලා ගමන් ඇරඹීමු. 11km ක් පමණ දුර ගෙවා ලංකගමට පැමිණෙන විට සවස 3.00 පමණ විය.

කොස්මුල්ලෙන් පසු මාර්ගය ඉතා පටුවන අතර, අධික කඳු බෑවුම් සහ වංගු සහිත එම මාර්ගයේ ඉතා සැලකිල්ලෙන් රථ ධාවනය කල යුතු විය. මාර්ගය ලංකගම තෙක් කොන්ක්රීට් අතුරා ඇති නමුත් සමහර ස්ථාන කැඩී ගොසින්ය.

Neluwa Kosmulla Duvili Ella

Click Image to Enlarge

ලංකගම ගම්මානයට පැමිණෙන විටම මාර්ගයේ වම් අත පැත්තෙන් දර්ශනීය දිය ඇල්ලක් දිස් වේ.එය බ්රාමහ්මණ ඇල්ලයි. එයට ඉහලින් තවත් දිය ඇලි හතරක් පිහිටා ඇත. ඇලි නැරඹීම පසුවට කල් තැබූ අප අපගේ නවාතැන වූ පිටදෙනිය නිවහන බලා ගමන් කලෙමු.

ලංකගම පාසල පසුකර ඉදිරියට යන විට පිටදෙනිය සංචාරක කළාපය, හා ලංකගම සංචාරක කළාපයට ඇති මාර්ග පෙන්වන පුවරුව හමුවේ. ඔබ පැමිණෙන්නේ 4WD හා Winch සහිත ජීප් රථයකින් නම් පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යබස්ථානයටම ගමන් කල හැක. ඒ සඳහා ලංකගම සංචාරක කළාපය පෙන්වා ඇති දිශාවට ගමන් කරන්න. දැන්වීම් පුවරුවෙන් දකුණට හැරෙනවත් සමග ඉදිරියෙන් යකඩ පාළමක් හමුවේ. එම පාලමෙන් ගමන් කර 500m ක් පමණ ඉදිරියට යනවිට මාර්ගයේ දුෂ්කරම කොටස හමු වේ. ටැක්ටර් ගමන් කිරීම නිසා මාර්ගය දෙපස හෑරී දැඩි ලෙස අබලන් වී ඇත. අප ගමන් ගත් ජීප් රථද එම මාර්ගයේ ධාවනය කරවූයේ ඉතා අපහසුවෙනි. මාර්ගයේ සමහර ස්ථානවල්දී ගල් දමා සකස්කර ගැනීමට සිදුවිය. එක් ස්ථානයකදී Winch එක පවා භාවිතා කිරීමට සිදුවිය.

Lankagama Pitadeniya Map (not to Scale) – Click Image to Enlarge

ඔබ පැමිනෙන්නේ වෑන් රථයකින් නම් එම මාර්ගයේ ගමන් කල නොහැකි අතර දැන්වීම් පුවරුවේ ඇති පිටදෙනිය සංචාරක කළාපය ලෙස පෙන්වා ඇති දිශාවට ගමන් කල යුතුය. එවිට පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යනස්ථානයට වාහනය රැගෙනයාමට නොහැක. එම මාර්ගයේ 1km ක් පමණ ඉදිරියට ගිය විට ආරණුව දොළ හරහා ඇති පටු යකඩ පාළම හමුවේ. ඒ ආසන්න ආරක්ෂිත ස්ථානයක වාහනය නවතා, එතැන් සිට අඩි පාරේ 300m පමණ ගිය විට ගිංගඟ හරහා ඇති වැල් පාළම හමු වේ. වැල් පාළමේ අනෙක් පස ඇත්තේ පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යපස්ථානයයි.

Crossing the Ginganga

Aranuwa Dhola

On the Way

On the Way

Pitadeniya Nivahana

Plant Demonstration of Rain Forest – Click Image to Enlarge

මෙම පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යගස්ථානයට ආසන්නයේම වනිගසේකර නිවහන පිහිටා ඇති අතර ඊට 50m ක් පමණ දුරින් ගිංගඟ නිවහන පිහිටා ඇත. ගිංගඟ නිවහනට 30m ක් පමණ දුරින් පිටදෙනිය නිවහන පිහිටා ඇත.

පිටදෙනිය නිවහනේ සිට බැලූ විට ආරණුව දොළ හරහා ඇති පාළම දිස්වන අයුරු

පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යදස්ථානයේ සිට බැලූ විට ගිංගඟ දිස්වන අයුරු

අප පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යගස්ථානයට පැමිණ සුලු මොහොතකින් වර්ෂාව පතිතවන්නට විය. එම ස්ථානයේ සිටම දිවා ආහාරය ගන්නා විට වේලාව සවස 4.30 පමණ විය.

අපගේ අනන්ය්යතාව තහවුරු කිරිමෙන් පසු රැගෙන එන ලද ආහාර ද්රතව්ය හා ඩීසල් භාර දීමෙන් පසු අපගේ නවාතැන වූ පිටදෙනිය නිවහනට වර්ෂාව මධ්යලයේම ගියෙමු. සවස 6.30 පමණ වනවිට අවට තිබූ නිහැඬියාව බඳ දමින් විදුලි ජනකය ක්රිලයාත්මක විය. එයින් නැගුනු අධික ගෝෂාව නිසා අපටද ඇතිවුයේ ඉතා අප්රබසන්න හැඟීමකි. ඒ අවස්ථාවේ විදුලිජනකය අක්රී යකරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටීමටද හැකියාවක් නොමැති වූයේ, ඒ වනවිට වනිගසේකර නිවහනේ තවත් කණ්ඩායමක් ලැගුම් ගෙන සිටි නිසාවෙනි.

එදින රාත්රීක ආහාර ගැනීමෙන් පසු අප පසු දින දිවා අහාරය පාර්සල් කරදෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටි අතර අපට සිංහ ගලට යාමට මගපෙන්වන්නෙකු ලබා දෙන ලෙසද ඉල්ලා සිටියෙමු.

පසු දින උදේ 8.30ට පමණ සිංහ ගලට යාමට ගමන් ඇරඹූ අපට අනුර නම් මග පෙන්වන්නෙකුගේ සහාය ලැබුනි. අධික ලෙස කූඩැල්ලන් සිටින නිසා අධි සාන්ද්රරන්යෙන් යුත් ලුණු වතුර බෝතලයක් සාදා ගන්නා ලෙස ඔහුගෙන් උපදෙස් ලැබුනී. අප ලුණු වලට අමතරව සබන් හා සිද්ධාලේප රැගෙන ගියෙමු. සබන් හා සිද්ධාලේප කූඩැල්ලන්ට එතරම් තර්ජනයක් නොවුවත් ලුණු වතුර කූඩැල්ලන්ගෙන් අපව ගලවා ගැනීමට සමත් විය.(සිංහගලට යන තෙක් පමණී)

සිංහරාජය තරණය කරමින්

සිංහගල සොයා යන අතරතුර මද විවේකයක්

පිටදෙනිය නිවහනේ සිට සිංහ ගලට 14km ක් පමණ දුර බව ස්ථාන භාරකරු අපට පැවසීය. අපේ මග පෙන්වාන්නා වන අනුර ද එය සනාථ කරනු ලැබීය. පිටදෙනිය නිවහනෙන් ගමන් ඇරඹූ අප ගිංගඟ හරහා ඇති වැල් පාළම හා ආරණුව දොල හරහා ඇති පටු යකඩ පාළමෙන්  එගොඩ  වී වතුගල ගම්මානය හරහා 3km ක් පමණ ගොස් සිංහරාජ වනයට ඇතුලුවිය. වතුගල ගම්මානය හරහා පැමිණෙද්දී අධික වෙහෙසක් දැනුනමුත් වනයට ඇතුලු වූ විගස එය පහව ගියේය.

ඝන  වනාන්තරයේ පැහැදිලි අඩි පාරවල් නොතිබූ අතර අපගේ මගවෙන්වන්නාද තැනින් තැන මග සළකුණු තබමින් අපව රැගෙන ඉදිරියට ගමන් කලේය. වනය තුල 5km ක් පමණ ඉදිරියට යද්දී අපට එම ප්‍රදේශයේ අලි ගැවසුනු බවට හැඟෙන සලකුණු හමුවිය. විශාල අලියෙකුගේ හා කුඩා අලියෙකුගේ පා සලකුණු අපට පැහැදිළිව දැකගත හැකිවිය. බිම දමා පොඩිකර ආහාරයට ගත් කිතුල් ගසක කොටස් ද අපට හමු වූ අතර, එම ගසේ කොලවල තිබූ පැහැය අනුව එය සතියකට මෑත කාලයක බිමදැමූ ගසක් බව පැහැදිලිව පෙනිනි. අලි වසුරුද හමු වූ අතර  ඒවාද එතරම් දවස් ගත නොවූ බවක් පෙනින.  අප  ගමන් කල යුතු මග අලීන් ගමන් කල මගම විය. අලි ගමන් කල මාර්ගයේ 4kmක් පමණ අප ගමන් කල අතර එම මාර්ගය දල බෑවුම් සහිත කඳු හරහා වැටී තිබුනි. සමහර ස්ථානවලින් අලි කෙසේ ගියේදැයි අපට සිතාගැනීමටත් අපහසු විය. මාර්ගය ඉතා පටු වන අතර පහළින් විශාල හෙල වල් තිබූ ස්ථානවලින් අලි ගමන් කර තිබුනි. අපද එම මාර්ගයේ ගමන් ගත්තේ මාර්ගයට ඉහලින් ඇති ගස් වල එල්ලී ගෙනය. අපගේ මගපෙන්වන්නාද අවුරුදු 20ක් පමණ සිංහ ගලට යන මාර්ගය ගැන  අත්දැකීම් සහිත පුද්ගලයෙකු වුවත් ඔහුටද මෙය ආගන්තුක දර්ශනයක් බව අපට හැඟීනි.

සිංහගල මත

සිංහගල මත සිට ප්රිපාතය පෙන්වන අයුරු

10kmක් පමණ ගමන් කල අප තැනිතලා ප්ර්දේශයක් හරහා ගමන් කලෙමු. එහි ගලායන දොලපහරවල් කිහිපයක් හමුවූහ. එහි ජලය ඉතා පිරිසිදු තත්වයේ තිබූ අතර අප පානය කලේද එම ජලයයි. සිංහ ගල නැගීමට ආසන්න වෙද්දී අපගේ මග පෙන්වන්න පවසා සිටියේ අප රැගෙන ආ බෝතල් වලට ජලය පුරවා ගන්නා ලෙසයි. අප සිංහ ගල නැගීම පටන් ගත් අතර එය සීග්ර නැගීමක් සහිත විය. මාර්ගය පැහැදිලිව නොපෙනුනත් අනුර ගමන් ගත් මාර්ගයේ අපද ගමන් ගතිමු. කන්දේ ටික දුරක් යනවිට අපට ඉතා අධික වෙහෙසක් දැනුනමුත් තැනින් තැන කෙටි විවේක ලබාගනිමින් අප කන්ද මුදුනටම පැමිනියෙමු. ඉන් පසු සුලු දුරක් කන්ද අනෙක් පසට බැසීමෙන් සිංහ ගල නම් ස්ථානය හමු විය. එවිට වේලාව දහවල් 12.30 පමණ විය. අපට සිංහ ගලට පැමිනීමට පැය 4ක් පමණ ගතවී තිබුනි.

සිංහ ගල උඩට පැමිණි මට මතකයට ආවේ පළමුවෙන්ම ලෝකාන්තයට ගියපු ගමනයි. මෙම ස්ථානයද ඊට ටිකක් දුරට සමානය. පහලින් ඇති ප්රටපාතය ටික වේලාවකින් මීදුමෙන් වැසීගිය අතර එයද ලෝකාන්තය මෙන් විය.

මීදුමෙන් වැසී යන අයුරු

කුණකටුව

අං ශක 300 ක පමණ පුලුල් පරාසයක් නැරඹිය හැකි එම ස්ථානයට රත්නපුර, මාතර, සහ ගාල්ල දිස්ත්රී ක තුනම දැකගත හැකි වීම විශේෂත්වයකි. මීදුම තුරල් වූ විට ඈතින් පෙනෙන ගොංගල කඳුවටිය පැහැදිලිව දර්ශනය විය. අප සිංහ ගලට පැමිණ ස්වල්ප වේලාවකින් පසු මද වර්ෂාවක් ඇදවැටුන අතර ටික වේලවකින් එය පහව ගියේය. ඉන් ටික වේලවකට පසු අප රැගෙන එන ලද දිවා ආහාරය එම ස්ථානයේදී ගත්හ. ටික වේලාවක් එම ස්ථානයේ රැඳී සිටි අප මීදුම ගලා ඒමත් සමග එම ස්ථානයෙන් පිටත්වූහ. අප සිංහ ගල කන්ද බැසීම ඇරඹීමත් සමග තද වැසි පතිත වන්නට විය. වැස්සට තෙමි තෙමී ගමන් කරන අපට ලොකුම බාධකය වූයේ අපගේ කැමරා උපකරණ වැස්සෙන් ආරක්ෂාකර ගැනීමයි. අප පහසුවෙන් පසුකර ගිය දොල පහරවල් වලින් නැවත පැමිනෙන විට විශාල ජලපහරවල් ගලායාම නිසා අපට එම ස්ථාන පසුකිරීමට සිදු වූයේද ඉතා අපහසුවෙනි. අප නැවත පැමිනෙන විට වැස්සට හසුවීම නිසා ලුණු වතුර සහ සබන් වලින් කිසිම ප්රසයෝජනයක් නොවූ අතර කූඩැල්ලන්ගේ දැඩි ප්රඹහාරයට ලක්විය. අප නවාතැනට පැමිනෙනවිට සවස 5.00 පමණ විය.

බ්රාුහ්මණ ඇල්ල

තට්ටු ඇල්ල

පසු දින උදේ 8.30ට පමණ අප පිටදෙනිය නිවහනෙන් පිටත් විය. එසේ පැමිනෙන අතරතුර ලංකගම ආසන්නයේ ඇති දිය ඇළි නැරඹීමටද ගියෙමු. මෙහිදී 1km ක් පමණ දුරක් තුල දියඇළි 5ක් දැකගත හැකිවීම විශේෂත්වයකි. මාර්ගය ආසන්නයේ ඇති අවසරපත් කවුලුවෙන් අවසරපත් ලබාගත් අප මගපෙන්වන්නෙකු සමග පිටත්විය. පලමුවෙන්ම ඔහු අපව රැගෙනගියේ බ්රා හ්මණ ඇල්ල වෙතයි. එය තරමක් පළලින් වැඩි දිය ඇල්ලකි. ඊලගට අප ඌරා වැටුන ඇල්ලට ගියහ. මෙම ඇල්ල නැරඹූ අපට හැඟී ගියේ මෙය ඌරා වැටුන ඇල්ල නොව රූටා වැටෙන ඇල්ල ලෙසයි. මක්නිසාදයත් එය ගල්තලාව දිගේ රූටා වැටෙන නිසයි.

ඌරා වැටුන ඇල්ල

ලංකගම දූවිලි ඇල්ල

ඌරා වැටුන ඇල්ලෙන් වැටෙන ජල පහර ඊට පහළින් පිහිටා ඇති පටු එහෙත් ගැඹුරු ගල් දොරුවකට ඇද වැටේ, එය ගල්දොරුව ඇල්ලයි. එය ආරක්ෂිතව නැරඹීම සඳහා කුඩා වේදිකාවක් ඉදිකර ඇත. ගල්දොරුව ඇල්ලෙන් ගලායන ජලය ඊලඟට එකතුවන්නේ බ්රා හ්මණ ඇල්ලටයි

ඊලඟට අප ගියේ දුවිලි ඇල්ල බැලීමටයි. එය තරමක් උසින් යුත් දිය ඇල්ලක් වන අතර එයින් විසිරී යන ජල බිඳිති ඒ අවට දූවිල්ලක් සේ ගුවනට මුසුවේ. එම නිසා ඇල්ල ආසන්නයට ගිය විට ජලයෙන් නැහැවීයයි. ආසන්නයේ සිට ඡායාරුපයක් ගැනීම පවා අසීරුය. අප එම ස්ථානයට යනවිටත් විශාල පිරිසක් එහි නාමින් සිටියහ. දූවිලි ඇල්ලෙන් ගලායන ජලය එක්වන්නේ ඊට පහළින් පිහිටි තට්ටු ඇල්ලටයි. එය තට්ටු 2කකින් යුතු අතර තරමක් පළලින් යුතු ඇල්ලකි. තට්ටු ඇල්ලෙන් ගලායන ජලය එකතුවන්නේද බ්රාඑහ්මණ ඇල්ලටයි. දිය ඇලි නැරඹීමෙන් පසු ආපසු ගමන් ඇරඹූ අප නෙලුවට ලඟා වූ පසු මංජු හා ජයනෙත්ති අපෙන් සමුගෙන පිලියන්දල බලා පිටත් වූ අතර අප කඹුරුපිටිය බලා නැවත පැම්ණි මාර්ගයේම පිටත් වීමූ.

ගල් දොරුව ඇල්ල

ආපසු පැමිණීමට සූදානම් වී

ආපසු පැමිණීමට සූදානම් වී

Singharaja Rain Forest Map

Singharaja Rain Forest Map (මෙම සිතියම අන්තර්ජාලයෙන් උපුටාහන්න ලදි)

This journey we did some times back, most of the members of the crew are members of “Dumbara Mithuro” Environmental and Cultural Society. The society is devoted for the conservation activities in the Knuckles mountain range. On the other hand expedition in the knuckles forest is another prime objective of the society.

Knuckles mountain range consist of 34 main peaks and the most popular one among the public is “Knuckles” peak( 6,128), while the highest peak is “Gombania(6,253)”. Kalupahana is famous for disastrous cardamom estates, but it locates in the middle of the knuckles range, the peak (5,341) also surrounded by the estates. Our journey was planned in order to achieve the highest peak and assess the current condition of the “cardamom estate” in Kalupahana. We planned the journey in two stages as there is a long distance between Gombania and Kalupahana via forest, and that direction is very difficult due to the steep slope. It’ll take at least 12 hours to reach gombania to kalupaha, and also carrying a heavy backpack to facilitate 3 nights is not possible with the difficult path. (No path, actually we’ve to find a path).

Part 1 – Gombania

We started the journey around 4.00 a.m. at Malabe and reached Bambarella around 7.30 a.m. the first target was “Gombania”. Mr. Talwatta at Panwila helped us to find a well experienced and knowledgeable guide called “Nimal”. Through panwilla, huluganga we came up to “Alakolla Estate” by car and a motor bike. Road inside the estate is not possible with a car up to the point where road ends, but a vehicle with more ground clearance could do.

Factory

The road is ok about 1km after the factory using a normal vehicle, thereafter about 2km road is available up to the resting place constructed by the estate.

Resting Place

This is an ideal place to have a rest, before start the hiking through the forest, better to refill the water bottles. After this point up to another 1 km there is a foot path used by the estate workers. Thereafter we decided to find a direction to reach the peak, with the guidance of the land marks, but on our return we realized that there is a hidden path to the peak, but it is not clear at all.

We had to find our own path and clear the under grown

Gombania mountain range

Hiking through plants

Nimal, our guide explaining the plan to the crew, at this point we’ve done a half of the trek, behind the crew you can see the surrounding area down (Panwila & bambarella).

After that planning session we started the most difficult half of the trek, both the slope and thickness of the forest increases.

You cannot walk steadily and have to bend down.

The mountain is covered with plenty of flowers specially orchids.

The mountain is covered with plenty of flowers specially orchids.

After about 3 hours trekking we reached to the bottom of the rock (peak)

Then we had to go around the rock to reach the summit.

Happy faces at the summit

The peak is always covered in mist and sometimes it clears for few minutes, we captured some village in the down.

we captured some village in the down

Misty mountains

Misty mountains

We spent about 2 hours at the peak while having lunch and started to climb down , at least 3 hours is required to reach the resting place, hence before sun go down we went down.

First day night we stayed at the temple at bambarella

Part 2 – Kalupahana

Next day morning we started the journey to Kalupahana from bambarella, which is fairly easy one, as there is a very clear foot path. Two new members from bambarella joined the crew in place of local members (Nimal and Talwatta) participated in the yesterday.

A Typical view of “Knuckles Mountains” from bambarella

We continued our journey to kalupahana through “Lebonan Estate”

Without any difficulty we reached to Kalupahana cardamom estates within 2 hours and decided to stay at “KMP wadiya”

You can imagine the scale of cardamom estates in Kalupahana, these constructions are permanent illegal things within the knuckles range. Compared to the past now the cardamom estates are not functioning actively as it is prohibited by the rules. But we’ve observed still some “Ovens” which used to dried cardamom are operating. Due to the cardamom estates there is two main threats to the forest. First the under grow is cleared for cardamom plantations and hence in future when the matured trees died, there is no generation to fulfill the gap. Second, for, the matured trees are used for the fuel requirements of Ovens. Once the matured trees are died the “Kalupahana” will just be a grass land.

KMP wadiya

Pictures of Ovens

Cardamom – inside the oven

Cardamom Plantations – see the entire under grown is cleared

We started the trekking for Kalupahana peak early in the morning and had to reach the peak through cardamom estates while having a worm well come from leeches

worm well come from leeches

Sunrise at the peak, while we are striving

Beauty of a Montane forest

Crew at the summit

As I mentioned earlier Kalupahana Mountain is located in the center of the knuckles mountain range, hence you can have a 360 degree view of the entire range could be observed.

Knuckles mountains

Lakegala

Weak sight of Gombania through clouds

We came back to the bambarella via the same route to end our jouney. If you visit kalupahana do not forget to climb the mountain to get a panoramic view of the entire forest.