Last year August our team had a chance to make the long traverse over little-used paths that connect the two major entrances of Sinharaja. Sinhagala is roughly 17 km from the core-zone entrance above Kudawa.

The path to Sinhagala is arguably one of the most beautiful rainforest walks in terms of the diversity of scenery, landscape and the view from the summit.

On Aug 8 2014 three of us started the journey from Kandy at 14:30, it was a rainy day and we were about to miss the bus to Ratnapura but managed to catch it. We reached Ratnapura around 19:30, two of our crew were on their way to Ratnapura from Colombo and they reached around 21:30. There was a cab service we hired previously and they reached to the town around 22:00 and we all set to go.

The road to Kalawana was so dark and no street lights. When we reached Kalawana area the jeep service from Martin’s lodge arrived there to pick us. All our gears were transferred to the jeep and we started the journey from there to the lodge, the road was uneven and in some areas it was a nightmare to move forward. Our room was ready at the lodge and we slept as soon as we reached there.

Kudawa Conservation centre

Aug 9

After a breakfast and tea at Martin’s Forest Lodge we started our journey to Snhagala at 07:30, The forest was waking up after a night of nearly little rain. Early in the morning we spotted a monkey, a Red face Mal Koha and some of the rarest birds that found nowhere else in the world. We continued walking through the trail, at the research center the trail thins and it is clear that the Sinhagala trail is a different sort of route.

The path was overgrown with tree ferns and shrubs.

There were brief climb ups and downs, broken bridges in some sections.

This area of the rain forest is heavily infected with leaches but the repellent we carried allowed us to focus on more interesting creatures. Water from the streams was clear and good to drink without any treatment.

0 to 1.9 KM after passing the entrance to the protected area

A bird spotted

Bee nest

Clear path and good weather

Since we wanted to spend more time at Sinhagala peak we were forced to take the full advantage of our time for the first part of the trail until we reach the climbing point.

After crossing several small streams after waypoint S18 we reached to a little larger stream way point 21, it was impossible for us to cross this area as the water level was high, a temporary bridge was made to cross this part of the trail.

We made the way to cross the stream

Crossing

Thick dense forest

The path was overgrown with tree ferns and shrubs.

After crossing this stream we felt that we have started climbing up, within the next 400 to 500m we reached to another stream where there is no clear sign or path to continue the trial, from this point we climbed up and found the continuation of the trail trough the small cave. This part of the trail takes a long time as it’s a steep and extremely hard climb to reach the summit.

Climb up

At the last water source

It was 14:30 when we reached the Sinhagala peak; the view from the summit is absolutely amazing and breathtaking.

View from the Sinhagala Peak

At the summit

At the summit

Hike statics – Two way

After spending an hour at the summit, we stared descending and arrived Martin’s lodge at 19:30. It is un-doubtfully a very challenging hike that you could do in Sinharaja.

Last month I heard about a missing news of Rev Thero Ellawala Medhananda and then I search information about this matter. Then I contacted a person in Thorawa and told him that I will come there as from Sunday Lankadeepa journalist. Without telling anything he was arranged every things for us. Then the chief theor of that temple Rev Sangananda and 04 of well experienced villagers has participated to our journey and they took the lead at all.

I thank,
Rev Thero Sangananda and other 3 monks in the temple
Mr Kapuruhami
Mr Kapilarathna
Mr Gemunu Kumara
Mr Ukkubanda

We started to find an unexplored cave in that forest, that forest is large about 800 acres and it’s owned by this temple. Medhanana thero came to find this cave but he couldn’t find it. But we found it and many Sellipi in that area. We went to 13 caves in the jungle. There is lot of marks about elephants. We climbed rocky plains along huge trees. We had an extremely forest experience in this dry zone as this is a kingdom of Wild elephants. We walked along the forest with making the path and we drank natural spring water. We found a new staircase in a rock. Many of caves are attacked by Thieves (Nidan Horu).

Finally we came to the temple and they treated us well. We had a bath from giant Inginiyamitiya tank and walk along the rural villages and saw their life cycle. When we climbed to the top hill of this temple, we can see Galkiriyagama mountain, Sankapali mountain, Harichikutti mountain, yapahuwa range.

Please visit our facebook for many photos : www.facebook.com/sobasirisl

Wanayata Athul wena thena

Nadaya

Medananda himita hamununa Sellipiya

awadanam ganimin gala negima

Apita hamuuna Sellipi

Apata hamuuna Iparani padipelak

Api biwwe me wathura

Katuka gamana

Katuka gamana

Katuka gamana

Katuka gamana

Nameboard

Wahi lihini Kuduwak

Ali Wasuru

Apata hamuuna guhawe natabun

Apata hamuuna guhawe natabun

Apata hamuuna guhawe natabun

Api soya gath guhawa

Api soya gath guhawa

Apita hamuuna Sellipi

Apita hamuuna Sellipi

awadanam ganimin gala negima

.

.

dushkara maga

dushkara maga

Gal Ugul

guhawak

Kataram Rata

Dushkara maga

dushkara maga

Athin penena Kandu

Athin penena Kandu

Athin penena Kandu

Athin penena Kandu

Athin penena Kandu

Athin penena Kandu

we

Ulpathak

Nidan horu heru chaithyak

Nidan horu 8 heru Guha

Mada Pokuna

Gammanawalata yana dushkara erena parawal

Gammanawalata yana dushkara erena parawal

Gammanawalata yana dushkara erena parawal

Gemi niwasa

Gemi niwasa

Gemi niwasa

Kongaswalayagama Sangananda Thero

Kumbure tibena Pelak

Pansala

Pansala

Pansala

Pansale tibena giri lipiya

Pradhana handiyak

we

B M Gemunu

B M Kapuruhami

H M Kapilarathna

L M Ukkubanda

Alinge Salakunu

Anamaduwe sita yana gaman

Anamaduwe sita yana gaman

.

Gama awata

Game kelewata yama gaman

Gammanawalata yana dushkara erena parawal

Gammanawalata yana dushkara erena parawal

Hi folks! Hope you are ready for the next episode of Waterfall Hunting in the Uva Province. I hope you enjoyed the Day 2 and I’m going to tell you about the Day 1 & 3.

Not seeing a waterfall for some time is like living without an aim for me. I simply adore them and when it starts raining out of nowhere my mind starts to protest. Thankfully there is no Lipton Circus in my mind otherwise I would have had to call on the riots cops with water cannons, tear gas and batons to restore the law and order.

Now the rain patterns are shot to pieces making it extremely unstable and not reliable. However the downpours that started in late September seems to have more power than I thought. As a result one of my much awaited tours had to be brought forward. The waterfalls in Uva had been evading me for years mainly my focus was on elsewhere and they were too far away. I just wanted to make sure I cover as many of them as possible in one solid journey but it didn’t seem to come anytime soon.

Suddenly the rains appeared and I got tempted as usual. So I decided to seek professional advice before making the 250+km journey. When it comes to Uva, there is nobody better than Ashan. I wonder if there is a place where the fellow hasn’t been in the area. So I called to find him still honeymooning in Mullaittivu. He promised to get back as soon as he went back to Monaragala while I tried to get someone to join me.

Most of them were too busy but I was hopeful about Shareez who had come back to Sri Lanka on holiday and was ready to go for a grand journey. Last time I managed to take him to see Asupini Ella. Unfortunately he pulled out at the eleventh hour due to personal commitments leaving me in the forlorn hope that something miraculous would come by. As a matter of fact a magical thing happened. Ashan’s planned exploration to Maduru Oya got cancelled and he agreed to play the guide for me on Saturday and Sunday leaving me to fend off for myself on Friday. Something was better than nothing so I prepared in a couple of hours to leave on the wee hours of Friday.

Tour Highlights: 

1. Wisari Ella, Hunuketiya.
2. Elle Wala Ella, Randeniya.
3. Kaluwala Ella aka Ice Peella Ella, Wellawaya.
4. Buduruwagala, Wellawaya.
5. Habaraththawa Cascades, Dewathura.
6. Kandahena Cascades, Dewathura.
7. Aradunu Ella, Passara.
8. Pareiyan Ella, Badalkumbura.
9. Menik Ganga Dunhinda Mini Falls, Badalkumbura.
10. Menik Ganga Dunhinda Ella, Badalkumbura.

Day 01

The Badulla bus took off slower than I wanted and my attempts to fall asleep were turned out to be futile. The sun peeped around the corner when we reached Balangoda. From there falling asleep was simply impossible coz of the gorgeous range of mountains to the left from Pettigala towards Kalupahana where Wangedigala, Balathuduwa and Gon Molliya stood proudly above the rest. Sweet memories of Bambarakanda and Nagrak came flooding to my stream of thoughts. Boy, have I enjoyed them!

I kept my eyes peeled for Brampton Falls and Surathali Ella just to get an idea about the water levels. Passing Belihul Oya what I saw pained my heart to no end. It was nothing extraordinary but a small stream slowly going downwards. “Where on earth all the water had gone?” I wanted to scream. Then came two major heartbreaks one after the other. Brampton Falls looked sad and no wider than a coconut tree. Surathali had lost her mischievous behavior and slid down the rocky crevice as if she didn’t care anymore for attention.

I was getting frantic and almost jumped out to return to Colombo. “Have patience” the calm side of my brain said. “Get the hell outta here fast” the panicky side screamed in the back of my head. I took a deep breath and weighed the options and decided to listen to the calm side. “You will be sorry” the impatient side mocked me. I’ll just go do what I’d planned to see today and return if it turned out to be hopeless, I decided and sat back to get a rest.  Finally after a long journey I reached B’Wela just after 8.30am. Without wasting any more time, I got into a Wellawaya bus and settled. Without even my knowing, I’d fallen asleep and missed seeing the Bambaragama Ella too. When I got up, we were passing the turn off to Kurullangala.

Wisari Ella

I’ll give you the directions first. Hunuketiya is about 14km from Wellawaya in Uva Karandagolla area. There is also a sign board put up by the Uva PC. Wisari Ella is on the Hunuketiya-Kurugama-Bambaragasyaya Road about 3km from Hunuketiya junction. Best method of transport is to hire a tuk-tuk from the junction. If you go in your own vehicle, by a car, you can go up to Kurugama village or with a high ground clearance vehicle all the way to Bambaragasyaya. There is also a single bus operating between Wellawaya and Kurugama (No. 998) but couldn’t get the exact times.

I did the sensible thing on Ashan’s advice and hired a tuk-tuk. The driver was a friendly person called Ranga and we drove up to the last house where you have to start walking along an irrigation canal for about 400m. The path is now well paved and easy to reach the falls. We met one Mini Hydro Power Plant and Ranga informed that it is now redundant after the main power supply came to the area and he went onto say that the village used to have three such power plants. However all of them have been made redundant since the arrival of national grid. Hurrah!!! I felt like dancing.

We could also see the rocky hill where Kurullangala is. The memories of our back-breaking journey in the recent past sent a shiver down my back. Ranga said that there’s even a path from the top of the Wisari Ella to the Rakkiththakanda Cave Temple where we went last time before the hike. Project sites of Uma Oya could be seen in the distance and the water in the streams has turned into an unusual white color after the ammonia mixed with it as a result of tunnels dug out to take water for the Uma Oya Project. That was quite visible even to the naked eye.

We got to the falls in no time but what I saw made me cry. There was very little water in her as if coming from a blocked tap. She is tall and the rocky surface is ample but the water level was abysmal. “Oh dear! Did I just come 250km after some 7hrs to see this?” I felt. This was worse than even St. Claire after the Upper Kotmale Project. “Didn’t it rain here at all?” I exclaimed out of sheer frustration. “It did but as this is not the regular season (Nov to Jan), the water levels are low” replied Ranga.

I was beginning to realize that after all the negative side was correct and I should have turned around while I could. Now it was too late and no going back until I finished the day. Look at these pictures and tell me if I was right to be frustrated.

Already dark clouds developing

Towards Badulla

Should be ready soon

Redundant power plant

Going rusty

Well maintained

Oh, not the sight I was hoping for

Abysmal, isn’t it?

When in full flow, she must look gorgeous

Portrait

The upper part

Wishing for more water and left

Gorgeous looking

Beautiful views

See anything familiar?

Kurullangala, the mysterious cave paintings

Know what they are? Amu Kaha flowers

My first thought was an Orchid

Time to go

Didn’t taste that good coz of the rain

Elle Wala Ella

We returned to Hunuketiya but on the way Ranga said that there’s a path through the jungle where it leads to the top of Elle Wala Ella. I was very excited and asked if he could find someone to take me there. Unfortunately his cousin brother didn’t share the same enthusiasm so we had to give up the idea. This path could have been one used by the Sinhala forces on their way to massacre the Portuguese invaders at Randeniwela.

I then decided to take the tuk-tuk all the way to Randeniya just to save time and trouble of having to find the falls on my own. Lemme give you the directions first.

Randeniya junction is about 3km from Wellawaya along Ella road. There is a school named J. M. Kumaradasa. With it there’s a road to the left (when coming from Wellawaya). The pillars of Iran-Sri Lanka are also located nearby should you happen to miss the school. Take this road for about 3km. You will find the reservoir for the Uma Oya is being built on the way and the road goes at the edge of the would-be water body. There is hardly anyone to ask the road so make sure you have your bearings right. You will then meet a village and take the left side path (not quite visible from the road at a glance) as soon as you pass the first house to your left. That is how we were given the directions by one of the people we met. This is where you have to leave your vehicle coz this is 3WD/4WD terrain. There are houses on either side so you can get directions. It’s another 1km before you reach the last house at the end of the road. From here you need to take the footpath (well used) parallel to the water stream (on your right) for another 400-500m to reach the destination.

I hope you got it right. So let’s go and see what she has to offer. There was nothing positive for me for the whole day since I started my journey but the moment I saw her I felt I was human after all. Two puppies followed us from the last house and they too looked awed by the beauty in front of them. She reminds me of Dunhinda (the actual one) but a smaller version. She was falling from left to right where as the original Dunhinda falls other way around.

The base pool looked huge and gradually increased the depth towards the falls. The surrounding is devoid of any disturbing activity save for a anicut built downstream to take the water but not harming the waterfall in any way. There were plenty of Kumbuk and similar trees around making it like a giant canopy shielding us from the piercing rays before the rain.

However there is one rather silly video I came across (thanks to Ashan) on YouTube I came across. It’s about something called Dual Survival where two lost people trying to find the way to civilization. In the video, one of them climbs to the top of the falls to find any humans are there but comes across a herd of jumbos. This is hilarious coz no jumbos roam in this area according to the locals. Watch it and see. All they had to do was retrace the path they took to the falls to find civilization. It proved documentaries done by even the most prominent channels could be no better than movies.

Ok guys, while in savor the first good thing for the day you can enjoy some of the pictures. As I keep reminding myself and you folks, the pictures don’t do enough justice to the beauty of these places. So just don’t judge by them by not so glamorous pictures of mine. There is very little my point-n-shoot can capture. Here we go:

There’s Elle Wala, the first glimpse

Our guides

Very shady and soothing

Finally some happy thoughts

Base pool gradually increases its depth

Closer look

Portrait

Sandy floor

Downstream

Found a delicacy

Couldn’t get enough of

See the dam built for diverting water?

Pipelines

Closer look

Different angle

The view was spectacular

Ranga, the tuk-tuk fellow who roamed around with me

Time to say bye

Kaluwala Ella aka Ice Peella Ella

After a good 30-40mins we left for Wellawaya. Ranga decided to take me all the way which suited me just fine. This is when Ashan called and said that he’s going for a bath there with a couple of friends. We arrived at Wellawaya and while I was pondering what to do, Ranga said that he would take me to the place. It was a good idea coz I was not in the mood for bargaining with tuk-tuk fellows. Here are the directions:

This is located about 1.5-2km from Wellawaya along Koslanda road near the Water Pump Station which is popularly known as the Ice Peella Pompagaraya. Just look for the No. 215/3 Bokkuwa. There is a tiny footpath between the pump station and the adjacent house to the right. Take this and it’ll circle to the back of the pump station and you will come to a narrow concrete canal built across the stream which is about 25ft below.

This is where all your gymnastic skills will come into play. The canal is about a foot and a half each in width and depth. Either side the concrete walls are about 5-6 inches wide. Yeah inches not feet. You have to balance on this (remember no getting into the canal) for another 30ft to reach the safety of the other end. For those who still don’t get what I am trying to tell you, just imagine walking along the iron bars on the railway line only about 1/3 in width. My legs shook so bad I had to caress them a bit and do a little pep talk. They kept refusing but the urge to see this beauty overpowered the unsteadiness of the legs.

I got on to the concrete and didn’t look back or up until I was on the other side. Just as I was heaving a sigh of relief, the legs reminded me of the return journey. Stopping the breath in mid-air, I followed the water to a leak in the canal. All this is about 200m from the main road even though I try to make it like 20km. This is when I met Ashan and his friends coming after a bath. They kept on coz he had work till late and I urged Ranga forward.  Here go downhill to the right until the base of the falls. This is a rare beauty with a large base pool and another rock pool on the top.

The water level was not so bad and I was beginning to change my mind about going back to Colombo. Well, it was one of the wisest things I’ve ever done in my life coz the journey ended after 17 waterfalls. Almost all of them looking rich and glamorous. So the lesson you have to learn is always weigh a situation when faced in a dilemma and listen to your calm side. The temptation to have a cool dip was so much but I felt that Ranga was in a hurry so decided against it and got back to the path once again crossing the canal with legs playing all the guitars from Rhythm to Base. I’m sure you’re itching to see the pictures and here they are. Next I’m gonna take you to a place quite different from the theme of the journey. An archeological site which is known all over the world for its craftsmanship like at Aukana and Res Vehera.

It’s behind this premises

Water treatment plants

Another

Where we had to go

Just before the falls

There she is

Looking at the rocky wall, she must get very wide during heavy rains

Lots of tree cover

Portrait

Safe enough for bathing

Let’s go up

From the top

Downstream

The water pool on the top of falls

Nice and shallow for people like me

Time to go

Huge ones

Shady path parallel to the stream

Ranga had no problem

Buduruwagala

Buduruwagala is located about 6km from Wellawaya along Thanamalwila road. Near the main road you can see the Buduruwagala Archeological Museum but the main archeological site is another 4km from the main road passing the Buduruwagala Tank. The charcoal grey clouds had developed over Ella mountains and were on their way to the southeast where we were. I bid farewell to Ranga and thanked him for the help and guidance. I got into a Thanamalwila bus amid the not-so-friendly gestures of the conductor. It was around 2pm and the bus was crowded with school children.

It is only Rs. 15/- to Buduruwagala and I spent a restless quarter hour trying to make sure I don’t miss the Buduruwagala junction. Finally I managed to make my way out of the bus after a lot of wriggling. I was in two minds whether to go to the museum or the archeological site. Finally I decided to go to the archeological site as it was the most important thing. I hired another tuk-tuk and made our way to the magical location. Chamika, the tuk-tuk fellow, seemed quite a nice person and we chatted along. After about 15 mins we arrived at the site to find four buses of school kids (two groups) swarming around. Fortunately one group was just leaving and I asked Chamika to come with me to visit the stone sculptures.

It’s about 400m walk to the place along a beautifully done path. We rushed to beat the school kids coz I wanted some decent pictures of the statues without having to wrestle with a bunch of playful kids. However you hardly have a chance with a bunch of let-loose kids. After a few pictures they invaded the site running all over. I was glad that the ground was sandy not muddy coz they would have turned it into a ploughed paddy field in seconds from the way they ran around. Chamika said that they would be gone sooner than they arrived and for me to stay put. So I sat at one corner and concentrated on the sculptures.

There are 7 in all. Two groups of three either side of the main Buddha Statue in the middle. Like at Res Vehera, the makers had either not been able to or purposely left them bringing forward from the granite wall. They are carved into a huge rock about 100ft in length and more than 50ft in height. The Buddha Statue here is 51ft high and considered to be one of the tallest in the world especially after the brutal and extremist attack on Bahamian Buddha Statues in Afghanistan. Just like to the LTTE, see what happened to those ruthless killers.

On the right of the Buddha Statue (to your left) is the Avalokitesvara (the Bodhisattva of Compassion). To the left of this white-painted figure is a female figure thought to be his consort, Tara. Local legend says the third figure represents Prince Sudhana. Moving onto the other side, the crowned figure at the centre of the group is thought to be Maitreya, the future Buddha. To his left stands Vajrapani, who holds a Vajra (an hourglass-shaped Thunderbolt Symbol) – an unusual example of the Tantric side of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The figure to the left may be either Vishnu or Sahampath Brahma. Several of the figures hold up their right hands with two fingers bent down to the palm – a beckoning gesture. For a comprehensive reading, please read the article on Wikipedia and Amazing Lanka.

Just as Chamika predicted the kids vanished as they found very little excitement looking at the stone statues leaving me to enjoy the ingenuity of our forefathers. I’m gonna share them with you.

Trying to beat the large crowds

Please adhere by all means

We almost ran past these

There it is

Closer view

To the left of the main statue

The middle one looks as if it had been coated with some kinda plaster

To the right

Center one

Side angle

Oh god, finally they were all over

The teachers had a time getting them to sit and pose for a picture

Surrounding

Finally some space

See the carvings

Back to the left side

Is that a tiny Buddha Statue on the middle of the head dress?

This was huge and reminded me of Aukana and Res Vehera

Full view

Some peace for the place after the raucous crowd

The rain was imminent

Good day’s work

Spotted purely by chance

See you again

We then left this grand place and got back on the road. Chamika was hooked on the phone and paid very little attention to my questions. So whenever I want him to stop, just a pat on the shoulder. We saw remains of another Buddhist temple with a Dagoba and stone pillars some way before the main complex. And I got him to stop at the Buduruwagala tank as well. Here are some of the pictures and I can hear Ashan’s calling impatiently. Gotta hurry up and get to the Buduruwagala junction.

The canals leading to Buduruwagala

Rains have taken care of them

Waiting game

Buduruwagala Tank

There it is

Got a nice view point

Isolated

Greenery

Done for the day

Rain is imminent

Very true

The Dagoba I told you about

Here it is

Closer look

Standing on the top

More to excavate and see

I met Ashan and went to Monaragala where I’d spend the night. Well, don’t expect anything from tomorrow coz I’ve already told you guys about it. If you wanna refresh the memories, check out the Day 02 on this link. Well, on day three, we’re going to see some more beautiful girls and it is going to be Ashan’s farewell for them as well having been in Monaragala for so long, he’s due a transfer to Chilaw (will have been transferred by the time you read this and probably done a half a dozen tours as well).

On the day 02, we reached Dewathura, another beautiful and isolated village surrounded by the mountains in the Namunukula Range. To reach there, take the Passara-Palwatta Road till the 11th km post. Just there take the right uphill turn for another 6km and you will be in Dewathura and mark my words, it’s gonna wow you to no end. It was raining cats and dogs when we reached there. Well there was nothing else to do but have a sumptuous dinner and tuck in for the night. The distant noise of the Dewathura Oya put us to sleep and I slept like a hibernating grizzly bear. Come in the morning for another roller coaster ride.

Day 03

Somebody walking around woke me and as I peeped out of my thin-layered sleeping bag I saw Ashan moving about and the time had gone past 5am. “Go back to sleep. There is more time” was I remembered just before falling asleep once again. When I got up again it was well gone by 6am and I wriggled out of the sack holding me. The sun was coming up over the mountains but from where we were there was precious little to see the morning show.

I came back and had a wash coz the rains and the dew usually leave their prints on the soft petals and green leaves in the shape of droplets of water. While I was washing I heard Ashan saying that he’d been busy trying to shake the water off the leaves and petals. “What a wicked thing you’ve done” I screamed but realized that he was trying to take the mickey out of me when I ran out into the garden.

The mountains in the distance looked amazing and below them about 100m from where I stood was a paddy field with its typical green coat on. My under feat felt cold due to the dew on the grass and many flowers smiled at me as if trying to make me feel better. The dew was there all over the plants, leaves and the colorful flowers. I was just getting crazy wondering where to start. Pink rose petals were like cheeks of a new born baby girl. They had many droplets of dew clinging lovingly to the soft tissue like petals. I wanted to feel them but was scared to touch them. The whole garden smelled of fresh dew, grass and flowers invigorating my mind and the soul.

Well, I know I’m making you jealous and you should be coz this is not something you get to see everyday. Here are the pictures for you to enjoy. Oh just forgot to tell you about the juicy guava which were waving for my attention. I just jumped up and scooped up a few and popping one in and chewing slowly I realized how tasty they were. They were from a different world, gosh I want more.

Good morning!

Where we stayed

Here we go, Ashan probably shook these off

Ginger

Plenty of them

Sign of dew

Oh just look at that color

Not ready to bloom yet

Not ripe enough otherwise you wouldn’t have seen this

Drenched birds’ nest

Water was all over them

Almost touching the ground

See the dew all over?

More

Like a glass flower

Guava, very juicy and tasty

We had them after the picture

Gorgeous red

I went mad trying to take pics of all

Bougainvillea

Central Dispensary, Dewathura

Here it is

See who it is?

Resting after breakfast

Paddy fields

Gorgeous but rains have ruined the crops a lot

See the hut?

There, looks strongly built

Still more to grow

Time for the waterfalls

Habaraththawa Ella

After a good hour or so of my enjoying the guava and the beauty of this remote village we decided to go for the first waterfall of the day. She’s been named as Habaraththawa Ella by Ashan coz the place where she is known as Habaraththawa. She originates from Dewathura Oya that starts from Namunukula Mountain. It’s easy to find coz everyone in the village knows it. Located about 1-2km off the main road where the last stretch (800-1000m) you need to go on foot. The turn off is near a cement built bus stop about 1km before the Dewathura Central Dispensary.

We drove on and parked at the last house before we had to take it on foot. The walk along the leech infested path was no trouble and I was impatient to see this beautiful falls. When we got to the flowing Dewathura Oya, I just couldn’t take my eyes off of what I saw. Here in front of my eyes was a scene I dearly would love to see anywhere and anytime. This not-so-tall fall was jumping over a wide rocky wall creating a white cloth full of silken threads.

“Oh my gosh!” was all I managed to utter before firing the shutter button until Ashan laughingly said that this is not the real fall. “What do you mean? Is there another falls here?” I asked feeling anxious. “Right over there” he pointed downstream where the water fell into a deep gorge. We had to be extremely careful not to slip and fall into the fast flowing water or hitting the rocks scattered around. While we do that you check these out. I can’t afford to lose concentration now.

Where we parked our vehicle

Mountains in the distance

The boy behind said “Amme ayyage photo gaththa”

It may be a rural village but the creativity is not lost

If only you know the trouble we took to take this single shot

Tiny ones

The leech-infested path

Japanese umbrella?

Dewathura Oya

The upper cascade

Oh looks really good

Wow

One sexy lady

Like a set of threads falling in unison

The base pool is huge but deep too

Through the blocks

She was so beautiful I couldn’t get enough of her

Another close up

Spent quite a long time with her

Well, guess time to go see her elder sister

After slipping and sliding down, we managed to get to the top of where the water fell and here was a taller and gorgeous lady. I pinched myself in the left arm to make sure this wasn’t a fairy tale dream. “Please let this be real not another of my dreams” I pleaded and “aawh” I gasped at the bite my nails made on the exposed biceps. But the joy I felt overpowered the pain coz this was for real and I was there in person and what I was seeing the real thing not a hallucination.

She is tall and playful as she curved around before falling onto the rocks below. “I want to go down” I told Ashan who was balancing carefully on a rock which was very slippery. “No can do. We have to cross the river but not when she’s in a raging mood”. He was right and the fattened up body of Dewathura Oya looked very dangerous to be messing around. I looked around frantically for a way down but none safe way was available. However I managed to get about 5ft down to another rock hanging onto a wine where I got a decent look. Last time Ashan had come, he’d been able to get to the base but the water levels were very low compared to now.

This was a long and pure white flow of water. I just looked mesmerized by her playful ways. Every minute felt like a second as time flew past me but I simply didn’t want to leave. Here was a sensual and adorable virgin that was worth looking again and again for the rest of the day. However as always it looks as if it always drags us from the best of the things rather quickly while the sorrows seem to stay on forever. Feeling both elated and sad at the same time, we turned around to go for the next beauty waiting for us. Remember; never leave a gorgeous girl waiting for you too long. Here are the pictures you are craving for.

The top

Slanting along the rocky surface

It was tough to get the whole length in one shot

See the base

No chance to get there

The best shot with the whole falls

Top part

Glistening in the sunlight

Hugging to the rocks

Dewathura Oya was rich and dancing

Wish they were edible

“The God Must Be Crazy VII”

It was cool to be among the filtering rays

Superb

Had to spend a long time to capture him

Saying bye

A million-dollar worth pic

Kandahena Ella

Like the Habaraththawa Ella, this was named by Ashan as she is located in Kandahena Estate. She originates from a stream that starts from Namunukula Mountain. Here are the directions for it but should be no trouble to find her either.

Take the road to Kandahena Tamil School No. 2 (there is a concrete road that is off the main road running through the tea plantation) and go past it up to the sign board “Kandahena Tea Nursery”. The road after about a couple of hundred meters is simply not drivable except in a 4WD. Fortunately we were in one and swaying from side to side as if we were in a choppy sea, we drove on while students from the school looked surprisingly at us. From the sign (a good place to leave your vehicle if you were foolish enough to take it that far) go straight through the gate and then turn left at the line houses and follow the trail. Remember that the road you followed up to the sign is continuing with a sharp bend to the left. If you have the time, follow it and it will bring you to the top of the falls and farther higher up is the Kandahena Tamil School No. 1. You simply don’t understand the difficulties until you go there in person and I just can’t imagine the plight of the kids who have to traverse the rugged terrain probably in just a pair of flip flops.

The path will take you after another couple of hundred meters to a place where you can see the falls in the distance. The trail was muddy and we got bogged down a few times but managed to free ourselves without muddying the socks. Here was a fall with a relatively bigger and taller upper part and many small cascades as she plunges down. The trail we were taking had been a fairly wide estate road but now overgrown into a tiny footpath due to the minimal use by people let alone vehicles. Here are some distant shots both zoomed in and out.

On the move

Ran and hid behind the mother

Line house you have to turn left

Droplets on the leaf

Furry

She’s there and this is the actual distance

Zooming in

Reminded me of Wee Oya Ella

Perfect frame

Managed to find a better place

The top part

Bottom

Ok, let’s get closer

Wonder if this is a trap

Full package

We then walked up to a wide bridge signaling this had indeed been a large jeep track. The cascades went under the bridge making some more downstream. However the view of the top was somewhat blocked due to the close proximity of us standing closer to it. “Shall we climb up and see if there is a good view?” asked Ashan and I didn’t want a second invitation. So we climbed on all fours like land crabs holding onto the rocks and roots of grass bushes. Mana blades scraped our already smarting (after the Rodakdanguwa Ella experience) exposed skins mercilessly. But their resistance was just a trifle compared to our determination to get up there.

After slipping a countless times, we finally reached a good vantage point where it offered a grand view of the top section and a couple of other segments. After a while, we decided to get back onto the solid ground but found it was gonna be tougher than we anticipated. Do you remember what happens to the cats, leopards and most of the feline family that are silly enough to climb up trees? They simple don’t know how to get down and were faced with a similar a dilemma. So why don’t you enjoy these pictures while we do the climbing down?

Up close, covered with the rock and we gotta get up there

See that

Only the top part is visible when zoomed

Cascade just below the main one

Closer look

Another one (the third in overall from the top)

Here’s the fourth cascade

Portrait of that

The fifth one

The bridge where we started climbing up

Just near the bridge and we couldn’t get below the bridge to see the rest of the cascades

Towards Monaragala and South East

Our Jeep aka CTB Bus waiting for us

Black & White

Aradunu Ella

Our next attraction for the day was Aradunu Ella in Passara which is according to Ashan is the headquarters of Piaggio tuk-tuks. So we returned to Dewathura and had breakfast before driving fast to Passara. If you had read Ashan’s report, there is a hydro power plant which is run using the water of Aradunu Ella. If you’re to see healthy levels of water one needs to go there before 8am. We spent so long with beauties of Dewathura and the time was past 10am.

While we were wondering whether or not to visit Aradunu Ella (I had no intention of visiting a dried up rocky wall), Ashan came up with an idea. He’d the telephone number of one of the workers at the power plant and we called to check the situation. Fortunately he answered after a frightening delay and to the joy of us said that there’s ample water despite diversion to the power plant. We drove faster not wanting to miss this great lady.

Aradunu Ella originates from Loggal Oya which then flows separating Kohonawala from Badulla side. To get to the falls, take Madolsima Road from Passara for just over 2km and take the left turn at the name board. Then take the left on that road at the first Y point and then a right when you come to a shed which is about 200m from the main road. From here stick to the right and walk for about 1.8km at the edge of the tea estate. However you will have to keep checking the directions coz it’s hard to give you exact directions due to the nature of the estate road. However if you happen to come to a place where the towering Namunukula is in front of you and a deep ravine below with paddy fields, you have gone too far. We too got as far in the jeep and decided to walk back.  Just back track and take the road that goes downhill to the left or right depending on how you go. We lost it a few times even though Ashan had been here twice before but some two years ago. Fortunately we got lucky and found a person to get the correct directions.

Alternatively you could take the Passara RMV Road which meets the former path about 1km before the power plant and the falls. We walked down hearing the roar of Aradunu Ella in the distance. The closer we came, the louder she fell. I was as excited as a boy who is going to see his girlfriend on their first date. Finally we saw the roof of the power plant and a notice warning against bathing in the base pool. We had no such idea and crashed through the bushes almost falling headlong into the viewing point. “Oh my my” was all I seemed to manage recently when coming face to face with such beautiful and graceful ladies.

The worker was right coz there was so much water even though they had diverted a large amount to generate electricity. She was simply truly amazing and worth every trouble we took to visit her. We just sat on a rock and admired the sheer beauty in front of our eyes. I knew for sure this was no dream and felt very happy about it. Well, I won’t keep you guessing for long and here are the pictures.

Sign board at the Madolsima Road

Gorgeous Namunukula… If you’ve come this far, you gotta turn around and take the first left downhill path

To the right of her

Left of her

Valley down below

Gem mining goes on with backhoes despite the ban

Couldn’t resist taking more of her

Re-tracing our steps

This is the point where the Madolsima trail (to the right uphill one) and Passara RMV trail (from where this pic taken) meet. You need to go towards Ashan

You can see the roof of the power plant

She’s a beauty, ain’t she?

Beginning of the endless pic journey

Portrait

Base pool

So much water despite the water diversion

Lower section

Goes downstream

Tiny pools like these are inviting for a bath

After using by the power plant

Wide angle

Closer view

Rocky gorge where water gushing down

Felt like flying

Time to go

Trustworthy companion waiting patiently

Pareiyan Ella

Our next target was the Pareiyan Ella in Badalkumbura. We were tired after the hike up and down to the Aradunu Ella and the sun was scorching hot making us sweat profusely. “It’s gonna rain sooner than yesterday” Ashan predicted but I yearned for him to be wrong like our Met Department. Well later it would prove that he was right about it. We took the Passara-Badalkumbura road which was under construction. About half of it is fully completed but so much more to do.

We lemme give you the directions first. Pareiyan Ella originates from Menik Ganga and is one of the unorthodoxly beautiful waterfalls in Sri Lanka. If you care for such beauty, take the Badalkumbura-Buttala road for about 4.5km then take the right turn with a sign announcing Pareiyan Ella thanks to the Uva PC. Follow this road for about 2km before turning to the right towards a house where you have to leave your vehicle. Look for a small sign stuck on a tree saying “Ella” at the turn. You had better keep checking the directions from the locals just to be on the safe side.

From the house take the path to the right with steps all the way to the river. Follow the river downstream along the left bank till the Pareiyan Ella. It’s about 400m walk. We were initially planning to buy some lunch from Badalkumbura and have it at the Pareiyan Ella after a bath in the river where there is a safe bathing spot as soon as you reach the water. However the weather changed faster than a couple of movie stars changing their clothes in the songs leaving us with very little choice.

We decided to skip lunch and drove to the falls. As soon as we stopped the vehicle, we knew the rain was imminent but rushed down the steps. Ashan had a small umbrella which is excellent when taking pictures in the rain so long as winds are mild. Unfortunately I was without one except my raincoat (just didn’t cross my mind to take one all the way from Colombo) which is useless when trying to take pictures unless you have a waterproof camera.

We reached the Menik Gang that was gushing down with a manic (rhymes beautifully ain’t it? – manic Menik Ganga) energy. We followed the trail and reached the base of the falls as the sky opened up their flood gates. It added to the havoc wreaked by the raging water and we were stranded under a tiny umbrella. Pareiyan Ella looked chocolate brown due to the soil eroding power of the water but not less in beauty. We took turns taking pictures of the falls covering our cameras. The rains kept on making our pictures cris-crossed with falling water drops. After a lot of futile attempts, we managed to take a few decent shots and Ashan pointed at a set of carved steps into the rocky wall other side of the river.

According to the folklore, this had been done by a king when he sought refuge here and enjoyed his water sports near the waterfall. Our kings managed to live in style whether they were in power or hiding from the invaders. A quality which has evolved and being used even today by the politicians whether they are in power or in the opposition. Here are the pictures.

Turn off here

At the river

Rocky formation, more pics later

Just look at her

The rain was intense

Closer view

Mixture of muddy brown and white

Will have to come back

See the steps to the left of the rock just below the tree line

The river was raging downhill

Another day and time, this would’ve made a beautiful place to camp

Ashan said that going to see the Menik Ganga Dunhinda Ella is very dangerous as we had to go downstream of the river. A task which would have ripped us apart to pieces in a single wrong movement. So quite sadly, I agreed and got back into the trail and reached the top of Pareiyan Ella. The rain seemed to lessen and we thought of waiting to see what would happen. While we were waiting, we took these pictures. Note the brick red color of the granite here which is unusual but gorgeous.

Happened to come across them

Rain drops hanging

Very tiny

Top of the right hand section

Closer

It was so slippery

You can see the base of it too

The rocky boulder separating them prevented us getting a glimpse of the other part

The top of her

The base

Wide angle

Rains have stopped and must go back

The river goes down

Rocks with vivid colors

Some more

Very slippery

Little bit of sunlight

Up stream

Ok, time to go see without rain blockade

Menik Ganga Dunhinda Mini Falls

This was the last in line of my marathon waterfall hunt but the ferocity of the river made it next to impossible and deadly dangerous. Even though we gave up the idea to visit her, it kept nagging at the back of our minds. Finally the rains eased and I suggested we go take some more pictures of the Pareiyan Ella. Ashan was reluctant but followed me yet. He was suffering from the same frustration as of me not being able to go see this beauty having come so close. Not to forget this was his farewell to the virgins of Uva. He then suggested we try to get downstream walking through the jungle parallel to the river. Well I guess you know me well enough not to miss anything like that. So while I took a couple of clear pictures of the Pareiyan Ella, Ashan went in search of a way. Care to see more pictures of the Pareiyan Ella?

Here we are

Need to be careful to tackle here

How’s that?

Awesome

Portrait

Let’s go explore the others

Menik Ganga Dunhinda Ella is about 200-300m downstream from Pareiyan Ella. That is if you follow the river. However we were trying to find an alternative route through the jungle bordering the river and I heard Ashan shouting that it is not difficult to get through the jungle.

So we started to follow the river along the left bank for Dunhinda Ella. Remember this was dry zone and its forests are notoriously famous for poisonous snakes so we had to be extremely careful. The ground was full of fallen and decaying leaves which sank under our weight as much as a foot. Snakes like resting under these leaves so every step was a real danger.

The last time Ashan visited here with Kasun, there was very little water and they had been able to walk along the river to the top of Menik Ganga Dunhinda Ella. The situation was vastly different now and we kept on keeping the river about 50-100m from us to the right. Having walked for about 400m (which felt like 40km) we decided to follow a dried up stream down to the river. The rocks were slick with green slime and all of a sudden Ashan jumped back shouting there was a snake.

Oh dear, the only thing we wanted right now but he said it was a relatively low venomous one known as “Kunakatuwa” or Hump-Nosed Viper. However had it bitten, things would have been far from complicated. Thankfully he spotted just in time. Wanna see a picture? See how camouflaged the fellow is.

Can you see it?

Dangerous pose

We shaking like fever patients descended the rest circumventing the snake and bingo, at the water with a beautiful waterfall. I thought this was the Dunhinda Ella but Ashan said she’s at the far side. So I just used the name Menik Ganga Dunhinda Mini Falls very much like the original Dunhinda Ella in Badulla who has a little sister downstream. This was falling in the middle of the very wide rocky wall and there was a tiny cave behind the body of water. Lemme show her to you and tell me if all the dangers and risks though calculated ones, we took were worth it.

I thought this was the original falls

She’s in a nice setting

If only there was more water, she’d look like Sera Ella

Time to go see her elder sister

“Let’s go” Ashan kept saying

“Well, one more” I kept saying

“Oh, another” I kept delaying him

Rocky cave in front of the Dunhinda Ella

Menik Ganga Dunhinda Ella

After a while, Ashan urged me to make a move to Menik Ganga Dunhinda Ella. We could barely see a Niagara like body of falling towards the other side of the river with a thunderous bang. So we circled the river bank which was full of washed down garbage, plastic bottles, clothes, etc. Then walking through a 10ft high rocky boulders we got the first proper glimpse of this hidden beauty.

“Holy, Moly, Macaroni!” we screamed in unison. This was a big one and a ferocious one too. The water was so fierce it tried to tear the solid granite walls into pieces. She was white but like a school girl who had spent too much time in the playground rather than the classroom, had brownish stains scattered around the dress.  She surely looked naughty but lovable all the same.

We got closer to her and spent a long time staring at the beauty of the most beautiful thing we had seen on the day. Ashan kept asking if I was impressed. Well he can say that again coz impressed doesn’t even come closer to express my true feelings. I want to impress you too and here’s how. Before that, this was the perfect farewell for Ashan and the grandeur ending I was hoping for.

Just look at that

Must get closer

She’s gorgeous

Clearer ground

Getting closer

Some more

Much more to capture

Slightly tinged with muddy brown

Portrait

She was too wide for the frame at times

Oh yeah

Raging river downstream

Little sister through the trees

One more look before leaving her

Custard mushroom

Pareiyan Ella in the distance

Oh, what a window?

Typical wild flowers

Ready to say good bye

One last look

Well guys and gals, what do you think? Tell me if you’re as ecstatic as I am. I just couldn’t get enough but all good things come to an ending so very sadly we bid farewell to this sensational creature of the Mother Nature. I’m sure she felt sad too seeing us leaving so soon but we had no other choice.

The return journey was quicker but more frightening as we kept trying to evade the snake which came across and any others. Finally we reached Pareiyan Ella and said goodbye once again. Afterwards we traced our way back to the jeep feeling over the moon but exhausted physically beyond imagination. We then realized we were ravenous and drove to Buttala and had a hearty meal.

Afterwards Ashan dropped me at Monaragala where I was to take a bus to Colombo. So bidding him farewell and thanking for the guidance and help, I got into a bus. The driver had very little sense of music as the same CD of Shelton Muthunamage (16 songs) were played again and again for the next 6hrs. They kept ringing in my ears even after one week.

Well folks, I just can’t believe I was that lucky. Hope you all like what we saw and enjoyed it as much. Thanks for your patience in reading through the mile long fairy tale and hopefully will see with another before long. Until then this is Sri signing off.

Take care!

Map around Wellawaya – click to enlarge

map around Ranugalla

map around galge – click to enlarge

Wellawaya was not only a place of work for me it was also a paradise location for me to explore around. I have been to many places around this region but yet there were few more remaining sites that I needed to visit. This is a brief report on those..

• Alugal lena okkampitiya
• Saddathissa tank
• Weheragala dam & ruins
• Weheragala temple
• Galge
• Ambalanpotha ambalama
• Ravana cave ranugalla
• Pattini devalaya ranugalla
• Kandahena ella
• Kataragama devalaya meeyanakadura
• Siyagul viharaya – Siyambalagune
• Bulu gal lena
• Hunuketiya temple / udugam medda hermitage
• Udawela temple
• Peraketiya temple
• Rathmal wehera
• Thissa len viharaya
• Malwaththawala rmv
• Ice paella / Kaluwala
• Karuwala kanda lake
• Alugalge tank
• Ambakola wewa

Alugal lena okkampitiya (6°44’2.70″N 81°23’26.09″E)

This is a lovely monastery located bordering Hulandawa oya at maligawila. Currently there is only a single monk. To reach this one needs to reach Maligawila and ask for directions.

Paddyfields bardering Yala

Hulandawa oya

Alugalge lena Alu lena boardering hulandawa oya

sakman maluwa

Saddathissa tank (6°44’44.72″N 81°21’30.44″E)

Close to Maligavila there is a lovely tank called Saddathissa lake.

Saddathissa lake

Horombawa at backdrop

Spill of Saddathissa lake

on the edge

Weheragala dam & ruins (6°32’16.82″N 81°16’2.74″E)

At Galge junction on Buttala – Kataragama road there is an entrance towards Weheragala reservoir and just before the bund there is a restored archaeology site. Few other sites which were submerged to the reservoir could be seen restored at kataragama museum.

Weheragala reservoir

dead trees

the reflection

gates of Weheragala

plenty of them

ruins close to the dam

Weheragala Seya (6°32’20.36″N 81°17’4.25″E)

Closer to the entrance of the park there is a road towards the south leading to an ancient restored pagoda

and a hornbill

Weheragala seya

ruins at weheragala seya

view towards kataragama

parts of a chatra gala

Galge (6°32’21.30″N 81°18’22.96″E)

Galge has got its name because of the ancient archaeology site with drip ledged caves also there is a monument build in remembrance of British sportsman J.P. Ireson.

the mysterious cave at galge, so this is the reason why galge is called galge not because of a ganadevi kovil

drip ledge

pond at galge

in memory of

click to enlarge

Ambalanpotha ambalama (6°48’18.52″N 81°11’59.34″E)

Have you ever heard of Ambalam’s built to survive elephant attacks? Yes there were such ambalam’s in Sri lanka. There are remains of an ambalam with 8 foot tall base and a stairway to get to the ambalama close Yudaganawa. To reach this place one needs to take the Pelwatta – Passara road and turn to the right at Moratugama.

Ambalanpotha ambalama base

once there was a ambalama built on top of it so travelers would be safe from elephants

the stair way

Ravana cave ranugalla (6°50’54.41″N 81°10’17.66″E)

In between the 12^th and 13^th Kilometer post of Pelwatta – Passara road there is a large road side cave called Ravana cave according to the locals. This is now filled with earth and will disappear in the near future when the road construction begins.

Ravana cave at ranugalla

inside the cave

lime stone

Pattini devalaya ranugalla (6°51’42.30″N 81°10’12.50″E)

There is an ancient Pattini devalaya on Ranugalla –Namunukula road which is about 1Km away from Ranugalla. There are few ancient paintings in the devalaya but I was not lucky enough to witness it.

Ranugalle Pattini devalaya

old one in the new one

Kataragama devalaya meeyanakadura (6°51’14.18″N 81° 9’10.84″E)

Passing the pattini devalaya and proceeding 5 more Kilometers, there is a turn off at Miyanakadura which will take one towards the hill top Kataragama devalaya. There are ancient steps to get to the top of this rock massif and few years back even elephants marched to the top along with the annual perahera.

the range with the Katarahgama devalaya of miyanakadura

zoomed

the well which supplys water to the shrine activities

ancient steps

the view towards balleketuwa

the unique palm like rocky outgrowing

lord ganeshwaram

Kataragama gods shrine

view towards monaragala

wow

on the right of the mango tree remains of a nuilding could be seen

paddy at wellawaya

from top of the mountain

binara

Kandahena Falls (6°52’25.73″N 81° 8’28.33″E)

From Miyanakandura there is a road towards Kanda hena. After passing kandahena tamil school no2 you would reach a board saying Kandahena tea nursery.. There are few line houses there take the foot path adjoining the line houses to reach this fall.

කන්දහේන cascades

kandahena falls

Bulu gal lena caved hermitage (6°48’15.37″N 81° 9’31.72″E)

From Higurukaduwa one needs to take the Siyambalagune road and after about 3km’s there is a turn off towards the left. One needs to go 1.5km along this road and enter the forest to get to this abandoned hermitage. Please get guidance from the last house.

the path to bulu gal lena

Bulu gal lena hermitage

inside a cave

note the drip lege

another cave

Siyagul viharaya – Siyambalagune (6°48’23.38″N 81° 8’15.54″E)

At Siyambalagune close to the 4^th Km post from Randeniya is an ancient temple with a pagoda. This temple has got its name because this was the 100^th temple built by King Dutu gemunu.

entrance to the temple

ancient pagoda and bo tree together

Hunuketiya temple / udugam medda hermitage (6°48’10.06″N 81° 4’39.78″E)

After reaching Randeniya we proceeded towards Ella on Ella – Wellawaya road. At hunuketiya junction we went two kilometers towards the school (taking the left hand road). Just before the school there is a 4wd road towards the hermitage to the right.

steps

national pride

main cave at Udugam medda hermitage of Hunuketiya

another cave

ගල් මුක්කුව

a drip ledge cave

Udawela temple (6°45’40.12″N 81° 6’38.27″E)

From Hunuketiya we returned back towards Wellawaya and on the way (before reaching wellawaya) we took the new carpet road towards Mallaththawa school. This goes across kirindi oya and once kirindi oya is crossed the temple could be found on the side of the road. There is an old pagoda and many ruins.

pagoda with bo trees at Udawela temple

pillars

kotha

chatra stone

Rathmal wehera (6°45’24.31″N 81° 6’4.56″E)

Proceeding further along Ella – Wellawaya road we came to the ancient temple of Rathmal vehera which is right on the side of the main road. There were few ruins scattered here and there but the most interesting finding was the Buddha carving near the bo tree.

pagoda at rathmal vehera

ruins

a sculpture with cobras in backdrop

image house

Peraketiya Gangaramayatemple (6°45’26.90″N 81° 5’25.15″E)

Opposite Rathmal wehera there is a road towards Peraketiya where a unique (bell) shaped pagoda could be seen. It said to be an ancient place but we found no evidence to justify.

Peraketiya bell shaped sthupa

bo tree

Thissa len viharaya (6°44’15.92″N 81° 5’31.91″E)

Just before Wellawaya town there is a road to the right (Netola road). When one goes along this the hermitage could be reached. This is a lovely place located bordering a stream and on top of a mountain. There are about 4 drip ledge caves here.

the way to This len aranya

a cave

dana shalawa

stream near the hermitage

this len viharaya

inscriptions

another cave

Malwaththawala Raja maha viharaya (6°43’48.97″N 81° 5’29.03″E)

Few hundred meters along Wellawaya – Beragala road lies the ancient temple of Mallaththawala. This is now rebuilt and there is hardly any evidence to suggest its ancient value.

image house

inside it

pagoda at malwattawala

what remains

Ice paella / Kaluwala Ella (6°43’44.48″N 81° 5’0.88″E)

Few km’s along Beragala road there is a water purification and distribution plant called “Ice Peella”. Close to its fence lies a foot path which ends up at a stream. There is a canal across this stream which should be crossed with caution. After crossing this stream one would come across another stream with a lovely waterfall with a deep base pool. The waterhole on top of the waterfall is relatively safe and it’s the best bathing spot for me in the whole district.

Kalu wala fall

the drop

top of the fall

alakola oya

Karuwala kanda lake (6°40’19.47″N 81° 5’45.38″E) & Alugalge tank (6°39’34.93″N 81° 5’21.47″E)

Passing Buduruwagala junction on A2 I took a by road towards the right to reach two mini tanks which is barely known to the public but the visit was totally worth it.

Karuwalakanda lake

a pelican

the spill

Alugalge tank

alu galge

lonely tree

view towards the hill country

Ambakola wewa (6°46’29.58″N 81°12’4.45″E)

On our return we took a turn towards Ambakola wewa close to Unawetuna area of Wellwaya – Monaragala road. It’s about 3km’s from the main road.

There are few waterfalls in the area like Habaraththawa falls, Ranugalla falls, Ellawala falls & Wishari falls close to Wellawaya if someone is interested..

Ambakola wewa

fisherman’s hut

dusk at ambakola wewa

The map – click to enlarge

Ok all started when someone teased me up with an image of a mountain top and he mentioned that this was shown on a TV program. I was tempted so I went through that video and decided that I need to visit this place. I was running through Google maps plus 1:50000 maps and I suddenly remembered that I saw this plain in 2009 while I was at Ihala Pelampitiya. I was told by a local at that time that this was Amanawala region though I was interested in climbing at that time, the interest faded away from me with years passing by. I was waiting till the monsoons to give a little break and soon as the weather settled during X-mas holidays I decided to give it a try.

Kasun joined me almost after one year and Amila was as always ready for the mission. This was a special trip for me because this was the first trip I went on without my camera (I forgot to bring it) since 2011. So I was dependent on Kasun & Amila. While both of us (Me & my better half) were enjoying the scenery the official photographers were doing their job. We left Maharagama at around 5am and reached Yatiyanthota around 8am. From Yatiyanthota we took the road through See forth which went parallel to Wee oya. Though this was the rainy season it had not rained in 5 days and to our surprise most of the waterfalls were dried out. On our way we did stop to have a glimpse of Malapola fall, Wee Oya falls, Kithul falls, Punugala falls and finally Olu falls. Please refer this report to get more information about those waterfalls. The Dombepola Mountain is clearly seen from Olu Ella and vice versa.

The tempting image sent to me by a friend

our destination

morning rays as seen by kasun

as seen by amila

the leafless

We Oya Falls no 1 (වී ඔය ඇල්ල 1)

malalpola falls

kithul falls

Punugala falls

Olu Ella – top part

Olu ella cascade near the bridge

After a small break at Olu falls we headed further towards Sri Sidda pattini devalaya of Amanawala. At the devalaya we were told that there is an easy way to the top via Pera gas handiya which we had already passed. The Television program crew had taken this route but we decided to go against it. Passing the devalaya there was a 3 way junction where we took the road towards the left and reached Wee oya causeway. Once we crossed the causeway we took the gravel road (4wd road) to right and proceeded towards a small village shop where we halted the vehicle. There is a stairway which leads uphill through the tea estate close to this boutique. Actually it is difficult to explain the directions but it’s advisable to get proper directions from the shop owner and on the way we met many people who guided us properly. Initially we went through a tea patch and then a forest patch before we reached another tea patch. From this tea patch it was a steep climb and finally we reached a concrete road (which one could take from Waharaka area of Bulathkohupitiya – Dedugala road). This concrete road heads towards the summit region of 52 acre rock / Dombepola rock (wawulagala). There are few houses close to the summit and there is a foot path which runs along a tea estate towards Dombepola plains. It’s advisable to get clear directions from locals at this point. As we heard the Dombepola side path is less confusing so try taking that route. It took us almost 1 ½ hours to climb up this hill from where we parked our vehicle and it was a mixture of steep climbs and flat stretches. We were actually lucky to get away from Leech attacks thanks to “Alum” and the dry weather.

through the bushes

jungle patch

a rest

we came across many houses even close to the summit

out of the jungle, into the estate roads

last tea patch

Princess

at the last house

these chaps were so friendly

a path almost covered

Once we got to the summit we were so relieved because this was a hike after along break. Though Amila and Kasun were continuously mocking me during this hike I really enjoyed their company and my wife was also happy because she got a chance to join us. It was a huge plain on top of the mountain but if it rained the plain would have converted in to a mini swamp. We saw many potential camp sites and I think this would be a perfect place to camp because you could get water from nearby houses if needed (before the last bit of climbing). We wondered all over the plains and for change I had two photographers clicking our poses continuously. On one side we could see the Kabaragala peak and the whole of Dolosbage range, one side was covered by Wewelthalawa range, Olu ella and its uppermost cascade was seen plunging down from Wewelthalawa plateau. The upper part seemed taller than Bambarakanda for me. Wee oya valley and the See forth road running parallel to it was seen close to the abyss. If it was an evening the setting sun would have provided a better view towards Colombo too. After having a snack and endless amount of photographs we decided to head back.

few more meters to go

he was so elated

lovely

lonely tree

a mini forest patch on the top

time to explore

the plains

looking for landmarks

the valley

towards Dedugala, Ihala pelampitiya & Dolosbage

his famous pose for the day

Photographer no 1

Photographer no 2

ITN tower of Wewelthalawa

lovely camp site

dolosbage range seen over the plains

towards yatiyanthota

at the edge

Olu ella was also seen

wee oya valley

wee oya

Dombepola temple at the base

clicking

and clicking

ah both of us

again the lonely tree

overgrown

52 acres to walk

more scenery

towards the west

kabaragala seen far to the right & the pointed peak is raxagala

lovely place to be

a pano

a water source

frog life

the plateau

the dried out swamp

heading back

the team

time to get back

wild orchid

another beauty

where we were

After reaching the base we took off towards Halgolla tea factory and took the Wewelthalawa road. Unfortunately now they do not allow anyone to proceed uphill without special permission. So we had to turn back and head towards Colombo. So if you want to visit Wewelthalawa please obtain permission prior to your visit. After reaching Colombo I had to drive to Chilaw because my wife had a night shift. Though I had a relaxing sleep that day she had to work the whole night but yet this was one memorable journey to us.

Black start shows Waulagala. Black box shows the bridge at Olu Falls. Our approximate pathway is shown by black arrows.

Waulagala

Waulagala

Zoomed view of top of the rock

Getting blessings from Dewalaya

Directions following Dewalaya

Road goes parallel with this

Starting the journey

Foot pathway

Happy faces of the journey….Indeewara and Anupama……

Directions when we come to the estate road. Red arrow shows where we came from. Black arrow shows the direction from Dedugala road. Green is the way you have to follow.

Next turn

Coffee

Tea

Waulagala is close now

Reaching the destination

The surface of Waulagala is covered with short shrubs, grass and Mana bushes. It was hardly seen tall trees. We have noticed a marshy area at the center of Waulagala. Waulagala seems a good place for camping but a good water source was not seen. According to our guide, usually wind flows fast on top of Waulagala but not seen on that day.
We walked towards other end where Wee Oya valley (වී ඔය නිම්නය), Olu Ella, Wewalthalawa (වේවැල්තලාව) with it’s towers were visible. This end was called as Dombepola Mini World’s end (දොඹේපල කුඩා ලෝකාන්තය). It was amazing to see Olu Falls as a cascade from here and fairly large another fall above Olu Falls-Upper Olu Falls. Further away we were able to view range of Dolosbage.
We spent about an hour there and came down straight way through the tea estate rather than following the foot pathway we came up. At the end we refreshed with a cool dip from Wee Oya.

On top of Waulagala….

?? Pre historical evidences……..

Marshy land at center

On top of Waulagala

Unusual colors

Olu Falls-Circled and famous bridge is shown by arrow

Upper Olu cascade

Wewalthalawa with it’s towers

A dam built crossing Wee oya and diversion of water for power generation

Appearing of sun over gloomy weather

Dolosbage range

The only tree I noticed there

Unlimited snaps

The team except Anupama at view point of Mini World’s end.

Getting down

Cascade captured on our way back…

Thank you

Trip Highlights

1. Balumgala Hike
2. Balana Fort
3. Dekinda Falls

It was my long waited dream to visit Balumgala. It was planned in a short time and we started at 11:30 from Mawanella.

Balumgala

This is the Rock located at the Kadugannawa Gap. The Rock is clearly visible from the Pahala Kadugannawa General viewing point.

We completed difficult & memorable trip with lot of happy memories.

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We can view entire Kadugannwa valley From Balumgala rock and it gives a unforgettable experience.

The Route to the rock is very simple. You have to travel along the Kadugannawa – Gampola road about 1 Km and there is a road to right which ends at Telcom Towers. Access to Balumgala from Telecom presmises is restricted. Therefore we must take the footpath from the tea estate just before the telecom presmises.

The path is given in the below map;

The path is given in Green

There is another small rock in this road as shown in the map above. Most people are misguided and visit this place believing this as Balumgala.

Small Rock just before Balumgala

The view from the rock- The Balumgala is in the Left

Kadugannawa railway Tunnel

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There is a private road at the place where this rock is located. To reach the Balumgala, we have to take this road (100 M) at the end of the road there is a tea estate. You can find a footpath through this estate which will lead you to the Balumgala.

Path	Mount Alagalla

Balumgala- First look

We achieved it

The Plains

Pahala Kadugannawa-General Viewing point

The opposite side- Dawson Tower is visble

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Kabaragala Zoomed

Uthuwankanda

Rainco Kadugannawa Factory

Can you see a straight line? – May be a road in the old times?

Travellers

Dewanagala with Bathalegala

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Full view

The First rock – View from the Balumgala

We spent around nearly 1 hour in the Balumgala rock and decided to go to our next destination which is the Balana Fort.

Balana Fort

Balana fort was used as a observing point of enemy movements during the Kandyan Kingdom. The details of the location given in the Name board as below;

.	The History – Click to enlarge

To reach this place we must travel around 6 km in the Kadugannawa – Poththapitiya road and Balana Road. the sign name boards will guide you in the correct route.

at one point you’ll see above boards at a Tea plantation estate.

Balana Fort – First look

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Dekinda Falls

I was unable to visit Dekinda falls during my trip to Algalla. Therefore I had an eager to visit this waterfall.

Dekinda falls is located in near the Poththapitiya. There is a cement road to the left at poththapitiya town (near the Bo Tree). if you travel 2 Km on this road you can reach the waterfall.

Waterfall from the top

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Full view

Dekinda Falls

There is a forest path to reach the bottom part of the falls.

Lower part

Details of this waterfall is given in in the link.

We completed the trip at around 3:30 pm and reached home at 4:30 pm

Red – Route to Gawarawila, Orange – Short walk through the stream in second day, Blue cross – World’s end like place – click to enlarge

Studying the map was my childhood hobby. As soon as I returned from school every day, I used to open the World Atlas Map book and travelled around the world in my imaginations. It is still my hobby but the medium has changed to technology, a.k.a Google Maps. A couple of years ago, when I was looking for trails to Adam’s peak on Google maps, I noticed a place like Horton Plains on the peak Wilderness Sanctuary. It looked nearly impossible to access through the ground on Google Maps due to sudden elevation. Though I was eager to find out more about it, I couldn’t find a single thing for years.

Luckily, we have a life-saver called lakdasun.org and a bunch of inspirational people like Ashan and as usual, with their help, I found more details and inspiration to discover the Plains in the Peak Wilderness. The plains in the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary are called Gawarawila. It is said to be the place where Gawara (Gaur) last lived in Sri Lanka. Ashan’s single day adventure to Gawarawila in early March 2015 kicked my butt of my chair and forced me to run to Gawarawila.

I didn’t want to delay my journey as the rains would arrive at the Peak Wilderness in early April. However, due to my work-load at the office, the earliest I could take leave was on 29 March. After much discussion and planning, two of my hiking partners were ready to share the adventure with me. Our initial plan was to camp for one night in Gawarawila and then wades through the stream towards the World’s End like place – which had a sudden drop of 400 to 500m and may be camp there if possible.

Frist day

After meeting at the Pettah public bus stand, we took the Colombo – Thalawakale bus at 10 pm to Hatton. Since it was the pilgrim season, we managed to catch Hatton – Nallathanni bus from the Hatton railway station and got off at the Maskeliya town around 3 am and then slept in the Gartmore bus as Ashan and Chamara. Unfortunately, the bus to Gartmore estate wasn’t running that day. So we had to take a different bus and then take a tuk-tuk to reach the estate from the main road. The tuk-tuk guy was very helpful and provided us with many details. Unfortunately, his story was not something any nature lover wants to hear. One of his stories was about how he and his gang stayed in Gawarawila for months to dig for gems. He was so proud about it as it was such a difficult task and they managed to dig every possible place in the plains :X and a huge well-like hole in one place, which we later discovered.

View of the Adam’s peak – On the way to Gartmore estate

View of the Maussakele reservoir from Gartmore estate

Tuk-tuk guy was showing the Mooray estate trail to Adam’s peak

Tea and the endless mountains

The Adam’s peak

The backpacker

The map :D

Gartmore falls falling from Gawarawila plains

View of the Maussakele reservoir from Frogmore estate

Stream next to the Shrine

The view was amazing

Why on earth did we let sudda destroy our mother nature?

After having breakfast and good bath in the stream near the shrine, we started the adventure around 9am and entered the forest. There is a somewhat clear foot-path until you reach Gawarawila. However, saving the coordinates of the path marked by Ashan in his report on our phones was a great way to avoid getting lost in the trails made by the Sambar dears. It took us about one hour to reach the main stream and then another one to one and half hours to reach the plains.

Entering the jungle (wearing a short was a mistake which I soon realized)

Checking the coordinates saved on the phone.

I have no words to describe the plains. It was so beautiful and quiet. None of us uttered a word but walked in the plains for a good hour taking in the fresh air and admiring the beauty of the place. You can see Adam’s peak very clearly but the sky changed rapidly due to the floating clouds and drizzle, and the scenery went out of view. Something that we noticed and made us panic a bit was that the plain was not good enough to put up a tent. The grass was quite tall and the space between grass roots felt like holes. You can’t see them by looking across the plains, but when you walk on the ground, you will feel them. Therefore, the three of us split and searched for a good place to camp. Finally, we found a place a little bit upwards of the stream, next to the huge well like gem pit that the tuk-tuk guy told us about. It was the place where gem miners had deposited the sand that they had dug out of the gem pits. We spent about ten to twenty minutes to level the ground during the heavy drizzle and then put up the tent. It rained quite heavily for about two hours. The rain then stopped and gave us a clear sky for the rest of the day and night. Since we saw many foot prints, we expected to see many animals. We even came out of the night in the freezing cold and shone our torch across the plains expecting to see animals (may be a last Gawara too :D) but we didn’t see any expect for some huge black monkeys.

The Gawarawila plains

The plain was such a beauty

Walking in the plains and taking in the fresh air

The holy peak from the plains

The stream which flows exactly through the middle of the plains

Holy peak form the plains

One of many gem pits

The grass was quite tall and the space between grass roots felt like holes – not an ideal ground for putting up a tent

A huge gem pit – We put up the tent next to this hole

Successfully put up the tent

Bread, halmesso and baked beans for lunch

No matter how far you run away, you cannot hide from mankind ;(

The mist is slowly approaching like a ghost

Good morning

Icy cold water refreshes your stomach

Night shifters worked hard last night – In the morning, you can see thousands of spider nets across the whole plain

Creativity and hard work

Morning sun shine helped us dry our wet cloths

Second day

Early morning, we had breakfast, washed our faces (we couldn’t have full washes as the water in the stream was icy cold) and we started our next adventure. After reaching the main stream, we changed in shorts and flip-flops as we had to walk through the stream again to reach our next destination. However, it started drizzling while we were getting ready. Uncertain about whether to continue or go back to the estate, we started our journey through the stream. It is quite difficult and time consuming to trudge through the stream. There is no way you can do the journey via land due to the thick bushes and trees. We checked the map one hour later and noticed that we hadn’t completed even 20% of the journey. At the same time, it started thundering and the drizzle got heavier. It was dangerous to continue as we didn’t have a plan B if the water level rose. I don’t think anyone could have a plan B if they took that path. Therefore, nobody should try it during the rain or in rainy climate. So, unfortunately, we had to turn back and forget about the second adventure. I think our decision basically saved our lives as heavy rain started and continued for hours as soon as we reached our starting point.

Can’t start the day without a good cup of tea

Looking ahead to the next adventure

Could have been a beauty with more water

Turning back

Rain disrupted our journey and it even halts our work in Colombo, but work was not halted for the estate workers. They cannot stop working even during the rains as their work is directly related whether they will eat at night or not. Also, the rain doesn’t fade their smiles and welcoming faces. The estate supervisor invited us to his house and gave us much needed hot tea and room to change our wet clothes. We then called the tuk-tuk guy and got a ride to the Maskeliya junction to end our adventurous journey.

I was not sure whether I should write a trip report about my adventure, and I therefore delayed it for eight months. This trek could be illegal as the Peak Wilderness is a protected area. Also, Gawarawila is an unspoiled place (except for the damage done by illegal gem miners), so I didn’t want to see lots of (irresponsible) people go there and make it another garbage pit. So, please act responsibly if you go there and don’t forget to leave your footprints only.

Thanks for reading!

This video includes clips from three of my journeys including Gawarawila. (Dehenakanda-Adam’s peak trail, Ohiya to Bambarakanda and gawarawila)

The day I did the ‘Nil Diya Pokuna’ exploration, I was eager do the Kululangala too. Once I thought should have done with Nil Diya pokuna exploration, but this can be done in one shot (not on the same day). I buzzed trip partner, Kasun Janaka. He is always ready for adventures trips. So read the trip report by Ashan and called Methananda to check the weather. Everything was on the positive side. And also I remembered Kasun Des was telling about Budupatunna. He specifically said that August & September is the best time to visit Budupatunna, because the river (Wila Oya) will be dried. I told this plan to KJ, he encouraged me to do the both in one shot. But we both knew that for Bupatunna more planning needed.

So I called KasunDes and inquired and got the guide’s (Bandara) no from Ashan. Checked the weather, everything was looking good. But Bandara said that we need to get the permission from Archaeology department, these days STF were deployed in the jungle for search operations. For the safe side he suggested to get permission. We took all the necessary official steps to get the permission (guide to getting the permission will be discussed later, it’s an another project basically J).

Everything was set and ready to rock n’ roll. I checked the train tickets, since 4^th September was a Friday, seats were full, no choice other than taking the bus. We all met at private bus stand around 11 PM. Badulla bus left Colombo at around 12 midnight, reached Bandarawella at around 4:10 AM on 5^th. The first bus to Wellawaya at 5:20 am, till then we didn’t have nothing to do. Around 5 AM myself and KJ decided to have walk and see if there is any shop is opened to have a cup of tea, since it was cold outside. Luckily, there was bakery opened (Buhari Bakers), just few meters from the Bandarawella bus stand. All had tea and breakfast there.

We began the journey towards Karandagolla at 5:20 AM, reached Meththananda ‘s home by around 6:15 AM (10^th mile post). We were treated with hot tea once again, we quickly refreshed ourselves and got ready for the adventure. From Meththananda ‘s house, the starting point is walking distance.

1. Kurulangala

Our journey began with a usual hiking foot path, in a jungle. I would this is not a usual hiking like other mountains. Sudden 70-80-degree climb, some think jungle; it’s a mixture of all.

Jungle walk…….and rest……

Sudden 70-80 degree steep climb

We walked more than 2 hrs, and there you go, almost 90-degree climb. Meththananda (I was visualizing as Spiderman) easily climbed that rock to tie the rope for us.

KJ is climbing…….this is not for faint hearted trip

WOW!….. 90-degree drop

This was the beginning life threatening climb, this photo I have seen in many trip reports. But I thought this is the hardest climb, but I was wrong. All the guys were able to overcome the first hurdle, except one (Themiya). As I said this hike so hard and must have mental & body strength. So different from Nil Diya Pokuna, both are two sides of the rope. We didn’t have nothing other than leaving him and continuing the climb.

More and more climbing……

Nice view…..on the way…. Still more

This is the next hardest step. Two rocks were joined with a tree, in which we have to walk on that. This is the place I really got scared. This is the only way to the painting.

Lakshitha on the tree……(while returning)

The final step…….

After very long tired & hard climb, finally I was able to see the mysterious paintings.

The paintings….

The paintings….

The team…

The team…

We spend around an hour at the top taking photographs and exploring the paintings. And we saw dark clouds were building up, and going to rain. So we decided to climb down fast, if we get to rain, it will be an another nightmare. But we were too late, when on the way down, we got caught in heavy rain. Rain started before we came down, but luckily we have passed the hardest paths. We were forced to stay under a rock till the rain stops. The water was flowing like a waterfall, no way that you climb down. After a while, rain force was reduced, and we started the journey back. Because, we have to continue the trip to Budupatunna. We have to be in Monaragala on time, because the last bus to Kitiyagala leave at 6:10 PM.

We came back to Meththananda’s house around 3:00 PM, got refreshed, and got in to a Wellawaya bus around 4 PM. Form Wellawaya to Monaragala, there are lot of buses. But always better get into long distance bus (bus from Ampara, Badulla…). Because those buses don’t stop in all stops and you can reach Monaragala in 30 mins.

2. Budupatunna

We reached Monaragala at 6 PM, I informed Bandara about our arrival. Now the team split into two, one team got into Kottiyagala bus towards Banadara’s house. The bus left at 6:10 PM towards Kottiyagala. The next team myself and KJ went towards Ethimale, because we have to give the copy of the permission letter to Ethimale OIC. The Ethimale bus left Monaragala at 6:30 pm, and reached around 8:30 PM. We both went to Ethimale police station, and explained the officer (OIC was not at the station). But the officer was not ready to take the letter. He said we have to come and meet OIC tomorrow morning and handover the letter. From Ethimale to Kottiyagala, there is no public transport early morning. So coming back to Ethimale police is not possible.

I explained the police officer, but no luck. I try to give call to Ethimale OIC (on his mobile) and explained the situation. But he was not a friendly person. So we both decided to go towards Kotiyagala by a tuk tuk which was arranged by Bandara.

We both reached Bandara’s house and gave the sad news to others. We could have gone without informing to police, but I was totally against this plan. I don’t want to take risk. Themiya (who was left behind), told that Siyambalanduwa OIC is a friend, and call him to find out a way. Actually Siyambalanduwa OIC was a very nice person, he instantly called Ethimale OIC and told that his friends are going to Budupatunna and request permission.

Wow! we got the green light from Ethimale OIC. He told us to give a copy of the permission letter to Kotiyagala police post. So Bandara informed the tractor driver to come early as possible to go to police. Now we are happy that we can visit Budupatunna, with the peace of mind we had dinner, prepared by Banada’s wife.

Got up at 5 am (6^th September), and got ready to hand over the letter. The tractor came and all got it and sent to Kotiyagala police post.

Good morning! Kotiyagala.

Adventurous tractor ride.

Morning view at Kotiyagala village

Typical transportation mode

We submitted the letter to the police post and came back to Bandara’s house to get our things ready for the trip. While we were out, Bandar’s wife prepared lunch for the trip. Everything was ready and back on the tractor.

We stopped at Nava mama’s house to pick him as the third guide, he knows the jungle well. The second guide was the tractor driver (Abey). Very helpful and nice person.

Morning view at Kotiyagala village

Typical transportation mode

Maragala mountain

Nice view…..

Sandy way…

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We travelled about 45 minutes and came to place where the river bank (Wila Oya) where we have to walk from that point onwards.

The team

Entrance to river bank

At the time we went, there was water in the river, because of this, we couldn’t with our footwear. We walked bare foot, it’s easy and fast way to walk.

Walk begins

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Elephant poop.

Dead snake

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Should be bone of an Elephant

Elephant foot print

Bear’s foot print

Bear’s foot print

Rest time

New way of drinking water, without getting wet :-)

Lots of butterfly

This is why STF was deployed I guess

Some nice view….. good place for rest

A dead Moose. He was shot.

Kumbuk gate, two trees were joint together.

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After 3 hrs, we saw the land mark to Budupatunna, the rock middle of the river. What a nice view.

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From this rock, we had to walk into the jungle for about 20 meters, to view the beauty of Budupatunna.

.	Finally the Budupatunna

Bandara

Nava Mama (very humorous person)

Abey, tractor driver

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After spending an hour, we started our journey back home.

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We came back to Bandara’s house around 4 PM, refreshed ourselves, got ready to return back home. We thanked Bandara, and is wife, Nava mama & to Abey. And also said good bye to Kotiyagala and came to Ethimale on the same tractor.  From Ethimale there is a direct bus to Colombo at 7 PM. It reached Colombo around 3 AM next day.

Special Thanks goes to Bandara, Nava mama and Abey. With those guides we wouldn’t have done this trip.

In my words, it was surely a life changing & threatening experience J. Nil Diya Pokuna, Kurulangala & Budupatunna are the 3 main trips that everyone attemp. If you test your mental and body power, you should do all three.

But there is one more, Lakegala, hope this will be my next J.

WARNING!! – These expedition, should not be attended or tested individually as it is definitely a life threatening activity where a single wrong move will take your very own life as well as the others involved.

Highest peak of Ritigala was in my “to do list” for a long time but the main problem was to get the permission. I have been at Unakanda-උණ කන්ද (second highest peak of Ritigala) before but it was happened in unexpected way.

Map of Ritigala: Arrow shows where you have to turn. Red star shows the highest peak-Kodigala and black star shows second highest peak -Unakanda

Ritigala

Few points of Ritigala
1. It is named as Ritigala might be due to few reasons.
a) It was called as Aritta Pabbatha-අරිට්ඨ පබ්බත (Dreadful Mountain) in ancient Sri Lanka due to presence of Yakka population in Sri Lanka. Aritta Pabbatha has transformed to Ritigala.
b) Probably due to it’s acute elevation
c) Presence of number of Riti (රිටි) trees in the forest

2. It is a biologically sensitive area. Ritigala is a strictly nature reserve. It declared as strictly nature reserve in 1941. It has 3776 acres. According to the biodiversity survey done at Ritigala, it has four endemic plant species. Another seven plant species are very rare and not recorded outside Ritigala after 19th century.
The Short-Statue Forest is unique for Ritigala. There are high proportions of endemic plant taxa, endemic reptiles, indigenous fish fauna, birds species and mammals including eight nationally threatened species.

3. There is an archeological site at the base of the mountain. It shows the evidences of a Buddhist Monastery started at Anuradhapura era.

4. It is the highest peak of Northern plane of Sri Lanka. It’s height is 766m. Due to it’s elevation it carries the highest rainfall (125cm) of entire dry zone. Therefore upper part of Ritigala is cooler compared to hot climate of the region.

5. It is related to Rama-Rawana story. While Hanuman (හනුමාන්) was travelling over Ritigala, a part of Himalaya he carried has dropped. It is said as the origin of some endemic plant species found in upper part of Ritigala. Hanuman has used Ritigala Kanda to leap across Sri Lanka to South India.
The people believe the origin of Buddhism from Sri Lanka, relate Ritigala as Jethawanamaya (ජේතවනාරාමය).
King Pandukabhaya-පණ්ඩුකාභය encamped at Ritigala Mountain for seven years before the fight with his eight uncles and last battle happened at the base of Ritigala.

6. Ritigala is a mountain range has seven peaks. Kodigala (කොඩිගල) is the highest out of them and others are Unakanda (උණ කන්ද), Amarapathi Kanda (අමරාපති කන්ද), Palathuru Kanda (පළතුරු කන්ද), Andiya Kanda (ආඪියා කන්ද), Wewalthalawa (වේවැල්තලාව) and Napath Kanda (නාපත් කන්ද).

Journey to the highest peak of Ritigala-Kodigala
It was a late start and we met our guide at the entrance of Ritigala around 9.30am. As the road towards the archeology site was under renovation, we parked our car at the entrance. Ritigala information center is situated at the entrance and it was built in a nice way.
We reached the archeology site office by a motor bike and started to climb along stone footsteps. Ritigala archeology site belongs to Anuradhapura era and it’s a kind of Buddhist monastery for meditation.
After passing “Banda Pokuna”-බන්දා පොකුණ and some ruins we directed our path towards the forest. We filled our water bottles from natural water spring and began the climb.
It was a continuous climb of about two and half hours till we reach a flat area called Wewalthalawa (වේවැල්තලාව). But we walked almost always under tree canopy. There was a clear foot pathway used by wild life team for their training purpose. Just before Wewalthalawa we came across the first view point where you can see Habarana side and surroundings.

The distance from entrance to archeology site was 2.5Kms.

At the entrance of archeology site

Madhuca clavata (Ritigala) Wana Mee-වන මී-Endemic to Sri Lanka

Natural water spring-This is the only water source was found on our way up

Going up…

This is not a part of dry zone

Might be old-වනස්පති

Further up…..

Nests of Swifts

With aid of creeper

At the edge of the rock

There was a nice foot pathway

Reaching the first view point

Final climb

Reaching Wewalthalawa

Thorny bamboo at Wewalthalawa

Kodigala Kanda-Top of Ritigala

Though Kodigala is the highest peak, it has no archeology value. Only a part of a transmission tower used by wild life can be seen. Kodigala provides nice panoramic view of surroundings. We were able to see Mana kanda (මානා කන්ද), Hurulu Wewa (හුරුළු වැව), Kala Wewa (කලා වැව) and many nearby lakes. Though I have noted Ritigala from many surrounding tops, I was not able to pin point those peaks from Ritigala due to gloomy weather.

Other peaks and valley of Malwathu Oya- මල්වතු ඔය

Adiya kanda and Wewalthalawa. Remaining of transmission tower can be seen.

Na Path Kanda and valley of Malwathu Oya

Highest point-Kodigala-2513 feet

Ritigala Information and Training Centre.

Mana Kanda (381.3m)

Ganewalpola town-ගනේවැල්පොල is zoomed

Kala Wewa

Towards Rajarata

Nearby Tank

Nearby Tank

Two man team

After enjoying surrounding view we started to go down around 1.30pm. But after passing Wewalthalawa we missed the foot pathway and our guide decided to descend straightaway. Somehow we managed to reach the initial water spring around 3.30pm.
After thanking our guide we headed towards Polonnaruwa.

Getting down

Straightaway coming down

.

Reaching the base of the mountain

Back to foot pathway……

Scattered ruins were found

Scattered ruins…..

We were there….

Journey to second highest peak of Ritigala-Unakanda (උණ කන්ද)
This is kind of an old story happened in 2012. Tharaka and I climbed up to the second highest peak of Ritigala. Actually we wanted to visit Archeology site and elephant orphanage center. But suddenly we decided to go ahead following the last site of ruins. There was a board mentioning not to enter the forest without permission and an elephant fence was there. As Tharaka has visited there before, he guided me.
There was no clear pathway to top of Unakanda like Kodigala. Therefore we lost our way back and fortunately we found elephant fence at the end.
Unakanda doesn’t provide a good panoramic view. We hardly saw Anuradhapura side through the forest cover. Then it is difficult to attempt Kodigala from Unakanda.

Rising up….

View of Kodigala on the way to Unakanda

View of Kodigala on the way to Unakanda

On the way to Unakanda

On top of Unakanda

View from top of Unakanda

View from top of Unakanda

View from top of Unakanda

View from top of Unakanda

Lost in the forest on our way back

Ritigala Information and Research Center
Ritigala Information Center is established in 2010. It is situated at the entrance of Ritigala. It provides a good knowledge about Ritigala for visitors.

The entrance

Displayed Knowledge

Wild Life Museum

Built in a nice way

Ritigala Archeology site
This is the main tourist attraction of Ritigala. Ancient ruins are situated on the eastern side of the mountain and it spreads over an area of 59acres.
At the entrance you will see the ruined pond called Banda Pokuna. Following Banda Pokuna you will enter the monastery along the nicely made stone pathway with bridges, platforms and courtyards. Stone structures in Ritigala named as double-platforms. Other ancient places of this kind of double platform structures are Arankale-අරන්කැලේ  and Weherabandigala-වෙහෙරබැදිගල . These structures were used for meditation, teaching and ceremony.
Ritigala Buddhist monastery was a place of Buddhist Monks who were meditating to search enlightenment. Therefore we were not able to see Stupa, Bo trees and Buddha statues among ruins.

Ancient pond called Banda Pokuna…Built by King Pandukabhaya (437-367BC)

Banda Pokuna has circumference of 366m and polygonal structure. Considered as the largest pond

Stone steps

The Stone Bridge crossing the feeding stream the pond.

How nice it is…..

Stone paved pathway with 1.5m wide made in interlocking system.

Resting station in between stone pathways.

Double-platform structures in Ritigala.

Double-platform structures with courtyard.

Another resting place.

Decorated Urinals…symbolic act of dissociation.

Ritigala Elephant Orphanage Center

At Galapitagala junction you may see a board mentioning “Ritigala Elephant Orphanage Center”. But this does no longer exist. In my previous visit to Ritigala at 2012, we went there. Wild life department has abounded the place as it is difficult to find water sources in dry season.

Direction board at junction

It was the second elephant transit home of Sri Lanka. Both “Chinthanaya” and Elephant Transit Home are no longer exist

Elephant fence at the entrance

Baby elephant

Want to play with me

Playful

There were five

Thanks for reading

For years I have been passing Hunnasgiriya while going home from Monaragala and almost always I would not forget to have a glance at an unknown cascade plunging down Kunckles forest reserve. Repeatedly seen this cascade was enough to stimulate me. January 2016 needed an account opener and the best way of doing it was by hunting cascades.
I met Chamara at around 4.30am and we took off from Chilaw towards Hunnasgiriya. After reaching Hunnasgiriya we had our breakfast before taking the road via Rambukpotha towards Dehigolla. (Dehigolla road is found to the left at the starting point of the town)

The map – click to enlarge

Google earth area image – click to enlarge

Traveling few Km’s along Dehigolla road we reached the bridge across Bambaragan oya. Our first target was the lowest most cascade which could be seen clearly from the main road. We followed a water diversion canal downhill (below the bridge) and at one point took another partially covered foot path to the right which took us towards the base of the fall(overgrown path). We immediately noted that there was a cave on the left bank and we headed towards it. It was a huge cave bordering the waterfall and would have been a nice place to camp during the dry periods. We later got to know that this was the cave where King Shri Wickrama Rajasinghe had spent time with his royal family. Few meters away from the cave there was another well sheltered cave and this is believed to be where he hid while Englishman were hunting him down.

Bambaragan oya as seen from hunnasgiriya on a rainy day

lowest most cascade seen from the road

second cascade seen from the road

on a rainy day

upper cascade seen from the road

on a rainy day

1st and lower cascade

slow shutter

cave and the waterfall

this is where shri wickrama rajasinghes royal family had their bath

where Shri wickrama rajasinghe hid

with a rainbow

After snapping around we returned back to the bridge where by chance we Met Yaparathna. While inquiring about the upper cascades he suddenly decided to volunteer to show us the way and we were so overwhelmed with that offer. Yaparathna returned with a “keththa” and we took off along the right bank of the river. Wearing slippers did ease off the journey a lot, though we later paid the price by donating blood to the blood suckers. Not so far away from the bridge there is a massive waterfall which is about 50m tall. It’s a sight that would make any waterfall hunter mesmerized. Some do call it Dehigolla falls but I would stick on to Bambarang oya cascade.

along the river we go

second fall

upper part

lovely

full length

After taking few selfies we started climbing further up along the right bank until we reached the top of the fall. We were greeted with a lovely view and few meters upstream there were two close by cascades which we named 3rd and 4th (on the opposite side of the 3rd fall there is a 30 feet long cave which we didn’t visit since we had to climb up a bit). From the forth fall we again headed into the bushes and reached the 5th fall. Though we could have gone to the base of it we opted not to. Next we came reached an open area where one could easily camp and from here we headed towards the stream which was wide with plenty of space to hang around.

top of the 2nd fall

towards the main road

another cascade

3rd and 4th falls

3rd fall

4th fall

through the bushes

5th fall

part of 5th fall

the other part