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Karawita Kanda Hike / Eluwagala – 595m

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Year and Month  04-February-2020
Number of Days  One
Crew  08
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Motor Bicycles
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Sightseeing, Waterfall Hunting
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Piliyandala -> Horana -> Idangoda -> Ayagama -> Pimbura ->
Kalawana Road ->Rajuruwatte Road ->Samanpura
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Beware of Kekilla bushes
      • Do not hike during lightening
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  None
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Karawita Kanda Hike / Eluwagala – 595m

Karawita Kanda which is known as Eluwagala is a unique famous mountain range in Karawita Samanpura area in Kalawana. This is a single mountain range which is belongs to minor mountains in lower areas of the country. The name of “Karawita kanda” mentioned in the metric map but locals use “Eluwagala” as it’s name.

Eluwagala is not a hard climb but little difficult to hike during rainy season as usual. There is only one rocky plain at the top of the mountain and it is marked in the Metric map as the “Karawita Kanda” and height for 594m. Our initial hike was from a tea patch and after that we walkied along a dried water stream. Finally we reached to a Kekilla bushy area and within few minutes were able to come to the top of the mountain.

After the hike we went to Patta ella which is few km away from Samanpura and had a bath after we leaving to our homes.

Eluwagala GPS Location – 6.561363, 80.407896

Here its marked as Karawita

Satellite view, white star is the Summit

Satellite view of Eluwagala from Agalawatte road. Red star is the summit

Here is the google street view of the above photo

Welcomed us

Here is some

Style of it

Initial part via Tea estate

Tea

Information received

More to go

Forest patch

Resting place

More to go

Mushrooms

Roots

Kekilla patch

Bandu’s father is also came with us

Little more to go

Helping hands

Closer to the top

Plants

Samanpura

Village

More views

Near by summits

Bandu is celebrating the Independence day

Surrounding

Summit flag

Independence Day

Father and Son

Lower parts

Top

Paddies

Limitless

Environment

Far away views

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Surrounding

Roti for the breakfast

Weight

Back to the village

Forest path

Uncle is more fit

Seen again

Tea

Creature

Another tasty

Cultivation

We had

Patta Ella Fall – පට්ට ඇල්ල

The Patta Ella fall’s name is ascribed to the flow, which looks like a stripe down the mountain (‘patta’ means belt). The 3m-high fall is located along the Ratnapura – Kalutara road at a village called Rajjuruwatte (meaning ‘king’s estate’). The nearest town is Kalawana.

To reach the Patta Ella you need to take the road towards Samanpura just as you pass ( about 1.3 km) Kalawana town and take the Karawita road. The road continues along a stram and after about 2 km comes an area called Rajjuruwatte.

From here, you need to climb down towards the stream over tea patches to reach the fall. The waterfall lies on the stream which runs along the road but not visible to the road. Therefore its recommended to obtain some guidance from the people in the area.

GPS Location – 6.549512, 80.399309

A pool

Stream

Beauty

Another angle

Slow shutter

Milky water

Nature styles

Patta Ella

Best place to a bath

Slow shutter

Another view

Normal capture

Part

Top part

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©


Exploring Pannila Limestone Cave Complex

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Year and Month  10-December-2017
Number of Days  One
Crew  03
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Motor Bicycles
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Sightseeing, Caving,
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Ratnapura -> Pelmadulla -> Kahawatte -> Horahinella -> Manan
Dola- Endana Road -> Pannila Road -> Pannila
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Wear leech socks as there are many
      • Beware of slippery rocks
      • Start your journey early morning
      • Carry a powerful torch per person
      • Wear appropriate suite inside of the cave
      • Wearing shoes is better
      • Finish your journey before the evening
      • Do not harm to the limestone
      • Beware of Ma-Ussa plant and thrones
      • Do not disturb bats and nature
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  None
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Exploring Pannila Limestone Cave Complex

පන්නිල හිරිගල් ගුහා

The Rakwana mountain range, which is located in the margin of the northern side of Sinharaja, a UNESCO world heritage site, is an area having rich bio–diversity. The recent excavations of the alluvial deposits in Sabaragamuwa basin associated with northern side of Sinharaja area revealed that the existance of caves in the vicinity of Pannila mountain. The cave formation is seen within the rocks of crystalline limestons (marble),which is popularly known as ‘Pannila Hunugala’ is of 550 m in length and 350 cm height at its entrance of which 60 cm filled with water, where special cave characteristics are visible. Stalagmite and stalactites of 2.5 m height at the core of the cave was believed to be formed after re-crystallization of pre-existing crystalline limestones- the basement rock – in the Highland Complex of Sri Lanka belongs to the Precambrian age. Speleothem dimensions were used to measure the volume of stalagmite and stalagtites. The action of chemical weathering of crystalline limestone followed by limy solutions makes it secondary features like stalagmite and stalactite.It is postulated from the Geological map of Sri Lanka that the same crystalline limestones bed is extended to the Rakwana Pannila Hunugala’ ,Samanalawewa, Handagiriya caves.

A few are developed entirely in marble but most are not. ‘Pannila Hunugala’ is a part of the basement marble bed in the Highland Complex of Sri Lanka which is belongs to the Precambrian age. It is postulated that the same marble bed is extended to the marble beds located at the Samanalawewa, and Rakwana. The action of chemical weathering occurred in the recent times makes it secondary features like stalagmite and stalactite.

In order to penetrate into the fractures of the limestone rock, the rainwater, acidulated by atmospheric and soil carbon-dioxide (CO2), dissolves it and carries off the calcium carbonate until it finally emerges on the roof of the cave. The drop of water suspended on the roof of the cave is exposed to environmental conditions, such as greater ventilation, alterations in temperature, pH, and CO2 pressure. These environmental conditions create chemical instability through the liberation of the CO2 into the cave and the consequent precipitation of part of the dissolved carbonate. The drop of water hangs on the roof until it reaches the volume and weight necessary to overcome surface tension and fall. Hanging on the roof of the cave and exposed to environmental conditions of the interior’s cave, the surface of the drop develops the first crystals of calcite; these, organizing themselves during the period in which the drop is still in contact with the roof, form an initial crystalline ring which will serve as a base for a future stalactite.

Drop by drop, a hollow tubular stalactite grows in a downward direction. The drop, when it at last falls, carries with it a solution of carbonate which slowly forms a sucession of layers on the floor immediately below, and which becomes a stalagmite. The opposing growth of stalactites and stalagmites might finally result in the union of the two, to form a column. Fig: 03: (A) and (B) show examples of stalactites and stalagmites, respectively, whereas (C) A flowstone illustrates a after column, formed by the union of a stalactite with a stalagmite. Speleothems take various forms, depending on whether the water drips, seeps, condenses, flows, or ponds. Many speleothems are named for their resemblance to man-made or natural objects. Types of speleothems include Dripstone, Stalactites, Soda straws, Helictites , Flowstone, Speleogens.

Source – Research Article

As per my understanding there is a special geographical resource around Ratnapura to Kalthota area. As I know I have visited many Limestone caves and areas around Samanala Wewa such as Sandagiriya, Andiri Lena (Less Limestone) , Hunugal Pond at Kalthota, Waulpane, Samanalawewa also based on a Limestone that is why there is a unstoppable leak. There is some thing on this ground. I believe that there will be more Limestone caves in deep forests of Ratnapura district which are not yet seen by human. Because the underground is mostly based on limestone. This caving reminded my journey to Rotupihilla Caves.

It is a very difficult hike along the stream and we have to face plenty of leech attacks. And we should specially make our eyes on Ma-Ussa plant as it is venomous. When you enter to the cave try to be adjust as per the limestone and find all the entrances and go inside of all of them. You could realize that the water is coming from there and Limestone generates the water too. Some caves are full with some level of water and some are also wet like the springs.

Pannila Mountain range marked on Metric Maps

Here is marked in Google Maps (Terrain View)

The connection of the Limestone caves and areas with Samanala Wewa Reservoir

On the way

On the way

On the way

On the way

On the way

Main land mark

Post Office

On the way

Another land mark

Heading to the bike park

Innocent village

On the way via paddies

Small Cascades

Small Cascades

Small Cascades seen along our path to the caves

Small Cascades

Small Cascades

Feeling

Small Cascades

Darkness and Beauty

Small Cascades

Small Cascades

They are sleeping

Small Cascades

Small Cascades

Small Cascades

Nature

Cave Entrance

Another side

Entrance

Here we go

Its reminded me Rotupihilla Caves

More

Some entrances

Some entrances

Some entrances

Some entrances

Inside of the cave

Inside of the cave

Inside of the cave

Inside of the cave

Inside of the cave

More to see

Limestone

Limestone

Limestone

Limestone and the stream

Limestone

Generating water by Limestone

Limestone

Limestone

Limestone and the water

Limestone

Inside of the Cave

Inside of the Cave

Inside of the Cave

Inside of the Cave

Styles

Inside of the Cave

Limestone designs

More to go

Limestone designs

Limestone designs

Limestone designs

Limestone designs

Limestone designs

Limestone designs

Back to the forest from the cave

On the return journey

On the return journey

On the return journey

Good Bye Pannila

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Paduruthalagala (පැදුරුතලාගල ) Hike – 1485m

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Year and Month  20-January-2019
Number of Days  One
Crew  08
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Motor Bicycles
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Sightseeing, Mountaineering, Devotees
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Avissawella -> Kuruvwita -> Erathna -> Adavi Kanda
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Take necessary permission
      • Beware of leeches
      • Wear a proper attire and shoes
      • Beware of Wild Elephants
      • Beware of venomous plants and trees
      • Beware of sudden rain at the top of peak
      • Beware of Slippery rocks and wind
      • Use a GPS map
      • Start your journey early morning
      • Best time for this hike is Jan-Mar
      • Plan your GPS pathway well
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  None
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Paduruthalagala (පැදුරුතලාගල ) Hike – 1485m

මිනින්දෝරු සලකුණු දෙකක් ඇති පැදුරුතලාගල කඳු මුදුන

සමනළ වන මැද නටබුන් සොයා ගිය අපි මීළඟට ගියේ තවත් අපූරු ස්ථානයකට. ඒක කන්දක්. මහ කළු ගල් පර්වතයකින් හෙබි විශාල කන්දක් වන එය සමනළ කන්දට පෙනෙන්නේ තවත් කන්දක් සමගින් හාවී කඳු වැටියක් ලෙසයි. සමනළ කන්ද යනු ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ලෝකයට ගෙන ගිය සලකුණයි. මන්ද අතීතයේ අරාබි මුහුද හා ඉන්දියන් සාගරයේ යාත්‍රිකයන් මෙම අරුම පුදුම කන්ද දැක අප සශ්‍රීක ගොඩබිමට ගොඩවැදුණු බව නොරහසකි. අද අප සමනළ අඩවියේ හුදෙකලා වූ කන්දක් සොයා ගෙන ගියේ අතීතාවර්ජනයක්ද සමගිනි.

වර්ෂ 1940 ඔක්තෝබර් 25 වැනිදා අභය භූමියක් ලෙස ප්‍රකාශයට පත්කරන ලද සමනළ අඩවියට එවකට හෙක්ටයාර 22379 ක් අයත්ව තිබුණි. පසුව ඉන් තෝරාගත් හෙක්ටයාර 12979 ක් සංරක්‍ෂිත අවශ්‍යතාව මත ස්වභාවික රක්‍ෂිතයක් ලෙසට ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ අතර තවත් හෙක්ටයාර 9400ක් අභය භූමිය ලෙස නම් කර ලදී. සිරිපා මළුවට හා ඊට යාබද ප්‍රදේශ අයත්වනුයේ සමනළ අඩවිය අභය භූමියටයි.

සමනළ අඩවිය යනු දිවයිනේ අට දිශාවටම ගලන සුපින්වත් දියවරේ තිඹිරි ගෙයයි. බුදුන් වහන්සේ තෙවරක් ලංකාද්වීපයට වැඩි විට ගතකළ සොළොස්මස්ථානයන්ගෙන් දෙකක් මෙහි ඇති බව පැවසේ. ඒ ශ්‍රී පාද පද්මය සහ තවමත් විවාදයට තුඩුදෙන දිවා ගුහාවයි. මධ්‍යම කඳුකරයේ සබරගමු කඳු පන්තියේ පිහිටි මෙම රක්ෂිතය පළාත් දෙකේ මායිම වේ.  දිවයිනේ පස්වැනියට උසම කන්ද වන සමනළ කන්ද (මීටර 2243) ද පිහිටා ඇත මීට අමතරව අවශේෂ කඳු 25 කට ආසන්න ප්‍රමාණයක් පවතින රක්‍ෂිතයේ ශාක හා ජෛව විවිධත්වය ඉතා ඉහළ අගයක් ගනු ලබයි. නුවරඑළිය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයට හෙක්ටයාර 4897 ක් හා රත්නපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයට හෙක්ටයාර 17483 ක් අයත් මෙම රක්ෂිතය රත්නපුර, කෑගල්ල හා නුවරඑළිය දිස්ත්‍රික්කවලට මායිම් දරනු ලබයි.

අතීතයේ සමනළ වන්දනාවට පැවතියේ මාර්ග ත්‍රිත්වයකි. ඉන් එකක් රජ මාවත ලෙස හඳුන්වනු ලැබූ අතර අනෙක රජරට මාර්ගය ලෙසත්, අනෙක ඌව මාර්ගය ලෙසත් හඳුන්වනු ලැබීය. රජ මාවත යනු වර්තමානයේ අප ශ්‍රී පලාබද්දල පවනැල්ලෙන් ආරම්භ කරන මාර්ය නොවන අතර පැරණි රජ මාර්ගය වූයේ ගිලීමලේ, තුංතොට, උඩුපොලන, සමන්වත්ත බටේපොළ, ඇඳිරියන්වල, දියබෙත්ම, ධර්මරාජ ගල ඔස්සේ පැවති මාර්ගයයි. වර්තමාන රජ මාවත ඊට සමහර තැන්වල දී යාවී පවතින අතර ඇඳිරි කැලේ හරහා යන අඩි මාර්ගය අදටත් අවට ගැමියෝ භාවිත කරනු ලබති.

සම්මත මාර්ග තුන හා සම්මත නොවන මාර්ග 4 හැරුණු විට තවත් මාර්ග 6 ක් පමණ සමනළ වන්දනාවට පැවතෙන නමුත් ඉන් 4 ක්ම කෙටි මං වේ. නමුත් ඉන් ඉතිරි දෙක වනුයේ ඉහළ ගලගම, මාරතැන්න හරහා පැමිණි මාර්ගය හා පසුගිය සතියේ අප කතිකා කළ රජරට මාර්ගයයි. සමනළ අඩවිය වක්‍රාකාර පටියක් ලෙසට බටහිර – නැගෙනහිර දිශානුගතව විහිදී යන අතර දිගින් කිලෝමීටර 45 ක් පමණ වේ. එහි බිම් තීරුවේ සාමාන්‍ය පළල කි.මී. 18 ක් පමණ වන අතර පළල අඩුම ස්ථානය වනුයේ කි.මී. 10 ක් පමණ වූ මාරතැන්න ආශ්‍රිත බිම්කඩයි. මුහුදු මට්ටමේ සිට මීටර 460 සිට මීටර 2243 දක්වා උස පරාසයක විහිදෙන සමනළ කන්ද විටෙක බැලුවහොත් ලංකාවේ ගොඩ බිම් මට්ටමේ උසම කන්ද ලෙස හැඳින්විය හැකිය.

මෙම අඩවිය කඳුකර තෙක් හා උප කඳුකර වන ලක්‍ෂණ වලින් සමන්විත වන අතර ඉහළ කඳු මුදුන්වල දැඩි සුළං ප්‍රවාහයක් දක්නට ලැබේ. බොහෝ විට ඉහළට යනවිට කුරු ශාක ව්‍යාප්තියක් පවතින නමුත් මෙහි වාසය කරන අලි කුරු අලි නොව සාමාන්‍ය ලංකා අලි බව විශේෂයෙන්ම කිව යුතුය. ඒ පිළිබඳ සවිස්තරාත්මක ලිපියක් අපි පසුගිය මසක පළ කෙරුවෙමු.

Here it marked on Metric Map

How it seems in Googel Satellite view

Paduruthalagala seen at Warnagala Ambalama

Paduruthalagala on a little rainy day (Photo taken by a friend- Dr Anura)

This is the Heen Piduruthalawa range and its’ connection with Paduruthalagala

Seen to on the way to Warnagala Ambalama

Seen at the top of KDP (Kunu Diya Parwathaya)

Seen to Erathna Trail head

We started our journey

Its a Poya day

Nature

Cultivation

Nature

Nature

ජලාශ්‍රිත පරිසර පද්ධති, තැනි, හෙල්, ප්‍රපාතාකාර බෑවුම්, ද්‍රෝණි හා පතන් ආදිය පිරුණු අඩවියෙන් වෑස්සෙන දිය දහරාවල් ගණන දෙතුන් සියයක් පමණ වේ. මේ සියල්ල කැලණි, කළු, වලවේ ගංගාවලට ගලාගෙන යන අතර මහවැලියට කිසිදු දියවරක් සමනළ අඩවියෙන් ලැබෙන්නේ නැත.

මෙවන් ප්‍රෞඩ වටිනාකමක් පවතින සමනළ කන්දේ අදටත් හුදෙකලා වූ කන්දක් තරණය කිරීමට අප පසුගියදා පිටත්ව ගියේ යම් ගවේෂණාත්මක මූලාශ්‍ර කිසිවක් හෝ ලැබෙතැයි සිතමිනි. මීටර් 1465ක් පමණ වන පැදුරුතලාගල කන්ද පිහිටියේ මීටර 1500ක් පමණ උසැති හීන් පිදුරුතලාව කන්දට අසල්වැසි වෙමිනි. පැදුරුතලාගල කන්ද සිරිපා යන බැතිමතුන් නිරායාසයෙන්ම දකින්නේ කුරුවිට එරත්න මාර්ගයෙන් යන විටදීය. මන්ද වර්ණගල අම්බලම පිටුපස ඇති මෙම කන්ද ඇතැම් අය වරණගල කන්ද ලෙස ද හඳුන්වනු ලබයි.
කෙසේ හෝ මෙම අපූරු කන්ද මුල්වරට අප දුටුවේ මීට සිව් වසරකට පෙර අප කුණුදිය පර්වතය මුදුනට නගින විටදීය. වර්ණගල අම්බලම පිටුපස ඇති මෙම කන්ද බැලූ බැල්මට දැවැන්ත ගල් පර්වතයකි. මෙය ඉතා දිගු ප්‍රදේශයක් පුරා ව්‍යාප්තව පවතින අතර කන්ද තරණය කිරීමට අපගේ සහයට සිටියේ ගූගල් සිතියම පමණි.

එම නිසාම අපි නිසි ලෙස සැලසුම් කරමින් එක් දිනකදී මෙය තරණය කරනු වස් සැලසුම් හැදුවෙමු. එහිදී අප දුටුවේ අඩවිකන්දේ සිට වර්ණගල කුඩා විදුලි බලාගාරයට ගමන් කළ හැකි අතුරු මාර්ගයේ ගොස් සිතියමේ පෙන්වන විශාල පතන වැනි ප්‍රදේශයෙන් වනයට අවතීර්ණ වී කඳු ගැට්ට දිගේ නගිමින් කන්ද මුදුනට ළඟා වීමටයි.

I and Malith along the road from Adavi Kanda to Warnagala Power house

We are on the way

ලංකා තිලින මැසිමාරා

Entered to the forest

Mushrooms

Our target seen at Kekilla Bushy area

“සුමන සමන් දෙවි වැඳ බැස එම විට – මුනිඳුට ආරාධනා කර නම කොට

ඔබගේ පතුල මට නිතර වඳිනට – තබවනු මාගේ විමන එගිරි පිට”

අතීතයේ සමනළ අඩවිය තම වාස භූමිය කරගත් සුමන නම් දෙවි බුදුරජාණන්ට තම අඩවියට ආරාධනා කර පසුව උන්වහන්සේ සිහිවනු පිණිස යමක් ඉල්ලූ විට සමනල ගිර මත පදලසනා තබා ඇත. විවිධ බාධාවීම් වලින් පසුව ශ්‍රී පාද පද්මය තිබීමට හැකි වූයේ සමනළ ගිර මත වන අතර නමුත් අද අප දකින්නේ ඒ සැබෑ පද්මය නොවෙයි. සැබෑ ශ්‍රීපාද පද්මය අයිනේ වර්තමාන තැනට අඩි 28 ක් පමණ යටින් නිල් මාණික්‍යයක් මතය. එය අද වනවිට මෙලෙස වසා දමා ඇති අතර ඊට ළඟාවිය හැකි උමං මග ද වසා දමා තිබේ. කෙසේ හෝ සමනළ කන්ද හා ඒ අවට අදටත් විසඳා ගත නොහැකි වූ අබිරහස් ගොන්නක් පවතියි.

ගමන ආරම්භ කළ අපි පයින්ම වර්ණගලට යන ජීප් රථ මාර්ගයේ ඉදිරියට ඇදී සිතියමට අනුව පෙන්වූ ස්ථානයෙන් පතන යැයි සඳහන් කර ගෙන පැමිණි ඉසව්වට ගොඩවැදුණෙමු. එය පතනක් නොව විශාල පඳුරු වර්ගයක් පිහිටි ඉසව්වක් බව අපට වැටහුණේ එහි පැමිණි විටදීය. එම පඳුරු පිහිටි ආකාරයෙන් අපට එහි ගමන් කිරීම අතිශය දුෂ්කර වුවද අපි කෙසේ හෝ වැටෙමින් ද එහි ගමන් කර වන පියසට රිංගා ගත්තෙමු.

Passing Kekila bushy area

Plants

Nature style

Nature beauty

More to go

Nature beauty

Nature beauty

Somebody there

Nature beauty

Udawadiya

Resting

Elephant dung

Nature beauty

Nature beauty

එම පඳුරුවල තිබූ කහ පාට සිහින් කූඩු අප සියල්ලන්ගේම නාස් පුඩු තුළට රිංගා කිවිසුම් යාමට වූ අතර වන පියසට පැමිණි අපි සිතියමේ පරිදි කඳු ගැට්ට දිගේ ඉදිරියට ගමන් කළෙමු.

වන පියස අප සිතූ තරම් අපහසු නොවීය. මන්ද එහි යටි රෝපණ ශාඛ නොමැති වීමයි. උස් තුරු ලතා රාශියකින් වටවුණු එම පරිසරය යම් ගුප්ත බවක් ඉසිලීය, ක්‍රම ක්‍රමයෙන් දළ ආනතියකින් අප ඉහළට ඇදෙන විට මාර්ගය විශාල ගල් කුට්ටි හා පර්වත වලින් ග්‍රහණව තිබුණි. නමුත් අපි සිතියම අනුසාරයෙන් ඉදිරියට ඇදුනෙමු.

උඩවැඩියා විශේෂ සියයකට අධික ප්‍රමාණයක් පවතින සමනළ රක්ෂිතයේ අලියා, කොටියා, වලහා, ගෝනා, මීමින්නා, මුවා, හාවා වැනි සතුන් වාසය කරයි. ඊට අමතරව සමනලුන්, පක්ෂීන්, කෘමීන් ආදී සර්පයන් විශේෂ ආදී විශාල ජෛව විවිධත්වයක් පවතියි. අපි ක්‍රමයෙන් ඉහළට යනවිට එක්තර කුඩා තැනිතලා ප්‍රදේශයක අලි වසුරු බොහොමයක් දුටුවෙමු. එය පසුකර නැවතත් ඉහළට ඇදෙන විට අහම්බෙන් අප නෙත ගැටුණේ අප ගමන් කළ මාර්ගයට මදක් නුදුරෙන් පිහිටි කුඩා ගල් ගුහාවක් වැනි ඉසව්වකි. එහි කළු පාට පොලිතින් කැබැල්ලක් තිබෙනු අප දුටු බැවින් එම ස්ථානයට ගොස් අපි විපරම් කළෙමු.

එහි යම් පිරිසක් නැවතී සිටි බව නිසැකය. මන්ද කුඩා පොලිතීන් කැබැල්ල අසල ලීපටි යුගලයක් සවිකර අට්ටාලයක් මෙන් තිබූ අතර ඒ අවට පොළොව එහා මෙහා කර විපරම් කරන විට කුඩා මැටි පහන් දෙකක් ද අපට හමුවුණි. එහි තවදුරටත් විපරම් කළ අපට කුඩා ගුහාව ඇතුළේ පොළවට පස් වෙමින් තිබූ තවත් පොලිතීන් කැබැල්ලක් විය. එය කෙටි ආහාරයක කවරයකි. එහි 2012 වර්ෂයේ නිෂ්පාදන කළ බව සඳහන් වූ අතර එසේනම් මීට වසර 9කට පමණ පෙර කිසියම් පිරිසක් මෙහි රැඳී සිටි බව නිසැකය. මොවුන් මෙසේ සිටියේ කිමද යන්න අපට ගැටලු සහගත විය.

කුඩා මැටි පහන් ඒ සැකය තවත් වැඩි කළේ යම් නිධානයක් ගැනීමට පැමිණි පිරිසක්දෝ යැයි හඟවමිනි. මන්ද මේ අවට තිබුණේ දැවැන්ත ගල් පර්වත හා ගල් කුට්ටි පමණක් වන නිසාවෙනි. ඒ අවට තවදුරටත් විපරම් කරන විට කිසිවක් හමු නොවුව ද අපි මේ දේවල් එම ස්ථානයේම තබා නැවත ගමන යාම පටන් ගත්තෙමු.

Nature beauty

Nature beauty

Keep going

Through the thick forest

Nature beauty

Mountains at Erathna area, may be Botiyagala

Surrounding

Signs of Elephants

Reached to a stream, this area divide Heen Piduruthalawa and Paduruthalagala separately

Filling water

ගමන අවසානයට ආසන්න බව වැටහෙන විට වනයට පහළින් කුඩා දිය පහරක ශබ්දය අපට ඇසුණි. වහා එහි ගිය අප දුටුවේ තරමක් සිඳී ගිය ජල ප්‍රවාහයකි. විශාල ගල් තලාවක් මතින් ගලා යන එහි ජලය අපි බෝතල්වලට පුරවාගෙන පානය කළෙමු. එහි මඳක් විවේක ගත් අප දුටුවේ පසෙකින් ඇත්තේ හීන් පිදුරුතලාව කන්දේ පිටුපස සහ අනෙක් පසින් ඇත්තේ අප තරණය කිරීමට යන පැදුරුතලාගල කන්දේ මුදුන බවයි. ඒ කඳු දෙක අතර පැහැදිලි නිම්නයක් වූ අතර මෙම දියවර ගලාගෙන එන්නේ ඒ අතරින් බව අපි පසක් කර ගත්තෙමු. පසුව අප නැවතත් පෙර මාර්ගයට පැමිණ කන්ද මුදුනට යාමට පටන් ගත්තද ගල් බිත්තිය පහළ සිටි පොළොං තෙලිස්සෙකු අප දුටුවේ අහම්බෙනි.

කෙසේ හෝ එම ස්ථානයෙන් ප්‍රවේසම්ව ඉවත් වූ අපි කන්දේ මුදුනට නැගීමට ඇති ක්‍රමය ගස් වැල් දිගේ එල්ලී බව දුටුවෙමු. අඩි 5ක් පමණ උසට අප පඳුරු සහ ගස් වැල් ආධාරයෙන් අමාරුවෙන් කන් ද මුදුනට නැග ගත්ත ද සැබෑ කඳු මුදුන තවත් එහා බව අපි දුටුවෙමු. නමුත් දැන් අප සිටින්නේ ගල උඩ තැනිතලාවේ වූ බැවින් ගමන අපහසු නොවීය. ක්‍රමයෙන් අපි මාන පඳුරු අතරින් ඉදිරියට යන විට දුටු දෙයින් විස්මයට පත්වුණෙමු.

The dried stream

Madusanka through the forest

Tihara was there

More to go

Nature

Natural construction

Difficult path

Climbing part to the summit rocky plain

Nature beauty

Kadukara Mukalan Thelissa

Nature beauty

Plants

Nature beauty

Back of Heen Piduruthalawa

Nature beauty

Came to the top, but little more to go

Nature beauty

Nature beauty

Nature

Nature beauty

Nature beauty

Malith is resting

Part of the rocky plain at the summit

Walking

එනම් කන්ද මුදුනේ අලි වසුරු තිබීමයි. අපද ඉතා දුෂ්කරව කන්ද මුදුනට නැග්ග ද වන අලි පවා මෙම කන්ද මුදුනට පැමිණි වග අපි දුටුවෙමු. තවත් දුරට යන විට නැවතත් අලි වසුරු බොහෝමයක් අප දුටු අතර ස්ථාන කිහිපයක ඒවා දක්නට ලැබුණි. කෙසේ හෝ අප වර්ණගල අම්බලම තියන ස්ථානයට ආ අතර එය කන්දේ මුදුන විය. එය ඉතා විශාල තනි පැතලි ගල් තලාවකි. අංශක 270 ක පමණ සමතල වපසරියක් එහි දක්නට තිබූ අතර සමනය හා බෑන සමනළ සේම කුණුදිය පව්වත් ඉතා අපූරුවට අපට දක්නට ලැබුණි.
හොඳ විවේකයක් ගත් අපි අව් රශ්මිය නොතකාම ගල උඩ වැතිරුණෙමු. පහළින් ඩයිමන්ඩ් ගල, වර්ණ ගල, අම්බලම, මාදගින්න හා ගෙත්තම් පාණත්, හැරමිටි පාණ අම්බලමත් අපට දක්නට ලැබුණි. රජ මාවත මහගිරි දඹ දිගේ යන මාර්ගයත් ඉතා හොඳින් අපට දක්නට ලැබුණි. කෙසේ හෝ ගිමන් හැරි අපි ගල අවට හා යාබද වන ළැහැබ මඳක් විපරම් කළෙමු. එහිදී අපි දුටුවේ මින් පෙර නුදුටු දෙයකි. එනම් මෙම කන්ද මුදුනේ මිනින්දෝරු සලකුණ (කුකුල් පාද) දෙකක් ස්ථාන දෙකක පිහිටා තිබීමයි. ඉන් එකක් ගල මතුපිටින් ඉහළට එසවෙන ලෙසත් අනෙක ගල හාරා තිබෙනු ලෙසත් තිබීමයි.

කෙසේ හෝ අප හෝරාවක් දෙකක් පැදුරුතලාගල කන්ද මුදුනේ ගත කළේ අවට සිරි නරඹමිනි. වසර හතක් පමණ පරණ ගල් ගුහාවක් අසල තිබූ ද්‍රව්‍ය සේම මිනින්දෝරු ලකුණු දෙකත් අපට කුතුහලය ගෙනදුණි. එනමුත් අප නැවතත් පැමිණි මාර්ගයෙන්ම නැවතත් බසින්න වූයේ සවස් යාමට පෙර ගමන නිම කිරීමටයි. එම නිසාම අප වර්ණගල මාර්ගයට පැමිණෙන විට වේලාව සවස 6 ට ළංව තිබුණි.

Iresha is enjoying

Nature beauty

Samanala and Bena Samanala

Samanala Zoomed

We were there

Nirosh is enjoying

The whole range

The 1st mark we saw, it was cut the rock

Second mark we saw, it was embroidered on the rock

Another view of the first one

The range

යකා ඇඩු කන්ද, සමනළ, බෑන සමනල, රත් කන්ද, බලවන කන්ද, කුණුදිය පර්වතය; පැදුරුතලාගල කන්ද මුදුනේ සිට

The photographer

Surrounding

Here is the KDP (Kunu Diya Pawwa)

The KDP trail marked

Malith is resting

The group

The Sobasiri Team

සැළකිය යුතුයි – වනජීවී සංරක්ෂක ජනරාල්වරයාගේ ලිඛිත අවසරයක් නොමැතිව සමනළ ස්වභාව රක්ෂිතයට ඇතුල්වීම නීතියෙන් තහනම් බව හොදින් මතක තබාගන්න.

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Hills around Kurunegala Town

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Year and Month Andagala-2017 December 30th

Elugala / Wawugala-2018 December 03rd

Maraluwawa RMW- 2018 September 09th

Ethugala-2019 December 15th

Number of Days Altogether one day is enough
Crew Andagala-Anupama, Eshan, Nuwan, Achintha, Anupama’s friend and Myself

Elugala / Wawugala-Anupama, Nuwan and Myself

Maraluwawa RMW- Anupama, Sanjeewa and Myself

Ethugala-Solo

Accommodation Not Applicable
Transport By bus, bike and hiking
Activities Hiking, Sightseeing and Photography
Weather Excellent
Route Colombo ->Kurunegala
Tips, Notes and Special remark
  1. It’s better do these hikes in early morning or evening. As all these rocks can be extremely heat in afternoon.
  2. One day is enough to cover all these places. But don’t know the situation of Ibbagala and Kiribathgala.
  3. No need permission.
  4. No risk of trap guns.
  5. Behave accordingly as some places are Buddhist temples.
  6. Carry a water bottle.
  7. No need guides. Everything marked in Google map.
Author Niroshan
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Hills around Kurunegala Town

Kurunegala town is surrounded by few rocks and I paid some extra attention to conquer them. All these rocks can be well seen when you walk around Kurunegala Lake as the lake is situated at center of the town. We didn’t allocate specific time to hike them and all done with some other hikes. Let me list these places:

  1. Andagala
  2. Maraluwa RMW and Kiribathgala
  3. Ethugala
  4. Ibbagala
  5. Elugala / Waugala

Arrangements of hills around Kurunegala Town

How these rocks are seen to Kurunegala Lake

View of Ibbagala and Ethugala over Kurunegala Lake

Ethugala and Buddha statue. This is the icon of Kurunegala.

Ibbagala

Wawugala / Elugala

Walking pathway around Kurunegala Lake

Now we will go one by one.

Andagala (ආදාගල)

As it looks like an Eel (Anda) called as Andagala. This black skinny long rock extends from Kiribathgala (Kuruminiyagala  /කුරුමිණියාගල) to Ibbagala. We have hiked Andagala in an evening following the hike of Bisogala.

Directions:

Muththetugala-Hiripitiya road (7.494965, 80.378200) -> turned to by road to Maraluwawa RMV (7.509426, 80.377905) -> Next turn is to base of Andagala (7.507785, 80.373781).

It is just a 20-30 minutes hike from Base to the top of this rock. It has a gradual ascend to the top of Andagala.

There is a structure built by granite stones at the middle of the rock in view of operating a cable car system from Andagala to Elugala (Wawugala). But it has been abounded.

We have enjoyed the sun set from Andagala. In addition we were able to watch the train running between Wellawa and Muththettuwagala. You can view Hadurukkanda, Belgoda Kanda, Parape Kanda, Werapola, Yakdessagala, Ibbagala, Bisogala, Ambokka, Dolukanda, Kiribathgala, Kurunegala town and Kurunegala Lake from Andagala.

At base of Andagala

Along the rock…

Reached top of Andagala

Kurunegala Lake and a part of the town seen

View of Kurunegala town from Andagala

The slope of Andagala. Ibbagala is situated next to Andagala. Ethugala is covered by Ibbagala.

Greenish paddies are such a common finding at Kurunegala District. It is not changed closer to the town even.

Kiribathgala and Maraluwawa RMV. We got on to Andagala between the gap of Kiribathgala and Andagala.

Maraluwawa RMV

Dolukanda

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Hadurukkanda, Parape Kanda and Belgoda Kanda

Kiribathgala (closer), Yakdessagala (middle and spiky) and Werapola

Walking over the back of Eel.

The structure built on middle of Andagala to operate cable cars.

Another view of it

The team

I was able to get on it.

Millennium City housing scheme, paddies, Kurunegala Lake and Kurunegala Town

Zoomed view of Millennium City housing scheme and swimming pool

Millennium City Housing Scheme

Closer view of Kurunegala Lake. The road around the Lake also can be seen here.

Boating at Kurunegala Lake

Sun set over Kurunegala Town

Towards Alawwa and Polgahawela

Slight ascend to the highest point of the rock

These were a common finding over Andagala rock.

Evening sun rays make golden colour on picture.

.

Sun set

Busy Kurunegala Town

Welagedara ground (closer) and Maligapitiya Ground

Muththettugala-Hiripitiya Road

Trying to get on to the top of Andagala.

Seems to be the highest point of Andagala

.

Kurunegala in monochrome

The train running from Muththetugala to Wellawa

Yakdessagala

Sun set begins….

Silhouette

Yakdessagala

Coming down….

The moon comes….

Kiribathgala

Good bye Andagala

Ethugala / Kurunegala Rock (ඇතුගල) (7.485149, 80.370117) (335m)

Ethugala and the Buddha statue on top of the rock is the symbol of Kurunegala. I did a solo hike to Ethugala in early morning on my way to Ibbagamuwa. There are two ways to reach the top of Ethugala: Routine tarred road and the foot pathway.

Directions: Kurunegala->Kandy Road->Turn to Wathhimi Road (7.486773, 80.366685) -> Turn to Ethugala Road (7.488883, 80.367949)

OR

Kurunegala->Dambulla Road->Turn to Wathhimi Road (7.488510, 80.365509) ->Turn to Ethugala Road (7.488883, 80.367949)

The foot path in left hand side, soon you enter Ethugala Road. Foot pathway directly goes over the rock along the angle. You can reach the place by a vehicle along the tarred road.

I selected the foot pathway for solo visit of Ethugala. It took about 30-45 minutes to reach the Buddha statue of Ethugala by following the foot pathway.

Ethugala is another superb view point of Kurunegala town. In addition to Kurunegala town, we were able to see Andagala, Kiribathgala, Yakdessagala, Nathagane and Werapola from Ethugala.

Follow the foot path over the rock

They were roaming around…..

These things reminds me Andagala

Kiribathgala / Kuruminiyagala (right), Belumgala (middle) and Eluwagala (left)

Maraluwawa Temple

View of Elugala / Waugala from Ethugala

Part of Kurunegala town, Dambulla road, Kurunegala Lake, Nathagane and Yakdessagala.

Nathagane

Yakdessagala (Right) and Werapola (Left)

Yakdessagala Range

Ibbagala RMW and Ibbagala

Close up…

Kurunegala Lake

Kurunegala Town

Kurunegala town extends to Pothuhera and Polgahawela

The clock tower junction: Kurunegala-Puttalama road (A10) runs up. Kurunegala-Kandy road (A10) is coming down. A10 is Katugasthota-Puttalama Road.

Kurunegala Bus stand

The clock tower junction.

Malay Jumma Mosque

The Lake round….

Paddies closer to the town

It is a beautiful morning

Scenic….

Scenic….

Hills far away

Ethugala Buddha statue

Ethugala Buddha Statue

A bend of a tarred road to Ethugala

Foot path to Ethugala

Elugala / Waugala (7.494296, 80.355552) (එළුගල /වැවුගල)

Elugala / Waugala is a small rock situated closer to Kurunegala Lake. It can be approached from Kurunegala-Puttalama road. After hike Gonagama Kanda we have visited Elugala on our way to home.

Directions: Get turn to Kathiresan Kovil Road-(7.489285, 80.361172) ->then to S Lake Road (7.491286, 80.3619740) ->then to Elugala (7.491981, 80.360779)

This flat rock has a temple-Waugala Wiharaya on top of it. You can drive up to the temple.  We have observed the similar structure like Andagala built on top of Elugala to operate cable car system. As it is a flat small you can’t see many structures from top of Elugala. But we were able to view Ethugala, Ibbagala, Andagala, Kiribathgala, Hadurukkanda, Belgoda Kanda, Parape range, Yakdessagala and Nathagane from Elugala.

Along the rock of Elugala

Elugala Temple

The structure built on top of Elugala to operate cable cars.

The structure built on top of Elugala to operate cable cars.

View of Andagala and Kurunegala Lake from Elugala.

View of Ibbagala and Ibbagala RMV from Elugala

View of Ethugala and Buddha statue from Elugala. The concrete road to Elugala is also seen.

Kiribathgala is seen over Kurunegala Lake.

Dolukanda was seen from the edge of Andagala

Yakdessagala Range

Towards Hadurukkanda, Belgoda Kanda and Parape range (Beyond Ethugala)

Hadurukkanda

Hadurukkanda

Belgoda Kanda is covered with mist

Nathagane. Saragama Lake and Saragama Temple.

Might be Yodamuwa Kanda at Polgahawela (middle)

Maraluwawa RMV (මරළුවාව රජමහා විහාරය)

Maraluwawa RMV and Kiribathgala are situated next to Andagala. I have not been at Kiribathgala but at Maraluwawa RMV. This journey happened in early morning on our way to Ibbagamuwa-Kotagala. There is a by road to Maraluwawa RMV from Muththettugala-Hiripitiya road. (7.509426, 80.377905). There is a mortable road up to the temple. You can visit at caves and slab inscription at Maraluwawa Temple.

The by road to Maraluwawa RMV

Uphill

Maraluwawa RMV

Information on Rock inscription

Stupa of Maraluwawa RMV

The rock pond….

The cave

The slab rock in front of the Stupa gives a superb view of surrounding. We could see Andagala, Ibbagala, Ethugala and Elugala which are surrounding Kurunegala Lake.

Rocks around Kurunegala Lake: Andagala, Ibbagala and Ethugala

Close up….

Elugala /Waugala

Dolukanda

Unknown

Wow…

Maraluwawa temple and Kiribathgala

I was not able to visit Ibbagala and Kiribathgala up to now.

 Thanks for reading

 

Visit to Kohonawala (කොහොනාවල)

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Year and Month  31-March-2018
Number of Days  Two
Crew  05
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Public Transport
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Sightseeing
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Avissawella -> Ratnapura -> Balangoda -> Haputale -> Badulla ->
Passara -> Madulsima Road ->Madolsima ->Verallapatana Tea Factory
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Beware of narrow and slippery foot path
      • Beware of rock falling
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  Article by LankaNews
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Visit to Kohonawala (කොහොනාවල)

අඩි 4500ක බෑවුමේ පිහිටි අඩුවෙන්ම ඉර පායන ගම්මානය

පවුලක පැතුම් හිස බර දරාගෙන කරුණෙ අයියා වන බුටැවන් මැද්දෙන් කළුවරේම කන්ද බඩගාන්නේ තනිපංගලමේය. කුඩා කල සිටම තමන්ගේ පයට ගෙවුණු රළු ගල් බොරළු පාර කරුණෙ ඔහුට හොඳට හුරුය. කරුණෙ අයියා පමණක් නොව, කොහොනාවල නම් හුදෙකලා ගම්මානයේ වෙසෙන බොහෝ ගැමියන් තමතමන්ගේ කුඩා ගෙවත්තේ ඵලදාව එක්කරගනිමින් දෛනිකව මඩො හෝ කැලෑ කොළ මිටියක් රැගෙන කඳුකර මාවතේ කිලෝමීටර දොළහක දුර පාගමනින් යන මේ වැසියෝ එදා දවසේ ජීවිතය සැලසුම් කරන්නේ තම තමාට එදිනෙදා ලැබෙන මුදල මතය.කෘෂි කර්මාන්තය ප්‍රධාන ජීවන වෘත්තිය කොටගත් කොහොනාවල ගම්මානය පිහිටා ඇත්තේ බදුල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ මඩොල්සිම නගරයට කිලෝමීටර දොළහක දුරිනි. ප්‍රධාන නගරයේ සිට මඩොල්සිම තේ වතුයාය හරහා වැටී ඇති දුෂ්කර පටු දිගු කඳුකර මාවතෙහි පා ගමනින් පමණක් ළඟාවිය හැකි මෙම ගම්මානය අතිශය සුන්දර ස්වයංපෝෂිත දිවියක් ගතකරන ගැමියන්ගෙන් සැදුම්ලත් එකකි. අයස්කාන්ත කඳු වලල්ලකින් වටවූ මේ හුදෙකලා ගම්මානය ගැන දන්නෝ අතළොස්සකි.උදාහරණයක් කිවහොත් බදුල්ල ප්‍රදේශයේ ජීවත්වන පුද්ගලයන් පවා මේ හුදෙකලා කුඩා ගම්මානය ගැන දන්නේ නැත.

Kohonawala marked in Metric Maps and see the near by mountains

Terrain view to identify the elevation gap. (RED) Trail head at 1300m and (YELLOW) Kohonawala situated near 550m and Loggal oya (BLUE) at 350m

See the location of Kohonawala with surrounding mountain range. Village is fully covered by giant mountains

The exact path to Kohonawala from Verallapathana tea factory

Satellite view of a part of Kohonawala houses and the Temple, School

Trail starting from here

Estate

Tea Factory

Nature

දිනෙන් දින දියුණුවනවායයි පාලකයන් විසින් දිවුරමින් පාරම්බාන අපේ රටේ මෙවැනි හුදෙකළා ගම්මානයක් පිහිටා ඇති වග කියන විටද ඔබ තිගැස්සෙනු නො අනුමානය. පවුල් හතළිස් අටක, පරම්පරා තුනක, හාරසියයකට නො වැඩි ජනගහනයකින් සැදුම්ලත් මේ සුන්දර එහෙත් දුෂ්කර ගම්මානයට ප්‍රවේශ මාර්ගදෙකකි. ඉන් බහුලව භාවිතවන මඩොල්සිම තෙක් වැටී ඇති අඩිපාර කිසිඳු මොහොතක සංවර්ධනය කළ නොහැකි ස්වභාවික බාධකවලින් යුතු දුෂ්කර සුන්දර මාර්ගයකි.නමුත් මේ ගමට පැමිණීමට ගැමියන් භාවිත කරනු ලබන අනෙක් මඟ වන කහටරුප්පෙ මාර්ගය මීට කලකට ඉහතදී සකසන ලද්දකි. මේ මාර්ගය කහටරුප්පේ සිට පැමිණ ලොග්ගල්ලාඔයෙහි එක් ඉවුරකින් අවසන් වේ.

රෝහලක් හෝ ජංගම වෛද්‍යමධ්‍යස්ථානයක්වත් නොමැති මේ ගම්මානයේ අයකු අසනීපවුවහොත් එක්කෝ කඳු නැඟ මඩොල්සිමට යා යුතුය. නැතහොත් ගඟ තරණයකොට කහටරුප්පෙ නගරයට යා යුතුය. උණ ගසක බැඳි පුටුවක ආධාරයෙන් රෝගියා වෛද්‍යවරයකු වෙත ගෙනයාමට අවම වශයෙන් ඔවුනට පැය හතරකට නොඅඩු කාලයක් ගත වෙයි. මේ ඒ ගමේ හැටිය. පහ වසර තෙක් පන්ති පැවැත්වෙන ගමේ පාසල දරුවන්ට සුවිසල් දැනුම හෙවණක් තනාදී ඇත්තේ විදුහල්පතිවරයාට පින්සිදුවන්නටය. පහ වසරින් පසුව මේ දරුවන් යායුත්තේ කහටරුප්පෙ නගරයේ පාසලටය. එය අතිශය දුෂ්කර ගමනකි‍.

New name board of the school

Surrounding

Beginning

A Famous bathing place

More to go

Butterfly

Flowers

More flowers

Madolsima Dunhinda Fall

Went to the bottom of it

She is bit tall

Madolsima Dunhinda

Lower cascades

Normal view

Beauties

Mountains

There are lot of mountains

Should go to the bottom

Another one

Nature

More to see

Some giants

Grassland

Nature

More views

Met it

Might be a තුරු හාල් දණ්ඩා

More to go

කොහොනාවල හුදෙකලා දුෂ්කර ගම්මානයක් වුවද මේ ගමෙහි කටුමැටි බිත්තියෙන් යුතු ගෙවල් කිසිවක් දක්නට නොලැබේ. කොතරම් ආර්ථික අපහසුතා තිබුණද, ගැහැට සමඟ ගැටෙමින් දුක සමඟ පොරබදිමින් බාධකවලට බාධා පමුණුවමින් ඔවුන් දියුණුවන ලොව සමඟ ස්වංපෝෂිතව නැඟී සිටීමට උත්සාහ ගනිති. ඔවුන් ආධාර නොඉල්ලති. පින් පඩි නො අයදිති. රජයේ රස්සා ඉල්ලා නොයති.ලැබෙන දෙයින් සතුටුවන මේ අව්‍යාජ ගැමියන් එකමුතු මුතුමෙන් රකිති.අගයති.

නිරතුරුවම ආගන්තුක සද්කාරයන්ගෙන් පිරි මේ සුන්දර ගැමියන් තම ගමට පැමිණෙන ආගන්තුකයන් හද පිරි උණුසුමින් පිළිගනිති.

අනෙකුත් ගම්මාන අතර මෙම ගම්මානය සුවිශේෂ වන්නේ මෙම ගමට ඉර පෑයීමේ සහ ඉර බැස යාමේ රටාව අනුවය.මෙම ගම්මානයට ඉර එළිය වැටෙන්නට ආරම්භ වන්නේ උදෑසන 10- 11 අතර කාලයේය.එසේ මෝදුවන ඉර හරි හැටි එළිය දෙන්නේ මැදියමට ආසන්නවය.ඉන් පසුව ඉර සවස 4-5 අතර බැසයන්නේ මේ ගම්මානය කළුවර කරමින් ය.මීට හේතුව මේ ගම්මානය කඳුවලල්ලකින් වටව අඩි 4500ක් පමණ බෑවුමක පිහිටා තිබීමය.

Getting down

Green valley

These are their daily pathways

Ambalama seen

The Ambalama

For devotees

More views

Pine Apples

Some houses seen

Part of Kohonawala houses

The Path

Narrow path

Nature

More to go

Near to the school

Beauties

An Entrance

Mountains

Mushrooms

More to go

We are close

More

Cross it

Another famous bathing place

Slow shutter

Streams

Reached

Beauties

මේ ගම්මානය පිළිබඳ ඉතිහාසය බොහෝ රසවත් ය.1818 කැරැල්ලේදී සටනට සහය පළකළ රණකාමීන් වූ රන්පත්මුදියන්සේ පරම්පරාව මෙම ගම්මානයේ සැඟවී ඇත.එදා සිට කොහොනාවල ජනාවාසයක් වූ අතර ඒ කතාන්දරය සනාථ කරමින් අදටද මේ ගම්මානයේ ජීවත්වන්නේ රන්පත්මුදියන්සේ පරපුර පමණකි.

මෙම ගම්මානයට පන්සලක් තනන්නේද මෑත කාලයේදීය.ඒ ඔලබොඩුවේ ධම්මානන්ද ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේ මේ ගමට වැඩම කළ පසුවය.මේ ගම සැබෑවටම රටට ලෝකයටම ආදර්ශයක් ය.මේ ගමේ ස්වයංපෝෂිත මිනිසුන් කාටවත් බරක් නැත.තමන්ගේ ජීවන බර තමන් විසින්ම කරතබාගෙන ඔවුන් යන්නේ ඉදිරියටමය.ඒ දිරියෙන් යන ගමන ඉතා සාර්තකය.

Under construction

The only place

Cultivation

Rocky plains

Streams

Nature

Summits but near to the main roads

Beautiful

Another village waterfall

Kohonawala Ella

Slow Shutter

Lower Kohonawala Falls

Hills

Nature

Drop

Another one

Slow shutter

Zoomed view

Kohonawala Fall II

More to go

Entered

Village

A House

Nature

Environment

Amazing Environment

Beauties

Streams

A Temple far away

Village foot path

More to go

Nature

Under Construction

Over the Oya

Butterfly

Where we came from

More

And more

There were lot

Near by Mountains

Another beauty

Nature

Nature

Final Capture

Surrounding Environment

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Katalagolla Oya Expedition –කැටලාගොල්ල ඔය

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Year and Month  09-December-2018
Number of Days  One
Crew  10
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Hired Vehicle
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Sightseeing, Waterfall Hunting
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Kandy -> Mahiyanganaya Road -> Udadumbara -> Mahawela ->
Idamakele -> VRR Forest border
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Drinking from the stream is good
      • Take necessary permission
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Beware of slippery rocks and leeches
      • Beware of Elephants
      • Beware of Sambar and Deer
      • Beware of Snakes as there are many (Kunakatuwa special)
      • Travel by public transport is the best option
      • Start your journey early in the morning
      • Finish your adventure before 5pm due to the risk of Elephants
      • Using a GPS might be helpful but walk along the stream will also meet the village at Gurulupotha
      • Study the Satellite map view before you go
      • Use the easiest and safest path to descending
      • Beware of crossing the river when it get more wider
      • Beware of bathing at unknown places
      • Walk along the stream by it’s right side for most of time
      • Do not ever try this during a rainy season due to flash floods
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  Mawbima Article
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Katalagolla Oya Expedition – කැටලාගොල්ල ඔය

වන මැද සැඟවුණු කැටලාගොල්ල ඔය

 

See the stream marked (Blue lines) on Metric Map. Note the nearby mountains (Red circles) around the village (Orange square) and VRR reserve.

Satellite view of the Katalagolla stream through the mountains. White star is the is the trail head and Yellow star is the end of the journey.

Google 3D view of the area. Bird eye view from Hasalaka side. See the mountains at VRR Reserve and the Katalagolla route of descending.

GN office situated at the village.

Path to the village

A waterfall met on the way to the village

Side view of a cascade

This is the village road

Passing the Elephant Fence

Surrounding nature

Path to Galpadihela/ Katalagolla stream

Environment, stream is over there

Electric fence

Something

They welcomed us

Early morning view

Ready to her first waterfall hunting along a stream

Entered to the stream

Environment

Beautiful

Side view of the first fall

Here is the first one on our trail, but remember there are few falls upwards this stream at Kosgolla Mountain side

Waterfall No – 1

Another view of it

Stream and the forest

Greeny forest

Sometimes we had to get into the water like this

Silent Nature

Small cascades

Our Photographer

Met this one

Side view

Waterfall No – 2

Beauty of Waterfall No – 2

Nature

More to go

Enjoying

See the stream and the trees

Here is it

See the beauty

The only stream get combined with Katalagolla on this trail

Here it got bit widest

Time to rest

Under the shades

Beautiful environment

More to go

Madusanka and Tihara on the way

Time for a capture, Iresha

Malith is also like to pose

The stream

See the beauty

Time for us

Slow shutters

Difficult path

Few of the team

Nature

Calm environment

Waterfall No – 3

Colorful

Side vie of it

Environment

The Sobasiri Team, Akila and his wife missing

Mushrooms

Flowers

Another set

Along the stream

Waterfall No – 4

Milky water

Some beauties

Top of the Fifth fall

Here we get down

Waterfall No – 5

This is like Ellewala Fall

Slow shutter

We had a cool bath here at the base of the fall

Malith is still at the top

Madusanka is capturing

Time to leave it

More

There were lot

Through the forest

Nature

See the path

This is totally beautiful and amazing environment over there

Zoomed capture

Styles of stones

More to go

Erandi is walking along the stream

Fearful Environment

Crossing the stream, note there are only few places to cross this stream due to the width and the depth of the stream

Here we go

More beauties

A creature

Small cascades

View towards Gurulupotha

At the top of sixth waterfall

See the edge

Nirosh and Erandi at the dead-end

Enjoying

Tallest fall of this trail

Enjoying

There is a 80+ cliff at the end of this place, so be careful

Loving nature

The view in front of the giant

Difficult hike

Side view of the Upper part of the sixth fall

Giant trees on the stream

Where we came from

Beauties

Getting down to the 6th fall

Bottom of the fall

Waterfall No – 6

Here is she

View through the forest

Thunpath Rena fall

Waterfall No – 7

Greeny

Waterfall No – 8

Met him

Kunakatuwa

Waterfall No – 9

Reached to the end of the journey, evidence of a village – an elephant fence

The Anicut

Reached to the village

Another one met

Beautiful

Paddies

Their Cultivation

Getting dark

Innocent village

Balungala/ Ambagolla Mountain

Heading to Mahiyanganaya- Kandy road

Near Hetakatuwegala

Innocent Houses

The temple at the village

Refer our previous hike to Kosgolla Mountain and Galpadihela which is near to this area.

Exploring Kosgolla Mountain range and Galpadihela

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Randomz of Puwakpitiya and Padukka

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Year and Month Seethawaka Botanical Garden- 2018 August 26th
Other places-2019 April 28th
Number of Days Two separate days
Crew Seethawaka Botanical Garden-Solo
Other places- Harinda, Sri, Harinda’s brother and Myself
Accommodation Not Applicable
Transport By bus, car and walking
Activities Just visit, Sightseeing and Photography
Weather Excellent
Route Colombo->Puwakpitiya->Padukka->Back to Colombo
Tips, Notes and Special remark
  1. Start the journey early morning.
  2. Not like other waterfalls in the area, these falls are not getting crowded as visitors don’t know the places much.
  3. Leech protection methods to be followed.
  4. Better go soon after the rain to enjoy the real beauty of the waterfalls.
  5. It is bit difficult to find the access to Asmadalagala pre historical cave.
  6. It needs permission from chief priest to climb Kurugala. Coming through the temple is the easiest way to climb the rock.
  7. Seethawaka Botanical Garden gets crowded in public holidays. Wedding and pre shoot couples come in early morning.
  8. It takes a half day to cover whole botanical garden.
  9. Seethawaka Botanical Garden opens in all seven days from 7.30 am to 6 pm. A ticket is charged for entrance. (Rs 60 for an adult and Rs 10 for a child).For a boat ride Rs 200 is charged per person. If you wish you can hire an electric golf cart from the entrance. (Rs 1000)
  10. There is a cafeteria at the entrance of the garden but you can bring outside food as well.
  11. Please maintain the cleanliness of the Botanical Garden. The staff does a great job in maintaining it.
Related Resources
  1. “Shri Lankawe Len” by Kusumsiri Jayawardene.
  2. Travel with Chathura @ Kurugala
  3. Seethawaka Wet Zone Botanical Gardenes, Ilukowita, Awissawella-You tube video by Sri Abeywickrama.
  4. Amazing Lanka-Seethawaka Botanical Garden.
Author Niroshan
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Randomz of Puwakpitiya and Padukka

This is about few places at Colombo district, mainly at Puwakpitiya and Padukka areas. The main objective of this trip was to visit at newly mentioned two waterfalls in Colombo District. Harinda got some information about these waterfalls situated at Colombo District surprisingly at Puwakpitiya area. They were named as

  1. Lansiya Wala Ella
  2. Dehigaha Dola Falls.

On our way back to Colombo we have visited at Asmadalagala pre historical cave and Kurugala observation point. Seethawaka Botanical Garden is also situated at Puwakpitiya area and I visited there in my solo waterfall journey.

1. Lansiya Wala Ella / ලoසියාවල ඇල්ල

Lansiya Wala Ella is situated at Puwakpitiya-Thummodara road in between Hewahinna Road and Baduwatta Road. Base pool of the waterfall is called “Lansiya Wala”/ ලoසියාවල. It is situated closer to main road but only known to locals. We crossed the bridge over the stream and go down along other side of the stream. Here we came across two waterfalls. Upper fall is about 5-6 m in height but more in beauty. Lower falls is the proper Lansiya Wala Ella which is about 6-7 m tall. There was a foot path from the base of Lower falls to the main road.

Upper falls of Lansiya Wala Ella

Upper falls of Lansiya Wala Ella

Side view

These flowers were so common around the stream

Lower Falls-Proper Lansiya Wala Ella. The base pool of this waterfall is called Lansiya Wala.

Lansiya Wala Ella.

Lansiya Wala Ella and Lansiya Wala

.

.

The team with Lansiya Wala Ella

Dehigaha Dola Ella /දෙහිගහ දොල ඇල්ල

 This is another hidden waterfall situated above famous Ranmudu Ella. It is situated bit far from the main road and has to walk about 500-750 m to reach the waterfall. Dehigaha Dola Falls is about 5-6 m in height.

Dehigaha Dola

On top of the water fall. Note the water tank.

Dehigaha Dola Ella

Dehigaha Dola Ella

Dehigaha Dola Ella

Dehigaha Dola Ella

Let me update the new list of waterfalls in Colombo District

 So waterfall list of Colombo district is updated:

  1. Kumari Ella
  2. Hewahinna Ella
  3. Ella Uda Ella
  4. Thummodara Ranmudu Ella
  5. Dambora Ella /Demala Ella
  6. Udagama Falls
  7. Diwiya Mala Ella
  8. Lansiya Wala Ella
  9. Dehigaha Dola Ella

Seethawaka Botanical Garden (6.53, 80.10)

This is the most popular tourist attraction at Puwakpitiya-Thummodara road exactly located at Illukowita area (6 km from Puwakpitiya junction).This wet zone Botanical Garden was opened in 2014 covering 106 acres. It’s primary purpose for serving as a research area and a conservation area for threatened and vulnerable endemic plant species in wet zone. It’s height ranges from 90 m to 180 m.

The lower part of the garden is maintained similar to a botanical garden with beautifully arranged flower patches, perfectly cut grass, and well maintained lake.

Highest point of the garden is called “Mudun Uyana” -මුදුන් උයන. In addition there are different sections of the garden and they have started the second step of the garden as well.

Information and lay out of Seethawaka Botanical Garden.

Entrance of the garden.

The lake. Note wedding photographers are busy at this area.

Cafeteria and ticket counter.

Paved pathways.

.

Swan Boats.

.

.

Note the mountain in front of the garden.

.

Fernery.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Towards upper section of the garden.

.

Electric Golf Cart. You can hire it.

.

Beyond this area second step of the garden is operating.

Heading to Mudun Uyana.

View of the garden from Mudun Uyana.

View of the garden from Mudun Uyana.

Mudun Uyana-Observation point of the garden.

How Mudun Uyana is seen….

.

Next two places are situated out of Puwakpitiya area: Asmadalagala pre historical cave and Kurugala.

We turned at Kaluaglla to Kaluaggala-Kahatapitiya road and followed the road to Pugoda Thotupola (පූගොඩ තොටුපොල). We had utter difficulties in find the exact location of the cave as villagers don’t give correct information. (Mr. Kusumsiri Wijewardana also faced similar experience.). CHE Adventure Park is situated closer to Asmadala Rock. At the end we were directed there and with their support we have reached the cave. Actually the cave is situated behind their ground but there is a separate foot path from main road to the cave (Archaeologically approved). Seems villagers are reluctant to show this path to the cave.

Asmadalagala Pre Historical Cave /අස්මඩලාගල ගුහාව (6.5754392, 80.697441)

Asmadalagala is a rock situated in Colombo district and pre historical cave situated at base of the rock. In 1997 Dr. Raj Bandara and team has done excavation at this cave and found stone utensils and clay pots as evidences of pre historical human existence.  Dimensions of the cave are 27 m is long, 4 m in deep and opening is 6 m in height. Later the cave has been used by sermons for meditation in Seethawaka or Kandyan era. Micro utensils found in Asmadalagala cave is similar to those found in Kuruwita Batadomba Lena, Pahiyangala Lena and Kithulgala Beli Lena. Pre historical humans have bought “Thiriwana” (තිරුවානා) /quartz from outside into the cave, most probably from the bank of Kelani River. The age of the cave is not decided yet.

Asmadalagala Rock is situated behind the ground of CHE Adventure Park.

Asmadalagala pre historical cave. The drip ledge was done at later stage.

Asmadalagala pre historical cave. The drip ledge was done at later stage.

Asmadalagala pre historical cave. The drip ledge was done at later stage.

Asmadalagala pre historical cave. The drip ledge was done at later stage.

In front of the cave.

The drip ledge. This is the evidence this cave has been used by Sermons for meditation.

This cave is about 27 m long.

තිරුවානා / Quartz

.

Kurugala / කුරුගල (=100m) (6.826515, 80.075779)
This small rock with religious back ground is situated at Padukka area. We have visited there on our way to Colombo from Puwakpitiya. I got to know about Kurugala from Travel with Chathura programme.

Directions
Colombo->Padukka-> turn to Halkadawala Road (6.854568, 80.077883) ->Liyanwala Junction -> Turn to Kurugala Road (6.839960, 80.080108) ->Kurugala

Shri Shalianthalaramaya is situated at base of Kurugala. After getting permission from chief priest we followed the steps to top of Kurugala. We were able to reach the top in 20-30 minutes time. The cave temple is situated at base of the rock (It was not opened at that time). Top of the rock is occupied by a Buddha statue, sacred foot prints and stupa. The rock extends beyond the temple premises. Highest point of the range is occupied by an estate of pine apple and a transmission tower. It is called Kodigala (කොඩිගල). Kurugala is a nice view point with 270 degree view. In a clear day even Sri Pada can be seen from Kurugala.

Entrance to Kurugala

Kurugala from it’s base

Stone cut pond

Foot path

Steps over the rock.

View from the top…. Hills at Udagama and Kalatuwawa. In a clear day Sri Pada can be seen over here.

View from the top….

View from the top….

View from the top….

Nearby Paddies

Sacred foot print….

The stupa.

Newly established Buddha Statue.

The team on top of Kurugala.

Thanks for reading

Bomburu Fall / Ravan Fall and Hakgala Garden

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Year and Month  02-June-2017
Number of Days  One
Crew  05
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Train, Car
Activities  Nature Exploring, Photography, Waterfall Hunting, Botanical Garden visit
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Nanuoya by Train -> Nuwaraeliya -> Hakgala -> Perawela
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not pluck flowers
      • Do not go out of the trails
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  None
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Bomburu Fall / Ravan Fall and Hakgala Garden

We had a train journey to Nuwaraeliya for meet a special person of our member. Since Madusanka is there, we thought to visit Ravan Fall which couldn’t see on our previous journey. So, we took Madusanka’s car and driven to Perawela to see the Bomburu Bride as we cannot pass her without visiting and after that we went to Ravan fall and spend sometime over there.

After that we went to Hakgala botanical garden we I have been there for the last time on 2002. Since we had enough time to roaming around Nuwaraeliya we walked along the paths and had a silent exploration about a path to climb Hakgala Mountain. Because Hakgala is a high sensitive forest reserve and as we heard on one can climb this giant mountain due to this restrictions. However we couldn’t find any secret path or even any clue about climbing this mountain but we were able to achieve this mountain range in October 2018 successfully. But at that time I and Malith are only able to do this secret hike and still we didn’t published any details about that hike as we are not able to disclose the methods we followed.

On the way to Nanuoya

The train

Surounding

Poor St.Clair

Came to Nuwaraeliya

Cultivation

Above 1900m

More

And more

Gardens

Result

Cultivation

Cultivation

Cultivated lands

Road to Perawela

Path to Bomburu Falls

Minor fall

Here is she

Bomburu

View

The camping area

Its always beautiful

Heading to Ravan Fall

path to the village

Scenic

Foot path beginning

Path to Ravan

For the cultivation

Path to the fall

There is she

It has a different style

Full view

See the pattern

Hakgala Botanical Garden is one of the five botanical gardens in Sri Lanka. The other four are Peradeniya Botanical Garden, Henarathgoda Botanical Garden, Mirijjawila Botanical Garden and Seetawaka Botanical Garden. It is the second largest garden in Sri Lanka. The garden is contiguous to Hakgala Strict Nature Reserve.

Hakgala Botanical Garden is situated on the Nuwara Eliya-Badulla main road, 16 km from Nuwara Eliya. The garden has a cool temperate climate because of altitude is 5,400 feet above the sea level. The mean annual temperature ranges between 16 °C to 30 °C during course of a year. From December to February it has a cold climate, while the warm climate persists from April to August.

The garden was established in 1861, under George Henry Kendrick Thwaites as an experimental cultivation of Cinchona, a commercial crop thriving at the time. Once after the Tea replaced the Cinchona, it was turned into an experimental Tea cultivation. In 1884 it transformed to a garden. Since then many sub tropical and some temperate plants were planted in the gardens.

In the folklores, it says Sri Lankan demon King Ravana after abducting Sita, kept her hidden in this area and area was offered to Sita as a pleasure garden, the place finds mention in the Ramayana as Ashok Vatika. The area was named as “Sita Eliya” and “Sita Amman Temple” was built on the site.

There are over 10,000 species of flora planted here and during the Spring season in Nuwara Eliya thousands of visitors come to see the blooms here. Number of annual visitors are around 500,000. The garden is famous for number of species of Orchids and Roses are planted there.                                                                    (Source – Wikipedia)

Garden Map

Just entered

The path, we can even hire a small car from them

Here was the secret plan

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Beauty of Hakgala Garden

Nice pathway

Fully clean

Time to leave

Read my other article, hunting Dozen of waterfalls along the Uma Oya/ Bomburu upper cascades

Hunting Dozen of Waterfalls along the Uma Oya

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©


Roaming around Thummodara

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Year and Month  June-2018
Number of Days  One
Crew  02
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Motor Bicycles
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Sightseeing, Waterfall Hunting
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Homagama -> Hanwella -> Puwakpitiya -> Thummodara Road
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not harm tot he environment
      • Do not pluck plants and flowers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  Articles of the waterfalls by AmazingLanka
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Roaming around Thummodara

We have visited some waterfalls at Avissawella in February 2018 but we didn’t have time to visit two more falls and the Seethawaka garden. Hence I and Nirosh planned this day trip to cover those places and it was successful since we had enough time to see them.

  • Dambora Ella
  • Ranmudu Ella
  • Seethawaka Botanical Garden

We have visited Kumari Ella, Hewainna Ella, and Ella uda Ella previously.

Dambora Ella Falls – දම්බොර ඇල්ල

Dambora Ella Fall (10m in height) is created by a waterway of the Wakoya River and was formerly known as Demala Falls as the Tamil (Dravidian/Demala) laborers used to wash here. Dambora Falls is located near Labugama Reservoir in the village of Dambora (Hanwella Divisional Secretariat), Colombo District (Avissawela Electorate).

Take the road from Hanwella to Labugama, past the old bridge at Thunmodara. After a further 1km, turn right in the direction of Dambora village and continue for 3km (1/2 km?) to the fall. (These directions were supplied by veteran journalist Piyasiri Matarage in a letter to the Sri Lanka Waterfalls Council.)

Although the published height of the waterfall is 10 meters, it is said that the waterfall is 15-20 meters. There is no proper access to the waterfall and its a difficult climb to reach the fall.

GPS Location – 6.855404, 80.170522

Here is she

The Pool

Upper part

Lower part

Another view

Cascades

Dambora Ella

Views

The stream

Ranmudu Ella Falls – රන්මුදු ඇල්ල

The 15m high Ranmudu Ella fall in Thunmodara is situated in a tributary of the Wakganga River, and the waters feed the Kelani River. The fall is a victim of its own success. Due to its popularity, especially at weekends, the surrounding ecosystem is under threat from large numbers of trampling visitors.

It can be found 48km from Colombo, in the Colombo District Hanwella PC. From the Columbo – Avissawela highway head to Tumodara village. The fall is 0.5km from here.

Thunmodara is a quite laid back village surrounded by a mountainous forest cover which acts as a protection for the main water source Colombo District. The village is home to one of the only 4 waterfalls in Colombo District.

GPS Location – 6.864768, 80.170880

Cycle park

Lower part

Side view of the lower part

Ranmudu Ella

See the bridge

Scenic

bathing pool

Full view

Ranmudu Ella

Bathing

Seethawaka Botanical Garden – සීතාවක තෙත් කලාපීය උද්භිද උද්‍යානය

Seethawaka (Sitawaka) Wet Zone Botanical Gardens was opened in 2014 covering 106 acres ( 43 hectares) with the primary purpose of serving as a research area and a conservation area for threatened and vulnerable endemic plant species in the Sinharaja Rain Forest region. Improving export floriculture, ex-situ conservation of wet lowland plants, and bamboo cultivation are also promoted in this garden.

The land used by this garden was established in the 20th century as a plantation for Rubber and Tea, which was known as “Pannagula”. But most of the land area was abandoned with time, which was taken over by Land Renew Commission. The construction of the Botanical garden on this reclaimed land commenced in 2008.

The park is open all seven days of the week and opens from 6AM to 6 PM. Adults are charged a measly LKR 60/- and children below 12 are charged LKR 10/-. A boat ride costs 200 per person. There is a food outlet in the garden but you can take your food inside. Generally, vehicles can be taken inside but generally, vans are not allowed in most botanical gardens. If you wish you can hire an electric golf cart from the entrance.

The lower part of the garden is maintained similar to a botanical garden with beautifully arranged flower patches, perfectly cut grass, and a well-maintained lake, where one can go for a boat ride. Further up, there is a high platform where you could have a grand view of the garden below and the mountainous surrounding. If you like bird watching, it’s recommended going there early on a weekday where there will be fewer crowds.

Seethawaka Botanical Garden is located in Illukowita, between Puwakpitiya and Labugama close to Avissawella. The easiest route to the gardens is through the Avissawella road. Take the Puwakpitiya – Thunmodara road from the Puwakpitiya Railway Station. Travel 6 km to read the garden on the right. Other route is take the Bope road from Padukka and reach Labugama from Bope. From Labugama take the Puwakpitiya – Thunmodara road and travel for 3.5 km to reach the gardens. On this route you will also pass the Dambora Ella waterfall amd Thunmodara Ella waterfall . Traveling from Puwakpitiya you will pass the Kumari Wala Ella waterfall. Ella Uda Ella waterfall lies very close the garden and can be reached from the by-road in front of the gardens.

GPS Location – 6.892208, 80.172726

Entrance

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

The Garden

Sky view

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Beautiful locations

Calm environment

Pathway

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Nicely maintained

Sky view of the Garden – Panorama

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Randenigala Mountain Range via Padupola Plains – 1120m

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Year and Month 21-October-2018
Number of Days  One
Crew 10 (Sobasiri Team)
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Hired Vehicle
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Mountaineering, Wildlife Adventure
Weather  Perfect
Route  Colombo -> Kandy -> Ragala Road -> Walapane -> Nildandahinna Road
(නිල්දන්ඩාහින්න පාර ) ->  Theripeha (Thripeha) Road -> Theripeha (තෙරිපැහැ)
-> Hegasulla Mountain -> Randenigala Mountain Range
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water (4 Lt pp)
      • Take necessary permission from Forest Dept
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Beware of Elephants
      • Beware of Electrical fence
      • Beware of Leeches
      • Beware of Wild boars/ Sri Lanka Mouse-Deer/ Sambars / porcupine/ Olu-Deer
      • Keep your eyes on the environment behavior
      • Beware of thrones plants
      • Be careful when you walk on rocks
      • Plan your journey well
      • Remember the forest is too dangerous and there are many elephants and other animals
      • Start your journey around 7-8 am and try to finish before 5 pm
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  Hegasulla/ Agassula Hike 1205m
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Randenigala Mountain Range via Padupola Plains – 1120m

Randenigala mountain range is a unique and lesser-visited area due to the massive risk of wild elephants. Because all the drivers can see elephants at Raja Mawatha which go through the VRR forest reserve where no other residences or even a single resting place on that road. We had this experience along with our Hegasulla Hike done on the same day morning. After we came to the top of Hegasulla Mountain we decided to descend to the Randenigala range and climb up all three main peaks of the range.

It was a very hard hike as we were lack of water. Our water reserve was finished at Hegasulla and however, we started our trek to Randenigala range with a hope that we will meet up a stream. It was not difficult as we had to walk through Maana bushes and at some point it was difficult on climbing as falling of rocks and slippering.

After 1-2 trek we found the only water source in a small area but it was a mud area. We saw evidence of wild boars and elephants but due to the thirsty, we had to drink that brown color water. After that, we came to the highest peak of Randenigala range by passing three summits around 4pm. When we descend our journey we suddenly faced three elephants at a distance of 150-200m. It was a scary situation as they are running to our side and we shouted and were able to move them into the jungle back. Finally, we came to Hegasulla around 5.30-6 pm and reached to the village around7pm.

Mountain range marked in Metric Map

Our path marked in red

See the Terrain heights

Getting down from Hegasulla

Natural colors

Getting down to the plain at Randenigala

Through the forest

Keep on eye to elephants

This is Hegasulla Mountain

Here is our target, note the corner peak

The planis

Nature

Nature

The art

Beautiful Plains

Nicely adapted

Surrounding, Kukulagala in the middle

See the paths

Slope

Hegasulla mountain

Iluktenna and plains

Bushes

More to go

Nature

I took the lead

Mist is coming

Hegasulla and peak 1 we passed

A small resting place

Our crowd

The path we came

Seen far away

Heading to another one

Rocks vs mountains

This is the mud area where we had to drink this water. There were s many foto prints of Wild boars and some of the Elephants. We didn’t think twice and we all started drinking this water directly from the source. We lay down to the ground and drink the water directly from the mud pits.

However, I advised all the members to have some medicins after they went to their home. It was a funny moment that all of us had this experience for their first time. We had drink from the streams but never from mud pits like this. So, be careful and carry enough water with you as there are no streams or springs borning from this mountains.

Here is the only water source

Madusanka drinking

We were drinking

Some pits

Madusanka ready to drink again

Its Nirosh

Sameera enjoying

We left then

Hegasulla far away and some other summits we have passed

Towards Kalumudugolla and Uma oya

Plains

Thinking about the return journey

Flowers

Nature

part of Padupola Plains

Had these

Padupola Plains

Raja Mawatha

Little more to go

Under the shades

The Mountains

Little more

mushrooms

Uma oya

Nature

Tanks

See the Road

Rantambe

The Raja Mawatha

Here we came

Knuckles range

Rantambe

Another water source at the top pf Randenigala

The path we came

Summit of Randenigala

Enjoying the view

Flowers

Raining

Environment

Uma oya

Here, we had to meet some wild elephants. It is a family with Mother, Father, and the baby. So, they might be afraid of us and the same scenario happened to us as the distance between both of us was less than 200m. However, we shouted and run away from them and they did the same and went back to the jungle.

This is a very risky situation as we were seeking this kind of situation at the beginning of the journey but didn’t thought a close up meet like this. hence always be careful and keep your eyes on the surroundings and the best thing to away from them is run. While you running be more careful about the besides and the bushy areas as there might be some more and you might be fallen or slippery.

Here are they

The family

Cute, noh

They are shouting to us

Close to the jungle

Baby says something

Going back to the forest

Running

They left

Our return journey with the target

Forest path to Hegasulla

Roots

Hegasulla Seen

More to go

Return journey

Near to the village

Elephant fence. Good bye VRR

Notice

Pano towards Ilukthenna

Towards the range and Plains

Padupola Plains to the mountain range, Hegasulla far away and the summits we have passed along to Randenigala

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Novice Sri Pada Journey along the hardest routes / උඩමාලිබොඩ-දෙහෙනකන්ද හරහා කෝඩු සිරිපා වන්දනාව

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Year and Month 2019 December 22nd and 23rd
Number of Days Two
Crew 02-Tharindu and Myself 
Accommodation Andiyamalathenna Ambalama (ආඩියාමලතැන්න) at Rathnapura Route
Transport By bus, three-wheeler and hiking
Activities Pilgrimage, Hiking, Photography and Sight seeing
Weather Latter part of both days were rainy and misty
Route Colombo-> Awissawella->Deraniyagala->Maliboda->Uda Maliboda-> Sri Pada-> Dehenakanda Route->Rathnapura->Colombo
Tips, Notes and Special remark
  1. Leech protection methods to be followed.
  2. I always believe Sri Pada is not a trip it is a pilgrimage. Therefore follow rituals as much as possible. Behave accordingly.
  3. First bus to Deraniyagala from Awissawella starts at 5 am. First bus to Maliboda from Deraniyagala starts at 6 am. Three wheel charges from Maliboda to Sri Pada trail head costs Rs 1100-1200. But it is only Rs 800 from Uda Maliboda tea factory.
  4. There is a reasonable hotel with variety of food for breakfast, situated in front of Deraniyagala bus stand. It opens at 6 am.
  5. Road condition from Uda Maliboda tea factory to Dikellekanda is not in good condition.
  6. Darmawardana Mama (ධර්මවර්ධන මාමා) is a nice person to talk before you begin the journey from Dikellekanda.
  7. I didn’t carry DSLR in this journey and photos were taken GO pro and Drone cameras.
  8. Don’t know whether you need permission to fly the drone at Sri Padaya. We Fly our drones while descend in Dehenakanda route. But the place we operated drones was not a suitable place.
  9. Be armed with cloths for cold weather even you stay at Ambalama at lower part  of the trail. It is extremely cold at night.
  10. We got to know wild life department has instructed to not to clear off Dehenakanda route in this time. And Somarathna Ambalama (සෝමරත්න අම්බලම) in Dehenakanda route was collapsed. Don’t know the future of this awesome trail.
  11. We spent about Rs 1000 for the three wheel from Hapugasthenna to Rathnapura. Feel it is bit undercharged.
Related Resources 1.”Muni Siripa Simbiminne”- මුණි සිරිපා සිඹිමින්නේ by Mr. S.P.S.Weerasingh

2. Lakdasun trip report on  දෙහෙනකන්දෙන් සිරිපා කරුණාකර උඩමාලිබොඩෙන් බැස්සෙමු. Sri Pada from Dehenakanda to Udamaliboda.

Author Niroshan
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Novice Sri Pada Journey along the hardest routes / උඩමාලිබොඩ-දෙහෙනකන්ද හරහා කෝඩු සිරිපා වන්දනාව

Sri Pada / Adam’s Peak is my favorite travelling destination where I have been thirteen times along different routes. Novice /Amateur /කෝඩුකාරයා is the term comes with Sri Pada Pilgrimage, used for the person who visits Sri Pada first time in his life. If that person is a child he is called as “Kiri Kodu” (කිරි කෝඩු) and if he is an adult, called as “Dandu Kodu” (දඩු කෝඩු) in folklore. My first Sri Pada pilgrimage happened when I was 9 years old.

This is my 14th visit to Sri Pada and I have selected two longest routes of Sri Pada pathways: Udamaliboda route (up) and Dehenakanda route (down). I have visited Sri Pada along same routes in 2014 but in reverse pattern.

I have missed my regular travel friends for this journey but Tharindu who was in Sri Lanka for a short holiday has joined with me for Sri Pada Pilgrimage. Tharindu was a novice / “Kodukaraya” for Sri Pada pilgrimage and it was a challenge to debut his Sri Pada journey along hardest routes. I had no doubt of his courage and fitness in this journey and somehow we were able to finish the pilgrimage in successful way.

This is just a photo journey and not details about hardest routes.

Journey begins in early morning from Kaduwela where we got into a bus to Awissawella. From Awissawella we caught first Deraniyagala bus at 5 am and reached Deraniyagala around 5.45 am. Maliboda bus was there at that time and we had little time to gather something for our breakfast as well as lunch. Maliboda bus leaves Deraniyagala by 6 am and we got down at Maliboda tea factory where we had to get the three-wheeler to trail head at Udamaliboda, exactly at Dikellekanda (දික් ඇල්ලේකන්ද).

Here we came across Darmawardana Mama who was like a care taker of Udamaliboda Sri Pada trail head. He did some rituals (වතාවත්) for us and we started the journey with his blessings.

At Dikellekanda-Uda Maliboda Sri Pada trail head.

We met Darmawardana Mama at trail head. His house is situated closer to trial head.

At trail head of Udamaliboda

Get blessings for novice

Sri Pada pilgrimage along Udamaliboda trail/ උඩමාලිබොඩ හරහා සිරිපා කරුණාව

This was my third visit to Udamaliboda trail and it reminded my first visit at this trail as we were only two at time as well. Pandeniya River (පන්දෙනිය ගග) was the first to cross at this trail. Pandeniya River debts between Paduruthalawa and Mahapaduruthalawa but collects some tributaries from Heen Piduruthalawa as well. We have crossed Pandeniya Oya and followed the foot path was in other bank of the River.

Pandeniya River. It begins between Paduruthalawa and Mahapaduruthalawa. Pandeniya River joins with Magal Oya to form Kelani River.

Crossing Pandeniya Oya.

Foot path begins.

The distance from Dikellekanda to Medahinna (Kuruwita trail) is 8 km. It follows the course of Pandeniya River first and crosses three to four water streams. Here we are at the slope of Heen Piduruthalawa. Though it was few days after begin of Sri Pada 2020 season there was a clear foot pathway. According to Darmarawardana Mama, about ten villagers have cleared the path and joined with the procession of Sri Pada.  We met three boys who are also going to Sri Pada, but we didn’t wait for them.

Udamaliboda-Sri Pada foot pathway.

Path is obstructed by a cob web. PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma.

Crossing a stream.

Tharindu in action

Weather was perfect at the time of beginning. PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma.

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The path is decorated by Buddhist flags at some places.

Directions

One of a milestone of the trail.

His style. PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma.

His style. PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma.

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Narrow escape

Narrow escape

Two man team. PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma.

මo සලකුණු

වන වදුලේ

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Seetha Gangula (සීත ගගුල) of Maliboda trail is situated about 6 km from trail head. We had our lunch there and met another three boys who have just descended from Kuruwita trail to Maliboda trail. It took about six hours to come to Kuruwita trail from Maliboda trail in this time. Weather was not that much good when we came to Kuruwita Path. When you go down along Kuruwita trail it is about 100m to Medahinna Ambalama (මැදහින්න අම්බලම). It started to drizzle when we passed Indikatupana (ඉදිකටුපාණ) . Initially we thought of reaching Uda Maluwa (උඩ මළුව) in same day but changed the plan due to misty weather. Andiyamalathenna Ambalama was the place we spent night on that day. I prefer to spend the night at Andiyamalathenna Ambalama than Udamaluwa as I don’t like for crowd.

Seetha Gangula / සීත ගගුල

View of Kuruwita-Sri Pada trail from Maliboda trail.

Kuruwita-Erathna Sri Pada trail.

Kuruwita-Erathna Sri Pada trail.

Indikatupana in Kuruwita trail.

Closer to Rathnapura trail

Closer to Rathnapura trail

Galwangediya Ambalama.

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Passing Makara thorana in Rathnapura trail.

Rathnapura-Sri Pada trail.

Rathnapura-Sri Pada trail.

ආඩියාමලතැන්න

At Andiyamalathenna Ambalama.

Sacred peak is visible to Rathnapura trail.

Andiyamalathenna Ambalama is a good place to rest as it is closer to Uda Maluwa and you can hike to Uda Maluwa in 30-45 minutes. There are food stall and toilet closer to Andiyamalathenna Ambalama. We did early morning hike to Sri Pada Uda Maluwa in view of watching Sun rise / “Ira Sewaya” (ඉර සේවය).  Viewers had partial Sun rise on that day and I couldn’t get a good picture of sun rise due to crowd at Uda Maluwa. Tharindu did his rituals as a novice and after viewing “Ude Thewawa” -උදේ තේවාව we started to get down along the same route. The plan was to get down from Dehenakanda route.

Enjoying the extreme coldness at Uda Maluwa.

Warming….

Sri Pada Uda Maluwa.

Awaiting for Sun rise

Awaiting for Sun rise

Ranged it for 14 times….

Uda Maluwa is ready for morning rituals.

View of Yaka Endu Gala, Yaka Endu Ella and Ballabendigala.

Bana Samonala and Darmarajagala…..PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma

Kunudiya Parwathaya and Heenpiduruthalawa. PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma

Towards Dehenakanda route…. PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma

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Leaving Uda Maluwa.

Sri Pada-Dehenakanda route

First part of Dehenakanda-Sri Pada route is very familiar to me as I have been there few times in this year. We were able to get beautiful drone photos while getting down along Dehenakanda route. We have crossed Battalu Oya (බත්තලු ඔය) and reached “Menik Ganga” / Geththampana (මැණික් ගග /ගෙත්තම්පාන) at Dehenakanda trail. It is natural to spend much time at paradise / පැරඩයිස් to enjoy the beauty of Paradise falls and paradise. Weather was clear till we passed Paradise and it became misty later. Foot pathway was not that much clear when it is closer to the trail end. We were caught to a torrential rain before we reached Rath Ganga (රත්ගග) at trail end. Fortunately Rath Ganga was not overflowing to make the end hard. One important thing I have noted was Somarathna Ambalama was damaged.

Refer my trip report on Dehenakanda for more details and milestones in Dehenakanda route.

Get into Dehenakanda route

Dehenakanda Route….PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma

PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma

Obstacles…

Crossing Battalu Oya

Foot pathway is margined by Nelu

Trees have fallen to the foot path

Ground level

Coming to paradise

Paradise Falls

Samaposha Ready mix for the lunch

Handstand . PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma

Paradise… The hut at paradise was in good condition.

Paradise…

Back to the track

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PC-Tharindu Paththapperuma

Flat terrain

Flat terrain

Misty weather

Misty weather

Checking clicks….

Successful two men team

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“Walkara Galge”-වැල්කාර ගල්ගේ

Crossing Rath Ganga in rain

We have spent about seven hours to descend along Dehenakanda route from Sri Pada. Tharindu had to finish his video clips in rain at trail head of Dehenakanda. We had to walk another 4-5 km up to Hapugasthenna to get a three-wheeler to reach Rathnapura.

Some aerial photos taken at Sri Pada in this journey.

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Uda Maluwa and Rathanapura route

Uda Maluwa

Uda Maluwa

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Mountains at Dehenakanda route.

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සුමන සමන් දෙවි පිහිටයි

 

Ballabandigala/ Bellanbandigala Hike – 1935m

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Year and Month  05/06-October-2019
Number of Days  Two
Crew  03
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Motor Bicycles
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Mountaineering, Caving
Weather  Good but heavy rain during the whole night
Route  Colombo -> Avissawella -> Karawanella -> Ginigathhena -> Diyagala Junction ->
Norton -> Maussa -> Nallathanniya -> Lakshapana Estate -> Hamilton Estate
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Take necessary permission from Wildlife Dept
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not ever try in rainy days
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Beware of Elephants as we were witnessed
      • Beware of Leopards as we were witnessed
      • Beware of thorns and venomous plants
      • Use a GPS map
      • Start your journey early in the morning
      • Plan your journey and the route as per the GPS elevation
      • Beware of the wind and mist
      • Remember your entering to a holy reserve
      • Do not try to climb this except Hamilton Estate
      • Do not harm the environment
      • Do not cut trees unnecessarily
      • Do not remove/ pluck flowers and plants
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  None
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Ballabandigala/ Bellanbandigala Hike – 1935m

Ballabandigala (බල්ලාබැඳිගල ) / Bellanbandigala (බෙල්ලන්බැඳිගල) is a 1935m height beautiful destination in peak wilderness and it belongs to the Nallathanniya route as it’s neighbor is Yaka Andu Gala (යකා ඇඩූ ගල ) and the waterfall. I have planned this hike since March 2018 but was not able to make it realize due to some issues. Even though we planned this hike in January 2019 but due to a very urgent matter we had to postpone this hike at the last moment. Finally, I had to make this hike realize with Sajith and Migara on a weekend in October.

We left Colombo at 11.50 pm in the night on Friday and reached to Nallathanniya at 4.00 am and slept for 2 hours until the hotel opened for breakfast. After that, we turned to Hamilton Estate, which is situated at Mulgama junction where the road dividing into Fishing Hut road also. We headed to the estate via very difficult roads and we met Lakshapana Estate and then Hamilton Estate at the end of the area. This little estate is close to Dakinapura Mountain and Eligoda Kanda which makes 6-7 waterfalls.

As per the GPS map, we started our hike, and luckily there was a footpath from the exact place. That path is usually for the necessity of villagers to collect woods. We walked along the footpath and came to tour 1st pinned point where a small rocky plain located. That place easily can be seen on the Satellite map hence I marked it at the 1st resting point. We spent a few minutes and enjoy the surroundings as our target can be seen over there. Also, we have noticed two waterfalls situated far away from the forest which falling from a massive rocky wall of the right edge of the Ballabandigala.

After we walked for 1 hour from here, we saw a Leopard who stand at the top of a rocky wall where we were climbing it from the beginning. Sadly, Migara had caught and it was jumped to the jungle and got disappeared. It was a well-grown big Leopard and it is our fortune that it was not seen us because there was just 10-15m distance between us.

After seen the Leopard we had a little fear but were able to reach the top of the mountain with witnessing for many elephant dings all along the footpath. This path created by us as per the GPS map and it was much easy as we are descending as altitude gain.  We had a 5-6 hr hike due to the risks and we always kept our eyes and ears to the jungle as there were only three of us.

After we came to the top, we spend 1 our rest by laying on the rocky plain, and then we walked around the massive rocky plain and saw plenty of elephant dings, footprints at the highest points of the summit. It was marked as 1935m at the highest of the Ballabandigala and it was in the forest. There were many footprints as a small footpath created by elephants.

Ballabadigala marked in the Metric Map, see the other nearby giants

The elevation gain in Terrain Maps

The GPS path we followed

Satellite view at the summit of Ballabandigala (All of my photos were deleted erroneously, otherwise I will share the real photos of this view)

The view of the Samanala Giants

This is the view can be seen to the Uda Maluwa

View at Nallathanniya early morning

Just started the trail from the Hamilton Estate

Nature creations

Found a stream to refill our water bottles

Thick forest

Elephant dungs

Elephant dung

Fresh items

A beautiful cave we met

At another coolest stream

Migara is drinking some water

Sajith is showing the summit. Now we at a small rocky plain

The Ballabandigala Mountain

Through a thick forest

Surrounding

Here is the rocky plain

We were there

The forest where we saw the Leopard

Surrounding

Climbing the last part of the peak

Clouds with Mist

We came to the Mountain

First view of the holy peak

Wet Environment

Getting dark

Nice environment

Dakinapura area

A part of the Rocky plain at the top

Holy peak getting covered by the mist

I witnessed

The forest patch will end at Yaka Andu gala and the fall

Elephant footprints

Getting dark

The thick forest where the elephants are roaming

I’m walking

Its a beautiful environment

Its wet

At the top

Elephant dung at the top of Ballabandigala

Colors

The end of the rocky plain

At the top

We were there

View from the top, Bena Samanala and Kuda Bena Samanala is visible from right side of the Holy peak

The rocky plain was wet

The forest path towards Yaka Andu Kanda

A massive range of the mountains can be easily seen to the top of Ballabandigala and we were looking at the holy peak for hours. And when we realize that the evening is getting dark we started to fix our tent. After we made the tent ate some biscuits and apples and hanged our torches outside of the tent to see the dark environment. Because we saw many pieces of evidence of elephants at the top of the mountain and nearby our tent too.

On the next day, we were lucky to see a clear environment as there was no mist. And we saw the giants at Horton Plains and the estates and the Hatton trail too. Also, we were lucky to a running elephant near to Hamilton Estate and we heard big noises of breaking trees and when we saw there, an elephant was seen. We got down to the estate around 12 pm and returned back to Nallathanniya to have the Lunch. Fortunately, the hotel was opened and we had our lunch and had a bath at the Bridge and talked with few sellers about the offseason atmosphere.

After that, we left from Nallathaninya and slowly we have driven the car by enjoying the surrounding.

Holy peak

Zoomed view, Hatton route can be seen

Had a visit to the forest

Getting dark

View

Sajith is enjoying the view

Migara witnessed

Devotees

Seen at the top

At the top

Found the reason for this

A flag was there, signs of previous visits 🙂

I witnessed

The view

Permission to spend the night

Our tent

At the wet night

Morning view towards Maussa reservoir and Horton Plains

Giants seen

Time to leave


The below list can be seen from my previous report of the 2nd Highest mountain in peak wilderness, Mahamuni Kanda Hike, this is what I marked in my google maps.

සමනල රක්ෂිතේ ඇති ප්‍රධාන කඳු කිහිපයක උස, GPS පිහිටීම
(දැනුම පිණිස පමණි)

  • සමනල කන්ද (2243m) – 6.809442, 80.499388
  • මහාමුණි කන්ද (2060m) – 6.763427, 80.587461
  • උතුරු බගවන්තලාව කන්ද (2055m) – 6.769158, 80.659051
  • බෑන සමනල (2010m) – 6.798479, 80.488412
  • බෙල්ලන්කන්ද (1990m) – 6.755442, 80.659268
  • ගවරවිල කන්ද (1985m) – 6.791023, 80.569886
  • යකා ඇඩු කන්ද (1950m) – 6.830219, 80.495122
  • දොතුරුගල (1950m) – 6.776332, 80.541637
  • බල්ලාබැඳීගල (1935m) – 6.838176, 80.504357
  • කුඩා බෑන සමනල (1910m) – 6.802759, 80.484739
  • රත් කන්ද (1855m) – 6.774883, 80.516328
  • දෙතනගල (1837m) – 6.748021, 80.674945
  • මරියකොටේ (1836m) – 6.761208, 80.601705
  • රජමාලේ කන්ද (1815m) – 6.807748, 80.521305
  • ගවරවිල තැන්න (1811m) – 6.782155, 80.566499
  • යකා ඇඩු ගල (1810m) – 6.830927, 80.504900
  • මහා පිදුරුතලාව (1800m) – 6.843085, 80.490565
  • දකිනපුර (1795m) – 6.843516, 80.527786
  • පිදුරුතලාව (1790m) – 6.856050, 80.483251
  • හීන් පිදුරුතලාව (1600m) – 6.836758, 80.453016
  • කුණු දිය පර්වතය (1580m) – 6.812945, 80.450528
  • උඩ ලක්ෂපාන ගල (1569m) – 6.883509, 80.498332
  • පැදුරුතලාගල (1485m) – 6.836460, 80.449797
  • කටු කිතුල් ගල (1490m) – 6.864323, 80.514915
  • බඹරගල (1370m) – 6.875358, 80.477835
  • ගැටනිටුල්ල කන්ද (1307m) – 6.809683, 80.459809
  • කෝඳුරු ගල (1249m) – 6.742797, 80.554279

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Tour to Richmond Castle and Thudugala Ella

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Year and Month  16-July-2016
Number of Days  One
Crew  02
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Motor Bicycles
Activities  Hiking, Nature Exploring, Photography, Historical Exploring, Waterfall Hunting
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Kalutara -> Riverside Road -> Palathota-Kethhena Road ->
Richmond Castle -> Alwiswatte -> Nagoda South -> Thudugala Road -> Thudugala Fall
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Better during sunshine
      • Take a ticket for the Castle
      • Do not touch/ break items
      • Do not harm the castle
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not try the fall during  heavy rain
      • Beware of slippery rocks
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  Information from AmazingLanka
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Tour to Richmond Castle and Thudugala Ella

We had a one day tour to see the Richmond Castle and then Thudugala fall which was famous at that time.  Richmond castle is an amazing place with beautiful architecture. It is also close to the Kalu river and it owns a huge land area as this was the remains of a Sri Lankan history. After we spend 2-3 hours over there, we left for Thudugala fall and it is not so far from this destination. We reached Thudugala Ella within an hour and spent a few hours and finally had a bath and left in the evening.

Richmond Castle – රිච්මන්ඩ් වලව්ව

Richmond Castle, built at the turn of the century in Kalutara, is considered one of the most spectacular architectural works of the period. It was the property of a wealthy landowner turned philanthropist, Padikara Mudali Nanayakkara Rajawasala Appuhamilage Don Arthur de Silva Wijesinghe Siriwardena. The mansion stands majestically at top of a hill, on a 42-acre estate beside the Kalutara-Palatota Road. Once a circuit bungalow for high ranking officers of the British administrative service, today it is a popular tourist attraction and serves as an educational center for less privileged children of Kalutara and the vicinity.

It is said that ‘Governor George Anderson was requested by the royal family of England to appoint a battalion of 40 soldiers to guard the castle and its occupants. Padikara Mudali, as he was known, had a 12-strong staff known as mudaliyars.

Richmond Castle is a two-storeyed building with 99 doors and 34 windows, decorated with glass panes of an exquisite design depicting grapevines. Records indicate that two shiploads of teak were imported from Burma for its construction.

The entire building is characterized by intricate carvings. The timber remains as fresh as at the time of construction. A dancing hall with a stage is another of its features. The architecture shows greater similarity to an English mansion than to an ancient walauwwa.

The gardens which once boasted a profusion of flowers have now given way to trees like coconut, mangosteen, veralu, guava, mango, rambutan, and various citrus fruits. The mudaliyar was a lover of nature and adorned his garden with marble statues, some of which still stand. However, he was not happy in marriage, for he was childless. Having ended his marriage, he bequeathed his properties to the Public Trustee for the welfare of the children of the country. He took up residence in a quiet room at the Queen’s Hotel, Kandy, where he breathed his last in 1947.

The name

The entrance

Path to the Castle

A ticket to be purchased

Here is it

Structure

Owners

Historical character

Old items

Side view

Garden view

The part of the Roof

Structure

Windows

Old photos

Structure

Structure

Door and Windows

Staircase

Inside view

Inside view

Inside view

Corridor

Inside view

See the style

External structure

External structure

External structure

Guards

External structure

Very old then closed

View

Garden area

View

Statues

Full view

Side view

Garden area

External structure

Really nice

Like a giant

Another view

Another view

Time to leave

Another statue

The view

Leaving the castle

Thudugala Ella Falls – තුඩුගල ඇල්ල

The Thudugala Ella Falls is located in the Thudugala Estate in Thudugala village at Kalutara District, Sri Lanka. Once owned by a British national, a derelict bungalow still remains. There is a natural swimming pool surrounded by Ketala plants and a giant pus creeper (fern) that has spread to cover an area of a hectare. Also within the Thudugala Forest Reserve, there are many species of birds. These include the migrant bird ‘Yellow Magta’, with its colorful plumage and yellow underbelly, and ‘Dicaeum Erythornynchos’, the smallest bird in Sri Lanka.

The waterfall drops in two steps The top part is about 8 meters and the lower part 6 meters.

This waterfall is a popular bathing place for locals. An interesting feature here is that a tunnel runs under the waterfall and comes out on top at a side to it. Unfortunately, this area is now being used for an oil palm plantation which has impacted the flow of water on the steam.

The route to the waterfall starts from Katukurunda Junction off the Galle Road; 5 miles (8.0 km) from there on Matugama Road to Thudugala junction and from there 8 miles (12.9 km) to the waterfall. It is said that there is a number of waterfalls along this stream especially a beautiful fall called Sita Ella. The location was unknown.

When traveling from Thudugala junction, you will come to another junction called “Ellagāwa (Near the waterfall) Junction” with a signboard of a rubber plantation so you can easily recognize it. From there, if you want to go to the waterfall and its natural bathing places, you will have to take the left road which runs over a small bridge nearby. The right road will lead you only to an artificially created bathing place which is said to be muddy but used to lure visitors to small hotels nearby. The left road will take you to the dilapidated house of the British owner and from there you need to walk along the river in the estate to reach the Thudugala Ella waterfall and its beautiful bathing pools.

GPS Location – 6.571085, 80.060850

On the way

The stream

View

Cascades

Cascades

Wow

Side view

Nature

The fall

Thudugala Fall

Upper part

Surrounding

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Visit Gammaduwa/ Opalgala Summit – 1325m

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Year and Month  16-August-2016
Number of Days  One
Crew  04
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Double Cab
Activities  Hiking, Photography, Sightseeing, Nature Exploring
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Kurunegala -> Ridigama -> Yatwatte -> Madawala Ulpotha ->
Adawala -> Kubaloluwa Road -> Kalugalthanna -> Gammaduwa
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Take necessary permission
      • Do not climb on towers
      • Beware of leeches
      • Beware of narrow roads
      • Better a 4WD or Motor cycle
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  None
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Visit Gammaduwa/ Opalgala Summit – 1325m

Gammaduwa is a famous destination in the northern side of the Knuckles forest reserve. I had an opportunity to visit Gammaduwa with Nirosh’s office crew as they have direct access to the transmission towers for business purposes. Karagahatenna is the nearest peak of Gammaduwa and both peaks are reserved for telecommunication transmission towers, hence entering the premises is not open to the public.

However, when I checked this mountain in Metric Map it shows the Opalgala mountain with a height of 1325m. Whether the estate is called Gammaduwa, the actual name of this peak is not Gammaduwa and it is the Opalgala Mountain. Opalgala is a beautiful village situated near to this area and we had some memories at Opalgala as Sandamadala Hike and we have seen Gammaduwa transmission towers at the summit of Sandamadala too. Also, I had a special privilege to climb up on a Tower and see the surroundings as I was requested to identify the nearby peaks as a traveler.

Reaching to Gammaduwa estate and the nearby is a scenic tour as the roads are under the shades of giant pines and trees. Roads are almost gravel and bit difficult to climb up the mountains through narrow bends. Since we had a 4WD, we didn’t feel the difficulty as we are focused to see the beauty of the environment.

Marked on Metric Map

Google Terrain view

The scenic roads

Beautiful road

On the way

Pines patch

Surroundings

See the beauty

Scenic road

Summits

More to go

Valley of mountains

Nature

Hidden plains

Narrow road

More to go

See the difficulty

The valley

Want to walk over there

Reaching

Here is the end of the journey

Towards Karagahatenna and beyond

Gammaduwa Towers

Trees

Newgala, Selagama Mini World’s End and Ambokka in the middle of the frame

Nature

Environment

More peaks to climb

I got this rare chance to climb up the tower but I cannot publish many more photos of this activity since it is not ethical to influence people on this type of risky thing. Because there are many harmful damages to our body can be happened from the signals of these towers.

Environment

Climbing up

Like a drone view

Lucky to have this climb

Return journey

Leaving there

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

A Quick visit to Beddagana Wetland Park

$
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Year and Month  24-September-2017
Number of Days  One
Crew  02
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Motor Bicycles
Activities  Hiking, Photography, Sightseeing, Nature Exploring
Weather  Perfect
 Colombo -> Rajagiriya -> Old Kottawa Road–> Beddagana
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Obey the rules
      • Do not harm the environment
      • Do not disturb to the animals
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  Park Official Site
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • A Quick visit to Beddagana Wetland Park

Beddagana Wetland Park – බැද්දගාන තෙත්බිම් උද්‍යානය

Beddagana Wetland Park in Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte is one of the newest attractions close to Colombo which was opened in 2016 close to Colombo. The park covers 18 hectares of wetland surrounding Diyawanna Oya lake which is part of the much larger Diyawanna Oya flood plains Wildlife Sanctuary declared by the Department of Wildlife Conservation in 1985. The park was created as a recreation facility that helps with flood control, provides a refuge for flora and fauna, and moderates the temperature of the immediate surroundings.

The park is home to many endemic birds and other faunal species such as butterflies, dragonflies, and mammals native to Sri Lanka and Asian Wetlands. Variety of floral species common to an inland wetland comprising of endemic and threatened categories create niches of the habitat. The park is a popular stopover of the variety of migrant birds during its season from August to April each year.

The park has two trails. One trail borders the Diyawanna Oya lake and most of the trail is on a raised platform with wooden planks laid across. A butterfly path and a Duck Pond can be found on this path. It ends on a timber deck facing Diyawanna Oya.

The second path is a forest trail that goes through a wetland forest. The path is through a shaded forest patch and you can have a good view of the migratory birds on the migratory bird path on this trail.

The park is open from 6.30 AM to 5.30 PM all seven days. Adults are charged LKR 100 and kids above 6, LKR 50. Foreigners are charged LKR 1000 and 500 for kids above 6 as of December 2018. The latest charges can be seen in the official web site.

The map at the entrance

Here we go

Sections

Pathway

Through Natural forest

More to go

Creatures

Can’t think as it’s at Colombo

Another visitor

Wetland

Butterfly

Flowers

A Popular place

Flowers

Nature

Another one

Another one

Butterfly

There were many

Another visitor

Another one

Another

This park is so beautiful

More to go

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©


Camping at Pallan Hela (පල්ලන්හෙල) / Hindagala (1068ft) and visit to Inginiyagala (ඉගිණියාගල) (1035ft)

$
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Year and Month 2019 August 10th and 11th
Number of Days Two
Crew 04-Kasun Lakmal, Keshan, Thiwanka and Myself
Accommodation Camping at Pallan Hela
Transport By bus, three wheeler and Hiking
Activities Camping, Hiking,  Archaeology and Photography
Weather Morning was gloomy and obstructed the sun rise
Route Colombo->Siyambalanduwa->17th mile post->Jayanthi Lake-> Aluth Ela Junction->  Wickramashila Pirivena-> Pallan Hela->Back to Aluth Ela Junction-> Inginiyagala round bound->Vidyaraja Pirivena->Inginiyagala->Ampara->Colombo
Tips, Notes and Special remark Pallan Hela
  1. Start the journey as early as possible.
  2. Public transport service is not that much good at this area.
  3. Get permission from chief priest of Wickramashila Pirivena before climb Pallan Hela.
  4. It took about 1-1.5 hours to reach the highest point of Pallan Hela from Pirivena. There is a clear foot pathway. No need a guide.
  5. The distance from Aluth Ela junction / Dewalhinda junction to Vidyaraja Pirivena is about 2 km.
  6. If you are camp on Pallan Hela, carry enough water as the water source on top is not good for consumption.
  7. Main challenge we faced was the wind (might be due to August). It affected in pitching the tent, cooking and setting the fire.
  8. Pallan Hela is a good view point. According to other’s experience it is a good place to view sun rise.

Inginiyagala

  1. Start the journey as early as possible.
  2. Access to Inginiyagala is through Vidyaraja Pirivena. Better inform the priests before you hike it.
  3. There is a clear foot path up to the first peak. The foot path is marked from Stupa to first peak. If you are in doubt always follow the current wire as it goes to first peak.
  4. Foot path to second peak (where cave is situated) is not that much clear.
  5. There is no water source on your way up to peaks Inginiyagala. According to Chamara’s report there is a water source closer to the top.
  6. We spent about 2 hours to cover both peaks of Inginiyagala. (Actually we ran).
  7. Heights of these two peaks mentioned in feet at metric map. I used the same measurements here.
Related Resources
  1. Lakdasun report on Pallan Hela (1065 ft), A Fortress of King Saddathissa? By Ashan. This is the first article I read about Pallan Hela. Thanks Chamara and Sashi for giving advises to succeed this trip. Their updates on these places were helpful.
  2. Lakdasun trip report on Night at Ingini’s Cave by Chamara.
  3. Lakdasun trip reports on Inginiyagala
Author Niroshan
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Camping at Pallan Hela (පල්ලන්හෙල) / Hindagala (1068ft) and visit to Inginiyagala (ඉගිණියාගල) (1035ft)

This was a part of our two days trip to Ampara to visit Govinda Hela, Pallan Hela and Inginiyagala. First day we have hiked Govindahela and returned back to 9th mile post for the lunch. Our next plan was to hike another rock called Pallan Hela and stay night there. Pallan Hela is situated at Wadinagala area and first we reached 17th mile post / Wadinagala junction where road divides into two: One goes via Inginiyagala to Ampara (B 350) and other crosses Hingurana to reach Ampara (A 25).  We had to follow the road towards Inginiyagala to reach our destination of the day-Pallan Hela.

Pallan Hela (red circle) and Inginiyagala (blue circle) in metric map. These two peaks are situated around Senanayake Samudraya / Gal Oya reservoir.

Inginiyagala and Pallan Hela in Google map.

We all needed a bath following the fast hike to Govinda Hela. On our way to Pallan Hela we had a dip at Jayanthi Lake (ජයන්ති වැව). Govinda Hela and Wadinagala were nicely seen to Jayanathi Lake.

Lake Bunt and Pallan Hela is seen behind it.

Walasgala (1150 feet)

Fishery at Jayanthi Lake

Wadinagala (2402 feet) is the main attraction here

Wadinagala top

Unknown mountains

Govinda Hela is standing over Jayanthi Lake

Giants at Lake Reservoir

The team at Jayanthi Lake

Then we called a three wheeler to reach the base of Pallan Hela. We got Inginiyagala road and turned at Aluth Ela junction (අලුත් ඇල හoදිය) / Dewalahinda junction (දේවාලහිද හoදිය) to reach Wickramashila Pirivena (වික්‍රමශිලා පිරිවෙන) which is situated at base of Pallan Hela. Actually villagers called this place as Hindagala (හිදගල) / Pallan Oya rather than Pallan Hela. But metric map mentioned it as Pallan Hela.
We were advised to get permission from chief priest before hike along the rock. After getting permission, we followed the steps along the rock first and reached the place of stupa. This is a nice place with flat rock and a small shrine house, Dewalaya, scattered ruins, a Bo tree and a pond were situated in addition to stupa. There was a foot path in left side of Dewalaya to reach the top of first rock.

Steps carved on the rock

Steps carved on the rock

Small stupa

Dewalaya. Foot path was in left side of it to reach the top of the rock.

It was a nice place to enjoy surrounding view with short hike.

The pond

Shrine house

At shrine house

Ruins and directions

Bo tree and Buddha statue

We have hiked two rocks in this hike. It was a steep ascend first and we reached top of the first rock. Then it was creeping along the second rock to reach the open area where we have noted sets of rocks kept as a parapet. Ashan has assumed these were a part of a fortress of King Saddathissa was at Pallan Hela. This open area was another beautiful view point where we could observe Govinda Hela. Wadinagala, Jayanthi Lake and surrounding.

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Hiking along second rock

Hiking along the slope of second rock

? Evidence of a fortress

? Evidence of a fortress

Towards Wadinagala and Jayanthi Lake.

Paddies after cutting crop

Paddies after cutting crop

Deegal Hela

Govinda Hela

Wadinagala and Walasgala

Jayanthi Wewa, Panagampamunuwa (right) and Govinda Hela (left)

Might be mountains near Muthukandiya reservoir.

Hills of Nilgala

It was closer to the dusk and we had to rush to the highest point of Pallan Hela where we planned to camp. There was another 100-200 m walk to reach the top of Pallan Hela.
There was a ruined pagoda on top and it was a 360 degree view point towards Gal Oya valley and Ampara side. We were able to see Gal Oya reservoir, Danigala range, Govinda Hela, Deegal Hela, Ekgal Aru reservoir and hills around Gal Oya reservoir, in addition to what we saw on our way to the highest point.

Heading to the top

If you pass this rock arrangement then you are at correct track

Top of Pallan Hela where ruined stupa situated

Top of Pallan Hela where ruined pagoda is situated

View from top of Pallan Hela. Gal Oya reservoir with low water level. Behind the reservoir you can see Dhanigala range and rest of hills of Gal Oya.

Zoomed view of Danigala range….This is the highest of Galoya Hills

Closer view of Gal Oya reservoir

Zoomed view of Nilgala Hills

On top of Pallanhela

Inginiyagala is seen to Pallanhela. Note two peaks of Inginiyagala.

Ekgal Oya reservoir (closer) and Ambalan Oya Lake (far)

Towards Ampara side

Deegal Hela (far) and Govinda Hela (just behind the lake)

The drop

Sun set

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Sun set

Sun set at Pallan Hela

Lights of Senanayaka Samudrya dam

It was a challenge to set the tent with extreme wind during the night. The water source on top of the rock was almost dried and not suitable for consumption. Luckily we had brought enough water for camping and cooking. I have noted beautiful photos of sun set and sun rise from Pallan Hela taken by others but we didn’t lucky enough to watch these under high cloud cover. The morning was bit gloomy and we didn’t get good sun rise. It was a special day for Thiwanka as his birthday was on that day. We had a small celebration by cutting a cake on top of Pallanhela. After enjoying the morning view from Pallanhela we headed down to Pirivena.

Camp site….

Disfigured tent at morning. It was heavily shattered by wind overnight.

Waiting for sun rise…


This is the sun rise we got…..

Enjoying the sun rise….

Birthday celebration

Birthday celebration

What a place to rest…..

Dry paddies.

The team on top of Pallan hela.

Inginiyagala was the task of the new day and we rewarded with breakfast by priests at Pirivena. Then we walked from Pirivena to Aluth Ela junction and got a bus to Inginiyagala round the bound.  Vidyaraja Pirivena is situated at the base of Inginiyagala rock. We have walked along hospital road to the Pirivena and kept our unnecessary stuff at Pirivena.

Inginiyagala (1053 ft)

This small twin peak is one boundary of Senanayaka Samudraya (සේනානායක සමුද්‍රය) which is one of largest reservoirs in Sri Lanka. Senanayaka Samudraya is also known as Gal Oya reservoir (ගල්ඔය ජලාශය) (as Gal Oya dammed at Inginiyagala to build it) was built under Gal Oya multipurpose development project in 1953. Gal Oya national park is based around Senanayake Samudraya.

Inginiyagala in Google map

The foot path to twin peaks starts behind Bo tree at Vidyaraja Pirivena. We have come across few caves and ruins closer to the temple. We followed stone laid foot path which goes up to mini stupa. It is a nice open area to look around and seems a lot of visitors come only to this place.  We were able to see Pallan Hela, Wadinagala, Vidyaraja Pirivena and Inginiyagala church from this place. Real journey started from here on wards.

A cave is modified as a shrine house.

Ruins

Wide foot path

Stupa on slab rock

Mini stupa on slab rock

Inginiyagala church

Vidyaraja Pirivena

Pallan Hela (right side one) is seen to Inginiyagala

Wadinagala

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Foot pathway got narrow following the stupa and it goes through boulders to the first peak of Inginiyagala. We spent about 30-45 minutes to reach this peak. There was a sacred foot print engraved on slab rock at this peak in addition to the Buddha statue.  Locals call this place as “Punchi Siripadaya” (පුoචි ශ්‍රී පාදය) due to Siripathulgala (සිරිපතුල්ගල) on this peak. Basically it was not a good view point.

Peaks of Inginiyagala

Foot path through dry zone forest

Hiking up….

Caves. We were heard there are about 40 small caves in this jungle.

Just below the first peak. We came back to this place and walked towards second peak.

Team on top of first peak

Sacred foot prints

Bunt of Jayanthi Lake. The area between Jayanthi Lake and Senanayake Samudraya is called as Sellaka Oya Sanctuary in metric map.

Inginiyagala round the bound and old mill

Second peak. Wadinagala is seen behind.

There was no clear foot path from first peak to second peak of Inginiyagala. But it was not a difficult task to reach the second peak by hiking along the slope of the mountain. On our way to second peak we rested on a slab rock which is another good view point towards Senanayaka Samudraya and Gal Oya valley. Senanayaka Samudraya had very little amount of water due to drought over dry zone. Second peak is the highest and Ingini’s cave is situated just below the highest point. A Wedda called Ingini has lived this place to name it as Ingini’s cave. It can accommodate about 100 people.
The highest point of Inginiyagala is the best view point of Senanayake Samudraya.

Dry Senanayake Samudraya. Catchment area of this reservoir is 384 square miles. It can store 770000 acre feet capacity of water.

Concrete spill of the reservoir.

I am repeating this picture for third time in this report. Hills of Nilgala. Different names given at metric map for these hills: Takunattela, Bulupitiyahela, Ulhela, Madahelawalakanda.

What remains…

This slab rock was a good view point towards Senanayake Samudraya

White- bellied Sea Eagle

Ingini’s cave

Final ascend

Getting a rest after “run” to Inginiyagala.

Senanayake Samudraya

The Earthen dam is 3600 feet in length and 140 feet in height comprising 2 million cubic yards of soils.

Known peaks

Senanayake Samudraya and Gal Oya valley. Ideally Namal Oya reservoir should be seen far away but not.

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Inginiyagala power house

Inginiyagala inland fish breeding center.

Gal Oya (not seen due to forest cover) after forming Senanayaka Samudraya and two canals run parallel to Gal Oya. It ends this journey at Oluvil.

Pallan Hela where we spent the night

Dry reservoir….

Landscape…

At highest point of Inginiyagala

Return journey was so quick and we came to Pirivena in 30 minutes time. I would like to call it as “run to Inginiyagala” rather than a hike. We were managed to reach Ampara bus stand to get 3.30 pm bus to Colombo. It was the end of two days trip over Ampara covering three main rocks: Govinda Hela, Pallan Hela and Inginiyagala.

Thanks for reading

 

Scenic Drive at Southern Province

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Year and Month  11-September-2016
Number of Days  One
Crew  05
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Car
Activities  History, Photography, Sightseeing, Nature Exploring, Waterfall Hunting, Hiking
Weather  Perfect and hot
Route  Colombo -> Highway-> Kurundugahahetekma -> Elpitiya -> Pituwala Road ->
Diwankara Lena Road -> Anda Helena Falls -> Highway->  Hikkaduwa ->
Galle -> Koggala -> Martin Wickramasinghe Home  -> Madol Duwa
-> Matara -> Dondra -> Dondra Light House -> Back to Colombo via Highway
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  Article of Madol Duwa

Martin Wickremasinghe Website

Article of Dondra Lighthouse

Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Scenic Drive at Southern Province

We had a relaxing drive to the southern province as we received an invitation from our friend to visit his village as well as we need to have a drive to Matara via the Southern Expressway. Since my other members didn’t see Andahelena Fall I marked it at the first thing on our trip. I visited Andahelena Falls in May, 2013 while on a Funeral of an office mate’s cousin. However, we were able to visit Madol Duwa, Martin Wickremasinghe House, and the Museum and finally stopped at Dondra Light House which is closed to that friend’s home.

Falls in Elpitiya – අඬාහැලෙන ඇල්ල

It is only from close range that the true beauty of the 12m Andahelena Ella Falls (aka Andahalena Ella, Handahelena Ella, Handahalena Ella) can be appreciated, making the difficult approach well worth the trouble. A picturesque pool forms at the top before the water cascades downwards. It is shrouded by trees such as ankenda (Acrounychia pedunculata), aarididda (Camponosperme zeylenice), bakmee (Nauclea orientalis), batadomba (Canarium zeylenicum), telkekuna, ehela (Cassia fistula), gotha (Pedalium murex), wanasapu (Cananga odorata), venivel (Coscinium fenestratum) and alsahora, which form a shady canopy over the water. Some say that the trees of the jungle are akin to monks protecting the four sublime states of living of Buddhism, giving all animals shelter and comfort.

Situated 6km east of Elpitiya town, in the village of Pituwala (in the Galle District’s Elpitiya Divisional Secretariat). The fall is located within 4774 hectares of jungle known as the Beraliya Mukalana (Beraliya Jungle). It is not possible to reach the fall by vehicle. The last part of the journey must be completed on foot, negotiating obstacles such as dense foliage and uneven ground.

To reach the waterfall from the Southern Highway, exit from Kurundugahahetekma and take the Elpitiya Road. From Elpitiya, take the Pituwala – Kahaduwa Road. Traveling 5km on this road, you will see a billboard directing towards Andahelena Ella at the top of the Diwankara Lena Road. This road will end at the Diwankaralena Aranya Senasanaya Monastery. This is a dilapidated road but motorable. You can park the vehicle at the Monastery Entrance. But it’s safer to stop your vehicle at the small open space near a boutique about 250 meters before the temple since the last road segment may be too narrow. From the temple entrance you need to take the footpath through the Beraliya Mukalana forest to reach the waterfall. The length of the footpath is approx 300 meters. Unlike in other waterfalls, a bathing pool lies at the top of the falls.

Being inside an isolated forested area, this location is used by drug addicts and petted thieves. A couple was murdered here by drug addicts in 2013, thus it’s advised not to travel alone. Leaches on the footpath could be a problem during the wet season.

GPS Location – 6.258583, 80.197230

Boutique at the road

Path to the Hermitage

Vehicles parked

Hike started

The stream

Footpath

Along the path

Forest

Cultivation

Stream

Crossing point

Little more to go

Here is she

Little more water than my previous visit to Andahelena Falls

Lovely view

Closer view

Should climb again

At the top

View from the top

Upper pool

Milky

Martin Wickramasinghe House and Museum

The house in which Martin Wickramasinghe was born has inspired the Martin Wickramasinghe Trust to established a Folk Museum Complex, surrounded by a restored ecosystem planted with hundreds of varieties of indigenous trees and shrubs in which bird life abounds. The house and the surroundings brings to life a little part of the Koggala which is so vividly depicted in Wickramasinghe’s writings.

Martin Wickramasinghe was born, in the village of Malalgama in 1890. A section of the ancestral home, in which he and his sisters grew up with their parents has survived the rigors of time. The partly renovated house, part of the rear section of which is thought to be nearly 200 years old, is a typical southern abode of the period, with pleasing Dutch architectural features and cool, whitewashed walls and floors paved with square bricks.
The house was taken over by the Royal Air force during World War II, when all villagers in Malalgama and surrounding villages were asked to vacate their houses within 24 hrs. Most homes were demolished to build a seaplane base (the airstrip of which is in use to this day.)

Wickramasinghe’s house miraculously escaped the fate of others in his village. The story goes that this simple house with its subdued architecture caught the eye of a female Air Force officer, and she made it her residence during the military occupation of the area, ensuring its preservation. It was a Catalina aircraft from this base that alerted the British government to the presence of a Japanese fleet, thus ensuring that adequate defensive measures were taken by the military to ward off an attack.

The grass-covered mound to the right of the households his ashes, surmounted by a wedge-shaped rock from the Koggala reef, on which he spent many hours of his day during his childhood. The ashes of his wife Prema are also buried under this mound. An exhibition of memorabilia is housed in a Hall of Life. The Hall of Life tells the story of Wickramasinghe’s life through a series of photographs, awards, and souvenirs.

The Folk Museum was long a desire of the author who wanted to recapture within it the technological and cultural artifacts which were a familiar part of his childhood. The various objects of folk culture acquired during his lifetime have been the starting point of the collection found in the museum, which was opened in 1981.

The Wickramasinghe Trust has developed the museum into a growing repository of artifacts depicting the history of Sri Lankan folk culture, from ancient to modern times in order to remind the people of Sri Lanka of their living rooms. The museum is a fascinating collection of artifacts, from Buddhist artifacts to those which portray the development of rural technology in agriculture, agro-industry, fishing, pottery and metal craft artifacts, various artifacts from folk dances and religious ceremonies and many others. Tastefully presented, the museum offers visitors rare insights into Sri Lankan folk culture.

In providing the backdrop and context to the museum, a Trust brochure states that “Martin Wickramasinghe delved into the life and culture of our people from their early beginning to the present day and through his writings, he identified our folk culture as a resilient bonding substance which has not only prevented our social disintegration and alienation, despite assimilation of elements from a multitude of eastern and western cultures but also molded our collective identity and values as a people. Wickramasinghe’s unceasing intellectual exploration and his creative and critical writings relating to the life and culture of the people of Sri Lanka continued for a period of over 70 years”.
The Folk museum is an ideal place to get to know the author better, to understand a little of what Koggala and its people meant to him. Wickramasinghe’s writings vividly recall the carefree days of his childhood, exploring the marine life in the Koggala reef, playing with his friends from the village, and enjoying the rural solitude of his beloved Koggala. Seated on the steps of Wickramasinghe’s ancestral home, and enjoying the blessed charm of this seven-acre piece of rural paradise, it is easy to understand why this piece of earth nurtured and set ablaze the imagination of one of this country’s greatest writers.

Main name board

Ticket

Memories

More to see

His house

Where he currently lived

Side view

Garden

Madol Duwa – මඩොල් දූව

Koggala is one of the famous tourists attractions places in Sri Lanka. It is located on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Visitors can enjoy the boat trips in the lagoon and Koggala Lake to explore other tiny islands and the biodiversity around the Koggala site. Madol Duwa is one of seven islands located on the Koggala Lake. A boat ride down the lake is soothing. When you reach the town of Koggala, you will find many hand-written signs that will lead you towards ‘Madol Duwa’. Madol Duwa is located is just 30 minutes south of Galle. Once you reach the island, you will notice a well-used path that will take you around the island. It is a surprisingly small island that can be explored within a few minutes. However what is most fascinating is that this island blossomed in the imagination of Mr. Wickramasinghe.
Madol Duwa is yet another island whereas it became very well-known through the famous ‘Madol Duwa’ book. This novel was written by Martin Wickramasinghe. He is identified as a most renowned writer in the late 20th century. Martin Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka’s best-known author of novels and short stories first published the fictional short novel “Madol Duwa” in 1947. Literally translated it means Mangrove Island and has been translated into nine languages and sold over a million copies. The history of Madol duwa book recounts the misadventures of Upali Giniwella and his friends on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka during the 1890s. It later describes the efforts of ‘Upali’ and his friend ‘Jinna’ to lead their lives in a small deserted island. Their struggle to succeed in their lives in the deserted island named Madol Duwa is elaborated through the story. Even the story was made into a film in 1976. Koggala is the hometown of author Martin Wickramasinghe. His birth house has now become the Koggala museum of folk culture consist of wood, furniture, traditional masks and costumes of folk dancers.

Koggala Lake is a very large unspoiled freshwater lake that contains quite a few historical and interesting islands and it is located within a few kilometers away from town. Bird watching at the evening is breathtaking. At the entire lagoon is teamed with prawns and birds. You are allowed to take boat trips and explore the islands around the Koggala Lake. There are heaps of boats around here offering tours. Well worth Madolduwa boat safaris can be arranged in the lake to see the famous island Madolduwa along with the other minor islands. While journeying down the lake you would notice many other islands covered in greenery. From within, bird- calls could be heard momentarily, as they compete with the sound of the motorboat. Prawn catchers patiently wait while meaty prawns make their way to the nets. The boat will slow down from time to time, allowing you to absorb the scenery and the beauty of Madolduwa.

On your way to ‘Madol Duwa,’ these islands will be found. The first island is ‘kathduwa’. When you reach the island Madolduwa there you can see the mangrove roots that girded the island, the thick mud along the shore, and an opening in the rocks that guarded a beach that was almost clear of mud and had a tiny wooden dock. ‘Sekku gala’, the well magnified at Madol Dowa novel is still remaining at Madol Duwa Island. Nowadays it is going to be polluted due to the misbehaviors of the peasantry around the area.

Madol Duwa island has become a famous place in the southern part of Sri Lanka due to remarkable creatures and incidents happened around here. The number of both foreign and local tourists visit Madol Duwa island today. It has become a famous tourist hub that emerged with Madolduwa tourism. Once you have explored the island, head over to a bookshop, and buy a copy of ‘Madol Duwa’. It will definitely help you re-imagine a much familiar landscape that you have visited. And also for sure, it will remain with you as a splendid memory within your tour to Sri Lanka.

Near to the river

Here we go to Madol Duwa

It is there

The river

Mangrove island

The footpath

Nirosh is searching

Old well

Some ruins

Footpath

Return journey from Madol Duwa

Here we are reaching the Galle Road

The Indian ocean

Fishers

The old method

It’s bit dangerous

Water

Waves

People are visiting this place too

They

Dondra Head Lighthouse – දෙවුන්දර තුඩුව ප්‍රදීපාගාරය

Dondra Head Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Dondra Head, Dondra, the southernmost point in Sri Lanka and is Sri Lanka’s tallest lighthouse, and also one of the tallest in South East Asia. Dondra Head lighthouse is operated and maintained by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

The lighthouse is near the village of Dondra, and is approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Matara. The name Dondra is a synonym for “Devi-Nuwara” in the local Sinhala language, “Devi” meaning “Gods” and “Nuwara” meaning “City”. Dondra is therefore derived to mean “City of the Gods”.

Dondra Head Lighthouse was designed by Sir James Nicholas Douglass, with construction, by William Douglass of the Imperial Lighthouse Service, commencing in November 1887. All the building materials including the bricks and steel were imported from England. The granite rock was supplied from quarries at Dalbeattie in Scotland and Penryn in Cornwall. The lighthouse was completed and commissioned in March 1890. The combined cost of erection of the lighthouse and the Barberyn Lighthouse was £30,000 and was paid for by dues collected at the Basses lighthouses.

Dondra Head was one of the limited numbers of lighthouses that were designed to house the large Hyperradiant Fresnel lenses that became available at the end of the 19th century. Four of these lenses were used in Sri Lankan lights, all made by Chance Brothers in England.

The lighthouse is 49 m (161 ft) high[3] and contains 7 floors, 14 two-panel yellow color windows, and 196 steps to the top. Dondra Head is also one of four international lighthouses in Sri Lanka. It was modernized in 2000, with the introduction of a Differential Global Positioning System and is a computer linked to the other major lighthouses around the coast.

Sea

Entrance

Here is she

Surrounding

Blue Ocean

Waves

The lighthouse

How tall is it

Another angle

Neighbour

Another view

Over the coconut trees

Path

Over the green

Memories

History

Wish if they permitted to go to the top

Time to leave

Full view

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Archaeological visit around Galewela

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Year and Month 2017 September 10th
Number of Days One
Crew Two-Anupama and Myself
Accommodation Not Applicable
Transport Motor bike
Activities Just visit, Archaeology and Photography
Weather Excellent
Route Polonnaruwa->Galewela->Gerandigala->Megahahena->Gonmottawa Kanda->Yahangala->Devahoowa Lake->Viharahinna->Back to Galewela
Tips, Notes and Special remark
  1. Start the journey early.
  2. Don’t rely on public transport services at this road.
  3. It is better having your own transport mode.
  4. Inform caretakers / chief priest of the religious sites about intention of your visit.
  5. It is not difficult to find Geranidgala Gal Andan as it is a well-known place.
  6. Don’t disturb the meditating life of Bikkus.
  7. Carry a bottle of water. There are enough boutiques and village shops to buy something to eat.
  8. Better read about places before you visit there.
Related Resources
  1. Sigiriya and Beyond book by back of beyond travel guides
  2. Amazing Lanka-Megahahena Burial Grounds
Author Niroshan 
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Archaeology visit around Galewela

Galewela (ගලේවෙල) is an intermediate town situated at Kurunegala-Dambulla road. There are archaeology sites situated few kilometres away from Galewela town but we don’t pay attention on it while passing Galewela. The main objective of this one day visit to pay attention on these archaeological sites near Galewela. The sole guide for this trip was the chapter 03-route 01 and route 04 in Sigiriya and beyond book. And Ashan and Chamara have visited these places few months ago. Their experience and photos were also helpful in succeed the trip. At end this was the last trip I have done before I left Polonnaruwa. Polonnaruwa was the starting point of most of the trips I have done in last five and half years. (2012-2017). Anupama was also keen in searching of archaeology places around Galewela and joined with me.

List of the places we have visited

  1. Weherabandihinna archaeology site
  2. Gerandigala
  3. Megahahena pre historical burial site
  4. Gonmottawa Kanda Aranya
  5. Yahangala
  6. Dewahoowa Lake
  7. Viharahinna archaeology site

Anupama came from Ibbagamuwa and we joined at Galewela town for the breakfast. Our route of interests of the day was Galewela-Kalawewa road (B 423) starting from Galewela town.

Weherabandihinna archaeology site (වෙහෙරබැදිහින්න පුරාවිද්යා ස්ථානය)

This place is not listed in book but it came to our attention once we started the trip along B 423 road. It is about 2 km from Galewela town.  You can see restoring Dagaba and ponds on top of Gal Thalawa. There are Sandun trees around the site. The chief priest of the temple didn’t allow us to get pictures.

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Restoring Stupa

View of Beliya Kanda (right) and Gonmottawa Kanda (left)

Gerandigala / Gal Endan Gala (ගැරඩිගල / ගල් ඇදන් ගල) (7 4727.31, 80.341896)

 Route: Galewela->Damunumulla (3 km in Andiyagala road) ->Turn right at Damunumulla->Gerandigala Temple->Gerandigala Gal Andan (stone beds)

 Gerandigala Gal Andan was the place of interest at this site. We deliberately omit the visit of Gerandigala temple as it was a Sunday school day and we would draw attention by children. According to description, it is a modernized Len Wiharaya with small Dagaba is placed at nice view point.

After passing Geranidgala temple you will come across the foot path to Gerandigala rock. Within a short climb we were able to come to top of Gerandigala where Gal Andan (stone beds) are situated. There are six beds carved out of the solid rock at a cave on top of Gerandigala. The cave entrance is a nice view point to surrounding. We were able to view known mountains: Kadigala, Arangala, Manikdena, Gedaragalapathana, Yakkuragala and Kalundawa.

Steps to Gerandigala

Gerandigala

The cave at Gerandigala where Gal Andan situated

Gal Endan and view from the cave

Gal Endan

Gal Endan

Dewahuwa Lake

Known peaks from cave entrance….

Known peaks from cave entrance….

Erawulagala is seen behind Yakkuragala

Gonmottawa Kanda

Deiyan Natana Gala

Dewahuwa Lake

??

Karanampotha and Na Uyana Aranya Kanda

We moved out of the cave and walked over the rocky ridge to explore more on Gerandigala top. Geranidgala might be the superb place to watch sun rise due to it’s open area with 360 view.

Rock arrangement on top of Gerandigala

Boulders on top of Gerandigala

Cobra hood

Gerandigala inscription (7.474233, 80.342690) is situated about 1 km away from Gerandigala. We drove along the long until we found small tank and turned left. Then this road became a small foot pathway towards Geranidgala inscription. According to the book there are two inscriptions but we found only one. These inscriptions describe the donation for Buddhist Sanga during King Sirisangabo period.

Steps to Gerandigala inscription

Gerandigala Inscription is situated at other side of the rock. Luckily it is protected by a metal fence.

Gerandigala Inscription.

Gerandigala Inscription

.

Gerandigala in distance

Megahahena Pre historical Burial Site (7.799408, 80.582946) මීගහහේන ප්‍රාග් ඓතිහාසික සොහොන

We came back to the small lake and continued along the same road and turned left just after another temple (Sri Darmakshitharamaya). There was another left hand turn from a tube well. This burial site is situated at a private land with teak and this is the same place we parked our bikes before we hike Beliya Kanda. It is said the burial site is 2800 years old.

Pre historical burial site is situated at base of Beliya Kanda.

Stone pillars at burial site. This square shape tomb is like Ibbankatuwa.

Megahahena pre historical burial site

Small pond. This is not related to the site.

Our next place of interest was Gonmottawa Kanda Aranya Senasanaya. We returned to Andiyagala road and continued just before 36th kilometer post and turned right at archaeological sign board to Gonmottawa Aranya. It is about 2 km from here and stone quarries were common in this area.

Stone quarries common at this area

Turn to Gonmottawa Aranya

Gonmottawa Kanda Aranya / Nagolla Aranya ගොම්මොට්ටාව කන්ද ආරණය (7.494027, 80.344672)
This archaeology site is currently functioned as Aranya Senasanaya. Drip ledge cave, ancient stupa and roofed sakman maluwa are the things to see at this place. As it is an Aranya Senasanaya, it is better not to disturb bikkus by your visit. Luckily we visited at correct time as it was just after Alms giving. We were rewarded by lunch at the end. We didn’t try to hike to the rocky mountain to get the surrounding view. There are caves at Aranya forest used by bikkus for mediation.

Drip ledge cave at Gonmottawa

Roofed Sakman Maluwa

Ancient stupa

Stupa is preserved in creative way

Continued along Andiyagala road and passed 29th kilometer post. After another 200 m you will come across left hand side road called “Ranaviru Shokaratne Mawatha”. Go along this road another 4.5 km and pass another small junction. In another 300m distance Yahangala temple will find at the base of the rock.

Yahangala Gal Endan යහන්ගල ගල් ඇදන් (7.503668, 80.322427)

Yahangala is another rock with stone beds-Gal Endan. It is a short hike from the foot of the rock to the top and we were assisted by a set of boys lived closer to the temple. They were the same group helped to Ashan. On top of Yahangala you can see six stone beds inside the cave. You can see a ruined pagoda on top of the rock.  The slab rock provides a panoramic view.

Beliya Kanda is seen on our way to Yahangala.

Yahangala another rock top garden

It is a short hike from temple

Nice “Gal Thalawa” on top of Yahangala

Nice “Gal Thalawa” on top of Yahangala

The pond on top

Remains of ancient Dagaba.

The cave where Gal Andan are situated.

Yahangala Gal Andan

View from Yahangala cave

Minee Mal / Vinka is a common finding on top

They were friendly and helpful

The view from Yahangala-Deiyan Natana Gala

Beliya Kanda from Yahangala. Gonmottawa Kanda in left side.

Kahala Pallekele range

Another stupa on rock top

In addition to Gal Adnan there is a stone inscription at base of Yahangala. (Actually this is covered by bushes). This inscription was dated to 2nd century AD and it says the patron of this monastery came from the Buddhist kingdom of island of Sumatra. There are some ruins and an engraved sacred foot print at temple premises.

Hidden stone inscription at base of Yahangala.

Stone inscription at Yahangala

Sacred foot print

Ruins

Dewahoowa Lake is situated closer to Yahangala. This lake has ancient back ground and folklore said Great King Dutugemunu has built this beautiful lake. It is bit unusual to hear King Dutugemunu’s name related to a lake rather than temples.  The king and his engineers had a difficulty in deciding the exact place to build the lake. Here a god (deva) helped out with a loud “hoowa”, indicating the ideal place. Restoration works done in 1950 and found old biso Kotuwa and remnants of the bund dating to the early Anuradhapura period.

Devahoowa Lake (දේවහූව වැව) (7.483077, 80.33092)

Devahoowa Lake is received water from Kalugal Oya, Kuda Oya and Mahaweli River. Therefore this is classified as a ‘perennial large tank’. The lake bund is a good place to view surrounding hills including Beliya Kanda, Gonmottawa Kanda,Omaragolla Hills, Gerandigala, Manikdena, Kadigala and Ambokka etc.

Information about the lake

Towards Devahoowa Lake

Devahoowa Lake bunt

Devahoowa Lake

Lake bunt…

Manikdena, Gerandigala and Kadigala. Gerandigala stupa is also seen as a white dot in front of Kadigala

Omaragolla Hills

Ambokka with it’s usual misty cap

Omaragolla Hills

At Devahoowa Lake

The spill

The last destination of the day was Viharahinna archaeology site which is situated closer to Devahoowa Lake. We continued along the bunt road of Devahoowa Lake and came across Pibidunugama junction. This road continues further about 1.5km over Ma Wewa bund to Viharahinna archaeology site. This is well signposted site by archaeology department.

 Viharahinna archaeology site (විහාරහින්න පුරාවිද‍යා ස්ථානය) (7 485375, 80.304018)

Viharahinna is a Pabbata Vihara type of monastery with its excavated image house, Dagaba and Bodhigara. A slab inscription is placed near the remains of Dagaba. It belongs to 12th century and describes south Indian merchant guilds that operated across India, Sri Lanka and as far East as China during 9th to 14th centuries. This slab inscription is written in Tamil and Sanskrit.

Ma Wewa comes across on our way to Viharahinna.

Entering to Viharahinna archaeology site

Bodhigaraya. Not yet excavated

Image house of Viharahinna. These stone pillars are almost 4 m tall.

Image house of Viharahinna

Note ruined Buddha statue at image house.

Palu and Weera trees shade over the site.

Viharahinna slab inscription written in Sanskrit and Tamil.

The shrine house. Dagaba is situated behind this. It is also yet to be excavated.

Bathing. At the end of the day.

Though Budugehinna Viharaya and Silwathgala Viharaya are situated closer to these places, we didn’t visit those temples.

Thanks for reading

Galagama Falls via Landuyaya Old Horse Track

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Year and Month  29-April-2017
Number of Days  One
Crew  05+
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Hired Vehicle
Activities  Hiking, Photography, Sightseeing, Nature Exploring, Waterfall hunting
Weather  Good but dry
Route  Colombo -> Avissawella -> Ratnapura -> Balangoda -> Belihuloya -> Landuyaya/
Ihala Galagama Road -> Non-Pariel Estate via the old Estate footpath
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Leech protection is needed
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Use a GPS or have a guide
      • Or else join with the workers who travel from Laduyaya to Estate
      • B careful on the narrow footpath
      • Beware of wildlife
      • Beware of slippery grassland
      • Do not hike along the stream
      • Beware of rock fallings
      • Start your journey early in the morning
      • Plan your journey well as no returnings to Laduyaya
      • Have a guide to Galagama Falls (mandatory)
      • Beware of trap guns at Galagama Fall path
      • Beware of insects and throne plants
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  My First visit to Non-Pariel/ Nagrak Bungalow
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Galagama Falls via Landuyaya Old Horse Track

Galagama Falls (Kathi Gahana Ella) – ගලගම ඇල්ල (කැතිගහන ඇල්ල)

This is a waterfall where we need to have a hard hike throughout the day. Even though you come from the usual Nagrak roadside it is more difficult for you to reach up to the turning bend near to the Nagrak Bungalow. Ihala Galagama/ Landuyaya road is the road to Hawagala Mountain.

This fall is about 100m high and also known as Kethi Gahana Fall. This is a creation of belihuloya which flows from the Horton Plains after creating the Baker’s Falls. Since I was visited Nagrak Bungalow and went beyond that earlier, this time we thought to have an old track which is known as Old Horse Track. We had a local guide and he guided us safely along this hidden route and later for the Galagama fall. Please be noted that you should have a guide when you visit Galagama Fall from the Nagrak road bend. Because there are many fake paths and trap guns.

We came from Galagama side and got down to usual Non-Pariel road via Baker’s bend to the army camp. It was about 30-35km hike along the mountains and tea estates hence start your journey early in the morning with a proper plan. Since we went by a hired vehicle we informed him to come to Non-Pariel school and we were able to reach there around8pm in the night.

Galagama falls shows in the Satellite map

Note the altitude gain of the waterfall. It is almost situated at the 2000m range

It couldn’t find in Metric map no 68,75,76. This approximate location by 75th Map

The old horse track (Approx.)

Journey started

Morning views

Let’s go till the end of the path

Footpath from Pines patch

Giant pines

Almost dried

More to climb

Colorful

Along the path

The path

A cave for resting

Mountains

Hawagala in the back

Nagrak Mountains

Through bushes

Targets

Still there

Types of green

Only nature

Full view of Hawagala

Narrow paths

Landslide marks

More to go

Old human interventions

Path to the Non-Pariel

Path to the Estate

Forest patch

It’s better that we go on a sunny day

Lonely

Resting

Like a mini World’s End

Reaching to the estate area

Little more

Freedom

Bhagya on hike

Innocent tea pluckers

Estate houses

The famous name board

They are too innocent

Some of Non-Pariel Children

They are too innocent

He was nice

On the way to Galagama fall

Nature of that forest

Here we came

Humans vs Rocks

Rocks everywhere

The Galagama Fall

It’s dried

Resting

Dried Galagama Fall/ Kethi Gahana Fall

Kethi Gahana Ella

Freedom

Getting dark

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

Luckiest visit to Hunugal Pokuna Complex

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Year and Month  24-August-2019
Number of Days  One
Crew  04
Accommodation  N/A
Transport  Motor Bicycles
Activities  Hiking, Photography, Sightseeing, Nature Exploring, Waterfall Hunting
Weather  Good
Route  Colombo -> Avissawella -> Ratnapura -> Balangoda -> Kalthota Road ->
Rajawaka -> Thanjanthenna
Tips, Notes and Special remark
      • Carry enough water
      • Do not try in rainy days
      • Take necessary permission from the Regional Forest Dept
      • Start your hike early in the morning
      • Do not harm Limestone
      • Do not bath at there
      • Do not walk on the Limestone
      • Beware of the Electric fence
      • Beware of Wild Elephants
      • Beware of Venomous snakes
      • Beware of slippery rocks
      • Beware of unknown pits
      • Ask the directions from local
      • Do not disturb to the villagers
      • Do not litter
      • Leave only footprints
Related Resources  Lankadeepa Newspaper Article
Author  Ranshan Fernando
Comments Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread
  • Luckiest visit to Hunugal Pokuna Complex

කිවුල්දිය පිරුණු ලංකාවේ එකම හුණුගල් පොකුණ

GPS Location – 6.655306, 80.855719

Jungle Adventure Nature Resort – 6.654649, 80.853807

මේ වන විට මුහුණුපොත තුළ ප්‍රබල වශයෙන් ජනප්‍රිය ස්ථානයක් බවට පත්ව ඇති සංචාරක ඉසව්වක් වන බලංගොඩ හුණුගල් පොකුණු පද්ධතිය සොයා පසුගිය දිනක අප ගොඩවැදුණේ හුණුගල් සහ හිරිලඹ පිළිබඳ එම ප්‍රදේශයෙන් තවත් විස්තර සොයාගනු පිණිසය. තවද පාරිසරික වැදගත්කමින් යුතු මෙවැනි ඉසව් නිසි වැඩපිළිවෙළක් යටතේ උචිත ලෙස සමාජගතවීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව වගේම මෙවැනි සුන්දර ඉසව් සංචාරක සන්ධිස්ථාන වශයෙන් නියාමනයන් තුළ පවත්වාගෙන යාමේ වැදගත්කම පිළිබඳවද අපි වැඩිදුරටත් සොයා බැලුවෙමු.

හුණුගල් යනු අවසාධිත පාෂාණයකි. මේවා ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් ජලය යට නිර්මාණය වේ. එලෙස නිර්මාණයවීම සඳහා වසර ලක්ෂ ගණනක් පමණ ගතවන අතර තට්ටු අඩි දහස් ගණනක ඝනකමින් යුක්ත වේ. පාෂාණ නිර්මාණය වන ආකාරය අනුව එහි වර්ග ත්‍රිත්වයකි. එනම් ආග්නේය පාෂාණ (Igneous Rocks), අවසාධිත පාෂාණ (Sendimentary Rocks) සහ විපරීත පාෂාණ (Metamorphic Rocks) වේ.

The Satellite map. Red line is approx foot path to the hotel

Limestone pond complex and Kalthota Duwili Falls marked, fall can be visited after a 2-3 hr hike from the ponds

Walawe River west falls , Limestone Ponds and Duwli Falls along the Walawe river chain.

Red- Walawe River West Falls, Yellow- Hunugal Pokuna, Orange- Kalthota Duwili Falls as per the Metric Map

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ 10% ක හුණුගල් තට්ටුවක්ද 90% ක පසද පිහිටා ඇත. හුණුගල් නිර්මාණය වී ඇත්තේ බොහෝවිට කැල්සියම් කාබනේට් හෝ ඩොලමයිට්වලින් වන අතර හුණුගල් පවතින ඉසව්වක නිතැතින්ම ජලය තිබෙන බව නොඅනුමානය. ක්‍රිස්තු පූර්ව යුගවල පටන් විවිධ ශිෂ්ටාචාරවලට පාදක වූ ගොඩනැගිලි සහ විවිධ අලංකරණ නිර්මාණ කිරීමට හුණුගල් යොදාගෙන ඇත. හුණුගල් බදාම ලෙසද පැරණි කුලුණු සහ ගොඩනැගිලි ඉදිකිරීමට යොදාගෙන ඇති අතර ඉවුම් පිහුම් කටයුතු කිරීමට පවා හුණුගල් දරලිප යොදාගෙන ඇත.

Welcomed us

Another one

On the way

No leeches since a dry forest

Cascades seen on the way

More to go

ලංකාවේ හුණුගල් ගුහා බොහෝමයක් පවතින අතර ඒවායින් කිහිපයක් නම් වවුල්පනේ, මාරපන, පන්නිල, සීතාකොටුව, සඳගිරිය, ස්ත්‍රිපුර, නිල්දිය පොකුණ, ඉදල්ගස්හින්න, රොටුපිහිල්ල, යාපනය පෙරියමන්ඩපම්, මාතලේ, ඕපනායක ඇඳිරිලෙන ආදී ඉසව් වේ. ස්වභාවයෙන්ම හුණුගල් යනු ජලය තිබෙන පාෂාණ වන අතර අප මීට පෙර හුණුගල් ගුහා ගවේෂණය කළ සියලුම ඉසව්වල පාහේ ජලය උපදින දිය දහරාවන් පිරුණු භූගත ස්ථාන විය.

නමුත් සීතාකොටුව, සඳගිරිය සහ වැල්ලවාය පාසි ඇල්ල නම් ඉසව්වන්, යාපනය පෙරියමණ්ඩපම් ගුහා සංකීර්ණත් හුණුගල් අවශෝධනයෙන් නිර්මාණය වූ එළිමහන් ඉසව් කිහිපයක් වේ. මින් හුණුගල් මතින් ඇදහැලෙන පොළොව අභ්‍යන්තරයේ පිහිටි එකම කිවුල් දිය ඇල්ල වවුල්පනේ පිහිටා ඇති අතර පොළොව මතුපිට අපට දැකිය හැකි හුණුගල් දිය ඇළි කිහිපයක් බලංගොඩ, සඳගිරිය, වැල්ලවාය, ගුරුළුපොත ආදී ප්‍රදේශවල දැකගත හැකිය.

Crossing the elephant fence

The constructing hotel

This is a private property

Got in to the stream

Here is the stream

Area is starting from here

First pool we have seen

More to see

නමුත් අද අප සොයාගෙන යන්නේ විශාල හුණුගල් පොකුණු ලෙස පද්ධතියක් පිහිටි අපූරු ස්ථානයකටයි. මෙය වලවේ ගඟේ නැගෙනහිර දියඇල්ල වන දූවිලි ඇල්ල ආසන්නයේ පවතින අතර එම ඉසව්ව මේ වනවිට දේශීය සංචාරකයින්ගේ ප්‍රධානතම ඉසව්වක් වී ඇත. සමනළ වැව ජල කාන්දුව ගලාගෙන එන මුල්ගම, රජවක ඉසව්වේ මහ වනය මැද වන අලි ගැවසෙන රක්ෂිතය තුළ හුණුගල් වර්ධනය වී ඇති අතර මෙම හුණුගල් පොකුණ පිහිටි ගම්මානය තුළ ස්ථාන රාශියක් අපට හුණුගල් ආශ්‍රිත විවිධ නිර්මාණ දක්නට ලැබුණි.
කැල්සියම් කාබනේට් කොපමණ දුරට සක්‍රීයද ඒවා කොපමණ වර්ෂ ගණනක් තුළ අවසාදනය වෙමින් මෙවැනි සුන්දර නිර්මාණ බිහිකළ ද යන්න අප දුටුවේ ගමන පටන්ගෙන මඳ දුරක් පැමිණ විට දුටුදෙයිනි. කැලයේ වම් පසින් ඉතා කුඩා දිය පහරක් ගලන අතර එය ගලන්නේ ඊට පමණක් අදාළ වූ හුණුගල් තට්ටුවක් මතිනි. ජලයේ පළලට පමණක් වැසී ඇති එම හුණුගල මතින් දිය දහරාව ගලා යන්නේ විටෙක කොන්ක්‍රීට් බදාමයකින් ගමන් කිරීමට තැනූ කුඩා දියපහරක් මෙනි. එම දියවර කාලය අභ්‍යන්තරයේ උල්පත් මගින් පටන්ගෙන කිලෝමීටර් කිහිපයක් දුරට කුඩා දිය පහරක්සේ හුණුගල් තට්ටුව මතින් ගලාගෙන යයි.

මෙම රක්ෂිතය වන අලි රජදහනක් වන අතර බොහෝවිට උඩවලව හරහා සංක්‍රමණය වන අලි මෙම රක්ෂිතය තුළත් රක්ෂිතයෙන් බැහැර කොස්ලන්ද හා හල්දුම්මුල්ල ප්‍රදේශවලින් ගමන් කරනු ලබයි. අප යතුරුපැදි මගින් ගමන් කළ කුඩා මාර්ගය අවසන් වූයේ ගුණසිංහ මාමාගේ නිවස අසලිනි. ඒ මොහොතේම අප පිළිගැනීමට මෙන් මොණරකු පාර හරහා ගමන් කරනු ලැබීය. ගුණසිංහ මාමාගේ නිවස අසල යතුරුපැදි නවතා මාමා සමග රක්ෂිතය දෙසට යන අඩි මාර්ගයේ අපි පියමැන්නෙමු. මෙම මාර්ගය අඩි 5 ක් පමණ පළලින් යුක්ත ට්‍රැක්ටර් හා ටිපර් රථ ධාවනය කරන මඩ ගොහොරු පිරි දුෂ්කර එරෙන මාර්ගයකි. මාන පඳුරු යාය පසුකළ විසල් තුරු වියන යටට සේන්දු වී හුණුගල් පොකුණ දක්වා යා යුතු කිලෝමීටර් එකහමාරක පමණ දුර අප යාමට පටන් ගත්තේ පරිසරය හොඳින් නිර්මාණය කරමිනි.

The Complex

See the limestone

Designs

Ponds

There were many

Giant Trees

Slow shutters

The area

The beauty

Water level is low

Flowing through limestone

Another angle

Close up view

Slow shutter

විවිධ දැවැන්ත ශාක මෙන්ම ඖෂධීය පැළෑටි සහ අතරින් පතර සිඳීගිය ජල මූලාශ්‍ර ද අපගේ නෙත ගැටුණු අතර මඩ ගොහොරු මාර්ගය මෙපමණ දුෂ්කරව තිබුණේ පෙර දින හොඳ වැස්සක් වැටුණු නිසාවෙන් බව මාමා අපට පවසන ලදී. ක්‍රමයෙන් ඉදිරියටම ගමන් කරන විට අප දුටුවේ වම් පස වන පියස තුළින් ගලාගෙන එන අඩියක් පමණ පළළින් යුත් හුණුගල් තට්ටුවක් මතින් ගලාගෙන එන සුන්දර දිය දහරාවකි. එය දුටු සැණින් අප විමතියට පත්වූයේ පස් කොළ රොඩු පිරුණු වන පියස මත කොන්ක්‍රීට්වලින් කුඩා ඇළක් ලෙස මෙය සාදා ඇති බවය. නමුත් එය අසලට ගොස් හොඳින් නිරීක්ෂණය කළ පසු අප දුටුවේ ස්වභාවයෙන්ම ගලාගෙන යන දියවර යටින් සැදුණු හුණුගල් බදාමයක් බවය. එය කොතරම් නිර්මාණශීලීද කිවහොත් හුණුගල් තට්ටුව තිබුණේ එම දියවර මැදිකරගෙන පහළට ගලාගෙන යාමට උචිත ලෙසයි. දුඹුරු සහ කොළ පැහැති වන රොද තුළ ළා සුදු පැහැයෙන් වර්ණිත වූ මෙම දියවර හා හුණුගල් තට්ටුව අතිශය අලංකාර විය.

එය බොහෝදුරක් මාර්ගයට මීටර් කිහිපයක් දුරින් වනපියස හරහා පහළට ගලාගෙන යන අතර එම දියවරද රක්ෂිතය තුළ උපදින උල්පත් බව මාමා අපට පවසන ලදී. ඉන්පසු අප සේන්දු වූයේ අපූරු ස්ථානයකටයි. මාර්ගයේ දකුණු පසින් වනරොද හරහා අඩි පාරක් නොතිබූ ඉසව්වක මාමා අපව රැගෙන ගියේ හුණුගල් දියඇළි යුගලය පෙන්වීමටයි. එය අතිශය අලංකාර වූවකි. මන්ද ප්‍රධාන හුණුගල් ඇල්ල මීටර් 40ක් පමණ උස්වූ අතර එය වැටෙන ඉසව්වේ පාසි බැඳී තවත් සුන්දරත්වය වැඩි කරන්නට විය. එලෙසම හුණුගල් තට්ටු හා හිරිලඹ මතින් ඇල්ල වැටෙන අතර ඇල්ල පිහිටි බිත්තිය මුළුමනින්ම හුණුගලින් නිර්මාණය වූ මීටර් 150 ක් පමණ පළලින් යුතු කුඩා කඳු ගැටයක් වැනිවිය. ඒ අවට තිබූ දැවැන්ත ගල්කුට්ටි සියල්ලම හුණුගල් විය. මෙම ඇල්ල හරහා වැටෙන දියවර මීටර් කිහිපයක් ගලාගෙන ගොස් නැවත හුණුගල් තට්ටුවක් මතින් තවත් කුඩා දියඇල්ලක් සාදයි. මෙම ප්‍රදේශය එකම හුණුගල් නිධියක් වූ අතර කාලයාගේ අවෑමෙන් ඇතැම් ස්ථානවල හුණුගල් ප්‍රදේශවාසීන් විවිධ හේතු මත කඩාගෙන ගිය බවද මාමා අපට පැවසීය. මෙම ඇල්ල දුටු විටම අපට සිහියට නැගුණේ වැල්ලවායේ පිහිටි පාසි ඇල්ලයි. එයත් මෙවැනිම වූ ලෙස පාසි බැඳුණු පළල් හුණුගල් බිත්තියක් මතින් කඩා වැටෙන්නක් විය.

ඇල්ලට වම් පසින් ඇල්ල මුදුනේ පිහිටි ගස්වල මුල් වැඩී තිබුණු අතර අප එම මුල් දිගේ අඩි 40ක පමණ උස නැගගත්තේ අවදානමක් සමඟිනි. ඇල්ල වඩා සුන්දර වන්නේ මහ වැසි සමයට වන අතර ඇල්ල ඉහළ සිට තවත් ගල්තලා හරහා ඇනිකට් එකක් හමුවනතුරු ගිය පසු මාමාගේ ඉඩම අපට හමුවුණි.

Beauty

Limestone

A small pool

Nature creation

Ponds and curves

See the designs of the limestone

The area like this

Adjusted trees

Taken from a top of a tree

View from the top

කෙසේ හෝ නැවතත් අපි ගමනේ ප්‍රධාන මංසන්ධිය වන හුණුගල් පොකුණ බැලීමට පෙර ගමන්ගත් මාර්ගයටම පැමිණ ඉදිරියටම ඇදුණෙමු. අවසාදිත පාෂාණයක් වන හුණුගල් විපරීතකරණයට ලක්වීම හේතුවෙන් කිරිගරුඬ පාෂාණය නිර්මාණය විය හැක. මෙලෙස හුණුගල් බහුලවම ඇති ඉසව් යනු හලාවත, පුත්තලම, මන්නාරම, යාපනය, වයඹ සහ උතුරු වෙරළ බිම් වේ. එලෙසම ස්ඵටිකමය හුණුගල්, අවසාදිත හුණුගල්, කොරල් හුණුගල් සහ කවච හුණුගල් ලෙස නිධි 4 ක් ලංකාවේ දක්නට ලැබේ. යාපනය සිට පුත්තලම දක්වා වෙරළ තීරය තුළ මයෝසීන යුගයට අයත් සුසංගිත අවසාදිත හුණුගල් ඇති අතර ඒවායේ ඇති කැල්සියම් කාබනේට් ප්‍රමාණය ශුන්‍යයේ සිට සියයට අනූපහ තෙක් වේ. ලංකාවේ ක්‍රියාත්මක එකම හුණුගල් කොරිය පුත්තලමට කිලෝමීටර් 20ක් ඈතින් පිහිටි අරුවක්කාරු ප්‍රදේශයේ පිහිටා අති අතරය එය සිමෙන්ති කළුගල සඳහා අමුද්‍රව්‍ය ලබාගැනීමට විවෘත කැනීමකි.

අලිවැට යටින් යාන්තමට රිංගා අප පුද්ගලික ඉඩමක් මතින් ගමන්කොට දිය දහරාව වෙත අවතීර්ණ වූ අතර එම ස්ථානයේ සිට මෙම දියවර වලවේ ගඟට එකතුවන ස්ථානය දක්වා ජලය ගලාගෙන යන්නේ විශාල හුණුගල් මතින් බව අපි දුටුවෙමු. වසර ලක්ෂ ගණනක් මුළුල්ලේ මෙලෙස අධි සාන්ද්‍රික කැල්සියම් කාබනේට් මතින් හටගත් හුණුගල් මෙම දියවරේ දක්නට ඇත්තේ මෙම ඉසව්වේ පමණි. මෙම ඉසව්ව නිතැතින්ම හුණුගල් නිධියකි. මන්ද දිය දහරට පසෙකින් පවා පිහිටියේ දැවැන්ත හුණුගල් කුට්ටි හා පර්වතය. ඒ තුළින් ජලය විදින අතර හුණුගල් කූරු දිගේ දියවර අපූරුවට ගලන බව අපට දක්නට ලැබුණි.

මෙයට හුණුගල් පොකුණ කියා හඳුන්වන්නේ ස්වභාවිකවම හුණුගල් ඛාදනය වී පොකුණු මෙන් වටවුණු කුඩා තඩාග බොහෝමයක් නිර්මාණය වී ඇති හෙයිනි. මෙම හුණුගල් පතුල කොන්ක්‍රීට් බදාමයක් දැමුවාක් මෙන් නැතහොත් පිහිනුම් තඩාගයක පතුල මෙන් විනිවිද භාවයෙන් යුක්ත වූ අතර එ්වා කිසිලෙසකත් කැලතී හෝ අපවිත්‍ර වී නොතිබුණි.

මෙහි ඇති හුණුගල්වල අපි විශේෂත්වයක් දුටුවෙමු. එනම් මෙම හුණුගල් ජලය ගලායන දිශාවට අනුවර්තනය වී තිබීමය. එනම් පොකුණු තුළ ඇති තට්ටු සියල්ලෙම බැම්ම සෑදී ඇත්තේ මෙම හුණුගල් වලිනි. එම බැම්ම තනි හුණුගලින් තිබුණ ද එය ජලය වැටෙන දිශාවට කූරු මෙම නිර්මාණය වී තිබේ එලෙස වී ඇත්තේ වසර ගණනාවක් පුරාවට ජලය කඩා වැටීමේ රටාවට අනුවර්තනය වී හුණුගල් වැටීම මගිනි. එම නිසාම පොකුණු සියල්ලෙම තට්ටු වෙන් වෙන බැව් පහළ ඉතා අලංකාර ලෙස හුණුගල් පහළට වැටෙන ලෙස පිහිටා තිබුනේ ගුහා අභ්‍යන්තරයේ පිහිටා ඇති හිරිලඹ පරිද්දෙනි. මෙහි ආසන්න වශයෙන් දුසිමකට අධික කුඩා පොකුණු ප්‍රමාණයක් පවතින අතර අපි ඉතා ප්‍රවේශමෙන් තට්ටු එකක් දෙකක් හරහා ගොස් අපට අවශ්‍ය හුණුගල් නිර්මාණ කිහිපයක් ඡායාරූප ගත කළෙමු. මන්ද වසර මිලියන ගණනක් පුරාවට වැඩුණු මෙම හුණුගල් පද්ධතිය කැඩීමක් සිදු නොවිය යුතු හෙයිනි. තවද බොහෝ පිරිසක් නිරතුරුව මෙම හුණුගල් තට්ටු මතින් ගමන් කිරීමේදී හා බොහෝදුරට බර රඳවාගැනීමේ ප්‍රමාණය ඉක්මවා ගියවිට මෙම හුණුගල් තට්ටු කැඩී යා හැක. එබැවින් නිතරම හුණුගල් මත ගමන් නොකර ඉවුරු දෙපසින් ගමන් කර එහි සුන්දරත්වය විඳීම අගනේය.

Bird eye view inside the forest

Two main ponds

Lower area

See the beauty

Through the forest

A pool for bathing

Lower parts

Its moving further

The group at a rock bed

Beauty

Another angle

Levels of the ponds

Our photographer

See the giants

Another eye

Ponds

Life

Mushrooms

Waling to the river

More views

Environment

Small ponds

Greeny

More to go

Surrounding

Walking further

Nature creations

Over the rocky plains

Nature

Headed to the Walawe River

More cascades

Limestone

Full view

Little more

Close to the Walawe river

Here is the Walawe River

We were there

The river

This water will create the Duwili falls at Kalthota

Roots

මෙම හුණුගල් තුළ වැටුනු විවිධ කුඩා ජලජ ශාක සේම දිය පහර මැද හුණුගල් මධ්‍යයේ වැඩුණු සුවිසල් ගස් දක්නට ලැබේ. විටෙක මෙහි යම් ස්ථාන නිරීක්ෂණය කළවිට මුහුදු පත්ලේ පිහිටි කොරල්පරවල ආකාරයෙන්ම ජලය යට දැකගත හැකිය. අධි කැල්සියම් සහිත මෙවැනි ස්ථානයකින් ජල ස්නානය උචිත නොවන අතර එමඟින් හුණුගල් විනාශවීම සිදුවිය හැක. කාලාන්තරයක් මුළුල්ලේ පරිසරයට උචිත ලෙස ආවරණය වූ බැවින් මෙම ඉසව්වේ සමතුලිතතාව බිඳීමකට ලක්විය හැක.

පොකුණු දුසිම පිහිටි ඉසව්වෙන් වෙන්වුණු අපි, ජලය ගලායන මාර්ගය දිගේ තවත් කිලෝමීටරයකට ආසන්න දුරින් ගමන්කළ පසු එය වලවේ ගඟට එකතුවන ස්ථානයට ළඟා වුණෙමු. ඒ දක්වා තවත් විස්සකට අධික පොකුණු දැකගැනීමට හැකිවූ අතර එහි ගැඹුර සීමිත විය. යෝධ පුස්වැල් හා ජලය මතුපිට වැඩුණු රූස්ස ගස් සෙවණ යට හුණුගල් පිරුණු ප්‍රදේශය තුළ ගමන් කරනවිට සිසිලසක් දැනුණු අතර වලවේ ගඟ ප්‍රචණ්ඩව ගලාගෙන යන බාධකයක් මේ අවට දක්නට ලැබුණි. කෙසේ හෝ සොබාදහමේ අපූරු නිර්මාණයක් බලා පමණක් සැනසුණු අප ඔබෙන් ඉල්ලන්නේ මෙම පරිසරය සුරකින ලෙසත් ජල ස්නානය කිරීමෙන් හා අවට විනෝදාස්වක පරිසරයක් ලෙස පත් කිරීමෙන් වළකින ලෙසත්ය.

Return Journey via the shortcut to see the falls

Hunugal Fall No 1

Closer view

Slow shutter

Rocks made in Limestone

Hunugal Fall No 2

Here is it

Want to see this under heavy rain

Full view

Bottom part

I climbed this via the left side of this picture along the roots of the giant tree at the top

Achintha enjoying

Top of the fall

I was at the top

The anicut

The cultivation

Migara is attempting

Thank you for reading !

Sobasiri Team ©

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