Wiltshire the Bamboo forest #$#@%$@ (1200m)

The map – Click to enlarge

Last year when we hiked brandy rock I did note a nearby mountain range obscuring the view towards Matale and knuckles range. Since then I was eyeing on this peak (Wiltshire/Alu vihare Kanda), almost after and year I was all ready to venture on but as usual couldn’t find any companions. Amila who promised to join me also couldn’t make it because of a bike accident. I arrived at Matale on the previous day and stayed at Selina guest close to McDowell Fort. Next day early morning I wondered around the fort wall and entered the cemetery which lies in the fort premises. Close to this fort recently a mass burial site was found and the remains found were thought to be belonging to the rebels who fought against the British during the historical Matale rebellion which took place in 1848. Except for the outer wall there is not much to see these days. There were few monuments around Matale which were linked to the historical rebellion but I deferred exploring those and stuck to my main objective.

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Matale rebellion

In 18’s people of Sri Lanka were struggling very hard to get rid of the iron clutches of British administration. British have introduced many laws and taxes such as Barren land law that virtually took everything from the indigenous people. The Sinhalese and people of other ethnic groups got united and fought against the British army. Uwa Wellassa Karelle and Matale Karella are two noteworthy rebellion of Sri Lankan against British, which helped the country to reach independence in 1948. Matale Rebellion, which took place in 1848, had distracted even the king of British.

Uwa rebellion was widely spread throughout the island from the Dambulla temple. It was ceremonially initiated by Ven.Girattegama Indrajothi thera on 26^th July 1848 with Rajabhisheka (coronation) of Gongalegoda banda as the king of the Kandyan kingdom. Another key figure of the rebellion was Virapuranappu arrived to Dambulla from Moratuwa and was appointed as the leader of the Sinhalese army.  At the beginning the Sinhalese army was consisting of 3000 soldiers. As the war broke out Matale, Kurunegala, Borella were under fire and British governor imposed the martial law covering the whole island. Sinhalese forces were joined by soldiers from other regions such as Kurunegala.

2^nd, 3^rd, 4th and 5^th of August 1848, there was a fierce battle between Sinhalese forces and British army in Matale. Three British regiments were on the battle under the leadership of Captain McDowell, Captain Lili and Captain Watson. With the sophisticated war equipments the British forces were able to dominate the battle and Sinhalese forces had to retreat. Sinhalese forces encamped in several places around Matale. Vira Puran Appu and large number of Sinhalese soldiers encamped in Wariyapola. Captain M.J.Mcdowell built a fort adjoining the governor’s office of Matale. Even today the ruin of the fort can be seen at the site and it is known as fort McDowell. After following a tip about the hiding place of Vira Puran Appu and his followers were taken into custody by the British forces. They were killed by shooting at the Bogambara on August 8^th 1848.several Sinhalese soldiers, who were under Vira Puran Appu were shot dead near the Fort McDowell. Several, other Sinhalese leaders were hanged near the fort of Mcdowell. Gongale Goda Bnada was sent in exile to s foreign country. 376 people, who played an important role in the rebellion was imprisoned on the charges of disobeying the British queen. Kudapola thera was also among the British prisoners.

There are several monuments remembering the Matale rebellion, monument of Captain Lili is located in Wariyapola on the A-9 main road. There are several other monuments in Matale and around remembering British. But, there are very few monuments to remember the brave soldiers of Sinhalese army, other than statues of Gongale God Band and Vira Puran Appu, there are no monuments to remember the Sinhalese forces. The fort of McDowell is a leading monument of the rebellion that still resides in Matale. There are nine gravestones in the garden of the fort believed to be places, where the several Sinhalese were buried. But there are no written evidences to prove the identity of the people, who were buried in the fort.

Very difficult to spot this board

remains of the fort

Witshire peak covered with mist as seen from matale town

After having some breakfast I took off in search of the Madiwela bus and since no one was sure about its arrival on that day I took an Etipola bus and got off at the Madiwela turn off and walked about 4Km’s to reach Asgiriya division where Brandy rock, Etipola range and Wiltshire could be seen clearly. The mountain tops were kissed by the mist and the breeze on the top was notable even from ground zero. I further walked towards the Kovil at Asgiriya division and reached the line houses. No one agreed to show me the way saying the path was covered with bushes but they also mentioned that if I could get to the “Gala” I could see Matale town clearly.

Brandy rock covered with mist

Etipola

Ambokka covered with mist

lovely

landscape

the twin peaks of wiltshire kissed by mist

Wiltshire range as seen from Brandy rock

starting point

So I was alone and I had no companion despite all of my attempts. It was all about trekking to the observation point and the clear view of the rock I wanted to reach was the only aid I had. First it was a continuous climb through the tea estate until I reached the forest boundary and after climbing further up I reached the neck of Wiltshire range. From here I proceeded towards the direction of the summit and within no time I was greeted by Mana bushes. There was a foot path through the mana which I choose to follow until the bush cover started to get dense. The view from this mana plain was simply amazing the contrast of the images were taken at that moment was so perfect that I couldn’t stop clicking around.

tea	Etipola and brandy rock

entering the forest patch

Grey headed Canary Flycatcher

path getting tougher

view was getting better

beautiful landscape

love these flowers

two species

wow

the peaks

the path

path was missing from here onwards

Nightmare struck me within no time. It was BAMBOO standing as a wall in front of me. After seen these bushes my heart came in to my mouth and I was wondering if to go around them but if I did so I would have had to climb up through bamboo bushes which was not a good idea. I was determined through crash through the bamboo and stick to the theoretical path along the neck of the range. So it begun I was crawling along animal pathways which ran through the bamboo bushes but with the bag I was pulled back at most instances. Sometimes to proceed one meter I had to waste more than two minutes. The Bamboos were acting as springs by pushing me back and trying to exhaust me and deny my right of viewing Matale from top of Wiltshire.

After all that trouble I again found the lost part just before the summit of the 2^nd peak which the locals call as the “balum gala”. The rock summit is also covered with bushes and it’s very hard to find a proper place to rest even. But the view from it was what I was searching for. Matale town was so huge that it seemed like whole of Matale has lost its forest cover the busy streets and the bus stand could be seen clearly from this point. After clicking few panoramas it was time locate some landmarks. I could identify Kandalama, Bowatenna, Arangala, western view of Knuckles mountains and even Lakegala could be seen peeping through a gap. Karagahatenna, Reverston and other peaks were almost touching the clouds. On other side Hanthana and Kandy region could be noted while mountains like Alagalla and Bathalegala also could be viewed. On the opposite side Etipola mountain was obscuring the view towards Kurunegala but Yakdessagala and Dolukanda was seen without any problem at all! The peak with a mana plain was about 100 meters away but I decided not to risk things by pushing myself to the extreme.. If it wasn’t for the Bamboo bushes I would have gone there but things were not in my favour on that particular day.

Bamboo my worst nightmare

a break

Knuckles range

paddy

mawanella

knuckles seen behind rathtota

Naula and kandalama

other side of the range was all pines

matale heavily populated

part of the huge town of matale

widened streets

the bus stand

pano towards Etipola and mawanella

pano towards matale and Knuckles range

wiltshire range

colourful

bathalegala seen far away

alagalla

looking back

over the hedge

beautiful Matale

Kandy side

knuckles peaks

Karagahatenna

yakdessagala seen faintly

dolukanda and kibulwana reservoir

where i started

standing out

through the bushes

getting down

Getting down was much harder than climbing up and losing the way was included in that special package. So I had to make a new path while descending through the tormenting Bamboo bushes and finally found the path I climbed up. Felt really relieved at that moment when I found the path! After getting back to the tea estate I found a natural stream where I decided to have a wash and a change. There were about 20 leeches who I never bothered to remove until that moment. To make things worse it was continuously bleeding. After refreshing myself I felt like I returned to heaven after visiting hell but yet contented with what I achieved for the day. After getting to the road I found no trishaw driver willing to go on a hire even. So in the not sun I walked 4Km’s until Etipola road was met. I was tired and couldn’t walk anymore, so got in to a trishaw which was going towards Matale for a discounted price, which made my mood. After reaching Matale I looked back towards the daunting mountain at the backdrop of the city and gave it a smile before proceeding towards my night halting place to end one of the most tiring journeys for the year.

wish I had a sword to cut through these

the breeze

on the way down scenery

Dolukanda

Yakdessagala

Amazing

the balum gala

finally found the path

diversity

another lake

i was there

entering the forest

good bye

road side shots

plucked

Ambokka cleared off

valley

Thanks for reading!