The journey was stared on a evening of a busy Friday (15TH February 2013), from Colombo around 10:30pm. We reached the Kandy city by 1:00am and had a snack and started travelling towards Matale road and then to the Daha ata Wanguwa- Hasalaka.

We reached Wasgamuwa Park at 5.45am and began a morning safari. As we planned our jeep came loaded with our breakfast which we in the river bank of Mahaweli River inside the park.

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As we entered it was obsrved by all of us how the dry zone changes after the rainy season. The flora and fauna looked so fresh and green all over. Pits which are usually filled up with mud, were overflowing with water.

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For me the sight was an absolute miracle as we were expecting to see the typical dry land full of dust.

The bungalow was located inside the jungle about 13 Kms. The setting of the bungalow is a heavenly place for a nature lover. The elevated bungalow faces to the Mahaweli River from on side, where you get to see animals especially elephants arrive at the river bank during the day. You may stay at your balcony(Wawul Abey) and gaze out to the river banks and in to the jungle for many miles as the bungalow is built in two stories.

View of the river from the bungalow

View of the river from the bungalow

Travelling on a the morning in a jungle (in the dry zone) which had heavy rains couple of weeks ago, is a unique and a breath taking experience. You may figure out the same by looking at below two pics

Watch how the dry zone has changed…

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We had two safaries after the morning one. One in the evening and another one in the following day morning

Famouse Wasgamuwa wild elephants

However, travelling was not so easy as the roads were se muddy and a four wheel tractor had to come for our rescue few times

The journey was too hard at times…

We left the bungalow after Sunday’s breakfast with lunch packed to have on the way. The route we took to Dambulla offered us with breath taking places with beautiful fresh water streams. We stopped by a stream and had lunch close to Dambulla.

This is where we had our lunch on our way back to Colombo

We reached Colombo at 8pm.

The key take home memory out of this trip is that we realize how the dry zone changes with the heavy rains and the beauty of it !

Handapan Ella (හදපාන් ඇල්ල)
This beautiful waterfall flows as a cascade from Handapanella Thanna (හදපාන් ඇල්ල තැන්න). Although books say it’s height is 23m, it is wrong as it is a collection of few waterfalls. Handapan Ella can be captured in Rakwana-Kalawana road (another route full of scenic views) in between 3rd and 4th mile post.

To reach Handapan Ella is somewhat challenging work. When we reach Rakwana from Colombo in early morning, Ashan has arrived at Rakwana and found how to reach there.

Following our breakfast we called a tuk-tuk to bring us to 4th mile post of Rakwana-Kalawana road. Our three wheel driver has a good idea about the area.

Rakwana river flows from Handapanella Thanna to create Handapan El

Closer view of cascades

After asking from locals about the route, we entered Deepdon tea estate and walked through tea bushes and came across a forest patch. We walked about 1hour through the forest patch and then came out again to the Deepdon tea estate. May be we missed the correct pathway.

Then we decided to reach the waterfall by walking up in the water stream.

Handapan Ella and Sooriyakanda mountain range

Deepdon tea estate

The road we came

Upper part of cascades-closer view

Getting down in the estate towards the valley

We entered the Rakwana River through the tea estate. Mana bushes and forest patch covering the valley

Entering to the Rakwana river

Walking up in the water stream

Rakwana River…Started to ascend

Now she started to show her beauty by making small waterfalls

Ashan is leading in the valley

River started to bend

Slow shutter speed

Another waterfall..

It was difficult to go through places like this. Needed to enter the forest and find our pathway

Now steepness is more…..creating more and more cascades

First place where we saw opposite mountain range-Kabaragala pathana(කබරගල පතන)

One of a significant cascade…I think this is seen in far

Now it became more and more difficult

Upper cascades

Same picture-wider angle

More and more

Ashan is not trying to hide. He wants to come through narrow gap

Surrounding view. Now we are in from sea level

Following this waterfall it was difficult to going up in the river. Then we entered thick forest

Full range of upper cascades

Upper part of the forest had a lot of trees belonged to palm family with thick undergrowth. Steepness was so high

Finally we reached the most upper part of the cascade. This was captured through the forest

Good view

Most right part of the waterfall is bit difficult to capture as we reached the waterfall in her left side

Beautiful Handapan Ella covering with her misty clothes. Note we have only gone through her left side

Had a day

Another night comes to Deepdon estate

We started to climb about 11.30am and came back to Deepdon estate about 6.00am. If we continued the climbing through the forest following most upper part of the cascade we would be in Handapanella Thanna… A marshy land. Although had numbers of leech attacks and fear of wild elephants it was a memorable journey.

Arrows indicating the part of Rakwana River we climbed. Small star shows the drop of Handapan Ella. Large star indicating the place of Handapan thenna. Total ascend in our path is about 500m. but within 1.5km – Click Map to Enlarge

We spend the night at Rakwana guest house and started the next day to visit at three more waterfalls close to Rakwana.

Day 2

This day we have visited at three more waterfalls named as Galdoala fall, Dalwin waterfall/ ? Masimbula Ella and Arambe Ella.

Galdola waterfall (100m) ගල්දොලඇල්ල

This can be viewed from Rakwana town. But to get a closer view, we walked towards the waterfall in Rakwana-Deniyaya road

Galdola waterfall from Rakwana town

Galdola flows from Rakwana mountain

Galdola-closer view

Scenic Rakwana-Deniyaya road.

Searching for a pathway to get closer view of Galdola

Lower part of the Galdola waterfall can be captured at Kirimandiya area in Rakwana-Deniyaya road

Middle part of Galdoala waterfall. Have to climb up in the tea estate in Kirimandiya area

Walking through Mana bushes

Middle part of Galdoala cascades. It flows and joins with Rakwana River

View of Rakwana town

On our way back we got down at Alton tea estate and visited at famous bathing place called “Nana mankada”

Then we came back to Rakwana town and went in Rakwana-Godakawela toad to visit two waterfalls made by Rakwana river on her way.

Masimbula Ella/Dalwin Ella මස් ඉඹුල ඇල්ල/ඩැල්වින් ඇල්ල

This can be captured at Dalwin tea estate on your way to Godakawela from Rakwana. Although books mention them as two separate waterfalls, locals use two names for the same waterfall. (May be wrong)

Beautiful Rakwana-Godakawela road. Initial part of the road (Rakwana side) is still under construction

Masimbula/Dalwin waterfall-This is Rakwana River. Height is 30m

Above the waterfall there is a dam to divert water for hydropower generation. It makes this small reservoir

Waterfall from top

Another view

Arambe Ella (අරඹේ ඇල්ල)

To reach Arambe Ella, you have to further travel down towards Godakawela. From the main road, have to turn to a by road which is in right hand side in the Lenark estate. (Better clarify the road from locals) This road ends in the Rakwana River and we walked up in the River to view the waterfall.

Rakwana River..needs to walk up in the River

A small waterfall made by Rakwana river

Another waterfall made by Rakwana River

Arambe Ella. Height is 54 m. Width is 14m. It is also a collection of few waterfalls. The pool at base of the waterfall is somewhat deep

The word Arambe means the forest which is full of fruits and herbal plants. There is a forest patch around it

Following Arambe Ella, we had a bath from Rakwana River somewhat above the Arambe Waterfall. It ended our two day journey with waterfalls.

Last shot of the day…

Thanks for reading

It was Ashan’s this report that prompted me to do this trip.

One of my intention of writing this report is to show you the heart breaking current states of the these precious waterfalls. There is nothing attractive in these pictures but you can compare the state of these waterfalls two years ago, with Ashan’s report and the pathetic state of same, today.

We came to Puwakpitiya along Colombo/Avissawella road and turned right towards Thummodara. First stop was Kumari Ella. It’s about 500 meters from main road and it is not possible in a car. We walked the distance and were disappointed with the very first sighting. Some illicit timber sellers has cut down a tree and ran away leaving their portable saw machine.

Left the saw and ran away

The cry of upper part of Kumari Ella

Base pool of Kumari Ella

Lower part of Kumari Ella

Then we proceeded about another five kilo meters along the same route towards Thummodara to the next water fall, Ella uda Ella and it was another sad story.

Upper part of Ella Uda Ella mostly the rock and less water

Lower part and the base pool

From there we proceeded another three Kilometers and turned to ‘Halpe Group’. This is a rubber estate and you can drive up to the water fall, Ran Mudu Ella

Dried off Ran Mudu Ella, just a string of wate

Driving another two KM we came to Thummodara Junction and turned left towards Labugama and first to meet was the Thummodara bridge. A hefty looking bridge was just enough you to get through.

Slowly creeping through

From there we went in search of Dambora Ella. It’s on the road to Ayr estate

Poorly looking Dambora Ella

I was not sure whether it was the real Dambora Ella although the locals directed me to this place.

After a disappointed half day tour we proceeded to Kalatuwawa and Labugama reservoirs, just 5 KM away from Thummodara.

These two reservoirs are located in a picturesque hilly wet zone rainforest. This virgin forest is many thousand years old and some parts of it almost completely untouched by humans and with an annual rainfall of about 4000 mm, it brings the uncorrupted clean water to the reservoirs.

Colombo District is supplied with safe drinking water by three reservoirs namely Ambathaley, Kalatuwawa and Labugama. Labugama, Today boasts an output of 10 million gallons per day while Kalatuwawa which is situated three KM away has a bigger output of 20 million gallons per day. These purification plants are doing a tremendous work to provide safe drinking water.

Safe water for drinking means that it

• Does not contain any disease causing organisms
• Does not contain chemicals hazardous to human health
• Water is clear, colorless, tasteless and odorless
• It does not stain or get precipitated.

Kalatuwawa and Labugama plants receive water under gravity and there are five steps of water purification.

1.  ’Aeration process’ – air (oxygen) is introduced into water and the taste, colour and odour causing substances and gases are removed.
2. Second step is addition of chemicals, when chemicals are added to water it reacts with soil, clay particles, microorganisms and other substances. These particles associate with similar particles to form big flocks and when it is heavy sink to the bottom with resulting clear water at the top.
3.  Third step is known as ‘Sedimentation process’ – clear water that is found at the surface of the tank is separated from the sediments and sent into the sand filters through a network of channels.
4. Fourth step is ‘Filtration’ – water is filtered through the rapid gravity sand filters.
5. Final step is ‘Disinfection’ – where they use chlorine gas to disinfect water, but they add another chemical to water, which is lime that prevents corrosion of the distribution lines.

Entrance to Kalatuwawa reservoir

Kalatuwawa reservoir – surrounded with virgin forest

Spillway of Kalatuwawa

Water purification plant at Kalatuwawa

From Kalatuwawa we came to Labugama reservoir which is only 3 KM away.

The foot step to the Labugama dam starts with an ancient moonstone although it has no historical back ground. Nobody knows how it came there. This Moonstone is believed to be the only Moonstone at a non-religious place

Moonstone at the beginning of footsteps

Labugama reservoir

Sediments – separated from clear water

Rapid gravity sand filters

Quote

“Though three fourth of the world is covered with water, less than 1% is available for human use. Even this water is polluted by the activities of man and animals. Therefore in future, to obtain safe drinking water a large sum of money will be needed. If you protect your water resources and use only what is required there would be enough water to all even for future generations. Remember, we enjoy today the water resources protected & conserved by our Great, great grandfathers. “

After a full day tour with ‘Water’ we came to Serenity Leisure Village for the night stay. This place is comparatively very cheap and the place is very well maintained.

Entrance to Serenity Village

We stayed in a family room which can accommodate five easily. It’s a two story non A/C room with attached bathroom, H/C water, fans, TV and telephone. There are two swimming pools and ample places for outdoor games.

Ground floor of the room

Upper floor

Next day on our way back we dropped at another place which is unknown to most of us. This is Ayr Bungalow situated in Ayr estate. Locals call this ‘Gal Bangalawa’ (ගල් බන්ගලාව). This place is also known as the “Tajmahal of Sri Lanka.” This is about 8 KM from Thummodara towards Padukka.

Thummodara/Padukka road well paved and surrounded with lush greenery

The story of Ayr bungalow is romantic. Arley Elford, a planter who was the superintendent of this rubber estate had married a Scottish girl from a wealthy family. When they came to the bungalow in Ayr estate, his bride was disappointed with his humble dwelling. She had told him to build a castle for her and returned back to her native Scotland. It then became Elford’s dream to build a house worthy of her and so began the construction of this bungalow in 1922.

He built this bungalow, which is a majestic replica of a Scottish castle, on a mountain top. It was carved out of granite bricks with double layer walls and two walls were filled in-between with sand to keep the house cool. He has taken nine years to finish this house and by that time his wife tired of waiting had gone off with another. He was using estate labours to built this house and his employers in England came to know about this colossal waste of time, money and labor and terminated his job. Ultimately, Elford lost his job, this lovely bungalow and also his loving wife. Heartbroken Arley Elford left Ceylon for United Kingdom, leaving his legacy of love.

Taj Mahal of Sril lanka (Ayr Bungalow) ගල් බන්ගලාව

Solid blocks of granite bricks

This spacious, airy bungalow has now been acquired and restored by Pussellawa Plantation Ltd to a fair extent (with a swimming pool) and is now open to visitors looking for a plantation holiday of quiet walks and solitude. There are four large rooms with attached bathrooms with H/C water and equipped with air-conditioning. Each room has its own sprawling balcony affording views of the surrounding countryside.

View from the upper floor. Note the swimming pool

The bedrooms are large and airy. You can bring your provisions and get them to cook.

If you wish you can also get meals from them and it will cost around 400/= for a meal.

This place is good for an office day out also.

Reservation:

Tel :011 7990000 / Ext 127

Mobile : 0777 774738

Pussellawa Plantations Ltd

No.168, Negombo Road,

Peliyagoda,

Charges:

Rs.22,500/- per night, entire bungalow. Maximum of 16 pax. – Accommodation only

Once upon a time, I came across this very unusual name “Kanneliya Forest Reserve” and since then, I couldn’t stop myself being told over and over again, “must go see, must go see”…

Well, that mantra has reaped its benefits coz I managed to visit this beautiful lady on 24 & 25 March. By the time I write this report, my legs are screaming coz they are still cramped up by lots of walking. On the other hand, my soul is at a very peaceful and content stage, which I won’t trade for a million dollars.

I got my friends Lasantha, who had a change of heart first but managed to rejoin at the eleventh hour and Dimuthu to join me. So here goes another Sri’s fairytale and hope it, unlike many other fairytales, won’t put you to sleep.

Day 01

So we left Colombo Fort by 6.10 am train which is available only on weekends (other days, it’s at 6.55 am) and reached, after a very fast ride, Galle around 8.05 am (5 minutes late ).

It was very difficult to carry our bags, so I wanted to leave it somewhere in Galle but my friends wouldn’t hear any of it. We then took a Galle-Matara bus and asked the conductor to drop us off at Rumassla Road. He completely forgot about it and dropped us instead about 2 km further up. (You have to get off at Holcim Cement Factory, former Ruhunu Cement)

I immediately got the jitters as I felt it might be a very bad sign. However, after lot of huffing, we got into a tuk-tuk which asked for 200/- (400/- right up to the Peace Pagoda, but I chose to walk from the main road) to take us up to the Road leading to Rumassala. We managed to leave our baggage with a very good show owner who’s selling Bulath Wita at the Rumassala bus stop.

There’s about 2-3 km up to the Peace Pagoda and world famous Buona Vista (pronounced Bona vista) Coral Reef (locally known as Jungle Beach). The whole Rumassal area is about 3 square km and the coral reef has about 60% live corals. It was heavily damaged in the 2004 Tsunami and they now have started a project to plant corals along the beach.

There’s a lot of talk on Rama-Ravana-Sita-Hanuman in Rumassala and it’s said to be a mythical mountain in Galle. I’ve put a pic of the legend in the picture story. However, according to Sir Arthur C. Clarke, this is formed as a result of an asteroid and he claims the nearby Unawatuna beach to be one of the 12 most popular beaches in the world.

The peace pagoda was a very soothing place, looking grand. You can see the Galle harbor and the fort clearly from there. Below the Pagoda, the road leads to the Jungle beach where lots of locals as well as foreigners come for snorkeling, coral-seeing and relaxing. We too had a walk around and saw many remains of buildings which must have been destroyed by the Tsunami.

We then met a few couples hanging around and one of them said that it’s really dangerous to hang around the cliff path as they believe every year few people lose their lives around that area. However, I felt It must’ve been a tailor-made big-fat lie to chase us away and get some privacy.

Along the path we came across a very tasty fruit called “Eraminiya” and hungrily munched. Afterwards we came back towards the peace pagoda and at a hotel called Hanumangira had some tea and bun. (after about 17 years I tasted the then very popular cream buns that come in pairs wrapped in polythene)

This is where you have to turn to Rumassala

Rumassala Bay and Buona Vista Coral Reef

Peace Pagoda

Birth of Lord Buddha depicted

Click Image to Enlarge

Enlightenment

Click Image to Enlarge

Preaching

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Parinirvanaya

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Ship anchored off the harbor

Majestically rising to the sky

Jungle beach

To the Jungle beach

Monitoring our movements?

Lovely but deadly dangerous

Glass-bottom boats at the Rumassala bay

Visitors

Main way of making a living

There’s a temple named “Sri Vevekaramaya” and the chief monk is Sasanathilaka Thero and we decided to visit it as well. The temple was such a beautiful place and in a very small piece of land, it has everything, nice Buddha statues, Hanuman Statue and a Bodhisathwa Statue as well. On a board, they had put up the legend of Rumassala which I managed to capture. (Given below)

The Rumassala Temple

Giant statue

Hanumantha

Bodhisathwa Statue

It’s said one picture is worth 1000 words, well this certainly is worth much more – Click Image to Enlarge

Then on the way back to the main road, there was a board saying “Historical Burton Tower” and thought of giving it a go. To our amazement, there was no board or anything saying what it was so couldn’t find about it more. It’s just light house type tower about 80 feet high.

.	Burton tower, but couldn’t find much more

We came back to the main road, and got into a Matara bus and asked the conductor to drop us off at Martin Wickremasinghe folk museum. Having experienced the conductors’ loss of memory, I too was keeping an eye out for it. As expected, the conductor forgot all about it but for our luck, I spotted and managed to get off about 500m away. This is located right in front of the famous hotel “The Fortress”

Right in front the road to the museum

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It’s open daily from 09.00 – 05.00 and a ticket is 30/- each. It really was another mesmerizing experience as Martin Wickremasinghe is among the greatest of all in our literature especially in the 20th century. Being able to visit his birth place and seeing the things he used in real life is something I would treasure for the rest of my life.

The complex has many highlights:

1. The Folk museum which shows many important aspects of the rural life, especially the south along the coast.
2. Martin Wickremasinghe’s house (Inside you can see the things he used, special occasions of his life, a pic of him receiving the M.B.E. medal from Queen Elizabeth II, and many more) and his Samadhi
3. Remains of his grand uncle’s house
4. Display of old vehicles such as carts, boats, etc.
5. Book shop where they give 20% discount on all his books

Famous puppets of Ambalangoda

Village Kitchen, how many seen any of this in real life?

Things used in rural villages’ houses

26 Famous rainda designs

Sewing machines

Utility items

Replica of a tank

Like to dress in one of these?

.	First in line

Familiar ones

Elephant cart

Bana cart

I’m sure most of you guys have seen one of these, it was there till early nineties

Giant boat

Click Image to Enlarge

The master’s house

Another worth 1000 words – Click Image to Enlarge

Bed room

The living room

.	Things he used…

.	Pencil drawing?

Cartoon character

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Any idea of the model and the brand?

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If you haven’t read this, well not too late, only 160/-

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Sekkuwa

It really is a must-see place and we left around 12.30pm to go see the famous Madol Duwa. I knew from the morning that something bad was going to happen and my gut feeling proved right. Along the main road towards Matara, we went about 800m and saw a notice saying “Madol Duwa” and felt very happy. As soon as we turned to that side, someone asked if we going to the Madol Duwa and for our sins, we said yes.

He then asked whether we want to go the island or take a tour around it too. We said a tour around would be nice and he asked for 1500/- and we felt (as we had no idea the distance and the time it takes) it was reasonable. We then had to walk towards the Koggala railway and beyond the bridge and near it lies the jetty. The boy asked one of the boatman to take us and asked to charge 1500/-.

We were surprised to see it was a very short distance to the island, about 1km, took us about 5mins and around the island we went in about 5 more minutes. Then we landed and the boatman simply asked us to walk around the island. There were numerous paths and we had no idea where we were going (just like in the story how Upali and Jinna were doing) and passed the same place a few times.

We then came to probably the other side of the island and I suddenly remembered the flame-ghost (Gini Avathare) of Madol duwa book. There was a nice cashew tree with cashew and Lasantha managed to pick one with the juicy flesh. It was after a long time I had one of them and we then managed to find the way back to the jetty. Madol Duwa has a well, a stone foundation of a former Sekkuwa, and remains of a structure.

Busy at work in Koggala Lagoon

Newly built Railway Bridg

Overlooking Koggala oya

Happy wonderers

Well in the island

Sekku gala

From other side of the island

Super model

Trying to walk around the island

We then asked if we are going any further but the boatman said it was the end of the journey. Would you believe it? However, we paid as agreed and he showed us a short cut to the main road and then only we realized that we were victims of a very bad scam going around. There was a board saying the “Tours in Madol Duwa and the Main road to the Madol Duwa” (pic given below). So the one we took was a very bad choice and paid heavily for it. I even saw a notice saying further up, passing the bridge it’s only 20/- to Madol Duwa.

So guys, if you ever go to Madol Duwa, go straight to the Jetty and check the prices directly from the boats.

Use this or there’s another further up…. go right to the jetty and ask the prices…. Damn those brokers

After that we came back to Galle around 2.30 pm and had lunch. Then took a Udugama bus from the stand and took us nearly 2 hours to reach Udugama which is only 33km from Galle. It was raining really hard by the time we reached Udugama and took a tuk-tuk to the Kanneliya Forest Resort (250/-) about 4km away.

The place was excellent, very spacious rooms, comfortable beds, very clean washrooms, and exceptional views of the Nannikiththa Ela which later joins the Gin Ganga. The food was delicious too.

We had a hearty meal and bunked down for the night.

Kanneliya Forest Resort – Well worth every penny spent

View from our room

The following morning when we got up, the sky was very gloomy and it was drizzling too. Gosh, I didn’t like it one bit and was mumbling to myself what we are to do. The view below our room was gorgeous as the river was flowing freely.

When we went to B’fast around 7.00 am I asked Wilbet, very helpful staff member, if it will continue to rain but he confidently said it’s gonna be ok in a little while. It really was a blessing and his prediction proved right at the end.

We walked up to the Kanneliya ticket office which is another 1 km away from the hotel and it was around 8.00am by then. There was only one group waiting to do the Kabbale Mountain trail which is the longest and most strenuous. However, we got Ajith, a very helpful guide in Kanneliya, and paid for the tickets which was 884/- for all three of us (28/- each and 800/- guide fees) for Narangas Ella trail.

Highlights of Kanneliya:

• Cave Trail – 1.5km
• Anagimala Ella Trail – 2.5km
• Giant Nawada Tree Trail – 5.2km
• Giant Puss Creeper Trail – 2.3km
• Narangas Ella Trail – 5.2km
• Kabbale Mountain Trail – 5.5km

Do add a few extra kms to the given numbers as they certainly are more than what’s on the board.

We immediately set off and the angry clouds slowly started to dissipate. On our way we came across a Bodhilima very close to the Anagimala Ella. It was a female one, Ajith pointed the brown one is the female and the green one is the male. Both have very distinctive and colorful wattles.

Talking of wattles, when Ajith said the “Karamala” in Sinhala, I was trying to figure out the English word for it and immediately came up with the word “Chicken Flower” and how to match it to the Bodilima. However, I managed to get the correct word thanks to Google and online dictionary.

Back to the Bodilima, when they are angry they open their mouths and given half a chance will bite you. We then came across a “Pinum Katussa” that is a very small fellow and jumps around, thus the name.

Then we reached the Anagimala Ella which is rich with lots of water due to the rains in the last few days. It’s created by Nannikiththa Ela and later joins the Gin Ganga which meets the Indian Ocean at Ginthota.

Ajith told us there’s a tragic story behind the name Anagimala Ella. There was a Tamil family with two children, boy and a girl. The girl’s name was Anagi, and her brother had apparently got her pregnant. To keep it a secret, he had taken Anagi to the fall and pushed her to the fall killing her. So the name came about, Anagi mala Ella (The fall where Anagi died), Anagimala Ella.

Natural pool below our room

Kabbale Kanda seen along the way

Click Image to Enlarge

Don’t trust the distances – Click Image to Enlarge

Forest Department bungalow (can accommodate 43 people

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Nice hut

True enough

Getting down to the cave complex

Inside the cave

The cave floor, can you spot the shrimp? In the middle

Our trusted guide, Ajith in the middle

Near Anagimala falls where Ajith told us the story behind the name

The natural and eco-friendly ceiling made of Beru leaves

.	The female one

Anagimala Ella is nearby

Pinum Katussa

First glimpse

Wide angle

Nannikiththa Ela

Part of the fall

Another female showing her colourful wattles (My term – Chicken Flower )

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Kanneliya doesn’t have the “Kaluwara” tree; instead it has a tree called “Kalu Mediriya” which is very similar. There are a few more very important trees in Kanneliya.

1. Yakahalu & Thaniya Dun Tree – They make famous “Dummala” (which is being used at Thovil and all other ceremonies) using the liquid that they get from the trunk of the trees.
2. Mandora – they use the roots of this tree to put into the pots of Thelijja to prevent them turning into Raa.
3. Katamada – Wal Durian, very similar to Durian with a prickly skin and eaten by Monkeys and Giant Squirrels.
4. Kiri Hambiliya – A tree used in Ayurvedic treatments which has reddish leaves
5. Thambotu Creepers – Same as famous Ve Wal, found in Sinharaja. They make lots of things using these.
6. Dorana – Very remarkable tree. Villagers cut a hole in the trunk of the tree using an axe or a sharp knife about 6 inches deep and burn it. After about 2 days, there’s oil filled in the hole. They collect it and dry it in the sun and make valuable Dorana Oil which is used in polishing statues and paintings. One bottle in Galle is around 1500/- but in Colombo around 3000/-.

We even saw a Trot (100m X 100m area) under research. The forest department measures all the plants and trees inside this area and keep records of them for future use.

We even came across a very rarely seen fight between a Binkunda and a leech that was covered in sand and I guess it finally was killed by the Binkunda.

Plywood corporation had destroyed many land mass and thousands of trees in Kanneliya. According to Ajith, they torched the quarters of the officers inside the forest and some army vehicles and in 1989; making plywood and chopping trees were stopped as a result.

We then went along the path towards Maliga Dola. Up to this the road is very good and very few leeches to bother you. However, you have to cross this to go to the Narangas Ella, another 1.5km from there. that’s a very tiny foot path infested with leeches and I practically ran all the way to the fall coz I had very bad experience in Sinharaja when we did Lion’s Rock trails (in the board it said 14km but more than good 20km). You can read more about that trip here

The giant puss creeper

Wal Durian a.ka. “Katamada”

Eaten by monkeys

Kiri Hambiliya tree

Very rare seen, a Leech vs Binkunda

Giant Nawada tree trail

Thambotu creepers

Unknown friend

Nosieest of all, “Rahaiiya

Torched plywood corporation officers’ quarters in 1989

Familiar in Sinharaja too

Mushrooms at large

Maliga dola, end of the decent-size road

More beautiful ones

Having to cross Maliga dola

Me being carried by my friend, VIP treatment

Another unknown fellow

Narangas Ella wasn’t so rich with water, however there was enough and trying to get to the top is not advisable as it’s extremely dangerous and slipper rocks all along. Below there was a nice pond and when Dimuthu and Lasantha got into it to wash their feet, there were lots of fish mainly Thalkossa with a reddish tail (slightly different from Bulath Hapaya) and even some prawns decided to feast on their feet.

We then headed back to the hotel around 12.30 pm and had a cool dip in the natural pool below our rooms. After a hearty lunch, we left for Galle coz I was planning to visit the Galle fort too. As soon as we got into the bus, it started pouring with rain and inside the bus there were a few streams running across. It must be the most depilated bus of Udugama depot as every socket and most of the windows leaked and we almost had to sit at the edges of our seats.

Narangas Ella

Upper part, up-close

Tiny one coming down through the forest

Fish therapy

Tasting the feast

Prawn is on the prowl

Thalkossa

Thaniya dun, the white is the liquid which later made in to “Dummala”

Here’s the male

Saying good-bye

Wilbet, friendly and helpful staff member at the hotel

I was praying for a bit of sun to go see the Dutch fort in Galle and they were immediately answered as it suddenly stopped and the lord Sun appeared around Makuluwa junction. Reach Galle around 3.45pm and went to the Galle fort immediately.

We took the left from the entrance and about 100m up, you can see the national museum of Galle but to our utter disappointment, it was closed. After that, there was the famous Dutch church and it too was closed. Having our hopes shattered, I asked Lasantha to check if the Maritime Archaeological museum was open. For our relief it was and we entered. Ticket price is 50/- each and you have to buy them before 4.15pm and open till 4.45pm.

It was declared open on 04 March 2010. Exhibits of marine artifacts found in underwater explorations are show cased in the Museum. There are maps, naval craft, ropes, earthenware, beer mugs, smoking pipes, barrels, vast amount of articles including artillery guns and sailor shoes. Ship wrecks in the sea off the Southern coast is where these artifacts were recovered from, some of which are nearly 800 years old.

This was built on a former Dutch warehouse which was heavily damaged in the 2004 Tsunami flooding.

Then we went along the outer wall of the fort, we could see the peace pagoda of Rumassala in the distance and reached the Light house. Kenneth De Kretser was the engineer of Government Factory that built this in 1938.

Afterwards, we went further along and came across a funny scene which I captured on my camera. There was a foreigner reading a book on a pillar and a dog was lying around looking at him as if listening to his every word.

We saw the dungeons like prison which is about 30 feet deep. All of a sudden, it started lightening and when we looked at the sea, what we saw brought us the images of “Day after Tomorrow” movie. The whole sky was pitch black and the rain was coming at a ferocious way and we almost ran right up to the clock tower and then to the bus stop, but not before me getting some few shots of the Galle Int. Cricket Stadium and the clock tower.

Entrance of the Dutch fort

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Unfortunately this was closed (National Museum, Galle)

19th Century Dutch Church

Bell tower, might have belonged to the Dutch Church

Landscapes of old buildings

.	Former Dutch warehouse turned Museum

Pics of various incidents

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Got loads of Vases like these

Wedhi paintings and symbols used instead of words depicted here

Not real people

Just like an original

Dutch Seal

Another Dutch Seal

Replica of a ship

Jewellery of various kinds

.	More vases

Division of SL according to Dutch rulers

She’s sewing

Important couple??? I guess so

Grand with the black background

More replicas

These are what the Portugese and Dutch came here for; The world famous SL spices

A real canon

Replica of a war ship, you can see the holes where they used to fire from

Howitzer

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Original seal of the warehouse still exists

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The light house

Peace Pagoda and Rumassala seen from the fort

The light house plaque – Click Image to Enlarge

The Indian Hut

Along the wall

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People enjoying, look at the crystal clear water

Dark clouds lurking in the distance

.	Sun is fighting for us to keep the rain away

The dungeons where the prisoners were kept

More dark clouds surrounding us

I guess the clock is working fine

Running from the rain, just enough time to capture the ground

You can see the rain chasing us, towards the right of the picture

Lasantha is running for all he’s worth

Running, but had to take this too…

The moment we entered the bus stand, it started raining Cats and Dogs, and soon intensified to Bulls and Goats too.

It really was another wonderful trip and I managed to see everything I had planned….

So that’s the story of Sri de Galle….. Hope you guys enjoyed my fairy tale.

Park Map

We, two groups on two vehicles, met at a road side night shop near Negombo at around 3.45 am. Six of us were on Prasanna’s Mitsubishi jeep, started from Nugegoda and went to Negombo while Theshantha started from Kiribathgoda, picked up 3 others and came to Negombo in his Toyota Double cab. We had a tea there and set off towards Puttalam.

This was my maiden tour to wilpattu, so as Ashan’s and many others of our crew. We checked the road conditions to Kudiramale from the park on the previous day and found out that the roads are flooded. Then Theshantha suggested we could take the Old Mannar road to reach Pomparippu and Kudiramale. He had checked the water level of the Kala Oya causeway from the Navy check point and had received the word OK.

We reached Puttalam around 6.00 am and proceeded towards Eluwankulam along the Old Mannar road.

Sun rises to the old Mannar road

The Old Mannar road is under renovation

We reached the Kala Oya cause way by 7.00 am and saw something utterly disheartening. The causeway was about 2 feet under the water. Gates at the Rajanganaya reservoir had opened during the previous night making the Kala Oya flowing furiously blocking our way. The water level and the current were too much that we didn’t want to take any risk.

Kala Oya causeway flooded blocking our way

The water flow over the causeway

Kala oya was flowing furiously

So the day had broken with a great disappointment to us making us to turn back. Theshantha then suggested going to Gange Wadiya (ගඟේ වාඩිය) to have breakfast and we returned towards Eluwankulam

A roadside scenery

We turned towards Gange Wadiya and went along the dusty gravel road. The sun was burning though still it was just passed 8 in the morning. We reached the ගඟේ වාඩිය fishing village and were stunned by the awesome view of the Puttalam lagoon. We went a little further passing the village and reached a dead end where a small jetty is constructed with large tyres. We had our breakfast there enjoying the beautiful lagoon

Gange Wadiya

The awesome view of Puttalam lagoon

Puttalam lagoon

The jetty

The jetty

It was sizzling hot when we left ගඟේ වාඩිය and reached the Old Mannar road once again. We turned off to a gravel road branching to left to reach Thabbowa, skipping Puttalam. The road went through the villages passing a couple of small lakes and plenty of paddy fields.

Splash….

Washing the vehicle on the move

Along the Thabbowa lake

Scenic Thabbowa

We had to buy some rations we had missed and had to fill the tanks, so we continued to Nochchiyagama town and then went to the park entrance. Then we went straight to the Manawila bungalow which is 37 km into the park

At the park entrance

Coppersmith Barbet

A ruined statue at the park entrance. wonder how it came here

සිවුරු හොරා

Serpent Eagle

Crested Hawk Eagle

BUterflies on the road

Butterfly infested road – there were millions of them

Roadside decoracted with Kokmota

A jumbo enjoying the aftrenoon snack

Didn’t see a lot of them

Grey Heron

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Landscape

Jungle Fowl

View from Manawila bungalow

The evening safari was started around 4 pm. All the villus were full to the brim and the roads were muddy and some parts were with extremely soft sand. It was very difficult to tackle the terrain. Theshantha’s Hilux was suffering with a malfunctioning front differential, meaning he had power going only to the rear wheels.

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Portrait

Sharp Eyes

Happily through the water

Though Theshantha’s driving skills were exceptional tackling the mud and water, the double cab found it difficult to cope up with the soft sand along some parts of the roads with its normal road tyres, so we had to abandon the double cab on a road side till we come back. We all got in to Prasanna’s jeep and continued the rest of the safari, not for so long before we spotted one of the Panikkawila Leopard cubs lying on the road side. There were 3 or 4 other vehicles observing it and we too turned off the engine and enjoyed the beautiful creature lying just about 10 meters away from us.

The first sight

I’m ignoring you people

After a couple of minutes other vehicles decided to move on as they had to reach the park entrance before the nightfall and the leopard was refusing to turn its head towards us. We waited another couple of minutes patiently hoping for it to turn the head, but had no luck. Then we too decided to leave and just as Prasanna was to start the engine a yellow head with black spots emerged out of the jungle…! It was the other Panikkawila leopard cub.

Here comes the second one

It had a careful look at us for about minute or so before deciding to continue along the road. We started the jeep and slowly went in reverse following the big lovely cat, enjoying its elegant beauty. He was checking constantly if we were getting too close and we too were careful to maintain a safe distance from him.

මගේ ගමන මම යනවා මගේ පාඩුවේ…

My favorite shot

the look

The foot prints

After he disappeared into the jungle we returned to see if the other one was still there. It was still there and for our utmost joy he had turned towards the road letting us see him fully..! He gave quite a show on the white sands. While watching it we saw 3 wounds around its neck, two of them were just scratches while one was a little deep cut, seemed like a wild boar attack.

Oh no these guys have come again…

See the wounds around teh neck

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I’m a cute kitty

Sleepy head

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The best pose

Just before he went off

After spending more than 45 minutes in the company of leopards, we turned back and came to the place where we left the double cab, picked it up and headed to the bungalow where we had a lovely time chatting under the starry skies, overlooking the villu bathing moonlight.

The sunset

Where we left the cab

A beautiful end to a wonderful day

Next day morning was a bright and beautiful one with some breathtaking views of the villu. We left for a short morning safari session after walking around the Villu in front of the bungalow.

Morning at Manawila

Manawila

No, not a crocodile

I’m the boss

Hunting

Since we were on a short session, our trekker took us towards Panikkawila once again.

Serpent Eagle

Deer

on the top

wow

While we were driving slowly along the Panikka wila admiring the beauty of the lake, one of our guys pointed at something which made us stop immediately. It was a leopard trying to hide behind a bush just a couple of feet away from us..! Both the leopard and we were excited because of this sudden and unexpected meeting and we realized we might have blocked its way to have some water. So we backed off and stop the vehicle out of its sight and waited hoping it will come out of the jungle. But the leopard was not ready to get out of the jungle and stayed inside. We noticed a monkey on the tallest tree of that jungle patch shouting non-stop alarming its mates regarding the presence of the leopard. We waited for some time and decided to return to the bungalow for the breakfast.

හොර කොටියා

Leopard warning system

Lesser Whisteling Ducks

Theshantha’s happy ride

Beautiful kokmota

A bark gekko at the bungalow

Our next plan was to visit a rarely visited ruins site called “Galge Viharaya” inside the park. But we got to know that this road was in severe condition and then we revised the plan to visit “Ochchappu Kallu” ruins. Ochchappu kallu road was in very bad condition too but the hard core off road experience was great.

On the way the Ochchappu Kallu

Yeppeeeee I’m born to do this…

Tackling the hard road

Though Theshantha drove with some exceptional off road skills and the brave Toyota fought hard having only two wheel drive, the road condition became severe that in the end the double cab got stuck in the mud. Prasanna pulled it out with his jeep a couple of times and it seemed like the last 2 km of the trail is getting even worse. So, we had to give up the visit to the ruins and then decided to go towards the Kokmote bungalow and have a dip in the river Modaragam Aru.

and then it stuck

Helping out

Pulling out once again

Modaragam Aru was not having a high water level but was flowing rapidly, where we had a nice cool dip refreshing ourselves until Prasanna’s Mitsubishi decided to fire up itself..! When we heard the sudden call of our tracker and went to see what it is about, the jeep was on fire. The hard run through mud and water had damaged some wires and caused the fire. We managed to recover the vehicle without much damage to it.

Then we had lunch and left towards the park entrance enjoying some wild life on the way back.

On the way back

Lesser Adjutent

The water level

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Painted Stork

A jumbo

A happy meal

ගොළු කිරලා

Crested Haws Eagle

සෙබඩ

Tails crossed…

We were extremely happy with the time we had when to complete everything, a bear showed up on the roadside. It was a big one and was inside the jungle, digging a termite mount searching for food (I guess). But it was almost 6 pm and very dark inside the jungle, only Ashan managed to get one clear capture of the bear.

The bear. Only Ashan had a clear capture

We came out of the park around 7pm extremely happily with sightings of the big trio – leopard-bear-elephant, some awesome off road experience and some quality time spent together.

Thank you for reading.

We started our day after a freezing night at Hatton Inn (Can’t recommend as a good place to stay. But good for just a night.) by around 6.00am. Hatton-Diyagama bus carried us towards Diyagama via Thalawakale and Agarapathana. The constructions in the Hatton-Nuweraeliya road slowed the tour but our bus reached Dayagama town around 9am.
I inquired how to reach the Hortain plains pathway from Diyagama town and got to know it takes 1-2hours to reach the trail head. Then decided to hire a three-wheeler from Dayagama town and it costs Rs 500.

Diyagama town and bus stand

After driving through the narrow roads within tea estates, we got down near Agra-Bopath Ella.

Agra-Bopath Ella. Origin is from Horatin plains

Closer view -25m height

The last village we met before start our walk

Then we started the walk through tea bushes till we find the small Kovil where trail head starts

Climbing up through tea bushes

Land scalping

It is about forest

The village

The kovil where trail starts

Entering to the Hortain plains. Elevation is 1926m

Walking from Dayagama tea estate to Hortain plains gate (5.6Km)

Road through small forest patch

Morning sun rays

Covering the sun

So sharp

Getting a bend

Some areas of the road still motorable

The concrete bridge mention in the trail guide

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Just snapped

It has few ascends as well

The road seems not good

Now almost in the Hortain plain

End of Dayagama trail. Note the road from Pattipola

Hortain plains and Circular trail (8km)

Measurements from Diyagama gate

Thotupola Mountain-2357m, third highest peak of Sri Lanka

Old Farr Inn is now converted into the information center

A Tributary of Belihuloya

It is called red bridge……but not red

Road in the heaven

Typical appearance of trees in Hortain Plains

Mist is not a strange to this area

The ROAD towards the world’s end

Mini world’s end drop covering with mist

Mini world’s end

A waterfall can be seen from Mini world’s end

Kirigalpoththa far away-2389m 2nd highest mountain of Sri Lanka

Old man’s beard (Usnea barbata)

The great world’s end drop (870m) – completely covering with mist

Circular trail from the World’s end to Baker’s fall

Another bridge

Alone

May be the Ford pool

Belihuloya back

Entering to a forest patch

Baker’s fall, not the common view

Common view of Baker’s fall-20m height

Baker’s fall with an internal frame

Slab rock fall -06m high

Another view of Slab rock fall – Couldn’t go down due to rain

May be Governor’s pool

‘L’ shaped leg of mutton pool

Another bridge

Colures met

The Chimney pool made by Sir Samuwel Baker to cultivate the plain. Note the camping site

Walking towards Pattipola (11.8Km)

Friends we met

Getting dark and rainy clouds

Kirigalpoththa popped up

Forest bungalow

Eager to watch strangers

View of Adam’s peak from Hortain plans. There was a Sri Pada trail from Uva region via Hortain plans called Gawarawila road

Frequently met them on our way back. Sri Lankan Sambar deer

Behind the darkness

Getting down to Pattipola

Wind power

Evening bit

Few minutes for sun set

Beautiful evening

Our destination-Highest railway station of Sri Lanka. Elevation is 1891m

It ends about 25km walk from Dayagama to Pattipola covering World’s end.

Thank you for reading.

In red trail ends, green chariot path, blue loolecandura estate – Click Image to Enlarge

It was dawn of Sinhala & Tamil New Year and I wanted to make it a memorable one. All started one year back after hiking Yahangala which was linked with Ravana epic. Yahangala prompted me to go through few Ravana documentaries and important places related to the legend; though I’m not a blind believer I think he was one of the greatest kings in Sri Lanka. While going through some articles I came across a site called chariot path which urged me to pay a visit someday because of the unusual location of it. There was very little information about chariot path and the only way to find out was to go in search of it! This place is being visited by Indians regularly so then why not us been Sri Lankans should not!

3 of us arrived at Gampola on a sunny day trying to figure out a way to get to Frotoft estate so after talking with few locals we were told to go towards Pussellawa. From Pussellawa we gott in to a crowded “Pettarasi” bus which ascended through the delta estate and kept winding around tea estates producing some of stunning scenery which we couldn’t capture due to many reasons. After a bumpy bus ride through the upper Ramboda estates we reached the old Frotoft hospital. We were told that there is a clear trail to the said site but finding the trail head was the main problem. Fortunately we met Nimal at Frotoft estate line houses and he agreed to show us the way. We were extremely lucky to come across this guy at that moment because it was already 1pm. After walking about 1.5km through the scenic tea estates of Frotoft we reached the trail head at the boarder of the estate.

now abandoned old frotoff hospital

kotmale reservoir as seen to Frotoft

on the way towards the trail head

getting misty

this young stream later forms devathura oya

ladscaped perfectly

a lonely tree

this is what we are going to climb

There was a clear path almost all the way and even if it was bit covered at some places, it was not so difficult to keep in track. The initial stretch was almost flat and ran through the bushes and within no time it was a mild continuous ascend. This foot path is used by locals to cross over to the tea estate on Hewaheta side so it will not get completely covered for any reason. Even If you have a look in google earth the trail can be easily identified. The last bit was the toughest since we had to climb in a zig zag manner continuously uphill until we reached the top of the Piduruthalagala range. At this point we tipped of our helpful guide and walked through the mountain range with ease. The walk was through a classical mountainous forest just like walking in Horton plains and in no time we reached our destination which was a large plain area middle of no ware.

entering the forest

it continues through the nelu

Frotof watta line houses where we started the hike

its gonna rain soon

Sitha flowers(Ashoka)(Maha rath mal)

Bowitiya decorating the sideways

spookiness at its best

guess the direction of the wind

colourful mountainous forest tops

It took us about 1.5hours to reach the plains from the trail head and after we got there our exhaustion simply disappeared. It is a bare area with a huge grass land surrounded by short Nelu trees and mountainous forest. The chariot path is a road like path where the “Dandu monara” has been landed and it is said that King Ravana brought Sita devi to this place to show the beauty of his kingdom while flying from Lankapura to Ashoka Vatika!

Quote

The summit of the mountain next to the mountain range overlooking Frotoft Estate in Pussallawa is the place where Lord Hanuman first set his foot on mainland Lanka. This mountain known as Pawala Malai is visible from this mountain range. These hills stand tall in-between King Ravana’s capital city and Ashoka Vatika.

The barren land top of the mountain range is believed to be the route in which King Ravana took Sitadevi from his capital city Lankapura to Ashoka Vatika, which was a paradise on earth. Till date no vegetation grows on this passage except grass. King Ravana is believed to have taken this passage on top of these hills to show Sitadevi the beauty of his kingdom.

The Sita tear pond is found en route by the chariot route, is believed to have been formed by the tears of Sitadevi and has not dried up since, even during severe droughts when the adjoining rivers dry up.

In this area there are many large trees whose bright red blooms add colour to the scenery. These flowers are called Sita flowers. The peculiarity of these flowers is the configuration of the petal’s, stamen and pistil’s, which resemble a human figure carrying a bow, and is said to represent Lord Rama. These flowers are unique only to this area in the whole of Sri Lanka

the chariot path where Ravana took Sita to show the beauty of his kingdom

towards hewaheta

beautiful layers

one of those birds we met

experiencing a different world

The area was gloomy and there were signs of a rain within no time but that didn’t stop us from exploring around. It is truly a paradise and we experienced it at the fullest only on the next day. There was a clear water stream close to Sithas tear pond. There was evidence of recent illegal mining in the area and the other disheartening sighting was all the biscuit wrapping papers left over by visitors. Just before we pitched our tent we came to the edge of the mountain range which was at an altitude of 2000m to enjoy the panoramic view towards Kotmale and upper Ramboda regions. We found a suitable grass patch to camp on and when we were done with our tent it started to rain at around 4pm which lasted until 7pm. During this period drops of rain water started to seep through the zippers and made our life much more difficult! After the rain seized we did mop up our tent and had some bread and butter as dinner before we fell in to an interrupted sleeping process. Neither of us tried to get out of the tent to go in search of Samber because of the misty freezing climate on that day.

mist cleared off a bit

where we climbed from

the drop

we camped here

the plains

Sita’s tear pond(i didnt taste and see if it was salty)

without flowers

here comes the mist and rain

tree tops

Next day at around 4am we woke up and wanted to have a look outside, once we opened the cover of our tent we saw something we never expected to see. It was Adams peak with Hatton- Nallathanni trail lit up and that was simply an awesome unexpected sighting for us. We were pumped up and waited impatiently until the sun rise. We were also expecting some stunning scenery because the sky was already cleared off, so at around 5.45am we jumped out of the tent and proceeded along the path towards Rikillagaskada side where the sun seemed to be rising from. And it finally appeared behind an isolated cloud which lightened up the plains with its shiny orange rays to form some magical scenery. At this point mountain peaks at Rikillagaskada , Knuckles range and Mool oya estate started to become clearly visible.

dawn of day 2

the view of sri pada from chariot path note the hatton route lit up

Dawn over the chariot path

towards rikillagaskada

towards knuckles

the sun is covered

mool oya estate

grandfathers beard

here she comes

breathtaking…!

colourfull indeed

magical path

sun was shining on my tent

scenery at its best

We rushed back to our camp site and proceeded towards the opposite edge of the mountain to witness the beauty of Kotmale valley. It was totally cleared off and only a small patch of mist covering Nawalapitiya town far away was seen. It is obvious why Sitha devi was brought here by king Ravana! From one end to the other one can easily spot Piduruthalagala summit, Kikiliyamana, One tree hill, Pundalu oya, Great western, Totupola, Adams peak at the center, Galaboda range , Kabaragala of dolosbage, Peacock hills, Kotmale reservoir and New Kotmale town, Frotoft estate, Peacock hills, Alagalla, Gampola and Ambuluwawa. This is one of those places which I will re visit in near future for obvious reasons!

the shadow of the cameraman

golden rays

drops of water

more scenery

the three shadows

perfect framing

walking to the edge from the tent along the chariot path of Ravana

towards pundalu oya and great western

Kikiliyamana range with its towers also one three hill towers can be seen

summit of Sri Lanka

wake up kotmale

sun is shining over frotoft

kotmale reservoir and its dam

Piduruthalagala summit and kikiliyamana

towards peacock hills

gampola kanda and ambuluwawa

not much of water these days

new city of kotmale

peacock hills and dolosbage

top of peacock hills

valley of kotmale

the holy peak

sri pada zoomed

Ramboda area

kabaragala of dolosbage range

the tea estates of upper ramboda

beauty of the wild

living in harmony

Panorama of kotmale valley

team spirit

nawalapitiya covered with mist

Though we were unlucky to spot some samber around there were plenty of signs suggesting that there is a healthy population around. Also we did here a barking deer running screaming through the bushes. Only in the morning did we notice that the stunning view of Adams peak is seen in line with the chariot path symbolizing the importance of this place and the folklore may be true though we don’t have pure evidence. They have also found Ravana Guli(nutritious Aggala prepared by Ravana for Sita to keep her a live) around Frotoft estate, according to some articles I read these were thrown around the area by Sitha who refused to have any.(check this video  to get more info on Seetha guli) at around 8am we started descending towards our next target which was loolecondura estate. According to our guide the path leads towards Loolecondura but later we figured out that he was not correct at all.

clear sky

grass at the plains getting sun burnt

adms peak is directly seen from the chariot path

the three webs

good bye is only for now, i will be back

Descend was very steep and seemed never ending plus the loose quartz were not helpful at all. The scenery towards the estate which we thought as Loolecondera was simply amazing also the mist was kissing the tea estates reminding us how beautiful our mother land is. We rushed down to the estate within one hour but after getting to the estate we faced an awkward situation while trying to get directions towards famous James Taylor bungalow and seat because neither of the estate workers new anything about it. When we showed them few photographs even they didn’t recognize the place so we finally asked the name of the estate and we were told that we were in Mool oya estate and loolecandura was two estates away. So we had to hire a trishaw and head towards Loolecondera. Rather than descending to Hewahata and taking the main road the trishaw guy took us through a tea estate which was totally worth it because the ride produced some panoramic views towards Rikillagaskada. After a rough ride we came towards Loolecondera James taylor museum but unfortunately it had been moved towards Pussellawa. From there onwards we proceeded towards the entrance point which begins near a road side shrine and continued uphill along a poorly maintained estate road. I wonder why they can’t maintain it despite getting good revenue from the visitors.

the steep descent

wow the misty mountains

mool oya our destination

refilling at a water way

finally back to civilization

oh i love these flowers

welcome to mool oya estate

all of them were busy

a yellow eared bul bul

petals every where

After about 1.5km there was a junction and if one took the 1.1km road to the left it will lead to the first ever tea patch planted in 1867 but we decided not to go that way due to lack of time. Further 3.5km along the winding road through one of the most beautiful tea estates in Sri Lanka one will reach another junction where the road to James Taylor’s log cabin and Seat divides. When you wonder around the tea estate you will note how James Taylor has blended with nature and tried to protect the forest as possible while carrying out his tea plantation. Some places are fully shaded with huge trees and other tea patches concealed with mountainous natural forest. A 100m walk will take one towards the remains of James Taylors log cabin and only the chimney and few scattered rocks can be seen at this present day. The location was simply one of the best places on earth to build a cabin. Near by the cabin the well he used can be found and from there onwards there is a foot path which will lead up towards Dotelagala rock.

somewhere close to james taylor museum at loolecandeara

the museum which is closed

the shrine close to the entrance from the main road

name boards

yes you have to pay to go on a broken road

sub mountanious forest blended with tea

lush green

the 3way junction – Click Image to Enlarge

on the way scenery

trees everywhere

well trimmed and tea bushes grown along contor lines

view towards Piduruthalagala range

well maintained tea estate having many summer huts to have a rest

we went to the cabin and pettiyagama estate

peak at galaha very tempting

Dotelegala may be on another day!

the well

the well is not in good shape

remains of the log cabin

few words…. – Click Image to Enlarge

ode to james taylor – Click Image to Enlarge

only the chimney remains

beautiful garden view

We returned back to the junction and proceeded towards James taylors seat and summer hut also there is a pond close to the summer hut. James Taylors seat is really one of those relaxing places you would love to sit on for hours and hours. I just could imagine how this guy would have spent his evenings smoking a pipe and enjoying a cup of tea with leamon overlooking Knuckles mountain range. The panoramic view towards Galaha , Delthota, Rikillagaskada was unforgettable also we noted Hunnasgiri peak, Knuckles / Kalupahana area, parts of Victoria reservoir, a peak at Galaha, Rikillagaskada peak and plenty of paddy fields of Hewaheta region. It was time for us to return back at least before the Nonagathaya so we had to say good bye to James Taylor and the lovely memories of our journey and rush towards Colombo to prepare for the New Year!

james taylors summer hut

meaningful words

James taylor seat

endless view

view from the seat

towards rikillagaskada

Panorama of hewaheta- galaha taken from james taylor seat

kaputagala rikillagaskada

note hunnasgiri peak and knuckles mountains

wow what a view james taylor had

paddy fields of hewaheta

Delthota

the road which leads to the seat

it sums up our day

Mr James Taylor(taken from internet)

Quote

The first commercial planting of tea was on Loolecondera Estate, some 18 miles southeast of Kandy, No.7 field is where the first tea plants were planted.

Mr James Taylor of Loolecondera – now acknowledged as the Father of the Tea Industry – was quite unassuming man who arrived in Ceylon towards the end of 1851 when he was but 17 years old and took up duties as Assistant Superintendent on Lolecondera. He remained on loolecondera for his entire planting career of 40 years and only left Ceylon on one occasion in 1874, when he went to Darjeeling in India to absorb as much tea lore as he could. He was painstaking in the extreme and by reading and experimentation took every opportunity to increase his knowledge of the tea-bush and its fragrant product. In a letter written by James Taylor he starts by recalling that how in his China phase a Cachar (North Indian) planter, Mr Noble, showed him how to pluck, wither and roll tea with a little leaf growing on those old bushes near his bungalow. All the rolling was done by hand and Noble also told him about fermenting and panning and the rest of the process.

Taylor made a further batch under the direction of the old Assam Planter, W.J.Jenkin, whom he met earlier experimenting on Condegalla for the Ceylon Company. A sample of this batch, together with seven samples Taylor had made before, was sent to Weinholt in Calcutta, India, in 1872. Taylor says with justified pride that while the Jenkins-controlled sample was valued a little higher than his own single-handed effort, all but two of these were ‘reported on as being better than the Indian teas then sold in Calcutta’. Up to this time Taylor explains that his entire tea making had been with ‘arrangements in the bungalow verandah’. Many famous Coffee Planters learned the art of tea growing and manufacture from him.

During this journey I needed to visit at places in Warakapola-Karawanaella, Galapitamada-Nelundeniya and Ruwanwella-Galigamuwa roads. Ancient Seethawaka kingdom was situated over this area. Although I had a tight schedule before the journey, the evening shower ruined some of my plans. Somehow I was able to visit at following places.

Day-1

1. Dorawaka pre historical cave (දොරවක ලෙන)
2. Pethangoda garden (පෙතන්ගොඩ උයන) and Wangedi-Molgas Ella (වන්ගෙඩි මෝල්ගස් ඇල්ල)
3. Manikkadawara ancient Tampiti temple (මැණික්කඩවර ටැම්පිටි විහාරය) and remaining of Portuguese castle
4. Holombuwa Sthreepura cave temple (හොලොම්බුව ස්ත්රීකපුර විහාරය)
5. Dadigama Kotawehera (දැදිගම කොට වෙහෙර), archeology museum and Dadigama temple

Day-2

1. Brandi Kovil (බ්රැදන්ඩි කෝවිල)
2. Tomb of King Rajasingha (රාජසිoහ සොහොන)
3. Ancient Britain Castle of Ruwanwella
4. Palngamuwa suspension bridge (පාලම්ගමුව සoගිලි පාලම) and Hakurugala cave temple (හකුරුගල රජමහා විහාරය)
5. Manella waterfall (මානැල්ල)

Places of visit – Black star = Dorawaka cave, Purple star = Pethangoda garden, Red star = Manikkadawara temple, Brown star = Holombuwa temple, Green star = Dadigama. Orange star = Britain castle, Yellow star = Palangamuwa Bridge, Blue star = Manella fall – Click Map to Enlarge

Places of visit – Black star = Brandi kovil, Red star = Rajasingha tomb – Click Image to Enlarge

Dorawaka pre historical cave

Importance of this cave is it has about 30 sketch drawings belonging to pre historical era.

You have to get Madeniya (මාදෙනිය) bus from Warakapola town. (Alternative bus is Warakapola-Ruwanwella bus and has to get a three-wheeler from the junction where Madeniya road starts). If you tell the conductor or driver they will drop you in front of the road towards the cave. Actually this road starts in front of a boutique. Then you have to walk about 2km, initially it is a concrete road and later it becomes a footpath way within a rubber estate. Vehicles can be driven to a certain extent.

It likes an inverted ‘V’ shape. 82 feet long, 55feet high.

Drawings were numbered by the archeology department

Brahmin letters and symbols belong to pre-historical period

Belongs to B.C 8-10

Sketch of a Tusker

If you need a closer view of letters and drawings, have to jump over this fence

Newly built Kuti

Following the cave we walked back to the main road and got the bus towards Pethangoda. (First have to go to the junction where Madeniya road meets Karawanalla road and then Karawanalla/Ruwanwella bus).

Pethangoda garden

You have to get your turn to left side on the Warakapola-Karawanalla road at Pethangoda to watch Pethangoda Bamboo bushes.

The ancient road from Seethawaka kingdom to Central kingdom was situated close to this garden and people were used to rest at this garden on their way.

Following the war with King Wimaladarmasooriya, King I Rajasingha (Seethawaka Rajasingha) came to get a rest here on his way back to the Kingdom. His leg has been pierced by a bamboo thorn and it was enough to kill the King.

Nowadays you can see only two bamboo bushes here. The lake in front of the garden is now covered with plants. Ancient garden was large about 42arches.

There are other stories also behind the death of King Rajasingha. While the king was walking in the garden he was bitten by a cobra and king was unconsciousness due to snake venom. Then he was brought to the Seethawaka kingdom by a boat. Near the Anguruwalla, king’s feet became black. (Gangrenous.) Further down the river, king wanted to step down the boat and he became limp once he stepped on the bank. That area is called Karawanalla. (Korauna walla->Karawanalla)

කොරවුන+ වැල්ල-> කරවනැල්ල

The place where king’s feet became black now called Anguruwalla.

අගුරු වුන+වැල්ල->අගුරු වැල්ල

Warning – Click Image to Enlarge

Historical information – Click Image to Enlarge

Two bamboo bushes

Bamboo thorns

Ancient lake now covered with plants

Then we preceded our journey towards a nearby waterfall called Wangedi-Molgas Ella. (Actually it is a small water stream). This name is due to a piece of rock likes a “Molgaha” and bathing pool likes a “Wangedi”. You have to walk about 2km from Pethangoda garden towards this waterfall.

So called Molgaha

Bathing pool-Wangediya

After having a bath at this water stream we came back to Pethangoda and got a bus towards Galapitamada. The time was around 2pm and we had to satisfy from bread for our lunch at Galapitamada town.

Then we took the Kegalle bus from Galapitamada and got down at Manikkadawara junction (less buses in this road compared to Warakapola-Ruwanwella road).The archeology board shows the direction towards the temple and distance was 2km from Manikkadawara junction.

Manikkadawara Temple

• It has three importance.
• Ancient Tampiti Temple-Belongs to Kandyan era.
• Paintings of this Tampiti temple. One of them shows a Sinhala king is eating by spoon and fork.
• The Bo tree. This is the one mention in famous poetry called Thisara sandeshaya. (තිසර සන්දේශය)

Tampiti Temple.-now under renovation. Therefore unable to watch paintings

Temple is on 14 stone pillars

The Bo tree

When you cross the road from the temple, you can visit at remaining of Old Portuguese castle. Nowadays you can see star shaped basement only.

Star shaped castle

Then we came to Thunthota (තුoතොට) junction and got a three-wheeler to Holombuwa to visit Sthreepura temple.

Holombuwa Sthreepura cave temple.

This is one of an interesting place I have visited.

.	Historical information – Click Image to Enlarge

Nice arch over the temple

The door with paintings

Small pagoda within the image house

Roof paintings

Perennial pond

Then we walked about 3km towards the Dadigama (Road on the other side of the temple connects to Dadigama.) It was scenic in the evening.

Another evening to Dadigama

Dadigama has three importance.

• Kotawehera
• Archeology museum
• Dadigama ancient temple

Kotawehera

This was built by King I Parakramabahu (1153-1186) at his birth town Dadigama. This pagoda doesn’t have a Pinnacle. Only has three basal rings and dome.

Height is 47feet and top is 26000square feet large

There is a small stupa inside this large stupa

Number of antiques were excavated from this archeology site and now kept at Archeology museum of Dadigama.

The brass elephant oil lamps and gold plated Samadhi Buddha statue can’t be seen there. They are kept at National museum Colombo.

.

As it was around 5pm we couldn’t visit at archeology museum at Dadigama. (Archeology museum opens from 8am to 4pm) Then we came back to Colombo.

Day 2

Second day I started my journey from Awissawella and preceded from there towards Ruwanella. Before Thalduwa junction, the archeology board can be seen in right hand side towards the Brandy kovil.

Brandy kovil

The great king Rajasingha (The last king who has brought the Sri Lanka to one canopy in 16th century.) has built this kovil under instructions of “Aretha keewendu Perumal”(අරිඨ්ඨ කී වෙන්ඩු පෙරුමාල්). This was built as seven stories building to worship devil Kala or god Shiva. Rajasingha I has killed his father and later worried about it. The person Aretha Keewndu came from India and instructed the king the only way to come out of the sin is to build a Kovil by diverting the Seethawaka River.

Later Portuguese have destroyed it.

Now we can only observe the basement of this building. This land is boarded by Seethawaka River from three sides.

Brandy Kovil with it’s entrance

.

.

Following Brandy kovil, we walked towards Thalduwa junction. Our next place of visit was tomb of Rajasingha I. you have to go in Gurugalla road about 2km to reach there.

Tomb of King Rajasingha I

Remaining of the tomb

Historical information – Click Image to Enlarge

Then we came back to Thalduwa junction and got the bus to Ruwanwalla.

Ancient Britain Castle of Ruwanwella

This is situated in the right middle of the Ruwanwella town. Nowadays Ruwanwalla police is situated in the castle. I first spoke to the receptionist of the Police and she was kind enough to show remaining of the castle after getting permission.

Entrance of the castle

The year is 1817

The wall

This part of the building is also belonging to old castle

Due to historical values of the castle, police can’t do new constructions here. Therefore they have planned to shift the police to somewhere else.

Palangamuwa suspension bridge

You have to walk towards the Ruwanwella ground to visit at suspension bridge. This was built few years ago it is 555feet long and considered as the longest suspension bridge of Sri Lanka.

Longest suspension bridge of Sri Lanka

The Kelani River meets Gurugoda oya

This is their bread and butter

.

We crossed the bridge and got a three-wheeler to the nearby cave temple called Hakurugala temple.

Hakurugala cave temple

This is considered as a creation of King Rajasingha I. On the way to Hakurugala temple, you can see another rock called “Biso Panna Gala”. බිසෝ පැන්න ගල

Before go to the war, one of the King has told to his seven queens, if he win the war a white flag would be waved otherwise a black flag would be seen. Although he won the war, the person who waved the flag showed the wrong one. Seven queens realized the king has lost the war and suicide by jumping from this rock. Now it is called as Biso Panna Gala.

Biso Panna Gala

The rock where the cave temple is situated is contact with the ground by only limited area. But the nature has kept this rock like that for a longtime without rolling down.

Hakurugala cave temple

Note this rock touches the ground only by limited area. This is the side view

In some areas you can see the other side

Not like other cave temples. Other side of the rock is also a cave. Therefore you can walk around the rock

The water flows down from Hakurugala is having high density

Image house is under construction

Drip ledge

The person who worked at temple was kind enough to tell all these information as the priest was not at temple at that time. You can have a panorama view from the top of the rock but we didn’t try to climb it.

Manella waterfall

To reach Manella waterfall you have to take Kegalle bus from Ruwanwella and get down at Liyangahamula.(ලියන්ගහ මුල) From there you have to cross the bridge and walk towards Patti pelpita(පට්ටි පැල්පිට)about 2-3km. This bridge was built few years ago and villagers used the ferry to cross Gurugoda oya (ගුරුගොඩ ඔය) before that. If you come from Warakapola, there is a direct bus towards Weragala (වේරගල) to reach Manella fall.

Newly built bridge over the Gurugoda Oya

Gurugoda Oya flows. It is a branch of Kelani River

Main road and foot pathway towards Manaella. It is not difficult to find the waterfall

Maha Manella (මහා මානැල්ල) waterfall. 20m height. Villagers believe the God Manella stays here and named this waterfall by his name

This waterfall has two parts as Maha Manella and Kuda Manella. ( කුඩා මානැල්ල)

Kuda Manalla. 6m height

Going through bamboo bushes to climb the waterfall

Puhuwala ela flows to make Manella fall

Friends who came to visit at waterfall

After having a bath at Kuda Manella we finished the day. There are some more places belong to Seethawaka kingdom to be visited. Will see later

Thanks for reading

Red = summit Green = camp site – Click Map to Enlarge

It was another random weekend coming up and I needed to go somewhere as usual and suddenly out of nowhere the name Thoppigala popped out from one of those deep nerve plexus and incidentally the coming Sunday was 19th May which was the date where the president declared the end of the civil war 4 years back (that is 2009/05/19). It was the ideal occasion to hoist a flag on top of the famous Baron’s cap which was the last stronghold of the rebels in the East. More information on Thoppigala war will be brought up later in this report.
On the 18th of May I took a bus from Monaragala to Potuvil planning to visit few places while reaching my night resting place at Batticaloa to start an early morning climb with my Lakdasun friends on the next day! After getting to Potuvil I had to hire a trishaw to get to the eastern most point of Sri Lanka which was Sangaman kanda and the trishaw guy agreed for a reasonable fair. The road towards Sangaman kanda goes through Komari bridge which is a place worth a photograph and the rest of the ride was through the Komari forest patch which was indeed interesting though we didn’t come across any elephants. Just before reaching the junction at Sangaman kanda with a kovil I came across an archaeology site right by the road. One can easily identify the fleet of steps on the rock leading towards the ancient pagoda on the rock. So it was time for a bit of exploring. I somehow came across two drip ledge caves and few remnants of a building and it seem to be an ancient monastery. The sad story was department of archeology has not put up a black board even to this road side heritage point. Passing the ruins site there is tarred road leading towards the coastal line which we decided to proceed on.

komari paddy fields

beautiful sea side fields

stunning view from komari bridge

drying its feathers

kadala boys were all along the road

ancient steps

towards the pagoda at sangaman kanda

remnants of the pagoda

drip ledge cave at sangaman kanda

more ruins

they were in 100′s

We continued few km’s on it until we reached a 3 way junction where a gravel road branched out with an acute angle to the left. This path is 4WD road until the Sangaman kanda light house and can be managed with caution with a car but there will be some scratch marks left behind. After tackling this part we reached a cabana where we parked and walked 50m to reach the Eastern most point of SL. The said light house is now just a pile of concrete which serves no purpose other than been a landmark. After hanging around a bit we returned back to the Sagaman kanda where I had an argument with the money minded trishaw guys who doubled his first said price saying the road conditions were bad and etc. please do note Potuvil trishaw guys are extremely money minded since they deal with foreigners.

unique way post showing us the directions

Eastern most point in SL

life on sand

indian rollar posing

thinking about the next meal

at sangaman kanda kovil

i bought that siyambala bag

From Sangaman kanda I took a bus to Akkareipattu and it was a pleasure to the eyes to witness the lush green paddy fields of Thirukkovil and Akkareripattu and at the backdrop seeing the mountain ranges of Damana and Ampara area was the icing on the cake. Next stop was Akkareripattu and it was almost close to 4.30pm, so after having a yummy Saruwath I decided to hire a trishaw again to get to Oluvil light house. The sun was starting to say good bye already and the light house was also locked up and no one was around other than the locals enjoying the evening breeze at the beach. After snapping around a bit I asked the trishaw guy to drop me off at a bus halt where I spent about one hour witnessing a superb sun set over the paddy fields. At around 6.30pm I got in to a jammed packed Jaffna – Akkareipattu bus and was lucky enough to get a seat until Batticaloa. Tiredness and hunger made me go no more than 100 feet from where I got off. And the Sunshine fast close to Kallady bridge was like a blessing for me. After having dinner I went in search of a rest house and the police guys directed me towards a budget place close to Kalladi bridge which was indeed my night resting place.

perfect sun set at oluvil

oluvil light house at dusk

lined up

the setting sun

waiting untill the fish sing at Kallady

Next day early morning I decided to walk towards the Kallady beach which was 5 minutes away. But it was very cloudy and I was bit disappointed with since it ruined my sun rise. Finally when the sun decided to rise up a huge evil cloud resembling a devil was covering it (see the pic its really evil looking) somehow the mighty sun tore it a part and lit up the shores of Kallady.

halted after a night of fishing

some of them prefers sleeping on the beach

gloomy but colourful

slow shutter had worked a bit

flames of the horizon trying to win a battle

wow

the straight line

The evil cloud who gulped up the sun

on fire

here she comes

lighting up

ok the battle was won by….

wow	the family who came to witness the sun rise

returning back

well maintained kalladi beach

remnants of tsunami

the famous kalladi bridge with the new one close by

batticaloa ladies on the cycles

with the classical fishing hats

Batticaloa dutch fort

fishing competition below kalladi bridge

After getting back to the main road my friends Kasun, Theshantha & Sheham did come and fetch me up from Batticaloa since neither of those racing Walachchenai buses stopped for me. After passing Chenkalady we reached Kiran where we had to take the road leading towards the western side. The road was motorable though it’s not tarred at some points. We had to inform the road block our intentions and proceed further through a marshy area and next a dry shrub forest. The area seems to have been developed a bit within these 4 years and people were back in their paddy fields doing what they know best! On the way the cap shaped peak started peeping over the tall trees and changed its shape continuously. We went passing the 232 brigade headquarters to reach the Thoppigala visiting center where we were greeted by the army officer who was supposed to show us around. His name was Sumith and was one of those nicest people one can have to show you around. He was humble and very helpful and I really do appreciate his service. We were straight away ready for business and the daunting cap with a sheer drop was our target. From the visitors center we drove about 1 km up to the base of the rock and started climbing along a well paved path.

first view of the target

Barons cap(Thoppigala)

the path

butterfly life

It was around 8.15am and though we thought it would not be that much difficult we were wrong. The initial climb was not so steep but with no time we had to take some pit stops and we were also feeling extremely thirsty with every step we took. Gosh it was not even 9am and the heat was unbearable, the army forces should have been awarded a special award for battling in these difficult conditions for more than a year. The last part was the sheer rock and the army has placed a new ladder to tackle this difficult part. After getting to the top we found some shade and rested for good 10 minutes before we proceeded towards the only tree found on the top of it which was a “Ehela” tree. We were chatting for around 30 minutes under the shade of it because we were too exhausted and couldn’t think of walking around. There is a communication tower and a pagoda build at least 10 years back. Also there was an ancient pagoda in ruins and the bricks fallen around been the only evidence of its past. My only concern was that since the place has been announced as a public attraction, people will be coming by bus loads and jumping around over this pagoda because of lack of awareness. I wish the military does contact the archaeology department and at least put up a fence around it.

the lake where the camp site is

Narakamulla LTTE base

one of those lakes

towards maduru oya side

more to go

the view from the rest point

the lake and the cultivation both in one snap

the steep path

side view

the drop

the past

the finat bit was steep

would you believe me that this beauty was found on top of thoppigala

the ancient pagoda is covered with grass on the summit

the famous comando mark

The army personnel will not allow anyone to disobey and they have put up a fence to limit such behavior. From one side the eastern coastal line can be visualized and on the opposite side it’s all about mountains of Baron’s cap reserve and Omanugala (Maduru oya) reserve. The officer showed us a mountain range where the last main base of the terrorist once stood. It was called Narakamulla and it is said they carried out all of their activities during the final stages of the eastern war from this camp and Thoppigala was the dual purpose base which reinforced the security of the main base. From the top of Thoppigala one can have a 360 degree view and that was an added advantage during the war. They even had heavy artillery installed on top of it and it was a really a difficult task to capture the main base of Narakamulla because of Thoppigala. Even now one could witness the damaged hill top by heavy artillery fire. We also identified Dimbulagala, Welikanda areas, Unnachchiya and many nearby tanks including Thoopigala lake. Once it was a deserted place but now one can witness lush green paddy fields around the base of the mountain. We also didn’t forget to raise the National flag and celebrate the freedom day before descending to get away from been barbequed. While getting down the metal ladder caused some problems because it was heated up. One should keep that in mind to try and avoid long contact with the metal bar and also be extra cautious because you might trip and fall. On the way to the base we also took a small detour to visit one of those caves where the rebels hid and attacked.

a near by lake

the mountain range

towards narakamulla

towards walachchenai

celebrating liberation

even they were feeling the heat

pano towards walachchenai

pano towards narakamulla and maduru oya

it was getting bit misty like

plenty of paddy

this is a nightmare not because of the hight but the heat

scenery while getting down

gravel road through the paddy fields

descending

one of those natural caves used by rebels

jackets let to decay

natural kochchi

After getting to the base all of us had a bath from the wash rooms and had some cool drinks from the canteen to refresh ourselves. The word called “Hacked” will describe our feeling more than any other words I guess. After resting a bit we had a tour around the visiting Centre where we were explained how the war in the east and Thoppigala area was conducted. They do charge 100/= from the whole group for the wash room and parking separately and also there are facilities for camping if someone wishes too. The camp site is near the lake and two army personnel will accompany you. They do charge 500/= per person and basic facilities are been supplied. For more information please contact them

Quote (Sunday Observer)

Thoppigala, also known as Baron’s Cap and Kudumbimalai, is a large rock standing at 350feet (100m) above sea level. The rock is surrounded by thick jungle and rocky terrain. And also have a number of natural caves

Fierce fighting erupted between the LTTE and the SLA at the final forward defense line (FDL) of LTTE, at their Beirut complex in Narakamulla, Thoppigala area between 22–24 June 2007. The FDL was fortified with 6 bunker lines and 3 minor camps. The LTTE did not vacate their positions due to SLA’s heavy barrage of artillery and tank gun fire. Finally, around 50 SLA commandos infiltrated the LTTE bunkers and killed 30 of them. Three LTTE cadres committed suicide. This series of events turned the tide of the battle of Thoppogala against the LTTE.

The fierce battle North of Narakamulla, in the Thoppigala area on 6 July 2007 morning, killed 6 Sri Lankan army personnel including an officer called Colonel Samantha Ranathunga, and injured 7, due to heavy mortar fire by the LTTE. The Sri Lankan military retaliated with artillery and aerial bombardment to control the situation.

After 13 years, the Sri Lankan military captured the final stronghold of LTTE in the East, Thoppigala (Baron’s Cap), on the morning of 11 July 2007, nearly after a year of military action.

the memorial

Thoppigala, Barons cap

heritage centre

demonstrations

an art work

how they fought

explosives used by the terrorist

read – Click Image to Enlarge

arial view

We left Thoppigala with some unforgettable memories and were glad that we had the opportunity to visit such a historically important place. We arrived at Batticaloa to have some lunch from Sunshine fast close to Kallady Bridge; I would like to recommend this place for the passing by travelers because of its tasty food and good service. After filling up our tummy’s we went towards Batticaloa light house and for our disappointment it was closed since April. Next we headed back towards Sangaman kanda via Akkareipattu and it was again a pleasure to the eyes. I was lucky enough to visit the eastern most point of SL on two consecutive days.

Batticaloa delta

plenty of shells

Batticaloa light house

Kattankuddy date trees grown on the main road and some had harvest

mountains of damana and maragalakanda seen far left

a lagoon at thirukkovil

beautiful country side

Sangaman kanda beach

for the second consecutive day i reached sangaman kanda

After arriving at Pottuvil we took the Lahugala route which was always a pleasure to travel because you are guaranteed to meet few jumbos. And guess what we met about five elephants having an evening munch. The dynamic lighting conditions at Lahugala tank produced some stunning scenery which served justice to the phrase “The best is always at the end” . I had to say good bye to my friends and get off at Monaragala to end this lovely expedition. I heard that they did travel 900km+ through 6 provinces and 9 districts within 24 hours. I think I missed that part of the journey

Thanks for reading!

elephants at lahugala

jumbo enjoying some the villus

lahugala country side

the perfect road

dream house

munch and munch

two of the jumbos at lahugala tank

perfect scenery

the road to heaven with few jumbos

close up

the tamed deer at STF camp lahugala

Kataragama CTB bus left Pettah sharp at 12.00 mid night, keeping our hopes alive to be at the entrance as early as possible. It was bit of a burden to reserve the seats in the bus, however it helped us to have a comfortable journey. A sleepless night for me as I had the duty of picking up some guys on the way. We got down at Tissa by 6.30 next morning & the jeep was there with just a couple of minutes delay. After buying the breakfast from a nearby bakery, we managed to reach Palatupana entrance by 7.15 on Saturday morning.

It was the start of a long awaited safari in one of the best NPs in the island. Guys enjoyed the freshness in the morning capturing almost everything on cameras. Very busy Eurasian Spoonbill couple gave us the welcome, allowing me to mark one of my target birds in the checklist.

Eurasian Spoonbill couple – busy with the breakfast

It didn’t take much time for the watchful tracker & the driver to introduce the first leopard to the eagerly waiting eyes, which was on alert for a pray on a rock.

Could hardly see the 1st one

Some painted storks & Green Bee-eaters gave us a nice time at the park, where there was not much of a crowd luckily to disturb the nature.

Watchful as always

Indian Darter

Stork painted by nature

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Green Bee- eater

Great thick-knee

We came to Warahana campsite at around 11.30 in the morning expecting to prepare some fast food, since the lunch parcels ordered from outside got late until that evening.

Warahana camp site is a small cottage situated right next to river Manik in Yala block-02 about 30km away from Palatupana entrance.

There you do not need to bother about a shelter & other basic requirements. An open area, kitchen & a separate toilet are there which is extremely worth for the money paid.

The notice board just before the bridge that links block 1 & 2

Everybody had a bath in the river Manik which flows gently by the campsite. The evening safari began around 3 pm after a rest to recover from the sleepless night.

The timing was absolutely perfect & a leopard was by the jeep track just after passing the Warahana junction. Initially it was around 10m away from the jeep & slowly had his-own walk along the path as if there is nobody nearby. The guys were over the moon to meet a leopard so early in that evening.

The second leopard in its proud walk

He stopped by a waterhole where there was a floating carcass of a buffalo being eaten by the crocodiles. The tracker suggested that, this buffalo might have been attacked last night by the big cat & now the pray is enjoyed by the crocs. The leopard walked here & there by the pond with anger allowing us to take some memorable clicks & disappeared among the thorny bushes of Yala forest.

The jeep moved forward along the dusty tracks in search of various fauna in this wonderful dry land. The guys were extremely motivated with the sight of the first one & kept closely watching for many more cats among the dry bushes.

After about one hour, the driver got a message of another cat resting on a tree. There was a huge traffic when we reached there & the cat was resting on a Palu tree about 80m away from the road. He got up after about 10minutes & slowly got down from the tree & disappeared in the thick forest.

The third was found on a tree

The driver predicted that he might come to a waterhole which was about 200m away from the tree if we can wait for some time. The jeep was stopped by the water body & the crew eagerly waited with cameras set, expecting the killer to cross the road. Boys enjoyed each & every second of hunting a leopard far away from the noisy city & the busy office work. It was of course a wonderful evening, free from the rest of the world.

Finally the alarm calls of spotted deer at the nearby forest patch gave us some hope.

Just as the veteran driver predicted, the big one crossed the road about 100m away from us. We remained as we were by the water body, expecting the animal to appear in front of our cameras in another 2, 3 minutes’ walk through the forest. The eyes & the cameras were all focused to the waterhole to capture the beauty the leopard through the fading light in the dusk.

About 5 minutes passed but unfortunately no leopard found by the pond.

The driver suddenly realized that he might have walked towards a rock on the other direction. He energized the jeep & start moving towards the rock.

Realizing us the beauty of leopard tracking, the giant killer appeared from the forest by the rock allowing me to take this portrait.

Just a couple of meters away

Initially he was just 5m away from us & slowly got in to the road & moved letting us follow the suit.

The pride of Yala

He finally got on to the rock smelling here & there giving us enough chances to capture its beauty.

Smelling for enemies

Couldn’t ask for anything more

So photogenic

In the evening, we enjoyed the calmness of Yala around some lakes like Buthawa, Heenwewa & Darshana wewa observing the nests of black headed ibis, pelicans, open bills etc.

The day-01 was full of great encounters of leopard & elephants. Probably we became the luckiest team to come across 3 leopards at Yala on that day, with enough time & freedom to enjoy the art of leopard tracking from 2 experts. Guys had a brief review of that day after the dinner & went to sleep early.

 The second day-

Everybody got up around 3.45 in the morning & prepared the breakfast. Cooking with firewood was manageable having a couple of chefs in the group, though we expected it to be very tough. The meal was ready by 6.00 with boiled gram & a dhal curry for bread. We left the camp site around 6.00 a m. Since we had seen enough leopards & elephants in day -1, everybody’s expectation was to see a sloth bear to complete the “Big-3” at Yala.

Again it was perfect timing & we saw a stationary jeep by Warahana junction & people inside were looking out for something among the bushes. It was a well grown male sloth bear in search of ants. The team was extremely happy to notice a bear so early on that day. He was very busy about 10minutes with the breakfast allowing no clear visibility among the bushes.

Sloth Bear

Looking for ants

Finally he came to the open area by the road & started walking slowly towards Warahana. We left him after abt 20minutes letting him walk towards Manik river.

Lonely walk

Just after 10-15 minutes we noticed another leopard by the road just like the previous day. This is the fourth leopard we came across. He too walked in front of us for some time & disappeared in the forest suddenly. Again the driver who has a very sound knowledge about the surroundings said that there is a waterhole nearby & he might come there for water.

The jeep stopped by the pond that spreads about 100m away from us. In a couple of minutes an unexpected elephant was slowly moving towards the water-body crossing the road. It was the same elephant who was there eating “Beru” on the other day. The elephant started his routing of uprooting Beru bushes, washing them well in the water & eating.

After about 10 minutes, on the background about 100m away from the giant body, the much expected leopard appeared among the bushes coming for water. It was a rare scene for me which I came across for the first time.

Background

We observed both the elephant & the leopard for about 30 minutes.

We found some elephants on the way to Sifuddeen campsite where we had the breakfast at.

After the lunch, I was packing the baggage in the jeep with a friend & noticed an unannounced visitor to the campsite. It was a sloth bear just about 30m away walking towards us. The tracker announced us to be calm & quite so that only the camera shutters made some noise. He searched for some ants by the campsite as if there is no one looking at him. Finally disappeared into the thick forest of Yala block-02.

Unannounced stranger

Harmony

Loneliness

Innocence of the forest

That was the end of a very fruitful safari to Ruhuna NP & let me thank the guys joined & especially to the two experts, tracker & the driver.

Finally let me conclude with a word. We-nature lovers love Yala a lot, since it is the best place to see leopards in Sri Lanka. But Yala is not all about leopards. There are plenty more things to enjoy there. It is very rich of birds offering endless pleasure to bird watchers & photographers. It also consists of probably the largest number of water bodies in a national park in the country providing life for many aquatic birds & other fauna & of course many more things to admire about this wonderful land.

So let’s seek & enjoy the endless diversity of Yala, not just leopards.

Pollonnaruwa is rich of archeological sites. There are rare places than our popular visits. I got to know about some of these places by a book and it made my visit at these sites. I did this travelling intermittently when I found a free time as well as a friend(s) to travel with me. Therefore I can’t say exact number of days need to cover all these places.

Places I included in this report are

• Duwegala Rajamaha Wiharaya-Handapanwila දූවේගල රජමහා විහාරය හදපාන්විල
• Pulligoda archeological site with ancient paintings
• Kottaragala/Kotaweheragala Thisawehera කොට්ටාරගල/ කොටවෙහෙරගල තිස්වෙහෙර
• Kosgahaulpotha archeological site. කොස්ගහ උල්පොත
• Dewagala cave temple දේවගල
• Silumina Saya සිළුමිණ සෑය

All these places are situated around Dimbulaga.

Duwegala Rajamaha Wiharaya
This is a cave temple situated in a Willuwa called Handapanwila. When you travel in Dimbulagala-Mahiyangana road, you will come across Maguldamana junction. There is an archeology board in the right hand side mentioning about this temple. Travel in the Buddha Jayanthi Road about 4-5km to reach the temple. Road condition is not good.

.	Cave temple is situated at the highest point of the Willuwa. Therefore during rainy season this temple remains without getting flood. Handapan Willuwa and Brandiya Willuwa are on either side of the temple.

Handapan Willuwa. It becomes a reservoir during rainy season. Wild elephants can be seen here

Historical background – Click Image to Enlarge

According to the chronicles, this cave temple belongs to B.C 4. But there is a stone inscription found on the roof of cave temple mentioning King Lajjithissa (ලජ්ජිතිස්ස) (B.C 119-109) has offered this cave temple to Gothagaththa Thissa (ගෝතගත්තතිස්ස) Thero. Following the quarrel between prince Dutugamunu and prince Saddhathissa, this Gothagaththa Thissa Thero has brought prince Saddhathissa to Dutugamunu.

There are two stone inscriptions found here with the cave temple.

It is unusual to find a stone inscription on the top of cave, not under the drip ledge

Note the second stone inscription found inside the cave. It is a sailer sign. New Buddha statue was made in front of this

Newly built Buddha statue

Number of ruins scattered around the cave temple. Not excavated yet

A ruin of old stupa-circumference is around 300feet

Another one

Following visit of Handapanwila temple, you have to come back in the same road towards Dimbulagala junction. Before Dimbulaga junction, you will find the road towards Soriwila (සොරිවිල) and archeology board indicating Kottaragala.

Kottaragala-Kotaweheragala Thisawehera

You have to drive about 1.5km in this road to reach this small rock in left hand side named as Kottaragala-Kotaweheragala Thisawehera. There is a police post next to this rock. Always inform them that you are going to visit there and the purpose of visit. Otherwise you would be caught as treasure seekers. (What happened to us)

Kottaragala rock

Ancient stupa. King Mahadhatika Mahanaga මහාදාඨික මහානාග (07-10A.C) has built it. It has a circumference of 200feet

Perennial pond “Kisida nosidena Pokuna”

View of Dimubulagala

View of Thoppigala

Another pond

Following visit at above three archeological sites, I came back to Dimbulagala junction. Two archeological boards were there indicating Pulligoda cave with paintings and kosgahaulpotha. Akasa Chaithya අකාශ චෙතයය of Dimbulagala can be viewed nicely on your way to Pulligoda.

“Akasa Chaithya”

Dimbulagala Lake with mountain range

Akasa chaithya zoomed

Pulligoda paintings.

This cave is situated about 3km from Dimbulagala junction and name board will direct you towards there.

Steps towards the cave

Fortunately remaining of the paintings are protected

Pulligoda paintings

There are two thoughts of the time period of Pulligoda paintings. Some archeologists believe this was drawn according to Pallawa පල්ලව tradition. There is a stone inscription found close to this cave mentioning this cave was offered to sermons by a person called “Kutahaka” කූටහක in B.C. period.

It shows five gods are carrying flowers. Most probably they were hearing preaching.

To reach Pulligoda archeological site you need assistance of some local.

Rev. Rathana Thero who was the chief priest of Pulligoda temple (as well as the only priest) voluntarily came with us.

This is situated about ¾ kilometers away from Pulligoda temple within the forest. The foot pathway is getting forested due to less frequent visits of people.

Pulligoda archeological site

This place was believed as an ancient Buddhist monastery where Maliyadewa Arahath Thero මලියදේව රහතන් වහන්සේ has preached “ariyawansalankara deshanaya” අරියවoශාලoකාර දේශනය . Maliyadewa Thero was the last Arahath Thero of Sri Lanka.

Entering to the forest patch, steps also can be seen there

Evidences of wild Elephants

View of Akasa Chaithya

Steps to climb

Ruins of an “Asanagara” ආසනඝර -This is the place where Maliyadewa Thero preached Ariyawansalakara Sutra. Treasure hunters have done their work

Work of treasure hunters

Surrounding view with Dimbulagala Lake

Few meters away from the ruins, a stone inscription can be seen on the flat stone. It is fairly long stone inscription and middle part of this can’t be clearly seen now.

Stone inscription

Note the middle part of this is missing now

Perennial pond

Then we got on to a nearby rock to enjoy the surrounding view

Dimbulagala Lake with Akasha chaithya

Ampara side

Pollonnaruwa-Mahiyanganaya road

Another man made pond

Dimbulagala mountain range. This part is visible as a face of lion. They call it Sinhagala සිoහගල

Then we walked back to the Pulligoda temple and went to our next place of visit-Kosgahaulpatha archeological site. It is situated about 2-3km from the temple and Rathana Thero came with us.

Kosgahaulpatha Archeology site

After travelling by three wheel and motor bike we came across an irrigation canal have to be crossed. It was funny to cross it like “Tarzan”.

My friend is crossing the water stream

Kosgahaulpatha rock. Ruins can be seen in the middle part of this rock.

The name Kosgahaulpatha is due to a water spring coming from the rock.

View of Sinhagala

Scattered ruins met our way

Ruins

Our team excepts me

There are two caves found in this archeology site. One has a reclined Buddha statue and other one is occupied by an attic. This is a special feature of this archeology site and I haven’t come across that kind of thing before.

Reclined Buddha statue. Treasure hunters have destroyed it

Foot print

A pond also can be seen there

Water is dropping from the water spring

Water spring is zoomed

Attic. There was a precious ladder to climb this. Locals said Dutch fellows have taken it off due to it’s value

Remanings-wall, two door frames and window. Rice husks can be seen there

After spending time at Kosgahaulpotha archeology site we direct our journey towards Aralaganwila side to reach other two places.

Scenic road towards Aralaganwila

Silumina Saya

I couldn’t find the reason for the name of this Stupa. This archeology site has been preserved well. You can approach this directly from Pollonnaruwa without going to Dimbulagala junction.

Silumina Saya surrounded by stone pillars

This is the history – Click Image to Enlarge

Korawakgala

Largest umbrella stone found in Sri Lanka

Front view with steps

The stone inscription found there

The last place of visit was Dewagala ruins which is located in Aralaganwila. It is an isolated rock carrying few caves and ruins. My friend was the guide here as it is close to his home. From Dimbulagala junction you have to travel till Madagama junction. (About 3km). Then take the road towards the Sewanapitiya about 2km to reach Dewagala cave temple.

Dewagala cave temple

The location of this rock is so fascinating and surrounded by paddy fields. It is believed this Buddhist monastery belongs to 1 B.C. The area between Mahawali river and Maduru oya was called inter river region අන්තර් ගoගා ප්ර දේශය. Buddhist monks of this region have used this. If you go to other end of the rock Dewagala lake can be seen.

Wall paper

Largest pond found on the rock

This is the only evidence of old Stupa. It has circumference of 150 feet and stone pillars can be seen all over there

Another pond

Small cave with newly built walls. But no Buddhist monks live here

Largest cave with drip ledge. At the moment they have found four caves here

Smart friend I met

Randomly captured

This is called Gal Ugula (ගල් උගුල) . There is a treasure under this trap and anyone would be injured by falling stones on him if try to get it.

Evidence of treasure hunters

Nearby giant-Dimbulagala

Baron’s cap