Dambulla temple is one of the key tourist attraction site among locals as well as foreigners. I have passed Dambulla in many times but never been at this temple for proper evaluation. Therefore this trip was planned to visit at Dambulla cave temple on our way to Aliya resort at Habarana.
As usual we are leaving bit late from Colombo for these kind of relaxed trips. First stop was Badagamuwa forest reserve situated few kilometers away from Kurunegala town at Dambulla road.

Badagamuwa Forest Reserve (බඩගමුව රක්ෂිතය)
Badagamuwa forest reserve is a common place where most of the vehicles stop for meals on their way to Dambulla from Kurunegala. But there is less attention to the surrounding forest reserve when they stop. Badagamuwa forest reserve spreads to 213.6Ha. There are paved pathways to have a walk in the forest. Birds observation desk built on a tree is a nice place to the spend time. It was kind of an abortorium and some educational matters are also displayed.

Enter to Badagamuwa Forest Reserve

Site plan of the forest reserve

Members of the trip: Rakitha and Heshan

Graffiti wall

දඩු ලේනා

Cross section of a tree. This brought back my memories to grade 9.

The lake

Foot path around the lake

Foot path around the lake

small open theater

We didn’t spend much time at Badagamuwa and moved to Dambulla.

Endless appetite…. At Hela Bojun Hala

First we visited at Dambulla Somawathiya temple which is a lesser known place but situated at closer to Dambulla cave temple. It is located at Dambulla Walagamaba Pirivena road. This is my second visit to this temple as I needed to visit couple of caves situated above the temple.

Dambulla Somawathiya Vihara complex (දඹුල්ල සෝමාවතී විහාරය)
It is said the remains of Queen Somawathiya has placed here to build Dagaba at Vihara complex. But historical evidence suggests this might be Chatapabbata Vihara built by King Saddathissa (137-119BC) at the base of Dambulla cave temple. Archeologists have dated the initial constructions of the brick Dagaba to the 5th or 6th century AD and subsequent renovations to the 8th to 10th century.
It indicates classical Pabbatha Vihara where four ritual shrines within the designated quadrangle.

Somawathiya Vihara Complex

Bodhigara

Bodhigara and Dagaba

Chapter house

Dagaba

Dagaba

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There are 80 caves around Dambulla rock and two of them can be seen just above Somawathiya Vihara complex. There is a foot pathway just in front of bathing well to these two caves.

The cave

The cave

Dambulla cave temple (දඹුල්ල ලෙන් විහාරය)
1. It was declared as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1991.

2. Dambulla cave temple is one of ten sacred caves in the world.

3. There are five main caves at temple premises named as,
Cave-1: Devaraja Wiharaya (දේවරාජ විහාරය)
Cave-2: Maharaja Lena (මහ රාජ ලෙන): Largest, 52m long, 23m deep and 7m height.
Cave 3: Maha Aluth Wiharaya (මහා අලුත් විහාරය)
Cave 4: Pachchima Wiharaya (පච්චිම විහාරය)
Cave 5: Devani Aluth Wiharaya (දෙවනි අලුත් විහාරය)
In addition 80 more caves around the rock.

4. There are four routes to reach Dambulla cave temple from the base of the rock: Golden temple route, Whale back route, the route for limited mobility people and historical route (Raja Mawatha)

5. The cave has a long history with clear evidence of continued use as a Buddhist Wiharaya for over 23 centuries. Folklore says this cave complex was shown to King Walagamaba by Veddha hunters during his hidden era of the life. Later when he regained the kingdom, he has converted the caves into a place of shrine. Later in Polonnaruwa kingdom, King Wijayabahu Great (1055-1100) has renovated Dambulu Wiharaya. The name of King Nissankamalla (1187-1196) comes with Dambulla temple as he renovated Dambulla temple further and renamed it as “Swarnagiriguha” after painting Buddha statues in gold. In 18th century King Sri Veera Narendrasinghe (1707-1739) has handed over to the temple a tudapata (palm leaf documents). Majority of wall and ceiling paintings you see today, belongs to renovations done at this period. And Maha Aluth Wiharaya / cave 3 was also established during this period. Devani Aluth Wiharaya / Cave 5 was built during 19th century. Dambulu Wiharaya has involved in a final bid for freedom from the British, which ended with the clergy of the Dambulla Wiharaya being tried for treason.

The cross road goes to Walagamaba Pirivena will connect you to the historical route of Dambulla cave temple. We have selected this route to reach the temple and got down along golden temple route.

Historical route of Dambulla cave temple

Neighbor of Dambulla rock-Dahiya Kanda

Ibbankatuwa Lake and Beliya Kanda

Ibbankatuwa Lake

Entrance to cave temple

Surrounding mountains are nicely seen to Dambulla rock temple, including Dahiya Kanda, Wahigala Pathana, Kalundawa, Beliyaknada, Erawulagala, Sigiriya and Pidurangala. It was not difficult to view Knuckles range also behind Wahigala Pathana.

Kalundawa (front) and Wahigalapathana (behind)

Knuckles range is seen at the end of Wahigalapathana

Sigiriya and Pidurangala

Kandalama Lake, Sigiriya and Erawula Gala

Let’s move to the cave temple.

Dambulla cave temple

Rest of cave temple under the drip ledge

Cave with drip ledge…

Buddha statue of cave-5 (Devani Aluth Viharaya)

Reclining Buddha statue at Devani Aluth Wiharaya

Veranda

.	Seated Buddha statue under Makara Thorana.

Statue of King Rajasinghe at cave 3

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Statue of King Walagamaba….

Ceiling paintings….

.	Small Dagaba surrounded by 11 seated Buddha statues

Fish swimming along the wet surface

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.	Small Dagaba at verandah

Buddha Parinirwanaya at cave 01

Dambulla inscription

Tourists with a guide at Dambulla inscription.

Painted door

Dambulla-Trinco road

පතොක් මල්

Dambulla golden temple
Dambulla golden temple is the 21st century addition to Dambulla complex. Golden Buddha statue and small golden Dagaba are main components of the temple. In addition Buddhist museum also gets tourist attractions.

Golden temple of Dambulla Uyanwatte RMW

Entrance to Buddhist museum

Buddhist museum

Buddhist museum

Dambulla mural museum and Dambulla Bodhiya are also interesting places to visit. Mural museum was under renovation during our visit.

Aliya resort and Spa
This was the last destination of this journey. Our main objective of the trip was to spend the day at Aliya resort and Spa.
Aliya resort is located at Habarana, exactly at Awudangawa. Theme of the hotel is elephant -“Aliya” (අලියා) and hotel setting is done according to that. Sigiriya and Pidurangala comes in a single frame above the swimming pool at Aliya resort. Hotel has paved foot pathways like ancient Sigiriya. Cycling path, paddy museum and spa are main attractions of the hotel.

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.	Swimming pool with view of Sigiriya and Pidurangala

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Baby pool

.	Main building connecting to swimming pool

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.	Sigiriya and Pidurangala. Nuwaragala Kanda is seen between them

The spa…

Paved paths like ancient Sigiriya

Paddies

Paddy museum

Inside paddy museum

paddy museum

paddy museum

Sri Lankan authentic restaurant

Sri Lankan authentic restaurant

Play ground around which different plants are planted by cricketers

The lobby….

The lobby….

Lightings around foot pathways….

Lightings around foot pathways….

Lightings around foot pathways….

Swimming pool at night

Swimming pool at night

Entrance

The roof

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Sun rise

Sun rise

Sun rise

Sun rise

Cycling

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Three men team

Awudangawa Lake
We had a short visit at Awudangawa Lake after check out from the hotel. It is just
1 km from the hotel towards Sigiriya. Lake Bund is not mortable for a car. Awudangawa Lake is a nice view point as well as a bathing place.

Along lake bund

View of Sigiriya and Pidurangala over Awudangawa Lake

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Sigiriya

Rest of mountains at Dambulla

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Thanks for reading

Meeriyathenna (මීරියතැන්න) and Udaweriya (උඩවේරිය) are two peaks situated closer to each other at the edge of Udaweriya estate. The credit of introduction of these two peaks, should go to Ranshan who has marked them as Udaweriya-1 and Udaweriya-2. When I carefully examine the metric map, it says one of this peak as Meeriyathenna. Further searching on maps revealed the lower peak has mentioned as Meeriyathenna in peakery.com. Therefore I would like to call them Meeriyathenna (2032m) and Udaweriya (2069m) rather than Udaweriya-1 and Udaweriya-2 as there are evidences.

Meeriyathenna and Udaweriya peaks in Google map.

Udaweriya and Meeriyathenna peaks in peakery.com map.

I have been at these two peaks as a part of trip to Hortain plains. It was a half a day hike to both peaks which have attitude gain around 100m from base.
We have reached Ohiya railway station by night mail. None of the shops at Ohiya was opened and we hang around the station for snaps. After having breakfast from Gamini Ayya’s shop we hired a three wheeler to Ohiya line houses. It was the same road to Hortain plains and then turned down to line houses. Weather was perfect and we got down at Ohiya line houses where two peaks were visible clearly. Even at the entrance of line houses was a nice view point towards southern plateau and Hortain plains.

Good morning Ohiya

Sun rise over rail trek…

Sun rise over rail trek…

Concrete road from Udaweriya to Ohiya line houses.

Known peaks: Wangedigala, Wangedikanda, Balathuduwa, Gommolliya and Adara Kanda

Enjoying the view….

Meeriyathenna peak

Towards Hortain Plains. Ohiya Line houses can be seen.

The estate road continues between two peaks. Meeriyathenna was the lowest and covered by tea bushes, situated more towards south. Udaweriya peak has clear estate road till the top. We first hiked to Meeriyathenna to enjoy the view. It was just 30 minutes hike to the top of Meeriyathenna. A shrine was placed on top of Meeriyathenna. This place provides amazing view towards southern plateau, Adara Kanda, Balathuduwa, Gommolliya, Wangedigala, Wangedikanda, Bambara kanda waterfall, Hortain plains. Samanala Wewa reservoir, Sabaragamuwa University, Kuragala and southern border of Sabaragamuwa hills were also seen. In a clear day you can see Udawalawa reservoir, Wellawaya area, Southern plateau and even sea as well.

At base of Meeriyathenna peak

Idalgashinna range and Nayabedda (behind)

Nayabedda with towers

Hidden

Heading to Meeriyathenna

Shrub area at the lower part

Breathtaking view…

Top of Meeriyathenna peak

Shrine….

Sabaragamuwa University and Samanala Wewa reservoir

Udawalawe reservoir and southern border of Sabaragamuwa Hills

Colombo-Badulla road gets bends

Can you notice upper part of Bambarakanda Falls?

Wangedigala and Wangedikanda

Ohiya Line houses

Ohiya line houses

Udaweriya tea factory

Rainbow over Hortain plains. Rainy clouds crowded over the hills to make the rainbow. This is a bad sign. We had torrential rain at HP when we camped there.

Enjoying the view

Hands stand….

Top of Meeriyathenna peak

Ohiya line houses

Whole Udaweriya in one picture

Let’s move to the structures of other side. Udaweriya peak was appeared right opposite to Meeriyathenna. Namunukula, Nayabedda, Haputhale town, Piduruthalagala range and some highest points of central were appeared on that side.

Giant of Uva province. Namunukula.

Towards highest peaks of central hills

Central Hills-Piduruthalagala range…

Rest of Uva

Udaweriya peak is seen to Meeriyathenna

Namunukula

Nayabedda

Rahangala and? Hakgala

Ohiya-Idalgashinna short cut…

Getting down….

Attitude at Meeriyathenna

After enjoying the view from Meeriyathenna peak, we have moved to the base of the mountain and followed the estate road towards Udaweriya peak. There was a clear path up to the top of Udaweriya peak. It was another 30minutes hike to the peak of Udaweriya Mountain. The view of Udaweriya Mountain is obstructed by the forest patch at the top. We had a same view like Meeriyathenna including more clear view of Haputhale, Idalgashinna, Beragala and Boralanda.

Heading to Udaweriya peak…

View of Meeriyathenna from Udaweriya peak

Bird’s eye

How southern plateau is seen over Meeriyathenna

Towards Wellawaya

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.	Gommolliya range and World’s end. Hawagala is seen behind.

Meeriyathenna and Wangedigala

Beragala and houses at Idalgashinna

Idalgashinna proper peak. Beragala is situated behind Idalgashinna peak.

Haputale town.

Boralanda

Attitude at Udaweriya

Idalgashinna proper peak (=1950m)

Idalgashinna is other railway station situated next to Ohiya. The peak with Pinus top is situated on the side of the railway line of Idalgashinna, is popular as Idalgashinna peak among travelers. It is just a small hike of 30min-1 hour. But actual peak of Idalgashinna range is situated somewhere away from Idalgashinna peak towards Ohiya station. When you carefully look at the terrain map, highest peak of Idalgashinna can be noted.

True peak and famous peak in map

Harinda was the one who pointed out this fact for me and he has been at this place with Sri few months ago. They have started from Idalgashinna railway station and trekked to the highest point of the range. Then they have descend to Ohiya line houses. There was a foot pathway from Idalgashinna to Ohiya which was named as short cut from Idalgashinna to Ohiya. Hari and Sri followed this route in their trekking.
Idalgashinna true peak can be seen from Meeriyathenna and Udaweriya peaks. I have planned to do this trek in other way round. (Ohiya line houses to Idalgashinna proper peak).

Sumedha has joined with me for this journey as his first trip with me. I followed the same plan as previous trip. The short cut follows the border of the Udaweriya peak first and vanished through tea bushes. We have noted another set of line houses along this foot path. These houses were abounded few years ago due to threaten of landslides.

Beginning of the short cut. This is situated between Udaweriya and Meeriyathenna peaks. Actually it is an estate road.

Idalgashinna true peak is seen to Upper Ohiya line houses. Note it has two separate peaks.

Close up of Idalgashinna proper Mountain. You can easily work out of the path to the top.

Abounded line houses.

Actually estate road has become a foot path.

Invasive plant. Yoda Nidikumba (Mimosa Pigra)

Remaining land marks of the estate road.

The tea estate was also abounded as the line houses were removed and foot pathway got vanished after a time. We have entered the forest patch where a fainted foot pathway was descend at the edge of the mountain. Here I have disturbed Hari for several times to clarify the path. (Actually they had a clear foot path). At the end of the descend we have reached the base of Idalgashinna true peak where Pinus patch started with an opening area. Compared to few months ago (according to Harinda’s experience) foot pathway was not clear as large trees were cut by someone.

Get into the wild…..

Signs of human visits….

Kuragala and Udawalawa reservoir

Sooriyakanda

Reached the base of Idalgashinna true peak

Here onwards the direction was straight forwards along the ridge through the Pinus forest. I had the same view towards Sabaragamuwa on my ascend. Especially I was able to identify Pettigala and Sooriyakanda.

Along the ridge of Idalgashinna true peak.

Along the ridge of Idalgashinna true peak.

He is happy with his first hike with me.

I had same view like Meeriyathenna.

Meeriyathenna (left) and Udaweriya (right)

In between two peaks….Upper Ohiya line houses.

Hidden fall

The edge of the mountain was a nice view point

The path we passed

Some more to the peak….

Is this Kiribathgala??

Pettigala with it’s awkward appearance

Samonala Wewa reservoir

Highest waterfall of SL

Reaching the top of Idalgashinna true peak

Idalgashinna true peak has a flat summit with nice view. We have noted signs of camping there. You can have the view towards Idalgashinna village, popular Idalgashinna peak, Beragala, Haputhale, Nayabedda and Boralanda areas. Other peak of this mountain is situated about 100-200m away from this point and seems about 10-20m higher than this point, but has no view point. As rainy clouds gathered around the mountain we rushed to leave the place without going to other peak. It was around 45minutes hike from the base of the mountain to the top.

The flat summit of Idalgashinna true peak

People have camped there

Top of Idalgashinna true peak

Towards Ohiya

Railway line and estate road

Idalgashinna Tea factory

Towards Idalgashinna station

Towards Ohiya and Boralanda.

Beragala and Idalgashinna famous peak

The flag on top…..

Two men team on top of Idalgashinna proper peak

When we were at top. Here I have marked the highest point as Idalgashinna highest point.

When we were at top….. Please not actual highest point has no view point. Covered with forest.

Next part of the journey was to descend to Idalgashinna station. There was a fairly clear foot path from the base of the mountain through Pinus patch. Mist has mixed with Pinus to record beautiful moments in my camera. We have met a group of foreigners with a guide following the foot path to Idalgashinna. Later we reached the tea estate and descend to the railway track. It was about 1-1.5km walk along the rail track to reach Idalgashinna station.
We had a cup of tea from Idalgashinna to wind up the journey.

Mist with Pinus….

Following the foot pathway

Clear foot path

Clear foot path

Beautiful back ground for captures

Foreigners at estate-forest border

Descend along the tea estate

Famous peak of Idalgashinna

Line houses at Idalgashinna

Might be seasonal….

New Sleepers….

End of the journey….

Destination….

Thanks for reading….

Chariot pathway is a grassy land situated at 1900m attitude at Piduruthalagala forest reserve, related to Rawana legend. Though it is a popular travel destination, my first visit happened one month ago. Here we have moved further to reach Perattasi Mountain which is situated next to Chariot pathway. When we were at Perattasi Mountain, noted another giant above 2100m next to Perattasi Mountain and kept it for next visit. It was unnamed mountain. (Exact height is 2133m)
The main objective of this journey was to hike this unnamed mountain. Apart from that, we wanted to reach another three grassy plains situated between this unnamed mountain and Ramboda. These grassy plains are surrounded by thick forest of Piduruthalagala forest reserve.
Ramboda short cut is the easiest way to reach Frotofot tea estate from A5 road. You will get beautiful view of Upper Ramboda Falls and Kotmale valley when you ascend along these steps. All others except Shashi and Myself were new for this route.
We got together at Ramboda and started the journey around 6am.

Good morning Ramboda…

Upper Ramboda Falls….

Beautiful morning…. Karunagala

Upper Ramboda area…..

Reaching estate road from Ramboda short cut….

Kotmale valley….

The team….

Following estate road

Water streams get refreshed by rain

Entering to Frotofot group

Gravel estate road

Foot pathway connecting two estate roads….

Meeting estate people at foot pathway…

Frotofot line houses …..

Bus is coming……

Lush green…..

Path to heaven

Get turn to Chariot Path

Though lower area had clear weather, it was changed to gloomy and misty when we ascend along foot pathway. It was completely misty at Chariot path. There were considerable crowd at Chariot pathway might be due to long weekend.

Ascend along foot pathway. Now we are in Piduruthalagala forest reserve.

Checking for leeches. It is unlikely to have leeches at this attitude.

Misty environment….

Clear foot path

Decorated with Nelu…..

Reaching a lower view point

It’s nothing other than mist

Heading to Chariot path

Crowded Chariot Path

The drop covered with mist

The drop covered with mist

The drop covered with mist

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It was around 11am when we reached this barren land. After enjoying the misty view we started to move towards Perattasi Mountain along the edge of the drop.

Heading to Perattasi Mountain along the edge….

Heading to Perattasi Mountain along the edge….

Towards Ramboda

Hands up….

At the edge….

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Group photo

At ground level

On top of Perattasi Mountain

On top of Perattasi Mountain

The unnamed mountain was appeared on left side of Perattasi Mountain. We have passed a dry Nelu area to reach the base of this mountain. Hewaheta and Rikillagaskada side were seen on one side. It was about 30minutes hike from base of unnamed mountain to it’s top. As we noted from far, it’s summit has number of slab rocks. It was about 2pm when we reached the summit of this giant with 2133m height. Here we decided to halt the journey for first day as this slab rock was ideal for camping. A water stream was running on side of the camping area. The rain was started around 4pm and lasted about 2hours. Even after rain, surrounding was gloomy and misty. Night was extremely cold to remind us we are at above 2000m level. We didn’t try to make a bone fire and nobody had good sleep in the night due to chilling cold.

Passing dry Nelu area between two mountains…

Small water pocket

Path of Elk

Squeeze through Nelu bushes….

Now we are at base of unnamed mountain

Now we are at base of unnamed mountain

Towards Hewaheta and Rikillagaskada

The slab rock covering this unnamed mountain

The slab rock covering this unnamed mountain

Just below the summit of the mountain. We decided to camp there.

The water stream was on side

Surrounding was gloomy when we reached there

Towards Chariot path…..

Camp site

Camp site

Spongy bushes on top of the rock absorb water and forms a stream.

Day 02
Morning was brightened following gloomy night. After having morning tea we have moved to the top of the rock to enjoy the beauty of morning. It was a good view point with 360 view including Kukulagala, Hewaheta, Rikillagaskada side, Chariot path, rest of Piduruthalagala range, Ramboda area, Karunagala, Great Western, Hills around Ginigathhena, Rilagala / Pasmale, Nuwera Eliya side, Kikiliyamana, Uda Radella, Sri Pada and highest of Piduruthalagala with towers. We have noted Randenigala hills and Alagalla as well.

Enjoy the video

Sun rise over the summit

Sun rise over the summit

Going to the top…..

Flora over the top

Kukulagala and Rikillagaskada area. We have noted Randenigala hills beyond this line.

Beautiful morning….

Towards Nuwera Eliya side and surrounding hills

Some known peaks….

Shashi in action

The drop covering with mist

Towards Chariot pathway

Perattasi Mountain

Kotmale reservoir

At ground level….

Aerial view of spiky mountains

Aerial view of spiky mountains

We are on top…..

The drop…

Front view

Misty top

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Rest of Piduruthalagala forest reserve.

Our rest of the journey lies along this valley and we wanted to reach the plain seen in this picture.

කොක්මොටේ

Approximate height

Our next target was to reach three plains situated at Piduruthalagala forest reserve. It is situated at 1900m attitude, closer to upper tea estates of Ramboda area. First we descend from top of this unnamed mountain. We have noted evidences of some human activities at the base of this unnamed mountain, like gem mining.
After certain distance we entered the forest with Nelu bushes and covering of large trees. It was a 2-3 hours descend through this forest cover and at the end we have reached the first plain.

The descend…

The descend…

We followed the least steepness of the mountain

Lost among flowery bushes….

Lost among flowery bushes….

Evidences of human activities within forest reserve

Evidences of human activities within forest reserve

At the base of mountain

On our way to the plains….

We followed our way along the ridge of the mountain to reach those three plains…

Small break

Forest covering

Forest covering

Reached 1st plain

When you closely observe the Google map, you may notice few plains situated at Piduruthalagala forest reserve. Chariot pathway is one of them, might be the most popular one. All these plains are situated at 1900-2000m attitude. I have been at another one situated closer to lovers leap falls. Most of these plains are marshy lands and act as a sponge in absorbing water. It is common to have water stream runs through these plains.

Three plains situated at Piduruthalagala forest reserve

First plain was almost a dry plain and there were few water streams running across it. Second plain was kind of a marshy land and we entered the forest to reach third plain from second plain. Third plain was the largest out of all and we spent much time there. We have noted enough evidences for human visits at these plains: Gem mining and water pipes.

The first plain we have reached….

The first plain we have reached….

Path….

Where we came from….

Posing….

My team…

Our team….

It was one of my dreams to reach these plains…

.	First plain was fairly dry…..

Moving to second plain …..

Second plain was almost a marshy land…

බිනර	Second plain….

Plains are good water sources….

Moving to forest….

Third plain was the largest out of all… It was almost dry….

Third plain

Third plain

Third plain

Small pond situated at third pond…

Third plain….

Third plain….

Moving out of the plain

Third plain and towards Rikillagaskada side….

Third plain ad towards Rikillagaskada side…..

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When we are at plain-3

Plain-3

Shrine situated at side

From third plain we have descend to Upper Ramboda estates and followed the estate roads to get back to short cut road to Ramboda. We were able to get back to A5 road by 3pm. It was another successful journey with beautiful memories.

Wild beauties….

Descend to Upper Ramboda estate

Successful team at the end…..

Upper Ramboda estate

Back to foot pathway to Ramboda

Points of our journey

Thanks for reading

Kelebokka (කැලෑබොක්ක) is a trending camping place and 360 view point situated at Matale District. It became popular among travelers after travel with Chathura programme. Kelebokka view point is the highest point of Kelebokka tea estate which is the largest tea estate of Sri Lanka managed by Sri Lanka estate cooperation limited.
I have booked the camp site at Kelebokka two weeks ago from head office of Sri Lanka estate cooperation limited. Here we used public transport to reach the place as road condition was not good in last few kilometers. Unfortunately we were late (it was around 6.30pm) when we reached at turning point (this is situated at Madulkelle-Kabaragala-Kandenuwara road-B257) and rain has started since few hours ago. Dimal, Kasun and Vinoda were drenched by rain due to their waterfall hunt of the day time. We expected Chamara to join with us but he was late. Then we five started the walk from Kelebokka turning point along the gravel road. Nothing we could see other than mist and dark when we reached the camp site.
Here I must emphasis there are two roads to reach the camp site from this turning point. We followed the short cut which is good for walking and other road is good if you are coming by vehicle. (Later Chamara reached the camp site by three whleer following second road).
Unfortunately there was another group of campers at camp site when we reached there. We didn’t have a place to pitch our tent on the concrete. People have built a Kovil at this highest point but it is still under construction. We were able to pitch our tents at the veranda of Kovil as we didn’t have a proper place to stay. Later we knew the management has reserved the camp site for two people simultaneously. But I saw a good side of this incidence as we had less effects by rain, because we pitched the tents under concrete slabs.
Later rain was stopped and mean while Chamara also joined with us. We were managed to prepare dinner and had a nice chat till late night.

Matale town at night. The sky was clear after heavy rain.

Morning was clear as we expected and we have enjoyed the 360 view from there. There were a lot of known mountains: Ambokka , Manikdena, Karagahathenna, Gammaduwa, Maussakanda, Riverstone, Pathangala, Knuckles-Kirigalpoththa, Gombaniya, Yakkunge Hela, Knuckles five peaks, Kandasamigala, Hunnasgiriya, Sri Pada, ?? Alagalla etc..
The immediate below view from summer hut was Sembuwatta Lake and factory. Matale town was visible beyond that. On the other side we have noted Madolkele-Kandenuwara road. First couple of hours of the morning was crystal clear and mist arise later to make the view more beautiful.

Camp site of Kelebokka

Three tops with towers: Karagahathenna (left), Gammaduwa (middle) and Maussakanda (right). Pathangala is the most right hand side peak. Riverstone is situated in between Pathangala and Maussakanda. You can’t see in this picture.

Three tops with towers: Karagahathenna (left), Gammaduwa (middle) and Maussakanda (right)

Pathangala and Riverstone towers

Knuckles-Kirigalpoththa

Pointed peak is Yakkunge Hela

Ambokka

Manikdena is seen

Knuckles five peaks

Two peaks of Kandasamigala

Road to Kelebokka view point. Actually the highest point of upper division is the one situated in front of view point. (Seen in photo)

Summer hut and towards Sembuwatta

Sembuwatta Lake

Sembuwatta area and tea factory

Other side of Kelebokka estate

Madulkelle-Kabaragala-Kandenuwara road

Kabaragala tea factory

?? Alagalla through clouds

Rest of Knuckles range

Hunnasgiriya and Sri Pada

Sembuwatta area

Matale town. We saw lights of the town last night.

Rest of Kelebokka estate and Hunnasgiriya peak.

Mist is coming up….

Capturing moments…

Through the mist

Through the mist

Path to heaven

Enjoying the view

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Time to relax

Broken huts at other side….

Mist coming up….

Photographers

Time for breakfast

Kelebokka estate. Last night we followed this estate road.

Where we pitched tents last night…..

Top of the Kovil

Inside the Kovil

Summer hut….

View from summer hut

The team…

Aerial view of Kelebokka view point with estate road

Bird’s eye view

.	Closer view of 360 view point

Estate road ends here

Actual highest point of Kelebokka upper division
Actual highest point of Kelebokka upper division is situated right in front of Kelebokka 360 view point. This place has a narrow view towards Kelebokka estate.
It is just a 10minutes hike from the estate road.

Along the foot pathway of actual highest point of Kelebokka

How Kelebokka view point is seen to actual highest point

.	View towards Gombaniya side

Highest point of Kelebokka upper division

Newly built houses

Couple goals achieved

Framed view of Kelebokka

Kelebokka 360 view point

Another place with 360 view situated closer to Elkaduwa

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There is a short cut from Kelebokka to Sembuwatta Lake (සෙම්බුවත්ත වැව) through Pinus forest. It is just a 20-30minutes walk. We left Kelebokka around 10.30 am following breakfast. This foot pathway starts closer to a Kovil situated on your way to Kelebokka from turning point.
Sembuwatta Lake belongs to a different management: Elkaduwa plantation. This lake is situated at 1100m attitude at higher level of the tea estate called Hapuwida (හපුවිද).
History of Sembuwatta Lake goes back to 1949. This land was a Polo ground during colonial ages and later became a small reservoir to generate hydro power for the tea factory. Later the tea factory was closed and this small reservoir was forested.
Mr. Radley Disage was became the manager of Elkaduwa plantation in 2005 and he rebuilt the current Sembuwatta Lake at the place of old reservoir with support of estate workers. Initially it was used to give hydropower to 89 estate houses. The name Sembuwatta (based on folklore) is also an idea of Mr. Radley and later management decided to convert the area as tourist attractive place.
There are different activities you can involve at Sembuwatta Lake: Boating, zip line, Swimming pool, Air rifle etc. Night camping facilities also available at Sembuwatta Lake.
As rain started again we were not able to go around the lake.

Back to estate road….

The kovil where foot path to Sembuwatta starts

Entering to Pinus patch

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Descend to Sembuwatta Lake

Misty Pinus patch…

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Reaching Sembuwatta Lake

Sembuwatta Lake

Swan boats at Lake

Zip line across the lake. This is about 50-75m long.

Sembuwatta Lake

We didn’t have much time to stay at Sembuwatta Lake as rain started again by 1.30pm. Here we hired couple of three wheelers to reach the Hunugala junction (it costs Rs 600 from Sembuwatta Lake to this junction) to get the bus to Elkaduwa.

Kelebokka 360 view point and Sembuwatta Lake in Google map

Thanks for reading

Paduruthalawa is a hidden entity of Sri Pada forest reserve situated in between Heen Piduruthalawa (හීන් පිදුරුතලාව) and Mahapaduruthalawa (මහ පැදුරුතලාව). Pandeniya River (පන්දෙනිය ගග) separates Heen Piduruthalawa and Paduruthalawa while the highest point of Paduruthalawa (6.855981, 80.482990) continues with the highest point of Mahapaduruthalawa (6.845931, 80.489742). We have noted Paduruthalawa and Mahapaduruthalawa when we were at 5th peak of Seven virgins and it was included into our to-do list.

Paduruthalawa is shown by black circle. Trail head at Uda Maliboda is marked by purple star. Pandeniya River is also marked. Note Mahapaduruthalawa and Heen Piduruthalawa. Click image to enlarge.

Highest points of Paduruthalawa and Maha Paduruthalawa in Google map.

Paduruthalawa is seen to 5th peak of Seven Virgins Hills.

Few weeks ago Thilina and his friends have hiked Paduruthalawa. Their journey has stimulated us to do this journey and we got necessary information from them.
Initially we had seven in the crew and three have dropped at last moment. At the end Ashan, Chamara, Keshan and Myself continued. (Same crew of Saptha Kanaya journey).
It was essential to start the journey as early as possible due to long distance from trail head. Keshan and Myself joined with Ashan and Chamara at Awissawella. Luckily a reasonable shop was opened at Deraniyagala to have breakfast. We drove along Deraniyagala-Uda Maliboda road to reach Uda Maliboda-Sri Pada trail head.
Everything started from Uda Maliboda-Sri Pada trail head. It was the second time I came to this place for 2020-Sri Pada season. Darmarawardana Mama at Dikellekanda is in the process of establishing a Buddha statue for Pilgrimages at trail head of Uda Maliboda. After having religious activities at this place we crossed Pandeniya River to enter Uda Maliboda-Sri Pada foot pathway. The weather was perfect and we stopped at small Buddha statue for a break. After few hindered meters walking along the foot path we descend to Pandeniya River back. This section was bit difficult due to steepness and overgrown Nelu bushes.

Pandeniya River

Journey begins

Uda Maliboda-Sri Pada trail

.	The forest

Artistic

Clear foot path

Upstream walk along Pandeniya River
Next part of the journey was upstream walk along Pandeniya River till we meet left hand branch of Pandeniya River. The distance was less than 1km but journey was slow as we had to walk over boulders. Pandeniya River starts in between Paduruthalawa and Mahapaduruthalawa while this branch gets birth from Paduruthalawa.

Get into Pandeniya River

Along Pandeniya River…

At river bank

Bouldering….

Tiny friend….

Deviate from Pandeniya River

The side stream joins with Pandeniya River with forming a beautiful cascade. We had a long rest at this place and good bye to Pandeniya River to follow the side stream. Compared to Pandeniya River, side stream was narrow and steeper to form tiny cascades.

Along the side stream of Pandeniya River
After the long rest at junction we started to ascend along the side stream. Most of the time it was ascend except few flat terrain along the stream. We came across about 5+ tiny and moderate size cascades at this side stream. As usual it was time consuming to walk along a river. According to the Google map we have followed another side stream for a short distance and entered the forest. Hereafter we followed the ridge in the forest to get on to Paduruthalawa. Before enter to second side stream we have noticed Paduruthalawa in our front.

Cascade formed by the side stream

Lateral view

Slow shutter

When we got on to the top of the fall. Heen Piduruthalawa is seen behind.

Few peaks of Heen Piduruthalawa

Another small cascade

Evidences of human activities

Stream is shaded by forest

A waterfall

Along the branch of Pandeniya River

A waterfall

Another….

A break….

Place to bath

Sometimes we deviated from the stream

Another

Side stream gets another side stream. According to Google map we followed it.

A beauty

Snaps….

Last cascade of the stream

Get into the forest

It was a continuous ascend along the ridge and we have noted evidences of recent human visits at this forest. (Later we knew another group of travelers have followed the same route a day before.) About last 500m of this hike was a steep ascend of 60/70 degree. It was really a strenuous exercise and ended at Paduruthalawa. There was a narrow view point towards other main hills of Sri Pada including Kunudiya Parwathaya, Bana Samonala and Darmarajagala.

View of KDP from Paduruthalawa.

Rest of Paduruthalawa

Walking on Paduruthalawa
Paduruthalawa is a nice place with slab rocks and forest patches. It’s height ranges from 1400m to1690m. It gives birth to several streams. According to Google map we have traced the falling point of one of the stream. It was a beautiful place with 180 view. This stream should form one of the highest waterfalls in Sri Lanka in rainy season. The stream was fairly dry when we visited there. We have noted fairly old elephant dungs on top of Paduruthalawa.

Measuring the size of a foot print

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On top of Paduruthalawa

Slab rocks of Paduruthalawa

Elephant dung

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Over the slab rocks to the falling point of the stream.

Camping at Paduruthalawa
We have camped on top of above mentioned waterfall origins from Paduruthalawa. It was a dreamy camping site with all necessary features including spacious, water and good view. Heen Piduruthalawa and Kunudiya Parwathaya in our front and sun set was over Heen Piduruthalawa. The side stream of Pandeniya river and valley of Pandeniya river were immediately below from the view point. We forget the tiredness of the journey once we reached there. Full moon was illuminated behind the camp side at night.

Falling point

The view….

Valley of Pandeniya River

Valley of Pandeniya River

Sun set over Heen Piduruthalawa

Kunudiya Parwathaya has changed it’s shape.

Falling point of the stream. It might forms one of the highest waterfalls in SL.

Ashan

Keshan

Sun set

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It’s me….

Sun set

Evening sky

Full moon behind the camp site

Illuminated tent

Day 02
Reaching the highest point of Paduruthalawa and return journey
The morning breaks with sun rise over the highest point of Paduruthalawa. After having breakfast we have started to hike towards the highest point of Paduruthalawa. It was a journey along the upstream and there were number of side streams join with the main stream. This was a good evidence that Paduruthalawa is an origin of number of streams and they feed Pandeniya River at the end.
At one point of the ascend, we have noted sacred peak, Bana Samonala and Darmarajagala over forest patch.

Morning was like this

Full moon

Enjoying the morning view

Side view of falling point

? Top of Bambaragala

Four person breakfast

Camp site in distance

Walking along the main stream

Heading to highest point of Paduruthalawa

As most of them were dry, walking over them was not difficult

Number of slab rocks. These streams might form beautiful waterfalls in rainy days

Mosses over slab rock

Bana Samonala and Darmarajagala

Sri Pada, Bana Samonala and Darmarajagala

Sacred peak

It might forms a nice waterfall

Heen Piduruthalawa and Kunudiya Parwathaya

Thick forest cover on top with under growth of Nelu bushes

Top of Paduruthalawa was almost covered with forest and we were able to find a narrow view point towards other side. The view includes 6th peak of Saptha Kanya, Great Western, Rilagala/ Pasmale, Uda Radella towers, Kotagala, Dell Mountain, Hortain plains, Elbedda, Peaks of Hortain Plains, Bopaththalawa, Maha Paduruthalawa and ? Ballabendigala.

At highest point of Paduruthalawa. It is completely covered with forest.

View point of Paduruthalawa

The view

Great western (left) and Uda Radella with towers (middle)

Kotagala (left, pointed) and Dell Mountain

Pristine Hill (left), and Bopaththalawa (right)

Might be Paduruthalawa (closer) and? Ballabendihela (behind)

6th peak of Saptha Kanya

Peaks of Hortain plains- Kirigalpoththa and Agra Bopath. Bopaththalawa is situated next to them. (Left)

We decided to follow the same path in return journey. It took another five hours to reach the trail head of Uda Maliboda Sri Pada foot path. Here we descend along Pandeniya River further down to find a good place to get into Sri Pada foot pathway.

Thanks for reading

Gawarawila is a beautiful plain situated in Sri Pada forest reserve surrounded by hills with an attitude range 1800-1900m. Folklore says ancient mythical giant cow called “Gawara”-ගවරා has lived here to give the name Gawarawila (Gawara +Wila). Ancient Uva-Sri Pada path lies along Gawarawila. (People from Uva province have visited Sri Pada along Balangoda-Gawarawila and this foot path is no longer exists). The feeding stream of Upper Gartmore falls and Gartmore Falls origins and flows through the plain.

Gawarawila Plains

I was waiting to visit Gawarawila plains for a long time and Thanuj has invited me to join with them for this journey. It was a newer experience me to go with new friends for a camping trip.
It was a part of long weekend in Sri Pada season and buses were fully loaded. We have reached Hatton town by 4.30am. Our destination is Gartmore estate and there were no direct buses from Hatton to Gartmore estate. First we got a Sami male-Hatton bus (at 6am) and got down at Tea junction to catch first Gartmore bus from Maskeliya.
Gartmore is a beautiful place situated on the other side of Maussakle reservoir. I have been at opposite bank of Maussakle reservoir for waterfall hunting (Gartmore falls and Adam’s Peak Falls). Trail head (6.46402071, 80.33308362) starts from the estate called Frogmore estate which is situated above Gartmore estate. There was an ascend of 320m from bus stand to trail head through tea estate.

Reaching Gartmore estate. Note the bus stand, new line houses and Maussakle reservoir.

Gartmore tea factory.

Trail head can be approached in two directions from Gartmore bus stop. There is a formal mortable route through line houses but distance is more. We followed the shortest route on the other side of the stream, it mainly follows foot pathways through tea bushes.

Starting point and trail head of Gawarawila plains. We followed the road left to the stream.

Sacred peak and accessory peaks were seen in one side and hills surrounding Gawarawila plains were rising in other side. On our way to trail head we have crossed two streams which are responsible in forming upper Gartmore cascades at the edge of Gawarawila Plains. It took about 2 hours to reach the trail head at Frogmore estate from the bus stop.

New friends for travelling: Ishara (left), Ruwan, Thamindu, Darshana, Iresh and Thanuj (right).

Stairs case starts just above the bus stand.

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Sri Pada. Hatton route is seen as a white streak.

Accessory peaks of Sri Pada.

Abounded Carolina estate hills

Hills of Gawarawila was rising in one side like a parapet

Majestic…

Mini break…

The team

Following the foot path through estate

Waterfall with marked height. This must be visited in rainy season to get actual beauty.

Another waterfall

Upper Gartmore cascade

Upper most one of Upper Gartmore cascade

One of the streams we have crossed.

A waterfall made by one of the streams we have crossed.

Frogmore estate

On top of a waterfall

Conventional route to reach the trail head. Note it goes through a lot of line houses.

Foot path through bushes

Foot path lies at the base of this water fall

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View of Maussakle reservoir. Note the bus stand and factory.

Hills surrounding Gawarawila plains.

Team at trail head

Next part of the trail lies through mountainous forest and a clear foot pathway was noted till we reached Gawarawila plains. It has small ascends and descends but basically a flat terrain. We have crossed a significant one stream which gets start from the sub plain of Gawarawila. (Will come to this later). This stream accounts for above mentioned two main waterfalls. Collectively one can call all of them as Upper Gartmore Falls.

Gawarawila Plains and Gawarawila Sub plains in Google map.

Foot pathway was surrounded by Bamboo and Nelu bushes.

The stream gets start from Gawarawila sub plain. It gets a small drop here to form a waterfall.

Other side of the stream.

? බාදුරා

Close up….

Clear foot pathway margined by Nelu bushes.

Clear foot pathway margined by Nelu bushes.

බජිරි

Gawarawila plain is close by.

Reaching Gawarawila Plains.

Gawarawila like a mini Horton plains and surrounded by hills. The water stream flows slowly through the plain and forms Upper Gartmore cascade at the end. As we have reached the plain by 2pm there was enough time to roam around. There were enough camping places closer to the stream. After set the camp we have followed the course of the stream till its end to view the drop of the plain where Upper Gartmore cascade is formed. It was another amazing place where we spent hours till dusk. We were able to view Sri Pada, Yaka Andu Gala, Ballabendigala, Dakinapura mountain and Maussakle reservoir from this view point.

Aerial view of Gawarawila Plains. Note the stream crosses the plain. Whole like structures in the middle of the plain are Gem pits.

Sri Pada is seeing beyond the plain….

At Gawarawila Plains

There were enough camping places closer to the stream.

Weather was so bright and it is a perfect day for camping….

Nothing much to do….

Our camp site. We were the only group for that day.

Cooking time….

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Camp site in distance

Aerial view of the camp site…

Camp site of Gawarawila Plains

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Follow the course of the stream till end

Wild beauties

.	View from the drop: Maussakle reservoir and Dakinapura Mountain

Rest of the view: Sri Pada, Yaka Endu Gala and Ballabendigala

The drop

Snaps at the drop

It’s me…

Flying the drone…

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One of the Upper Gartmore Falls

The view….

Gawarawila Plains, surrounding mountains and Upper Gartmore cascades

Upper Gartmore Falls

Lateral view of Upper Gartmore Falls

The team on top of Upper Gartmore Falls

The team on top of Upper Gartmore Falls

Day 02
Night was cold as we expected and plain was clear with moonlight. Fortunately it was a full moon day. There was no significant sun rise to Gawarawila plains due to surrounding mountains. After the morning tea we have walked parallel to the stream along the plain to explore it. Seems Gawarawila has human involvement for years and years. There were number of gem pits at middle of the plain closer to the stream.

Sun rise over Gawarawila Plains

Enjoying the sun rise

.	Good morning Gawarawila

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Tea time….

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Walking along the plain

Walking along the plain

Walking along the plain

Walking along the plain

Shadows….

View of the camp site

.	The mountain behind Gawarawila plains

Selfie time

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Sri Pada is rising in front of the plain

Sri Pada and Hatton route

Yaka Endu Gala (behind)

Ballabendihela

.	It was a beautiful morning.

After the breakfast we have packed our stuff and said good bye to Gawarawila plain. Return journey happened along the same route and we were able to reach Gartmore bus in late afternoon. It was another memorable camping trip.

Exploring Gawarawila sub plains / ගවරවිල උපතැන්න සොයා යෑම
After I have fallen love with Gawarawila plains, I wanted to see her again. My second visit to Gawarawila plain was happened exactly after one week. We mainly focused on Exploring Gawarawila sub plains.
Gawarawila sub plains is another grassy land situated parallel to Gawarawila plains. But it is smaller than main plain. I have noted this when I examine the map for Gawarawila plains.

Gawarawila Plains and Gawarawila Sub plains in Google map.

Exploring sub plains happened as one day journey. We got Nallathanniya-Colombo bus from Pettah and reached Maskeliya town by 3.30am. Then we got to know the first Gartmore bus starts at 7.30am from Maskeliya. After got breakfast from Nallathanniya junction (there was a nice shop at Nallathanniya junction, but opens at 6am) we hired a three wheel to Gartmore.
It was not a good day for a hike as surrounding was gloomy and misty. We met another group of travelers who are going for camping at Gawarawila plains.

Nuwan and Keshan- This time my partners for the journey.

Gartmore estate

Islands of Maussakle reservoir

Hills covered with mist

Not a good number….

Get blessings from local Gods….

.	Upper Gartmore cascades

.	Upper Gartmore cascades

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Wild berries

Cascades met on our way….

Cascades met on our way….

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Surrounding is getting bit clear

Ascend to Frogmore estate

The view from Maussakle from Frogmore estate

At trail head. Just before enter the forest.

Here onwards we followed the foot pathway to Gawrawila plains and came across the first stream. This stream starts from Gawarawila Sub plain and we had to follow the steam to reach the plain. We followed the stream in it’s right side (later we revealed a clear foot pathway in left side of the stream) and reached a small open area in few hundred meters. Walking along the stream was not that much difficult. This stream was wider than the one we met at Gawarawila plains. Following this small open area we found a foot pathway in left side of the stream and reached a small pond created at the stream. This is a nice place with shallow water. Beyond that Gawarawila sub plain starts

Follow the course of the stream

Reached small open area

Continuing along then stream….

Small pond in the stream

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Gawarwila sub plain is narrow initially and getting wider later. Proportionately the stream becomes smaller with the plain. We were able to notice gem pits (newest ones) at this plain. (More organized sites compared to Gawarawila plains). This might be the reason to have a clear foot pathway in some occasion. Continuation of the Plain was disturbed by the forest in few occasions. Within one and half hours time we were able to reach the end of the plain. The plain ends with a significant drop at a place is a like a mini world’s end. The provincial border (Sabaragamuwa and Central provinces) goes closer to this place. This drop provides the view towards Rathnapura side-Alupola Ella area. But we didn’t have a clear view due to mist.

Entering to the sub plain

Wide stream compared to the plain

It is a narrow plain

Walking along the stream

Walking along the stream

Now stream becomes narrow and plain gets wide

Continuing parallel to the stream

At Gawarawila sub plains

Crystal clear water

More wider part of the plain

.	At Gawarawila sub plains

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It should be careful in walking on the plain due to gem pits

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Gem pits

One of an organized site of Gem mining

Site of gem mining

At the end-Reached to the drop

View from the drop….

View from the drop…. Rathnapura area

It was like a Mini World’s end

We were at the end of sub plains

As weather was not good, we have decided to turn from this point. Actually we had a plan to hike the nearby mountain from this point but it was postponed due to weather condition. Return journey was uneventful and we met another two groups who were on their way for camping at Gawarawila plains.

Good bye Gawarawila sub plains

We have revisited the shallow pool on our way back

The drop makes a small waterfall here

Smiley faces at the end

Thanks for reading

Hortain plains is one of my favorite travel destinations and I have been there number of times through different routes. Camping at Hortain Plains is a different experience than a day time visit of the place. I was waiting to get that experience but first attempt was unsuccessful in July 2019 due to torrential rain we faced. We had to return to HP office from camp site in late evening as there was no difference inside the tent and outside due to rain. Luckily we found a three wheeler to reach Ohiya by 9 pm and spent the night at Ohiya instead of camping.

So I was cautious in planning my second camping attempt due to past memories. Different set of friends joined for camping this time. Updates of weather from Ohiya tell continuous drought over the area during last few months. It was a great relief for us. Two Kasuns, Vinoda and Myself started the journey by Colombo-Badulla night mail from Pettah and reached Haputale by 5.30 am. Our first task of the day was to visit Prabawa Day Mountain view point at Haputale after early morning breakfast. We were successful in this plan and returned to Haputhale by 9.30 am. After buying some necessary things for camping from Haputhale, we got the train to Ohiya.

Luckily weather was excellent and we hired a van as the number of the team was five.

Real journey started from Ohiya. Click credit goes to Vinoda Ranakisha.

MCG 925 reached Ohiya. Click credit goes to Vinoda Ranakisha.

Loitering at Ohiya-Patiya’s shop. Click credit goes to Vinoda Ranakisha.

At Patiya’s shop Ohiya

On our way to Hortain Plains

After finishing necessary documentation at HP wild life office we started to walk to camp site-1.

Towards Camp site-1

Towards camp site-1

Reaching camp site-1

Camp sites of Hortain Plains

There are three camp sites at Hortain plains. Camp site 1, 2 and 3.

Camp sites of Hortain Plains.

Camp site 1 (6.797386, 80.802947)
This is the closest camp site to Hortain plains wild life office. After the red bridge there is a foot path in right hand side to the camp site-1 (6.797633.80, 80.805382). This site is some kind of an isolated place and margined by the stream in three sides. That is the reason to mention it as the best camp site. Real disadvantage of this place is it is getting sun rays in morning quite later.

Camp site 2 and 3
Camp site 2 and 3 are situated next to famous Chimney pool. Therefore it gets attraction of people who walk along the common path. Here camp site 2 is more closer to Chimney pool and 3 is next to camp site 2. There is a foot path between camp site 2& 3 with 1.

Spend the night at Hortain Plains Camp site-1

It was around 2 pm when we reached the camp site-1. This place is like a basin surrounded by hills. A tributary of Belihul Oya runs closer to the camp site. We have pitched our tent and unloaded the stuff we carried. As there nothing much to see  we decided to follow the circular trail to Baker’s falls and Great World’s end.

Camp site-1 is like a basin.

Tributary of Belihul Oya makes a small pool at camp site-1.

Tributary of Belihul Oya passing the camp site-1.

Evening visit to circular trail of Hortain plains

We followed the same foot path from camp site-1 and got back to main track. It was around 4 pm and most of visitors were leaving Hortain Plains. Therefore we were the only group at Hortain plains at that time. (Nobody was there at other camp sites). Chimney Pool, Camp site-2, Leg of Mutton Pool, Baker’s Falls, Great World’s end and Mini World’s end were main attractions of the circular trail. Here we spent much time at Baker’s Falls as it was awesome to be there at evening. As we expected Great World’s end was completely covered with mist when we reached there. It was quite late arrival to camp site with assistance of head torches.

Back to main foot path. Surrounding was misty.

Common finding at HP. But this is a statue.

Follow the circular trail of HP. Click credit goes to Vinoda Ranashika.

Chimney Pool of HP.

At Chimney Pool.

Chimney Pool of HP. This was built by Sir Samuel Baker in view of cultivation of HP.

The team

Aquatic

Small waterfall made at Chimney Pool

At periphery of Chimney Pool. Clicked by Kasun Shanaka.

Back to main path

Camp site-2 situated above Chimney Pool.

A long bridge….

Lonely tree

Gravel road at circular trail

Leg of Mutton Pool

.	Belihul Oya continues it’s journey to form Galagama Falls.

Forest patch

Smiley….

Heading to Baker’s Falls

Baker’s Falls

Baker’s Falls

The author at Baker’s Falls

At Baker’s Falls

Team at Baker’s Falls

Complete picture….

Complete picture….

Baker’s Falls

Baker’s Falls…..Clicked by Kasun Shanaka

At middle of Baker’s falls…… Clicked by Kasun Shanaka

Sun set behind Baker’s Falls- Clicked by Kasun Shanaka

Middle of Baker’s Falls- Clicked by Kasun Shanaka

At Baker’s Falls….Clicked by Kasun Shanaka

Hortain plains is full of uncommon tiny flowers and plants. Look around if you are interest. Can get loads of photos.

Back to trail…..

Different levels….

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At Great World’s end….

At Great World’s end….

This was a new arrival to Hortain plains. It was set above Great World’s end at Nagrak pathway.

This was a new arrival to Hortain plains. It was set above Great World’s end at Nagrak pathway.

Rest of the Circular trek

They are ending another day…..

Chilling night is the unique feature of Hortain Plains camping. As we are not allowed to set camp fire, we had to tolerate it by warm of gas burner and thermal clothes. It is better to get into your thermal clothes before you feel the cold. After preparing dinner we gathered at camp site and had a chat. It was a clear night with almost full moon. Later cold was intolerable to send us back to the tent. The dew was significant at night to make my tent drenched. Nobody was interested in shooting milky way at night as getting up was really hard.

Day 02

It was really hard to get out from the tent even at 6.30 am. As camp site 01 is situated at a basin morning was quite late to the place. I was interested in capturing some scenery with mist and dew. Later sky was brightened and camp site one got enough sun rise to expel the cold.

Quite late sun rise

Dew…..

Mist coming up…..

Quite late arrival of morning…..

Morning tea….

Dew….

Frost on leaves…

Frost on flowers

After a chilling night

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We didn’t have exact plan on that day after finishing camping. Leisurely we packed our stuff following breakfast. It was the blue sky when we were back to nearby hill. Kirigalpoththa and Agra Bopath mountains were clearly seen behind the plain. It was the end of another memorable camping night.

Camp site-1 early morning. This is the toilet and garbage bin.

Camp site-1 at morning.

Camp site-1 at morning.

Camp site-1 at morning

Preparing the breakfast

Successfully prepared easy rice for the breakfast

Breakfast time….

Searching for sun rays…..

Ready to go back

Good bye camp site 01

Brightened sky…..

This is the hill situated on the other side of the stream just behind the campsite

.	Campers…..

Agra Bopath and Kirigalpoththa

Second highest mountain of SL-Kirigalpoththa

Tributary of Belihul Oya

Agra Bopath

Wild life office at Hortain Plains. This was Farlin restaurant earlier.

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Refreshing my memories on Devil Stair case.

After finishing Hortain Plains camping by one and half day, I was thinking how to spend rest of the day in effective manner. Two Kasun and Vinoda said good bye to us from Ohiya as they had to go home early. Here Shashi and Myself decided to go down along Devil’s stair case to refresh our memories. Both of us have been at Devil’s stair case earlier.

There are two ways to reach Devil’s stair case from Ohiya-HP road. A lot of people follow Ohiya-Kalupahana tarred road to reach Devil’s stair case. There is a short cut (6.805629, 80.842300) from Ohiya-Hortain plains road at 26^th km post to join with Devil’s stair case. Actually getting down along this short cut was like another Devil’s stair case. Though I have been at this short cut before, it was first time of Shashi. Once we reached Udaweriya line houses, we followed another short cut and get on to top of Bambarakanda Falls through the Pinus patch. Here police has advised by a notice to not to enter the area due to recent deaths due to fall. Later we reached the observation point of Bambarakanda Fall and ended day with a bath there.

Short cut to Devil’s stair case

Start from Ohiya-HP road

Short cut to Devil’s stair case

Coming out of forest patch

These mountains are margins of HP

This short cut goes through the tea estate

We found short cuts to the short cut. There are foot pathways connecting bends of estate roads.

One of a tea dens

After descend for a while

Where we came…..

Roofless

Mist coming up….

Short cut road joins with the normal road from Ohiya to Kalupahana

First set of line houses

Towards Poor man’s worlds end

හෙල්මළු

Directions mentioned….

Paths at abounded estate

Get connect with tarred road

Bends of Devil stair case

Entering from Ohiya to Udaweriya

.	Familiar pagoda at Udaweriya

Margined by colors

Following another short cut

We didn’t go towards V cut from here.

To Bambarakanda falls through Pinus

Descend to Upper Bambarakanda Falls

At Upper Bambarakanda Falls

.	Bends of Kalupahana Road

Bambarakanda Falls –Highest of Sri Lanka

Bambarakanda Falls

Bambarakanda Falls

Base pool of Bambarakanda Falls

End of the day

Thanks for reading

ලංකා සිතියමේ මැද පිහිටා ඇති ලෙස දැවැන්ත වනාන්තර ප්‍රදේශයක් සලකුණු කොට ඇත. එය ඔබ අප දන්නා සමනල රක්ෂිතයයි. එලෙසම නැගෙනහිර කොටස හෝටර් නැත්ත වන පියසයි. බැලූ බැල්මට එකම වනරොදක් ලෙස පිහිටා ඇති මෙම ප්‍රදේශ දෙක තුළ පවතින්නේ එකිනෙකට වෙනස් තත්ත්වයන් වේ. සමනල රක්ෂිතය දැවැන්ත ශාක හා ජෛව විවිධත්ව​ෙයන් පිරි ප්‍රදේශයක් වන අතර හෝර්ටන්තැන්න ඊට හාත්පසින්ම වෙනස් ශාක සම්භවයක් හා කාලගුණික රටාවක් පිරි ප්‍රදේශයකි. අද අපේ ක්‍රියාදාමයට සම්බන්ධ ප්‍රදේශය නම් මේ දෙකටම අතරමැදිව පිහිටි බොගවන්තලාව නම් ඉසව්වයි. පසෙකින් හෝර්ටන්තැන්නත් පසෙකින් සමනල රක්ෂිතයත් පෙනෙන සුන්දර බවේ අගතැන්පත් ප්‍රදේශයකි. එහි සැඟව තිබූ මෙතෙක් සංචාරක ආකර්ෂණයට හසු නොවූ හරිත කන්ද (Green Mountain/ Haritha Kanda) සොයා අපි පියමැන්නේ එහි ගිය අත​ෙළාස්සකගෙන් කෙනෙක් වූ පුද්ගලයකුගෙන් ලද තොරතුරු මතය.

කොළඹ සිට හයිලෙවල් පාරේ අවිස්සාවේල්ලට පැමිණ පසුව හැටන් පාරේ කරවනැල්ල ගිනිගත්හේන පසුකොට හැටන් වෙත ළඟා විය හැක. පසුව හැටන් සිට බලංගොඩ මාර්ගයේ එනම් සමනල රක්්ෂිතයත් හෝර්ටන්තැන්නත් වෙන් කරන වනගත මාර්ගයට ප්‍රවිෂ්ඨ විය යුතුය. එහිදී අප යා යුත්තේ බොගවන්තලාව නගරයටය. නගරබද තරමක් ජනාකීර්ණ වුවද සෙසු පරිසරය පුරාවට දක්නට ලැබෙන්නේ තේ යායක් පමණි. තේ නිෂ්පාදනයට මධ්‍යම කඳුකරය ඉතා ප්‍රචලිත වෙන අතර බොගවන්තලාව තේ සඳහා ද විශාල ඉල්ලුමක් පවතියි. සමනොලගිර පෙනෙන මානයේ පිහිටි මෙම සුන්දර ඉසව්ව කහෙල්ගමු ඔය සහ සෙසු ජල උල්පත් දිය දහරාවන්ගෙන් පිරුණු ප්‍රදේශයකි. මගදෙපස අහස් ගව්ව ගෑවෙන තීරයට උස් වූ විසල් කඳු මුදුන් රැසක් මේ යනෙන මාර්ගයේ දැක ගත හැකි අතර අහිංසක ගැමි සුවඳින් මුදු වූ වතු කම්කරුවන්ගේ සිනාවත් ලහි ලහියේ තේ දළු නෙළන ලලනාවන්ගේ කොමලයත් දකිමින් අප බොගවන්තලාවට පැමිණෙන විට වෙලාව උදේ 8 පමණ විය. පසුව බොගවාන වතුයාය අසලින් අප බසයෙන් බැස ගත්තේ එම කුඩා මාර්ගයේ බසයකට යාමට අපහසු හෙයිනි.

අප යා යුතු ස්ථානය පිහිටියේ බෝපත්තලාව නම් ප්‍රදේශයේ ජාතික පශු සම්පත් (NLDB) ගොවිපොළ ආසන්නයේය. එම නිසාම ගොවිපොළ වෙත ළඟාවෙන සම්මත මාර්ගය වනුයේ ඩයගම, ආගරපතන හරහා ගොවිපොළ අසලටම ඇති බස් රථ මාර්ගයයි. නමුත් අපගේ ගමන අප බොගවන්තලාව හරහා පැමිණියේ ප්‍රදේශයේ සුන්දරත්වය දැකීමටත් හරිත කන්දට ප්‍රථම තවත් කුඩා කඳු ගැටයක් තරණය කිරීමටත් ඇති හෙයිනි. මෙහිදී අපට බොගවන්තලාව ආශ්‍රිත කිසිදු ප්‍රදේශයකට හරිත කන්ද දැක ගත නොහැක. මන්ද එය පිහිටියේ බොගවාන වතුයාය කෙළවර පිහිටි කඳු වැටිය උඩ වන හෙයිනි.

Nameboard on Bogawanthalawa Pinnawala road

Please adhere to this

Estate Factory

Area Map

Water is worth above Gem

Tea over the estate

Beauties

We should go near to this mountain

Estate houses

Path to the Asst Manager bungalow

Estate name

This is true

This was taken at the begnning

Valley of mountains

චිරි චිරියේ ගලන දිය දහරාවන් රාශියක් අපට හමුවුණු අතර විටින් විට ඈත කඳුන් මුදුන් වෙලාගන්නා මීදුම නිසා ඇතැම් ඉසව් හඳුනාගැනීමට අපහසු විය. වතුයායේ කෙළවර පිහිටි සහකාර කළමනාකරුගේ බංගලාවට පිටුපසින් පිහිටි අඩි පාර දිගේ ගොස් නැවතත් තේ යායකට ඇතුළු වීමට සිදුවිය.

පසුව අපට කුඩා කඳු ගැටයක් තරණය කිරීමට සිදුවිය. එය තරමක් ලිස්සන සුලු වූ නමුත් අඩි මාර්ගය ක්‍රමවත්ව තිබූ නිසා වැඩි අපහසුවක් නොවීය. සිග්සැග් ක්‍රමයට එම කඳු ගැටය නගින්නට වූ අතර එකා පිටුපස එකා පැමිණීම ගමනේ සුන්දරත්වය වැඩි කරන ලදී. ගල් තලාව පුරාවට දිය සීරාවන් කඩාවැටෙන්නට වු අතර අඩහෝරාවකට පමණ පසු එම කඳු ගැටයේ ඉහළට අප පැමිණියෙමු. ඉහළට පැමිණෙත්ම අප දුටු දසුනින් විස්මයට පත්වූයේ හරිත කන්දේ සුන්දර පිහිටීම නෙත් අදහා ගත නොවූ හෙයිනි. කොළ වර්ණයෙන් යුත් කන්ද තනිවම බෝපත්තලාව පතන මත නැගී සිටින මහා යෝධයකු බඳු විය. හරිත වර්ණ ආ​ෙල්ප කරන ලද කන්දේ ඇතැම් ස්ථානවල දැවැන්ත කළු ගල් තලා විය. ත්‍රිකෝණාකාර ලෙස පතන උඩ තිබෙන මෙම කන්ද ඉදිරියේ තැන්නක් බඳු ප්‍රදේශයකි. තවද අප සිටින ස්ථානයට වම් පසින් හරිත කන්දත් දකුණු පසින් පාත්තරගල හා ආශ්‍රිත අවශේෂ කඳු ගැට කිහිපයක් වේ. ඉතාමත්ම විවෘත ස්ථානයක් වූ හෙයින් අප අසලින් මීදුම් සළු පවා එහා මෙහා දුවන්නට විය. බොගවන්තලාව හා සමනලගිර ප්‍රදේශ මීදුමෙන් වැසී තිබෙන අතර අඩි මාර්ගය දිගේ තව තවත් ඉදිරියට ඇදුණු අප වම් පස පිහිටි හරිත කන්ද දෙසට ගියේ අප විසින්ම මාර්ගය තනාගෙනය. මෙහිදී දකූණු පසින් තිබෙන අඩිමාර්ගය ඍජුවම ගොවිපොළ වෙත යන්නක් බැවින් ඒ දෙසට යාමෙන් වැලකී සිටියෙමු.

බැලූ බැල්මට හරිත කන්ද පහළ සිට ඉහළට නැගීම පහසු කටයුත්තක් ලෙස පෙනුනද එය හෝරාවක් පමණ වැය වන අවදානම් පිරි ලිස්සන සුලු ගමනකි. ඇතැම් ස්ථානවල ඔබට කන්ද හා ශරීරය අතර අංශක 40 ක පමණ ආනතියක් තබා ගැනීමට සිදුවේ. කෙසේ හෝ හරිත කන්ද පාමුල පිහිටි තණ බිස්සේ සියල්ලන්ටම වාඩිවී විවේකයක් ගැනීමට සිදුවේ. කෙසේ හෝ හරිත කන්ද පාමුල පිහිටි තණබිස්සේ සියල්ලන්ම වාඩීවී විවේකයක් ලබා ගත්තේ දුෂ්‍කර කඳු තරණය පටන් ගැනීමටයි. ඉදිරිපස පිහිටි පාත්තර ගලත් ඊට යාබදව වම්පැත්තෙන් පිහිටි කුඩා කඳු ගැටයත් වෘත්තාකාර කුඩා කඳු ගැටයත් පිහිටි ප්‍රදේශය ඉතාමත් අන්තරාදායක බව අපට එහිදී හමුවුණු ගම්වැසියකු පවසන ලදී. එනම් ඒ අවට පොළඟුන් බහුල ලෙස වාසය කරන බවයි. තවද පසෙකින් පිහිටි තැන්න සුන්දර පතනක් ලෙස තිබුණද එය මඩ සහිත එරෙන සුළු ප්‍රදේශයක් බැවින් එම ප්‍රදේශයට නොයන ලෙසට ඔහු අපට තවදුරටත් පැවසීය. කෙසේ හෝ අප නඩය හරිත කන්ද නැගීමට පටන් ගන්නා ලදී. කන්ද නැගීමේදී අපට පැහැදිලි ලෙස දැකගත හැකි කොටස් 3 කින් කන්ද යුතු වේ. ඒ අතර කළු ගල් තලා ඇති අතර ඇතැම් ස්ථානවලින් දිය සීරාවන් ගලා හැලෙයි. කෙසේ හෝ ගමන පටන් ගෙන මීටර් 50 ක් යාමට පෙර නඩයේ පිරිසට පොළඟකු දැක ගත හැකි විය. ගල්තලාව උඩ සිටි පොළඟාව අප හෙමිහිට ගල් කුට්ටි අතරට යැව්වේ කිසිවකුටත් අනතුරක් සිදුවීමට ඇති ඉඩකඩ නැති කරමිනි.

Tea, everywhere

Foot path along the Rocky plain

Tigers are there

Path is clear

Rain was there yesterday

Beauties

We were started

Small streams

Origin from the Haritha Kanda

Asst Manager Bungalow

Path Beyond the bungalow

Surrounding environment

Mist is coming

Where we came from

Entered to the plain

There are lot in here

කන්ද පුරාවට උසින් අඩු මාන පඳුරු වැවී තිබුණු අතර ඒ මතින් කන්ද නැගීම පහසු විය. නමුත් අපි පොළඟුන් පිළිබඳ දැඩි අවධානයකින් පසු වූයෙමු. කෙසේ හෝ නඩය විසිරෙමින් කන්ද නැගීමට විය. ඇතැම්හු බඩගාමින්ද කන්ද නැග ගත් බව අපගේ කැමරා කාචවලට හසු විය. තවද බොගවන්තලාවේ සිට අප පැමිණි ප්‍රදේශය එකම සුදු රෙද්දක් වැනි විය. සුදුපාට මීදුමෙන් මුළු ප්‍රදේශයම වැසී ගොසිනි. අපට දක්නට තිබුණේ හෝර්ටන්තැන්න වන පියසත් එහි වූ ලංකාවේ උසින් දෙවැනි හා සිව්වැනි තැන ගන්නා කිරිගල්පොත්ත හා ආග්‍රාබෝපත් කඳුවිය. මීදුම් සළු එහෙ මෙහෙ වන විට අප යන්තමින් අඹේවෙල සුළං පෙති යන්ත්‍ර, පිදුරුතලාගල කන්ද, ග්‍රේට්වෙස්ටර්න් කන්ද, ඩෙල් කන්ද සහ උඩරදැල්ල, ඇල්බැද්ද කඳු වැටි හා ආශ්‍රිත ප්‍රදේශ දැක ගත හැකි විය.

හරිත කන්ද ගූගල් සිතියමේ (Google Maps) බලා ගැනීමට නම් 6.814130.80.694738 කේතය එහි සොයන්න. එවිට ඔබට මාර්ගය හා ආශ්‍රිත වටපිටාව ගැන දළ අදහසක් ගත හැක. කෙසේ හෝ නඩය දැඩි දුෂ්කරතා මැද ක්‍රමයෙන් කන්දේ ඉහළටම ළඟා වීමට ආසන්න වූයේ දහවල් යාමය පසුවන විටය. කන්දට පිටුපසින් පිහිටියේ හෝටර්ටන් තැන්නයි. හෝර්ටන්තැන්න පටන් ගත්තේ එතැන සිටය. හරිත වනාන්තරයත් කිලෝමීටර් ගණනක් ඈතට පෙනෙන අතර හරිත කන්ද ඉතාමත්ම සුන්දර හා නොඉඳුල් ලෙස පිහිටා තිබුණේ ඒ සියලුම දෑ සමගිනි. කන්ද නගින ඉසව්වට දකුණු පසින් පිහිටියේ කන්දේ බෑවුමය. එයද හරිත පැහැගෙන අලංකාරව තිබුණද පය ලිස්සා වැටුණහොත් මරණය නියත යන තරම් හෙළ ගැඹුරු විය.

කෙසේ හෝ සියල්ලෝම හරිත කන්ද මුදුනට නැග ගත්හ. කැමරා කාචවලට නම් විවේකයක් නොවූයේ ලහි ලහියේ අවට සුන්දරත්වය ඡායාරූපයකට ගන්නා පිරිසක් සිටි හෙයිනි. කන්ද උඩ අප සියල්ලන්ටම රාත්‍රි කඳවුරු බැඳීමට තරම් ඉඩකඩ නොවූ නිසා ගොවිපොළ ආසන්නයට එක පේළියට වැටී තිබෙන පයිනස් ගස් අසළ කඳවුරු බැඳීමට අපි තීරණය කළෙමු. යන්තමින් කූඩාරමක් දෙකක් ගසාගෙන කන්ද උඩ සිටීමට හැකි වුවත් අධික සීතල හා සැඩ සුළං ප්‍රවාහය කූඩාරමට ඔරොත්තු දීමට අධික බව සිතුණි. තවද රාත්‍රියේ මෙහි පැමිණෙන ගෝනුන්, දිවියන්ගේ පහසු බව නිසා අනතුරුදායක විය හැක. හෝරාවකට අධික කාලයක් කඳු මුදුනේ සැරි සැරූ පසු අප නැවත කන්ද බැසීමට පටන් ගත්තෙමු. මෙහිදී ගල්තලාව සහිත ප්‍රදේශ ලිස්සනසුලු බැවින් යුක්ත වීම නිසා සියල්ලෝම දැඩි අවධානයෙන් පසු විය.

Enjoying the beauty

Climbing it

The small tree where we entered to the Plain

Plain and small mountains

Chatting and Hiking

Entire beauty

Misty

Our path was covered by Mist

Bopaththalawa Plain

Haritha Kanda

Environment

Few more to the top

This is a small rock bed but, there are lot of snakes

Mist over the plain

Beautiful Plain and nearby

Paththara Gala Rock, remeber there are snakes

Forest Patch

Almost at the top

Over Bogawanthalawa

Akila is enjoying the climb

Climbing more

Greeny

Otherside Peak, Paththara Gala

Mist over the top

Other side of the peak

Foot path

කෙසේ හෝ කන්ද බැසගත් පසු ගොවිපොළට යන අඩි මාර්ගය දිගේ එදෙසට ගමන් කළෙමු. මීදුම සමග යන්තමින් අඳුර වැටීමට තිබූ හෙයින් විගසට අපි ඒදෙසට ඇදෙන්නට වීමු. එම මාර්ගය දැඩි ලෙස මඩ හා වගුරුවලින් යුක්ත විය. ඇතැම් ස්ථානවලට ලී කොට දමා තිබුණද ගමන් කිරීමට දැඩි අපහසුවූයේ මඩ නෑමට සිදුවූ හෙයිනි. මෙහිදී අපට හරිත කන්දේ සුන්දර සම්පූර්ණ වපසරියම දැක ගත හැකි වුණි. තවද පාත්තරගල හා අවට කඳු ගැට අසලින් බෝපත්තලාව මායිමේ වැටගසා තිබුණි. තවද අප පොළඟුන් පිළිබඳවත් අවධානයෙන් ගියේ පයේ එල්ලෙන කූඩැල්ලන්ද අතින් ඉවත් කරමිනි.

සවස 6 පමණ වන විට කතිකා කරගත් පරිදි පයිනස් ගස් අසලට අපි පැමිණියෙමු. එහිදී අපට යම් ගැටලුවකට මුහුණ දීමට සිදුවූයේ ගොවිපොළට යන මාර්ගයේ සිට පයිනස් ගස් අසලට මඩ වගුරු සහිත ප්‍රදේශයකින් මාර්ගය සාදා ගෙන යාමට සිදුවීමයි. කෙසේ හෝ අපගේ පැමිණීම පිළිබඳව ගොවිපොළේ සහකාර කළමනාකාරතුමන් දැනුවත් කළ පසු ඔහු විසින් අපට යම් උපදෙස් ලබා දුණි.

Path to the Manik Palama

Going to the NLDB

Full range of Haritha Kanda

Full range of Haritha Kanda

Close to the farm

Entered to the area belongs to the NLDB

NLDB Premises

Cows

Their homes

Feeding point

Cows	Farm premises

There were many

Milk point

There weer more than 600

Cows more and more

The Big Boss

The Team

කෙසේ හෝ අප ගොවිපොළ දෙසට ගියේ එය නැරඹීමට පැමිණෙන ලෙස සහකාර කළමනාකාරතුමන් කළ ආරාධනාව අනුවය. බෝපත්තලාව ගොවිපොළ යනු දැවැන්ත ගොවිපොළකි. ඉතාමත් පිරිසිදුව ක්‍රමානුකූල ලෙස සම්මත තත්ත්වයන් යටතේ මෙහි සිටින එළදෙනුන් හයසියයකට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් කිරි ගැනීමේ කටයුතු සිදු කරයි. ඇතැම් එළදෙනුන් ඇතුන් තරමට විශාල උන් විය. කෙසේ හෝ ගොවිපොළේ කාර්යයන් සිදුවන ආකාරයත් එළදෙනුන් සහ උන්ගේ චර්යා රටාවන් දැක බලා ගැනීමටත් අපට වාසනාව හිමිවුණි. අප සිටි පරිසරයට කිසිදු හානියක් නොවන ලෙස හැසිරුණු හෙයින් කිසිදු අපද්‍රව්‍යක් ඒ අවට නොවීය. පසුව අපි නැවතත් ආ මගේම යමින් කන්ද බැසීමට පටන් ගත්තෙමු. බෝපත්තලාවේ හරිත කන්ද තෙදවත්ව ලෙස නැගී සිටියි. යන්තමින් කඳු මුදුන පැටලුණු මීදුම් සළු කිහිපයක් හැරුණු විට සෙසු ප්‍රදේශ පැහැදිලිව දැක ගත හැකි විය. නැවතත් බස් රථය කරා පැමිණි අපි දිවා ආහාරය ගෙන කිතුල්ගල කැලණි ගං කොමලිය අසබඩින් කොළොම්තොට බලා පිටත් වුණෙමු.

Online Article – http://www.lankadeepa.lk/thaksalawa/ෙගා්නුන්-දිවියන්-මැද-හරිත-කන්දේ-ගෙවූ-රැයක්/55-516743

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Sobasiri Team ©

සති තුනක වගේ කාලයක් තුල සංවිධානය වුනු අපගේ මෙම වැඩසටහන අපි හිතුවටත් වඩා හොදට සාර්ථක වුනා. උතුම් ගෞතම ශ්‍රී පාදස්ථානයට සහ සමනල වනපෙතට ආදරය කරන පිරිසක් ලෙස මෙම එකමුතුව හරහා එකතු වුනු අපි ලබන සතියේ පොහොය දිනෙන් එළඹෙන 2019/2020 සිරිපා වාරය උදෙසා අපෙන් යමක් කිරීමට කතිකාවක් ගොඩ නැගුනු හෙයින් අප විවිධ මුලාශ්‍ර හරහා අපිට කරන්න පුළුවන් සුදුසුම සහ පලාදයිම වැඩේ මොකද්ද කියලා හොයද්දි තමයි අපිට කුරුවිට එරත්න මාර්ගයේ පවතින මුලික පහසුකම් වැඩි දියුණු කිරීම සහ ශ්‍රමදානයක් සිදු කිරීමට අදහස ජනිත වුනේ. මේ සඳහා අප නිවැරදි ලෙස රාජ්‍ය අංශ හරහා පැමිණිය යුතු නිසාවෙන් අපගේ සහයට ශ්‍රීපාද සේවා මහජන සෞඛ්‍ය පරීක්ෂක ප්‍රදීප් මහතා හා සම්බන්ද වීමට ලැබුනා. ඔහු හරහා අප මෙම මාර්ගයේ වගකීම ඇති කුරුවිට ප්‍රාදේශීය මහා ලේකම් කාර්යාලය දැනුවත් කරමින් මෙම මර්ගයට අවශ්‍යම දේවල් ටික කරන්න අපි සුදානම් වුනා. එහිදී අපි මුලික වශයෙන් පහත ක්‍රියාවන් සිදු කිරීමට තීරණය කෙරුණා.

1. සියලුම අම්බලම් සුද්ද පවිත්‍ර කිරීම සහ තීන්ත ආලේපනය
2. සියලුම අම්බලම් වල සහ ස්ථාන 15ක කසල බඳුන් 3 බැගින් ස්ථාපනය කිරීම
3. සිරිපා කරුණාව සහ පාරිසරික දැනුවත් කිරීමේ පුවරු 10ක් පිහිටුවීම
4. සමස්ත මාර්ගයේම ඇති නොදිරන ප්ලාස්ටික් පොලිතින් වැනි දෑ එකතු කර පවිත්‍ර කිරීම
5. අම්බලම් අවට පාලම් කොඩි එල්ලීම

මේකි කරුණු කාරණා සිදු කිරීමට අපට අවශ්‍ය ප්‍රධානතම දේ වුනේ මුදල්. කෙසේ හෝ තුන් වරක් පමණක් සමුහය තුල මතක් කරමින් අපට හැකි වුනා ඒ අභියෝගය ජයගන්න. දැනුවත් කිරීමේ පුවරු සඳහා අපට පුර්ණ අනුග්‍රහය ලබා දුන්නේ HHCO Helmet ආයතනයයි. ඔවුන් රු.60,000 ක මුදලක් ලබා දෙමින් එම පුවරු 10 අපට සුදානම් කරගැනීමට හැකියාව ලැබුනා. පසුව අපගේ ලොකුම වියදම වුයේ කසල බඳුන් 45, කෙසේ හෝ අපගේ වාසනාවට මෙම කාලය නිසා පවතී වට්ටම් හේතුවෙන් රු.142,800 ක් වටිනා අඩි දෙකහමාරක් උස ලීටර් 100 සහ 120 කසල බඳුන් 45ම අපට 39%ක පමණ වට්ටමක් සහිතව මිලදී ගැනීමට ලැබුනා. බොහෝ දෙනෙක් අපට අවශ්‍ය මුල්‍යමය සහයෝගය ලබා දුන්නා.

People are gathering

They were from all over the country

Participants (1)

Participants (2)

Participants (3)

Items are ready to move

Divisional Secretariet of Kuruvita delivering her speech

I am addressing the crew

She was help to take all permissions

Explaining the team requirement

The Head Team

Teams with their Work files (1)

මීට අමතරව පහත ද්‍රව්‍යමය ආධාරත් අපිට ලැබුනා.

Fillar තීන්ත ලීටර් 40ක් සහ පින්සල් 2ක් by Harinda Ranasinghe
පින්සල් 4ක් Akalanka Samarasekara
Large Size Garbage Bags 500ක් by (දුන්නු කෙනාගේ නම නොදනී)
Large Size Garbage Bags 100ක් by Shakila Shehan
පාලම් කොඩි 23ක් by Anu N Dilshan

ඒ වගේම අපි සවි කරපු පුවරු 3කට අදාල උඩවැඩියා මල්, සර්පයෝ සහ උරගයින් සහ අනෙක් සතුන් ගැන විස්තර සියල්ල සහ චායාරුප ලබාදුන් Gayan Prasanga අයියටත් ස්තුතියි.

මේ බදු ඔක්කොම පටවාගෙන සෙනසුරාදා පාන්දර මොරටුවේ ඉදන් අඩවි කන්දටම Free Transport ලබා දුන්නේ Kumara Kapurubandara විසින්.

මේ දේවල් මේ අයුරින් වෙද්දී ඊළඟට අපිට තිබ්බ ලොකුම අවශ්‍යතාවය තමයි වැඩේ කරන්න පිරිසක් ඕනා. කොහොම හරි සෙනසුරාදා උදේ 9 වෙනකොට අඩවි කන්දේ හිටියා ලංකාවේ එක එක පැති වලින් ආපු මේකේ ඉන්න කොල්ලෝ කෙල්ලෝ 100 කට ආසන්න පිරිසක්. ඒ අයව අපි අම්බලම් වලට බෙදල එයාලට නියමිත බදු ටික දී දී අපි පිටත් කළා 60කට වැඩි පිරිසක්. පස්සේ බෝඩ් ටික ගෙනියන්න තව 20 දෙනෙක්ව වගේ පිටත් කළා අදාල තැන ගැන කියමින්. ඊටත් අමතරව බෝඩ් සවි කරන්න සහ අමතර වැඩ වලටත් තව 12ක් වගේ හිටියා. උදේ අපි වැඩට පිටත් වෙන්න කලින් කුරුවිට ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් තුමිය, සහකාර ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් නිහාල් මහතා, PHI ප්‍රදීප් කුමාරසිංහ මහතා,ග්‍රාම නිලධාරී මහතා පැමිණ පොඩි කතාවක් එහෙමත් තියලා නිල වශයෙන් අපේ වැඩ කරන්න සම්පුර්ණ අවසරය දුන්නා.

අපි වැඩේ කරපු හැටි වින්ද දුෂ්කරතා ඒ සියල්ල ගැන අපි කියනවට වඩා පහසුයි ඔයාලා වාරේ එරත්න පාරෙන් යද්දී දකීවි, එකෙන් ඔයාලට තේරේවි අපේ සෙට් එක කාපු කට්ට. සෙනසුරාදා දවල් 12 ඉදන් පටන් ගත්ත වැස්ස රෑ 9 වෙනකන් විතර තිබ්බා, බදු අරන් අපේ සෙට් එකට සීත ගඟුල පනින්න බැරිව පැයක් විතර හිටිය. පස්සේ අනිත් ටීම් එකෙත් සහය එක්ක කට්ටිය එගොඩ වුනා. කොහොමහරි එක එක ජාතියේ අත්දැකීම් ලබමින් ඉරිදා හවස 3 වෙනකොට ඔක්කොම වැඩ ටික ඉවර කළා. පස්සේ ගල්වන්ගෙඩිය ඉඳන් ම එක්ක තව දෙන්නෙක් එකින් එක Check කරමින් පල්ලම් බැස්සා උදේ ඉඳන්. රෑ 7 වනකොට අන්තිම කණ්ඩායම විදිහට අපිත් අඩවි කන්දට ළඟ වෙලා අපේ වැඩසටහන සාර්ථක ලෙස අවසන් කළා.

Teams with their Work files (2)

Teams with their Work files (3)

Teams with their Work files (4)

Teams with their Work files (5)

This is how they carried heavy items

This is how they carried heavy items

This is how they carried heavy items

This is how they carried heavy items

This is how they carried heavy items

This is how they carried heavy items

This is how they carried heavy items

Bins

With Erathna Siripa Service PHI

Fixing the first board at the trail head at PHI office

Fixed the first board at the trailhead at PHI office

Its fixed

Ready to go

Cleaning of Jambolagahayata Ambalama

Cleaning of Jambolagahayata Ambalama

Cleaning of Jambolagahayata Ambalama

Cleaning of Jambolagahayata Ambalama

Fixing the Second board at Jambolagahayata Ambalama

The Second board at Jambolagahayata Ambalama

Raining start at the beginning

Walking further

Walking further

Walking further with their work files

Cleaning of Dimondgala Ambalama

Cleaning of Dimondgala Ambalama

Cleaning of Dimondgala Ambalama by these university students who came to support us

Cleaning of Dimondgala Ambalama by these university students who came to support us

Cleaning of Dimondgala Ambalama

Cleaning of Dimondgala Ambalama

Cleaned Dimondgala

Fixing of Third board at Dimondgala

Its fixed

Beautiful Dimondgala

We are leaving from DS crew at Warnagala Ambalama

Fixing of the Fourth board at Warnagala Ambalama

Fixing of the Fourth board at Warnagala Ambalama

Great Western Grama Niladari Madusanka with Kuruwita Divisional Secretariet team

Its fixed

Hard Working

Fifth board at Rata Balana Gala (2)

Its Fixed

Cleaning of Seetha Gagula Ambalama

Crossing Seetha Gagula

Crossing Seetha Gagula

Crossing Seetha Gagula with the Sixth board

Fixing of the Sixth Board

Its Fixed

Cleaning of Seetha Gagula Ambalam

Cleaning of Seetha Gagula Ambalam

Cleaning of Seetha Gagula Ambalam

Cleaning of Seetha Gagula Ambalam

Hanging the Flags at Seetha Gagula

Hanging the Flags at Seetha Gagula

Hanging the Flags at Seetha Gagula

Set of a team at Seetha Gagula

Hanging Flags from Seetha Gagula to Warnagala

Hanging Flags from Seetha Gagula to Warnagala

Seetha Gagula Ambalama