his is a special report on hot water springs of Sri lanka. This was a very tempting topic which made it so irresistible that I ended up visiting almost all of these remarkable sites in a short period. The hot lakdasun forum post was indeed my greatest guide on this venture. I would be adding few details on some hot water springs I visited during the past few years for the sake of completeness. Here are the documented hot water springs in Sri lanka.

So the Monsoons seem to be arriving after almost two years and the first few showers were enough to give life to many waterfalls around Badulla district. My main focus was to reach some undocumented waterfalls close to Ella and enjoy all the seasonal beauties along Ella – Wellawaya road, Beragala – Wellawaya road & Haputale – Beragala road. Please do relish this fiesta but keep in mind when you are venturing around these areas to avoid heavy showers because these areas are known for landslides

The first time I saw this majestic twin peak range was in 2009 and soon after seen it I attempted twice and ended up with failures. I have never failed twice but as one says failures show you the path to success. Let me start with a statement I did many years back “”***I will attempt to finish what i started, Imagination can take you to extremes sometimes ”” (check the last sentence). After five years of thriving the day I looked forward came. Gommolli has two peaks one been Gommolli peak (2034m) and the other was Balathoduwa (2012m).

Sailing in yacht was once a fantasy but out of nowhere I got a wonderful opportunity which I couldn’t resist. The Dolphin season at Trincomalee was coming to an end so the whale watching luxury yacht was migrating towards Mirissa. Amila called me and gave me the news but I had to take 3 days of leave in middle of the week and getting to Trincomallee or Passikudha was not feasible. I didn’t want to let this opportunity fly by so I decided to join them from Arugam bay.

The famous scenic hike from Kalupahana to Ohiya was one I wanted to do for a while and as usual this was decided within few hours. On the previous day we hiked Gommolliya and were spending the night at Bambarakanda rest relaxing and watching the football world cup. Since our Sunday plan was to return back to our homes we decided to alter it and do this hike. Bambarakanda rest which is managed by Mrs. Mayakaduwa is located 4km’s from Kalupahana so we had 20 more Km’s to get to Ohiya.

Hanthana is one of the well-known hiking destinations in Sri Lanka especially among university students. There are two points named Hanthana 1 & 2. Altogether there are about seven peaks, Hanthana 2 comprise of first and second peaks with towers which we had to skip due to permission issues. Rest of the range belongs to Hanthana 1 where the highest peak of Katusu kanda (Ura kanda) is located. This mountain range located in Central Sri Lanka lies right in the center of the central hills and been isolated by all other prominent peaks make it one of the best view points of central highlands.

Gombaniya is a mountain range and is located on the western border of Knuckles conservation its vegetation is almost similar to Horton plains because of its high altitude. The mountain could be reached from Rathnatenna (Alakolle estate) or Nelummale watta (Kabaragala side). The shorter but complex route is Rathnatenna side.

This was a journey I did more than a year ago and my focus was on some places close to Mahiyangana and Bibile – Medagama. On an overcast day I took a bus towards Padiyathalawa from Bibile and again took a bus towards Mahiyanganaya. Just before Wewatta temple there was a road to the left with Uva province tourism notice board directing towards Murungagala Archaeology site.

It was one of those random weekends and I didn’t have any scheduled places to visit so I headed towards Badarawela. It was almost 1pm when I got down at Halpe and my first place of interest was Gangarama temple. Though the Uva tourist board had put up a notice board, this temple didn’t have any historical importance. Next target was Yahalamaditta temple.

This was a once in a life time trip and I wanted it to be a spectacular one. When one is in a romantic mood its always best to stay close to mother nature and far away from the busy world. This is what we did in our little paradise nation within 10 days. So let the pictures say our story. Our first and second day of relaxation was at Back of beyond Kahandamodara. This was absolutely the paradise we searched for. Two days of perfect harmony with many activities to pass ones time like boat rides in lagoons, cycling and etc. Thanks Yohan for building such a lovely place. The staff was simply the best; you don’t get good guys like them at 5 start hotels.

A mid-week holiday tempted me to explore somewhere close to Monaragala and Wadina hela of Wellawaya which was on top of my list was my target. Within a day I found two colleagues working in the same province willing to join me on this venture but we couldn’t find a guide in time. So we decided to get to the village and find someone on the next day. This peak is one of those prominent peaks marked on each road map and it has a superb 360 view. The best thing is this 560m mountain gives one of the best views towards the south and south east slopes of the central hills.

Every university has its favourite destination and this time I picked one of those places for a change. Been a Colombo Uni guy our favourite destination was the western coastal line other universities like Peradeniya has Hanthana range, Uva Wellassa has Namunukula & Sabaragamuwa has Adara kanda. As usual I searched for literature on the web but found nothing convincing about “adara kanda” though there were many images of Sabaragamuwa university students hiking in hundreds. So the best way to get more info is to explore it ourselves.