The map of waterfall locations of Kalu ganga (Knuckles). Map is in approximate scale (Click Image to enlarge).

A night at Doovili falls,Kalupahana, one of my greatest dreams comes true

We started our journey from Katubedda at about 11.00pm in the night. The crew was seven. We reached Colombo Fort at 12.00 am by bus. Then we took the Kandy bus and reached Kandy by 4.40am. By 7.30am we were at Bambarella village. On the way we passed a lot of beautiful waterfalls and nice sceneries. Rahas ella, Hulu ganga falls, A fall near Hathale tea estate and Two falls near Hagalla estate are some of them. Unfortunately bus was moving fast and I couldn’t able get least one clear photograph of them. I think Hulu ganga create more than hundred waterfalls in Bambarella, Panwila, Wattegama area.

The bus we came at Tawalamthanne bus halt. We met the forest ranger there. He gave some instructions for our hike.	At the start of the hike we had a nice scenic view of “Jodu ella” which is created by a tributary of Hulu ganga.
Another nice stream we met at the start.	Entrance to the Tea estate. There is an access route along Lebanon estate vehicle track. This is a short cut at the begining.
Early in the Morning………..	Jodu ella cascades………….
Entrance to the Rathanagiriya estate.	Entrance to the Rathanagiriya estate.
Little rest for the Breakfast….	Life is not easy………………………..
The last “Dalu maduwa”. Vehicle track ends here.	The mist…We were invited in to the jungle.

Stay closer to each other…………..

On the way we couldn’t see anything around us. We were totally covered by the mist. But leeches and rain meant that we were not alone. After one hour we entered the jungle.

Only a moment……………

Another moment…………….

එනසාල් (Cardamom) occupies significant space in lower layer of the jungle. There were lots of foot paths through cardamom bushes. Main path was also through cardamom bushes. Keep your eyes wide open. If you not do anything wrong “Kande Bandara Deviyo” will protect you.

Our gut feel said that we were in Kalupahana area. That is since we knew that Bambarella to Kalupahana distance is 10kms according to Forest department. Suddenly we came out of the jungle and the climate changed to be more dry. The foot path became slightly wider than what it was. Still there was no sign of a human being. After 15 more minutes, we arrived at a sign of an එනසාල් වාඩිය (Cardamom Processing Hut in the middle of the thick forest).

Time was 12.40pm. We were at “KMP” wadiya. After a speedy hike, we got a 30 minutes rest there. Fortunately we had come to the right place. Mr: Wickramasinghe who is a relation of the Principal of Rambukoluwa school gave us hot plain tea. He was the caretaker of that cardamom estate. He was of help to us and gave us good guidance. According to him, finding the road from there to Doovili Ali is not easy.

We started to find the road to falls. There were number of roads through enasal wathu. We had to mark our path from breaking the branches of bushes.

“KMP” වාඩිය (KMP Cardamom processing hut)	Path through the cardamom bushes
Thunhisgala with clouds.	After a long time we came to a clearing to see the world around us.

After an hour we came to an abandoned “wadiya”. According to instructions we should try to find a water stream and a foot path beside it. We came across two streams and went along them. We couldn’t find the foot path. So we return to to the abandon wadi. Time was 4.00pm. We had to make a decision before night fall. We decided to look for the path until 5.00pm. Then we went along the other stream. But no success. We had to return. We decided to return KMP wadiya quickly because that abandoned wadi was not enough for 7 people.

At 5.30pm we were back at KMP Wadiya. We found space to spend the night. There were three people in the wadiya. We share our meals with them. That Night was so cold……………..

Next day morning we decided to visit Doovili Eli and spend the night there. Two people from the wadiya joined us because they were also heading to an estate situated on the way Doovili Eli.

We shared our meals with them	Cardamom flower with Cardamom …….
Racks where cardamom is dried and baked	Man’s Best Friend

At 8.30am we started our hike. It was a very speedy one. The first path we tried yesterday was correct. We missed the path which was located just before two streams join. With the guidance of our new friends, finding the path was very easy. By 10.00am we could see our destination point.

The place that two streams join	Doovili falls with cave. We got some rest and started to look for other waterfalls.
The dream…………………………………….	Walpolamulla area was covered in mist.

No 1 waterfall is a small one which ia visible to Ginikeliyawa pathana. Unfortunately we did not have a better zoom lense and therefore was unable to get clear picture of that fall.

Waterfall No 2- the cave is located here	Water fall no 3 – Down steam of the above one. Bathing is not safe here.
Water fall no 4- this one is best for my eyes. Bathing is safe here.	Water fall no 5 – Nice one with steps.
Then two streams meet and fall into great depth. Accessing the base there is not easy.	Water fall no 6 – This was a medium size one with 20m height.
Base of the fall is also accessible. There is a path from Ranamure track.	This is the access path from the Ranamure track.
Waterfall no 8 – this is from our previous visit.	Upper part of water fall no 9 – this is also from our previous visit.
Water fall no 10 – Dumbara falls (also from our previous visit)	We enjoyed the evening there with a natural bath and spent the night in the cave. It was enough for 10 people.

Early in the morning we prepared our meals and started the next part of the journey. We decided to return through Ranamure. The directions were given by people in KMP wadiya. We had only few landmarks and we have to find path ourselves. At 7.15am we departed from the cave. We crossed the river just after two streams joined and proceed through the jungle.

The Dawn

The Dawn

Early in the morning we prepared our meals and start the next part of the journey. We decided to return through Ranamure. The directions were given by people in KMP wadiya. We had only few landmarks and we had to find the way ourselves. By 7.15am we departed from the cave. We crossed the river just after the place where two streams joined and proceeded through the jungle.

We always walked parallel to this rock because our first land mark was the Pathana area on this rock.	Iluk pathana which we me met on Rambukoluwa track.
First Land mark	End of the pathana was a steep slope and we entered the jungle again

This pathana was just before Ginikeliyawa pathana. Only few cattle were there. A line of very small trees was separating the Ginikeliyawa pathana and this pathana. We got a short rest there and started hiking through pathana. It was a large bare land only covered in grass. Because of that, villagers release their cattle here when the harvesting period is over.

Next land mark is also reached. See how intelligent those villagers are………..the only path through which the cattle can return is closed. The cattle were fully safe in the pathana

Next landmark…….. Aswadduma Pathana…

The waterfall no 11 and 12 can only be seen from here. Still those are only two white lines for the naked eye.

Water fall no – 12

We entered jungle again after that pathana

Time was 11.00am. We went down further rapidly through the jungle. Now the tracks got complicated. We only followed the path that had cattle dung.

Another land mark was passed. The road goes beside the Halmini oya.

After 1.5 hrs we saw the first human sign of the Ranamure village. But still there was more than 2kms to the main road.

Lakegala- The land mark of Meemure village seen from Ramamure.

At 1.15pm we arrived to Main Street of Ranamure village. We washed our things from Halmini oya and got a small rest until the bus arrived. Then we got Pallegama > Reversten > Matale bus and came to Matale. At 1.00am we reached katubedda with lots of stories to tell!