We started our trip from Colombo at about 5 a.m. And we came to Kandy at about 8 a.m. We had our breakfast from a little restaurant but to be honest it was a horrible meal. After that we got in to a bus which goes on the rout ” Kandy – Udu Dumbara”. Also you can go to Hunnasgiriya by a “Mahiyangana” bus. we were in Hunnasgiriya when it was 12.30 p.m. We had our lunch there. It was awesome. They have two vans which go to Meemure everyday. only two vans. They come to Hunnasgiriya in the morning and leave at about 1.30. So we got in to one of those vans.

We stopped in “Loolwatte” for a break..to have a plain tea and stuff. .

After 15 minutes we started our van ride again. Ride was very difficult. But the landscape down the mountain was unbelievable. We were ascending the Knuckles mountain range.
But unfortunately we couldn’t take any photos due to our difficult van ride.

Two of my Friends having a break after a tiring van ride	Sun…..above the top of the mountain
The van that drove us to the village	Lake Gala…..stands above the village

We came to the village after 3 hours, leaving Hunnasgiriya. the 1st thing we saw after we got out of the van, was the marvelous view of the mountain called “Lake Gala”. The villagers of Meemure were so helpful and friendly. One of them agreed to show us a good place to setup camp. It was near 5 p.m. so we had to hurry because we had to find a camp site before the sun set.

Going through paddy fields.

Lake Gala

We started to go in to the jungle by foot.

Paddy fields

Speaking of paddy fields here, Villagers don’t have any kind of machines. They use buffaloes and “Nagula” for there work. Most of the time they use natural fertilizers.

Knuckles mountain range

The villager who helped us to find a good camp site

Just WOW!!!!

We got in to the jungle when it was 5.30 p.m. and it was already dark. There was a river. And that villager showed us a large rock plate in the middle of the river. We brought a big tent and that rock was perfect size for it. It was very dark when we finished setting up camp. While we were doing it, we realized that we’d lost our rain cover for the tent. In the bus maybe. But the thing is….we had no rain cover .

Setting up camp….

It’s done

After completing the setting up we had a bath in the river….Wow.it was awesome.. After the sun set it was just thick black all around us. We set up camp fire and had dinner. And went to sleep because it was a very tiring day.

Flowing river next to the tent

Following morning was so beautiful and that beauty can’t be explained by words. We woke up and started to feel fresh air and the serenity of the wilderness. No chaotic noises and dusty wind. No thousands of people running crazy to find money. Just the noise of the flowing river which never breaks the tranquility of the wild.

In the morning…I opened my eyes and…this is the 1st thing I saw	Hypnotized by the magic of nature
Early in the morning	It was a beautiful sunny morning

Crystal clear water

Water was very clear. But we couldn’t risk anything. Because we were really away from a good medical assistance. So we boiled river water for drinking purpose.

Crystal clear water

A view of out tent from up river

Walking in to the jungle

After having breakfast we went for a hike in the forest. It was a thick, huge forest with beauty. There were trails in the jungle. So it was not much difficult.

A waterfall we found in the forest	A deep pool?
Seen in the forest	A huge tree
A computer mouse???	Abandoned paddy fields in the middle of the jungle.

We walked few kilometers and we came in to large area of abandoned paddy fields. We wondered how these villagers carry their crops from here to the village…in the real sense of the word, their life is difficult.

Abandoned paddy fields in the middle of the jungle.	Knuckles mountains
A natural pond made by a small water stream	Lunch…………….lunch……….lunch………….

We walked some more kilometers in to the jungle and found a very beautiful place for lunch. We stopped there and prepared our lunch with the help of out kerosene cooker. After having lunch we turned back. We walked approximately 10 kms.

Another water stream we found in the forest	Afternoon views
View of the mountains in the eve.	Back to the village

We came back to the village on that evening as we had to make some telephone calls to our parents. As I mentioned above, no network coverage for any mobile service. Only lankabell works here.

Nice door handle……clever hah!!!

That night we set up a good campfire.

We came back from the village and set up camp fire. It was on another rock plate in front of the tent. Felt like we live in an island. We had dinner. spent a lot of time in that night by watching starts, sitting on the rock among the darkness while listening to the symphony orchestra of the nature.

A damselfly

Same view from up river but with cloudy skies

Following day we were not that lucky. Sky was full dark of clouds. We were pretty upset as we didn’t have a rain cover.

After the rain…soaked in wet….

After we finished cooking our lunch it rained that day. A heavy rain. We couldn’t have our lunch at that moment. So we covered our food pots . We were almost drowned. As soon as the rain stopped for a while we folded our tent and got out of the river because there could be flash floods due to the heavy rain. we packed our bags and kept it under a big rock in order to protect them from the rain. After finishing it we had our lunch in the rain. What a lunch…it was more a soup!! We couldn’t take any snaps due to the rain.

ඇවිද්ද පය දහස් වටී … සෙරෙප්පු දෙක 🙂

A new friend!!!!

We came back to the village in the afternoon. And waited few hours in a shelter next to a shop in the village till our clothes get dried. We got two mats from the shop and went to an abandoned kitchen in the village temple. There no one in the temple as well. And we found a new friend. A dog got very friendly with one of my friends and came in to that kitchen where we slept.

Fire made that rainy night comfortable

There were plenty of dried wood in that kitchen. So we could make a good fire. We had dinner and went to sleep as we had to wake up early in the morning. The van leaves at 5.30 a.m. from Meemure. We woke up @ 4 a.m. and got ready. It was still raining. A drizzling actually. We had to walk to the van about 1km. And that dog spent the night with us , had dinner and followed us till we got in to the van. It was 2.30 p.m. when we got to Pettah. Last day was rainy and muddy, cold……..But still worth it.