There were an endless number of sea gulls crashing like a stone and catching fish and at times floating on the water with the waves like ducks. We got fooled at first they were real ducks. The average speed of the ferry was about 8-10km an hour. It recorded a highest speed of around 20km according to Sheham’s GPS. Time wore on and all of a sudden Nissanka showed us a distant communications tower which was at BG Navy Camp. Without even knowing we had moved from Dutch Bay to Portugal Bay but for me it was the same lagoon or rather the sea. However the water looks more clean and clear than it was close to the mainland. We could clearly see the ocean floor and the depth can’t have been more than 10ft. The water looked a gorgeous emerald green too.

So the hike plan begins @ office as usual. I was out of office for 1.5 months on training and the team had planned a trip to Alagalla. People plan the trip and invite us, and finally it is only me & Pasindu who do the hike while the ones who planned it are dropped off which happens most of the time. So what we say to them is, “we will be leaving in this train @ this time, if you are coming, please come on time for the train”

We have been planning for a long weekend by taking Monday 3rd Feb, off – day before National day – but were not sure of our destination. Going through the options we decided on a scenic drive to Deniyaya via Buluthota Pass since we have never taken that route. We also added Lankagama waterfalls and Kanneliya forest to our list, as all these attractions were new to us.

You may notice a unique shape mountain at Katugasthota town over it’s bridge and it is the highest mountain of that side. This is more visible from Waththegama town and got our attention in our waterfall hunting along Bambaralla road. After inquiring Waththegama town, got to know it as the Hunnasgiriya Mountain which is situated at Campbell’s Lane forest reserve.

The number of times that I have travelled in the train “passing” Ella equals to the number of visits to Horton Plains National Park by my-self which is self explanatory for those who know about me and Horton Plains Finally the day had come! After several “passing by” trips I decided to head over to Ella on an exploration visit over the long weekend which was laid out alongside the Independence Day of Sri Lanka (4th of Feb) As usual my decision was sudden and only a few days left for me to plan my trip.

Soon we entered a tunnel and it seemed to take forever to get to the other side. It was the world famous Singhamale Tunnel. There were a plenty of workers who got off at a tiny station called Galkanda Watta between Hatton and Kotagala just passing the Singhamale Tunnel, the longest in SL. The view afterwards was simply amazing and it made Ana and me get out of our seats and come to the door pointing our cameras at the surrounding. The early morning rays of the sun kept peering through trees and mountains making patters on the dewy leaves. The mist hung in midair as if hung with an invisible thread. We felt like going through heaven.

It all started after seen an article on Lakdasun shared by Sheham about a worlds end in Seetha eliya. On that article it seemed like the mayor wanted to give the place bit of publicity and attract many visitors too. I wanted to visit it as soon as possible before the place lost its natural beauty thanks to our irresponsible public. Lahiru gave his confirmation few days prior and Amila was on the pending side until the very last moment. On a clear Saturday we got together at Colombo at around 10am(which was a very unusual time for us) and took a bus towards Nuwara eliya. At around 3.30pm we reached our destination where we immediately had lunch and packed some for dinner too. After collecting some more resources we took a bus towards Magasthota and got off at the end of Gregory lake from there we hired a trishaw which took us towards the potato farm where there was a locked gate.

Madunagala hot springs are a wonderful creation of nature in all its natural beauty. Historically these hot springs flowed into a natural water hole. The reason being that are these thermal waters contains medicinal properties to cure ailments like skin eruptions and other rheumatic pains.

We all were big fans of hiking, photography and nature. It was 8.00am when we reached food city, Matale where we bought supplies for our stay at “Wana niwahana” We bough salmon, rice, dhal, spices, cheese, biscuits and water.

We started the journey not so early as we planned due to some serious setbacks at the last moment and reached Dambulla for breakfast around 8 am where another friend joined us. After the breakfast we went straight passing Polonnaruwa towards Dimbulagala. Our first stop was at Namal Pokuna archaeological site.

We reached Palpatha around 4.30am and decided to take a nap till the caretaker got up. Finally at 5.00am having left the equipment needed for the work there, we headed towards Wilpattu Junction where Bobby, our driver, waited. We left the car and got into his brother’s Bolero 4-wheel drive jeep (most commonly available kind of jeep at Wilpattu) coz both his modern Mitsubishi L200 jeeps were on hire. It was freezing cold in Wilpattu and I’d never imagined it could get that cold there. It was like Nuwara Eliya and the temperature must’ve been around 20 degrees or even less. Sheham and I were shivering in the open jeep but the luxuriously done cushion sheets provided a comfy sitting position. The whole area was covered in a moderate layer of mist too.

After our (Tony and Me) first run through the Siyane Korale, which was a grand tour, we decided to continue from where we stopped covering the remaining archaeologically important places in Gampaha District. 14 January looked like a perfect choice coz we both were free, unfortunately we missed Hari’s hike to the Sacred Sri Pada via scenic Maray Watta and Sandagala Thenna route as we both had to work the following day despite it being a Poya Day. This made Hari as mad as a lone Elephant in Maduru Oya.

We called it a day at Maligathenna the other day after a marathon run of exploration of Siyane Korale, Tony vowed to come back to do the rest of it and that’s exactly what we did at the end.