This was a planned trip since 2009. Just didn’t have time to do it . took a bus from Rathnapura and asked the conducter of the Wewellwatte bus to drop me near Dehena Falls. So Dehena falls was my first stop. I also found another road side waterfall just before Dehena falls called Hal Ella

e were planning to do this trail for some time but we had to postpone it several times because of the continuous rain. Finally we thought of doing this on 1st of January as it’s a nice way to start the New Year. We took the Podi Menike night mail train from Colombo Fort on 31st night and reached Ohiya on the following morning. We started our hike from Ohiya at 6.30 am. And soon we witnessed some breathtaking views when the sun light came though the forests as beams. It’s really difficult to describe the beauty of these wonderful scenes.

Belilena Cave, which is about 8 km from Kitulgala high up in the Inoya Estate, is one of the larger prehistoric caves on the island, where the 12,000-year-old skeletal remains of ’Balangoda Man’ (Homo Sapiens Balangodensis) were found. The prehistoric settlements of the area date back to a very early period, as shown by recent cave excavations as well as those carried out at other sites. The earliest settlement dates back to around 32,000 years ago. Skeletal remains, microliths, bone implements, cherts and food remnants have been found in local caves.

School holidays! Its trip time once again. We were getting back home to Bandarawela from Colombo….. a trip that we had done many, many, many times before. But, this time my father and mother suggested that we visit all the interesting places along the route so that I could write a Trip Report on the journey

After passing about 100M from Kande Ela Lake there was a sign board saying Kande Ela Educational & Information Center. I saw some vehicles parked inside the premises so thought of going inside and check out this place. (I have seen this place several times but had no time to check out) A persona at the gate told that there is a 1.5Km trek inside the forest with lot of educational stuff. So we purchased 2 tickets (29/- each) and entered the trek.

Passing some manioc chena(s), the two vehicles turned into a by road lead to Amithirigala, which started from Kirindiwela – Hanwella main road, just before the AGA office at Weeke. Having traveling less than a kilometer from Weeke, both were stopped for a while at the base of Medagama viharaya, a temple where one of the first 8th daughter-plants of sacred Bo tree (Jaya sri maha bodhi) at Anuradhapura were planted. Traditionally each vehicle passing this temple used to stop; pray and put some coins in the till box on the name of the rural god “Ranwala Dewiyo”.

Started from Rathnapura (My Home) around 5.45 am , took 15 minutes to reach Rathnapura town . From there, straight to Balangoda (46km), early in the morning no traffic at all, Reached Balangoda By 6.50 am . Pumped Fuel and had a cup of coffee from a small “appa kade” It’s too early for me to have breakfast .Next stop will be at “ SUN HILL – HOLIDAY RESORT” owned by Udaya Abeysekara a friend of mine for breakfast .By 7.30 I was there “Sudu Bath and Pol Sambola” for my Breakfast. Spend about 45 minutes at Sun Hill.

We were beaten by sun rays showed no mercy. But in the next moment we were covered & protected by an umbrella woven with crowns of trees. Rubber was introduced to Sri Lanka by English in 1876. From the day it introduced as a crop, Rubber plant has been served the country for not only earning of coins, generating a culture of cultivation. Meanwhile rubber is known as the only crop which served the environment much the same like a forest. As like providing evidence for the same, the atmosphere of our surrounding became more & more fresh & comfortable in each kilometer.

Originally inhabited by the aboriginals commonly known as Yukkas. A monastery is believed have been built here first but subsequently known to have been used by a order of recluse monks who practiced a austere life style. No mention of this order of monks has been found since 12th century at Ritigala or else where and probably the monastery also has been abandoned since then. Ritigala was rediscovered by the then government surveyor James Mantell in 1872. Ritigala had been used as a base for battle by Pandukabhaya the founder of Anuradhapura city.

The source of this breath-taking, 116m-high fall is the Kirindi Ella (stream), which flows from its starting point 940m up the Kuttapitiya Mountain. The stream travels 13km before the cascading point in the Kaluwaramukalana Jungle. It then flows via the Denawaka River to the Kaluganga River, located in the Bambarakotuwa Jungle. Local villagers say that there is a picture of a tortoise etched into stone here.

Laxapana is world-famous because of the engineering excellence of late Eng. D.J. Wimalasurendra(1874-1953), known as the father of Hydro power electricity in Sri Lanaka. As per his project proposal submitted in 1918, the water potential, combined with Maskelioya and Kehelgamuoya, could be diverted to generate electricity to light 100,000 lamps (“Laksa-pahana” -> “Laxapana”). Being the house for complexes of hydro power plants, there are many security barriers & restrictions for the travelers who visit that area for years.

We started form Hikkaduwa at about 5.30 in the morning. The crew was two in my motor bike. We turned into Udugama Road from Galle and Stopped at Nakiyadeniya to have the breakfast.
The weather was quite nice and cool after a huge rain last night. After traveling about 30km we were able to reach Udugama Town. Then we traveled about 2km along Neluwa road we reached to the entrance of Kanneliya reserve.