Morning side is situated in east corner of Sinharaja rain forest. As it is always covered with mist it is called Morning side since colonial age. Mist and drizzling is part and parcel of morning side weather. Though it is similar to Hortain plains weather, temperature is not that much low.

Gal Koth Kanda got my attention in my Erawulagala climbing. (Refer report on) There was a triangular shape mountain next to Erawulagala and it was a separate mountain from Erawulagala range. I got to know it as Iththakanda but that name was wrong. Then people at Erawula inappropriately name it also as Erawulagala.

As Knuckles is a well known mountain range in Sri Lanka we felt guilty for not going hiking in this range. So after a few cancellation we decided to do this hike however. We got into a Colombo – Kandy bus from Mawanella around 06.45 am. We reached Kandy railway station around 7.20 am and wait for Matale train.

We conquered the mountains, this time we thought of a different ENV, the beach !! Here we came across the world’s most beautiful camp site!! A double water front camp site on white sand among Mangroves !!!

This is part of my dream trip and part of Harinda’s dream. On my way to Kehelpothdoruwegala climbing I heard about a foot pathway from Kalugala to Meemure. Harinda has noted a foot pathway from Alugal Lena to Meemure in his Alugal Lena trip. We wanted to combine these two trails and do it in two days with camping at Alugal Lena.

The surrounding countryside looked parched and many Mana patches had been torched by people for some reason beyond me. So it was a mixture of dark green patches of trees scattered across the sun bleached yellowish hills. The ravines below showed signs of life with houses and plots of paddy fields. The charred areas where Mana was burnt added to the already vivid painting. In no time we reached the “Padi Seeya” (100 steps) where there is a steep downhill path through the tea bushes. Already there was a person coming up and a lady holding a baby girl closely behind him tackling the steep ascent. I spoke to him and he was very cheerful and even bothered to show me a worship place of the estate workers high up on top of a rock. The child, even though being carried by the lady right through, looked exhausted as a result of the heat and the continuous swaying. I managed to take a pic of her (one of the few must-have requirements for me during a journey) and we carried on.

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.

I have noted the road is little bit narrow, but some places can pass two buses. But on our way there is no trouble met like that. Also there is mini hydro plant locate near the water fall, which ppl cannot access.

This mighty rock was noticed when I was at Menikdena. It was situated closer to Kandalama Lake. I definitely knew it can be a good view point of Kandalama lake and surrounding area. Later I came across the archeology site called Kaludiya Pokuna (This is not the famous Kaludiya Pokuna at Mihinthale) also situated at base of the Erawulagala Mountain.

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.

Atha picked me around 3.45am on 26th July and we then got Tony on board and took the Avissawella-Ginigathhena Road. It was good to be back with the old couple as it’s always full of many stories, most of them are hilarious. They kept at it right throughout and I hardly managed to get a word in edgeways. The Kelani River looked placid in the wee hours and the mist hung over her like a veil. We enjoyed her company most of the way. Reaching Nawalapitiya, the skies looked grey, heavily laden with rain clouds and I was thrilled as it meant more water for the waterfalls. You’d be surprised how low the water levels become even after a few days of rain.

This proved to be the case with Ramboda and surrounding waterfalls despite there had been a lot of rains even during last week. We took the Hapugasthalawa Road and then turned onto Harangala. As soon as we turned, there was a nice shop and we stopped for breakfast where they served hot, hot Coconut Rotti with mouthwatering Lunu Miris, delicious Kola Kenda and authentic Peni Walalu. We all stuffed ourselves to the tip and were on our way passing the Hapugasthalawa Tank.

It was in July 2013 when I celebrated my first year anniversary with Lakdasun, the biggest and richest bank when it comes to the Nature of Sri Lanka. I wanted to be with the ones I adore on my first year anniversary, the beautiful girls aka waterfalls. Since then, I’ve done a lot more travelling expanding my horizon, ticking the ever so growing to-do-list, adding onto my collection of waterfalls.

So if I was gonna celebrate my 2nd Year Anniversary with anyone but waterfalls, it’d’ve been a costly mistake as it was the waterfall season and most of the waterfalls along the slopes of western side mountains were in near full flow. I carefully picked the date and the route, Hasi, Dhana and Kassa nicely fell into my trap. So we were ready to go see some more waterfalls (the second of us four, you can check our Waterfall Hunt before here) in Nawalapitiya, Thalawakele and Pundalu Oya.