Let me start by giving a small introduction of the relevant area which I travelled on this journey. Wadinagala which is 2400ft in height was our main target and it has been on my mind for few months, it is located within the Gal Oya national park bordering Jayanthi wewa and the area is over populated by wild elephants. This peak is known to be one of the mountains which lord Budhdha considered before choosing Sri Pada.

The drive to Waulpane was quite effortless. But the last 1KM or so was bit difficult. After stopping the van at end of the road (still you need to walk about 600m to the caves ) which was an very interesting journey. You need to find a giud to got to this otherwise if your not familiar with the place it’ll be difficult (negotiable the amount before you hire a guide) normally Rs.300-500

After mountain climbing around Ella on the previous day I was clueless what to do on day 2 and 3 because my previous agenda was not feasible at this point. After discussing with my friend Priyanjan I decided to go to Hadapanagala Lake and end my day. That was the fixed plan for the day even when I left his premises. It was around 11am when I got in to a bus towards Wellawaya and the bus conductor came close to me to issue a ticket and suddenly a question popped out. “කන්දෙ විහාරෙ ගාවට යන්නෙ කොහොමද?”

Ella is one of the famous tourist destinations in Sri Lanka and well known among tourist as a hiking destination. Ella rock and Little Adams peak are among those famous viewpoints. Since it was a nice sunny day with a clear sky I decided to hike around Ella. My first destination was the famous Ella rock which is about 1350m in height. After arriving at around 8am to Ella I started to walk along the railway track (which is prohibited by law) towards Kithal Ella station.

During the past Matara was called “Mahathota”. The river running through Matara is ‘Nilwala River. There was a wide area across this river. Hence it was called “Mahathota” which means “The great ferry”. During the past Matara was called “Mahathota”. The river running through Matara is ‘Nilwala River. There was a wide area across this river. Hence it was called “Mahathota” which means “The great ferry”

Our purpose was to see the Laxapana and Aberdeen Falls and travel along the Balangoda Bagawanthalawa road. (It is one of the extremely scenic road in the country) .Several hydropower plants of the Kelani river can be easily accessed by this travel

“Dethanagala” is a mountain of two peaks which is similar to breast of a woman. This mountain can be nicely captured from the Balangoda town and you can reach it by Balangoda-Bagawanthalawa road. It is in the boundary of Rathnapura-Nuweraeliya district and close to Horton plains.

After having a successful tour in Whale & dolphin watching in the morning we came back to the hotel for lunch. Few of our friends who didn’t participate for Whale watching tour had gone for Snorkeling in the morning. They recommended this and after having lunch we also decided to go. Around 3.00PM in the evening we started our journey from hotel with 3 boats. It was a joyful and thrilling ride for every one of us. One boat went to Nilaweli beach to buy tickets for all and other 2 boats directly went to the Pigeon Island.

fter returning from a trip to Orissa the Kalinga Kingdom of Emperor Asoka on the 17th May 2012, I had to attend meeting in Anuradhapura 19th Morning. To make the trip useful before travelling to Anuradhapura we planned that after having finished the meeting which took few hours, to spend the rest of the weekend visiting the uncommon sites in Anuradhapura not normally visited by an average pilgrim.

It was a day with mixed weather but I decided to go ahead early as possible since I had few places in mind and almost all were close by to Chilaw – Kurunegala main road. First destination was Munneshwaram which is about 3Km from Chilaw town and well known all around the island for its festivals. Fortunately it was not festival season this time of the year so I walked about peacefully in the kovil and I noticed that the new kovil has surrounded the old one completely

I visited Tonigala inscription first and it is very close to the main road. This is said to be the longest inscription in Sri Lannka and there are two of them. I had to re visit the place to see the second inscription on another day 🙂 The inscriptions are on a rocky mountain which is near by a lake. I also noted my next destination (Paramakanda) from the 2nd inscription site.

Year and Month May, 2012 Number of Days One day Crew 2 Accommodation N/A Transport Public Transport & Trishaw (Sanjeewa the trishaw driver doubled as the guide) Activities Waterfall Hunting Weather clear sky Route Maharagama -> Pelmadulla -> Kuttupitiya -> Kirindi Ella -> Narangoda village-> Marakkala Ella-> Pelmadulla -> Pathakada -> Maharagama Tips, Notes and Special […]