The North – East monsoons were setting in almost after two years so it was time to hunt some cascades around Dambethenna. There was an old trip report from Priyanjan which guided me through this adventure. I took a bus from Haputhale towards Dambetenna and got off at the tea factory. From here onwards my guide was the kmz file given by Priyanjan in his trip report. Better to refer that otherwise you would not see or find these beauties.

Year and Month 2014 December 05th and 06th Number of Days Two days Crew 3Ns- Nirosh, Niroshan and Nadeesha Accommodation N/A Transport By train, bus and climbing Activities Mountain climbing, Photography and spiritual activities Weather Slight showers and misty. Overall weather is good. Route Colombo -> Hatton -> Nallathanniya (නල්ලතන්නිය) -> Sri Pada peak -> […]

I didn’t wanna turn around having come so close coz not being able to visit especially a waterfall going all the way is something that tastes bitter. It not only tastes bitter and it keeps nagging at me. Reluctantly, we decided to let Sheham go and Shareez and I walked up for another 1-1.5km along the road till we reached a sign board giving details about a Asupini Ella Village Project with half a dozen faces of politicians. The road forks into two here and you have to take the right turn that goes uphill.

Another 500m or so will take you to a stream that flows across the road. Pass this and you’ll come to a sharp right bend with a black wooden electricity pole on the left. On this about 6ft up is nailed a tiny board saying “To Ella” with an arrow. We were grateful for this and followed it. The path hasn’t been used recently, must be due to rain and was infested with leeches. We kept going uphill and Shareez who had had very little physical activities in this kind was ready to give up after a 1km or so.

Staying at home, doing nothing in my weekend can depress me to no end. It’ll further increase when the darn weekend falls on a weekday. There’s a limit that I can sleep so when I knew I was in for yet another useless two days of weekend, I wanted to scream my head off. Amid all the confusion I browsed Lakdasun looking for somewhere to go and I hit the jackpot after a few tries. Ritigala has always been a mystery to me as much as to anyone else. So the need to go see was like a sleeping lion in me, or rather a semi-active volcano, bubbling inside trying to burst the outer crust.

Having failed to find a mate for this hastily arranged journey, I decided to do another solo stunt. Thinking back, I’ve only done 2 solo stunts before out of all the journeys. So this came as the third and I hope it’ll be the last as travelling alone is such a bore. There’s no one to talk to and make plans, it can also be a pain having to satisfy the curious people who are only interested in getting information from me, not giving the information to me.

“Elihatha” is the most prominent water fall among Sri Lankan special and charming waterfalls. This is situated at Maliboda village, Daraniyagala. This falls continuously as seven falls which is situated in “Naya Ganga”. This river is commence from samanala Adaviya and fall down combining with Seethawaka River and then joins with kalu Ganga. Samanala Adawiya is very special biodiversity zone in Sri Lanka which having most conventional species of animal, flora & fauna.

Year and Month December, 2014 Number of Days 1 Crew 4 (between 25-30 years of age & the villager who guided us) Accommodation N/A Transport Three-wheeler up to Illubekanda school and then by foot Activities Waterfall hunting, Photography, hikking Weather Gloomy with intermittent drizzle Route Nivithigala -> Kalawana -> Pothupitiya -> Illumbekanda -> Denawaka Kanda […]

Kalugala is a location on the northern point of Madulsima range which consist of two peaks and out of those Kalugala no 2 is the highest. Kalugala No 1 peak belongs to Monaragala district and is the highest point of Monaragala. I have been eyeing on this for few months and out of nowhere the anticipated day arrived.

Year and Month October 2014 (7th and 8th ) Number of Days Two Crew One (Lonely Trip) Accommodation Wasantha’s Place at Pitawala (0770423717) Transport My faithful bike Activities Waterfall Hunting , Exploring the unspoiled, beautiful villages in Knuckles Weather No rain in both days (although it rained heavily in End Sep– Early Oct) Route Day […]

I immediately felt better and at the sight of Bambarakanda Falls, the tallest girl in SL, made my day. She had more water, at least more than my last visit, and was looking radiant in the morning. We parked the vehicle and went inside for a warm welcome by Mrs. Mayakaduwa and her daughter Erandi who served us with tea and coffee. We were staying in one of the two cottages there. The walls were built using mud and had the look of a typical rural house. It can easily accommodate 8-16 people and has 4 rooms and a large living area and a verandah as well. Two washrooms are located at the back and with hot water.

We unpacked and got everything ready while they prepared our breakfast, Rotti with a Dhal Curry and Lunu Miris. Some cowpea was also served with freshly scraped coconut and we had a bellyful breakfast and were ready to go. It was so good to see Ranjith again and together we left for our hike that turned out to be tougher than we anticipated.

I took the 138 bus from Colombo at 6 a.m & reached homagama at around 7.30 a.m. Lahiru was waiting at Homagama town till I come. After having breakfast we started the journey from homagama station around 8.00 a.m. Though this was the very first rail hike in our life, we determined to do whatever it takes to make it a success.

Perfect weather conditions in hill country means it’s time to do some hikes. I just had to pick up two places in my list and execute. First day it was Hanthana range and few of my lakdasun friends did accompany me on that superb hike. For my next day execution Only Nishan said yes. So next day early morning both of us got in to a Padiyapelella bus and headed towards Rikillagaskada where we had our breakfast. We were going to climb a unique mountain range in the central hills. Kukulagala which overlooks Rikillagaskada town like a lonely giant.

It was one of those weekends when you have nothing to do but out of nowhere you get a chance to visit some place that is out of bounds for many thanks to one of your close friends. That’s exactly what happened when I was without a thing to do on the 18-19 Oct weekend when Ana called out of blue moon asking if I’d like to join him for a relaxing holiday at Rozella. I jumped with both the feet and we left for Rozella on the 18th morning around 4.15am.