So on the 15th morning, we (highly excited bunch) left Colombo around 5.30 am. There was ample room in the van since it was only 7 of us (including the driver) and soon we reached Ratnapura and stopped for Breakfast. Kadala, String Hoppers, Red Rice with Kiri Hodi, Sambola and Fish may sound like a feast as we wolfed down the food. Then we reached Udawalawa and stopped around the park to take the breath taking view of the reservoir in.

Buddama was a place I have never heard before until I was posted there for few months, this rural area of Monaragala district boarders the southern boundaries of Gal Oya National park. Most of the population has the same surname called Dissanayake Mudiyanselage indicating that most of them had been related to the ancestors Wellassa rebellion that fled to the valleys of Gal Oya and they are farmers by occupation.

White water rafting is a very famous, challenging, recreational adventure sport in Sri Lanka. I’m sure most of Lakdasun fans have experienced this adventure sport some day in your life. But I couldn’t find any report in Lakdasun related to this. So I decided to write a report on the time.

A Group of my friends organized a safari at Willpattuwa including a camp night at Kokmote to explore the exciting heritage and wildlife. A fellowship of ten members joined the trip and the journey began from Wadduwa at 7.00 am on September 11. On our way we paused shortly for a quick breakfast, and then to a shop at Chilaw fish market for necessary food supplies for the night stay. After taking a dip in the Deduru Oya and stuffing ourselves at Puttalam town where we stopped for lunch, we reached Wilpattuwa at 3.30 pm in a happy and relaxing mood. Mr Anil (WLD tour guide) and Samantha (Jeep driver) also joined with us at the entrance.

My kids school vacation is almost end and I was busy with my new job unable to take them for this holiday but luckily I was able to get some off days on the long weekend of Binara poya. After reading so many beautiful trip reports from Lakdasun I was forced by myself to take my kids out of our routine destinations (Nuwara Eliya or a Down south hotel) to show them the beauty of mother Lanka and to make them love with the nature.

The journey started from different locations by my friends. Kandy Bus stand was the meeting point. I started from Ambalangoda at midnight and reached kandy at 6.00 in the morning. The others were there on time. We took padiyapalalla bus. The bus arrived in padiyapalalla at 8.00 am. There was a small town to buy our foods and other basic needs. We took Mandaram nuwara bus from there at 8.45 am.

Wila Oya Budupatuna was a totally unheard place to me until few weeks back when I came across a post by NG on Lakdasun which made me go in search of these mysterious statues similar to Buduruwagala. The only information I had was about Two Japanese (archeologist) teams visits in 1985 and 90’s and some photographs in a book called ELOQUENCE IN STONE.

We started around 5.00 am on old new year day and arrived at Dambadeniya around 7.00 am. Our plan was to visit Dambadeniya Raja Maha Viharaya and the kingdom. But it was raining heavily and we gave up the idea andproceeded further and came to Panduwasnuwara around 8.30 am.

Year and Month June, 2012 (3rd) Number of Days One Day (1/2) Crew 2 Accommodation N/A Transport Motor bike-“Pleasure” Activities Photography and to just visit historical places around Bakamuna Weather Sunny Day Route Girithale -> Bakamuna -> Buduruwayaya -> Kumara ella -> Orubandisiyabalawa -> Bakamuna -> Girithale Tips, Notes and Special remark Going by a […]

As this trip was arranged in a hurry there were only 3 of us committed. From the information we got from some of our friends, and Lakdasun we knew that transportation from Hunnasgiriya to Meemure is the critical part of our journey. The only transportation was two vans leaving from Hunnasgiriya between 1.30-2.00 pm. So we had to plan our trip to match with that. Two of us arrived to Kandy at 10.15 am and the other joined there. We did some last minute shopping to buy some stuff like noodles, Siddhalepa’s, and left Kandy at 11.00 am in a Mahiyanganaya bus

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?”