If you take the back roads rather than the coastal road, the environment is quite different. We were rather surprised to find such a lot of lovely wawes. When we passed Lenabatuwa wawe (between Akkurassa and Kamburupitiya) it was too late for photos but it seems a very very lovely place. There is a little guest house just on the side of the wawe which looked like a potential base. There was a board for the Lenabatuwa Bio Diversity Park and someone told us that walking in the forest is quite interesting. It certainly looked lovely.

We started our journey from Matara at 3.00pm in the evening and arrived at Wellawaya by 7.00pm. We spent the night at Wellawaya and planned to visit Diyaluma falls the next day. At 8.00am we caught a Wellawaya- Haputhale bus (Through Beragala) and got down near ice peella (අයිස් පීල්ල)- Nikapitiya road

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

We had planned to visit Mannar via Pomparippu, Wilpattu and Silavaturai as we were passionate to pass through the jungle, though we were not convinced about the road condition. We wished advice from the police station, army base and the bus stand at Puttalam, if the road is in good condition. We were discouraged from their answers as we had a 2WD van and which also a hired vehicle. Hence we decided to visit Mannar via Medawachchiya. On the way we visited Madhu Church.

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”.

With the reopening of the Kumana national park early this year it had been on our priority list for quite some time and finally we managed to make that dream come true. The camp sites were booked more than three months in advance as there is no other accommodation south of Arugam Bay. Wildlife department is trying to rebuild the destroyed circuit bungalows and hopefully we will get to use them before long.

We entered the road which goes to the tea estate. And the sun was directly over our heads, spreading its burning rays all over the area. It was really hard to find a shelter to have a rest in the beginning of the hike. We had a little problem to chose which way to go after coming to a junction. So we used our map to find the way. Of course Ashan’s Wangedigala trip report helped us as well. So we turned to the gravel road and start walking again. It was even hard to imaging how difficult it was to go up a hill with a heavy weight.

The hired van (Dolphin) started with me from Kalutara and travelled via Panadura, Kottawa and Malambe to pick some of my batch mates. Our friend in Batti also joined with us going home for the vacation. We arrived at Polonnaruwa via Kurunegala and Habarana. We did not intend to visit many places around Polonnaruwa as everybody in the crew had experienced Polonnaruwa before. Then we directly proceeded to Batti without having a bath in Passikudah as we were not early enough to so.

We started from Colombo around 9PM on Thursday. We bought all the provisions needed from Cargills, Maharagama. We didn’t have a gas cooker or a cylinder as my friend who own those had given them to one of his friends. We tried to buy one for our selves but that too did not work out as all the 2.5Kg tanks were sold out at Laughs. So we decide to cook using firewood. After collecting everyone, it was around 12 PM when we left Colombo, and we managed to pass Lahugala by around 5.30 AM. Rising sun had made some wonderful scenery.

After much planning and anticipation we left Kandy at 8.00 am on 30th October 2010. We had our breakfast of bread, pol sambol and Srinath’s mom’s milk rice (yum yum) just past Palapathwela under a big roadside tree. We proceeded to Dumbulla while munching boiled bada iringu on the way. We bought all our provisions from the Dambulla Cargill’s Foodcity. Fully equipped, we left Dambulla and headed straight to Galkadawala. We reached the lodge by 11.30 am. We were greeted by Kariyawasam, the friendly caretaker. We were stunned by the serene environment and the simple beauty of the lodge.

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.

We started our journey from Katubedda at about 11.00pm in the night. The crew was seven. We reached Colombo Fort at 12.00 am by bus. Then we took the Kandy bus and reached Kandy by 4.40am. By 7.30am we were at Bambarella village. On the way we passed a lot of beautiful waterfalls and nice sceneries. Rahas ella, Hulu ganga falls, A fall near Hathale tea estate and Two falls near Hagalla estate are some of them. Unfortunately bus was moving fast and I couldn’t able get least one clear photograph of them. I think Hulu ganga create more than hundred waterfalls in Bambarella, Panwila, Wattegama area.