We decided that we should travel as much as possible in the Mullathivu district travel to all corners Mullathivu , to South up to to Kokilai lagoon end, and to north to , Putukudiiruppu , turn to west to Vishvamadu and travel back via Paranthan to A9 road to Colombo as the whole area was the last strong hold of the LTTE. The total mileage covered was apox: 960km

I saw this ad on Anything.lk about 60% reduction (7200/- only from the Actual fee of 18,000/-) on Hot Air Ballooning in Kandalama and as always the adventurous soul in me willingly agreed to explore

This time we went on camping at Maha Eliya and climb Thotupola Kanda. Originally we planned a hike to Kirigalpoththa but due to time constraints and weather conditions we climbed Thotupola

One friend Tharaka out of blue moon asked if I would join with him for a trip to Handapanagala. I immediately wanted to know who was going as I’m always wary of people who go on trips as I consider myself more reserved and a nature lover than someone who goes on trips just to drink and waste time. However, after Tharaka’s repeated assurances that the crowd was ok, I was willing. Another reason was Handapanagala is very famous for its tank and the possibility of seeing my favorite elephants was very high.

We stopped at Wahalkada in Warakapola for breakfast. This turned out to be an excellent one. They serve buffet (a bit expensive – but once in a while on a day like this, it’s worth going for something like that) breakfast with a wide range of meals such as Egg Hoppers, String Hoppers, Rice and Curry, Rotii, etc… However, they serve Kenda which was one of the very best I’ve ever had.

This has been a dream of mine for a so long ever since I saw an ad by SL Navy on a newspaper and had been hoping against hope to go there. Trip reports by Lakdasun subscribers have been greatly helpful especially finding the hotel, Four Tees Inn, which was a wonderful place and met all my expectations.

It has been a while since I have visited few waterfalls, so on a Sunday I decided to have a quick tour around Rathnapura following Inter-monsoon showers. This quick trip was planned within 4 hours on the previous night of the journey. While planning was going on I gave a call to see whether Lahiru (another waterfall fan) was available and he was ever so ready for another waterfall hunt. At around 6am we met up at Avissawella and started on our quest in search of cascades which we mapped out on the previous day.

We then set off towards Vavuniya hoping to reach Killinochchi before noon and meet our friendly soldier who took us around the surrounding area. Just before Iranamadu, we visited the statue of one of our great heroes, Cpt. Saliya Aladeniya who sacrificed his life while trying to protect the telecommunication tower there.

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.

This was actually my second visit to Kotiyagala area and I also had some secondary objectives also on this visit. So on a Sunday morning I got in to a Kotiyagala bus and left towards kotiyagala. Just before kotiyagala there was a three way junction where the Siyambalanduwa, Kalu obba-Athimale road extension met with the kotiyagala road and I had to get down from here and start walking towards Athimale side since Wattarama monastery is located between Athimale and Kotiyagala.

So it was 7 in the morning when we got off the bus at Mawanella with a crew of three, had our breakfast and hired a three wheeler to Uthuwankanda junction (1.5km from Mawanella), turned right at the junction to Uthuwam Mawatha. It is possible to travel in a vehicle along this road to get closer to the destination but since we needed to see the surroundings we started our journey on foot from the junction, after about 1km turned left to a concrete paved way which was heading toward Saradiyel Gala and about 500m ahead we found the trail head.

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.