This was one of those trips where you pick a random week end and head some where you have never been to, with pretty much no planing in advance!

This time it was me and Prabath. We decided that Deniyaya would be a nice area to explore, so two of us boarded my old but faithful jeep at 2 a.m. on a Saturday and started driving towards Deniyaya via Rathnapura, Rakwana and Suriyakanda.

We started our journey from Laxapana where we faced a deadly incident( Laxapana trip will be reported as a separate article. It’s better to have a look at it because it describes some precautions which you need to be aware of, but sadly we’ve forgotten). After recovering from that incident we headed to kadi Ella, a waterfall which is located in Kadienlena. The waterfall acts as a divider between two districts, kandy and Nuwaraeliya..It’s easy to locate since it’s on the way to Thalawakele which is better known as the B317 route.

This was our last trip of the year! We started at around 5.30am from Nugegoda, On the first day the crew was only 4 of us! As always we kept our options open so at Kitulgala we took a detour which was not on plan, we visited the Kitulgala Beli Lena.
Belilena is the famous largest cave in Sri Lanka. It is located 8km from the town of Kitulgala.It is located 8km from the town of Kitulgala. It holds evidence of a lost generation of Sri Lanka 12,000 years old; then this cave belonged to the Balangoda People, described as Homo sapiens balangodensis by Paul E. P. Deraniyagala

We started from Colombo at 3.00 in the morning. Had morning Tea at Hanguranketha at a Friend’s place then visited the first Waterfall of the trip – Katugasoya Ella which is along the B413 road at 30km post. Can go to base of the falls in 1 minute going through a private land where a guest house being constructed.
After this on the way to Walapane We stopped at Andawala Ella Which is also right by the road along the Hanguranketha

We had reserved the Bambarakanda rest as our accommodation. After picking everyone, we left Kottawa around 2 in the morning. Stopped by somewhere around Avissawella for a tea and collected some short eat items from there. We were at Bambarakanda rest by 6.30 in the morning. It was nice to see the sun rise and Bambarakanda falls washed by morning sunlight.

Early morning we got up and left to Dothalugala Camp Site. Dothalugala Cabin is 2Km from Deanston. The road is mortable but some parts the condition is not that good. So it is better if you can use a 4WD. Dothalugala camp site is around 750M away from Dothalugala Cabin. Forest Officers provided us a Villager / Guide. Please make sure to carry enough kerosene oil and lanterns, because you are entirely depending on it and there is no electricity available for nearly 2.5KM. When you need to charge you phones and Cameras you can head back to deanston (2.5Km + from campsite) and get it charged.

Great Western at 2212 m altitude is the 6th highest in the country. Situated in the Nuwraeliya district, a rail station as well as a tea plantation near this hill carries the same name. Location: Great western station between Thalawakela and Nanu oya, to be precise it’s between Watagoda & Radella
The mountain spans about 1Km and it can be climbed from both ends. We chose to take the short path so we traveled along the railway towards Radella for about 1Km and then we arrived at a place (The Kovil and the Bridge) where the station master mentioned that there may be a foot path.

We started from Galle at about 6.00 am. We prepared our breakfast and lunch in advance. Drive to Wellawaya was easy because road is very even with the new carpet. Had some snacks just passing Matara and carried along.
Weather was pleasant at that time as you can see hard to find some sun light..
Seems to be the rainy season for Hambantota. Nice green all around. Can’t imagine that is Hambantota. Paddy fields filled with water.

We started the journey in the early morning from Colombo and we reached Kandy within three hours. We bought all the food items / kerosene oil from Kandy. We planned to stay first night in Deanston Conservation Centre and second night in Dothalugala Cabin and we had no idea that Knuckles has a camping site. If you need to book any of these places you need to book it from “Sampathpaya” Forest Department office and for that you will need a recommendation from a Forest Dept Official.

We started the journey from Maha-oya around 2.30 pm in the evening. This is the best time to start from Maha oya because by 4-5 pm we can reach to Maduru oya reservoir to see the beauty of it with setting sun and to see the wild elephant as well. We took the left turn just before the Maha-oya police station at Maha-oya town. It can be easily identified as Aralaganwila road and the name board is also there for Maha-oya hot water springs.

We started our journey form Maharagama at around 6.00am, The Hatton bus from Maharagama. unfortunately there was a flat tyre so we had to go to Awissawella and get a Kitulgala bus (Awissawella-Kitulgala) the crew was three; we arrived at Kitulgala at 9.15 a.m. despite all the obstacles. With the Kitulgala bridge there is a road called Malwatte road, we got in to a three-wheeler from kitulgala and went to Malwatte which is few kilometers away from the town, after we reached Malwatte we continued in the same three-wheeler as close as we can get to the path to Mannaketi falls which is trough a tea estate, the distance to the waterfall is about1.5 km from the tarred road.

We started our journey form Maharagama at around 6.00am, there is a special bus to Hatton from Maharagama. The crew was three; we arrived at Ginigathhena at 9.00 a.m. We got in to the Nallathanni bus and got down at the 4th mile post which is after passing Nortonbridge. From this junction it was a 1.5-2Km walk for us on a good motorable road.