As soon as we entered the 2 started taking us to most of the rocky places famous for LEOPARDS and at 6.10 we came across this family at Rukwila and the pictures will tell the story. It was amazing to watch and after that we had the luck to see 2 more during the day : one on a rock and another on a tree.It was a treat to watch and one of the best movements in wild life encounters .

Our trip was started from Rathnapura around 3.00PM in the evening. It took 3.00 hours to reach Samanalawewa VIP bungalow, because we stopped at Belihuloya to have a bath there. Several security checks were required to enter the bungalow. It was the first time I went to the VIP bungalow though I have been in to Samanalawewa several times and the view from bungalow was fantastic.

It was one of my dream journeys which I had waited for a long time to accomplished. Finally that day came.We departure from colombo on 4th of September by 12.45AM Ampara bus to go to the ancient Memure village.We arrived Hunnasgiriya at about 5.30 AM and get breakfast from there. We went to Loolwatta by a van which leaves at 8.00 AM from Hunnasgiriya. After that, there was no public transport vehicle on that road until 1.30 PM. After scenic drive along the Hunnasgiriya-Loolwatta road we came to the destination at about 9.00AM.From there we started our long walk towards Meemure.

Our first travel location, the historic temple at Thalagama was located at a distance less than a kilometer from Ambepussa, the first train destination of Sri Lanka. The temple was consisted with three levels. The Sangawasaya, Dharma Shalawa and other general buildings used by Bhikku are located at the lower level.

We planned the trip initially to the August school vacation but due to the National Elephant Senses which was on the way we had to reschedule the trip to September. All were enthusiastic on the trip and final number on for the trip was 10 with 3 teenagers, 2 youths and 5 adults. The campsite was booked in advanced and officers were helpful to provide us a campsite despite their strike. Cab service van was booked which was familiar due to the past experiences with the driver/owner of that van.

Our first stop was at Kurunegala for our breakfast. After the breakfast we drove through Dambulla,Nelumkulama and turned left to Anuradhapura air force camp road through Wilachchiya road to Nellikulama. Nellikulama was a modern temple but its concept was little different from our traditional temple.

We intended to cover Trinco and surrounding places of interest as much as possible and the trip was planned to the minute detail. However unexpected bad weather, poor road conditions and Grease Yaka prevented us from touching all places, meaning another trip when time permits!!!!

Originally we planned this trip to visit the waterfalls in Ginigathhena and Hatton area, but since we were able to reach Ginigathhene before 7, made a sudden change of plans and decided to hike the Thotupola kanda. As I mentioned earlier the climate was really cool and the roads were all covered in mist.

This is the first time we visited to Riverseturn. That was windy season for Riverstone and best time to visit. The breathtaking surroundings, strong cool winds and challenging hikes. But the pitawala pathana was very dry at that time. According to the local persons, they didn’t get rain from 2-3 months. You can see how dry it was. We visited to Thelgamuwa oya for bath but we saw not enough water for that. Then we visited to Sera fall. We didn’t see large and beautiful water fall because of lack of rain.

We were able to reach the Lipton’s Seat at around 10.30am in the morning. Cars can go up until the last turn to the Lipton’s Seat from there you have to walk around 500m through the tea estate to arrive to the view point. Since it was a very bright and sunny day we were able to enjoy clear and endless views.

Wawetenna an off the beaten travel location has been hidden from popular travel forums for years. Times to time many inquiries have been made by travelers on this marvelous travel location, but none has received answers satisfactory. As per the 1:50,000 map of Kandy, there were two locations with the same name. Finally having analyzing limited data available, a place closed to Madamahanuwara was identified as the real Wawethenna where a panoramic view point was existed. This travelogue is dedicated to all who interested on re-discovering of this hidden travel location.

We started our journey from Kahawa at about 6.00am. Normally if we need to go to Ratnapura we used to go to Panadura and head to Ratnapura. But we thought to go our journey through the country then I found the way using the road map published by the dept. of survey. We turn from Kahawa junction and refueled our bike at Meetiyagoda. Then we reached to Elpitiya and about 7.15am were able to reach Pelawatta. There is a road from Pelawatta to Baduraliya.