This was one of those journeys I did few months a back while intending to visit some unheard rarely visited places but yet archeologically significant. Actually most of these places are within 20Km’s to my resting place so on a day with a clear sky I departed towards Dambagalla and proceeded towards Mari Arawa. I had to get down at Meegahapitiya to pay a visit to the ancient temple of Meegahapitiya.

Wilpattu has always been on our wish list, more so after reading Nihal de Silva’s The Road to Elephant Pass. Even though the park was reopened in 2009, we were not able to go that way due to many constraints. The wish finally became a reality only in December 2012.

Since I landed at Iginiyagala I have noted one abnormal dome shape rock close to Pallan oya and one day while I was wondering around the dam of Senanayake reservoir I asked a school boy about this rock and he said to me “ඕක උඩ නටබුන් තියෙනව සද්ධාතිස්ස රජ දවසෙ කරවපු” which lit a bulb in my brain matter and the next thing he said is that he has a friend who knows in and out about this rock.

As we had a long year end vacation we planned to go Horton Plains via Devil’s staircase-ohiya route. But due to bad weather condition we had to cancel that trip. But badly wanted a similar trip. While thinking about trip ideas I remembered the mountain in front of our home at Pundaluoya. So here we go.

It was Friday the 16th March. We set of at around 4 a.m. from Moratuwa on a three day excursion to Galoya National Park. Shahan had booked the Mahadorowwa camp site on the Nilgala side of the park. We were a crew of 12 in three vehicles.

So finally I decided to tackle the rains, it was not a pleasant experience but my desire and the outcome made it pleasant at the end. On day one when I arrived at Welimada it was around 1pm and it was drizzling at that moment and I had to face a major obstacle which was a bus strike at that moment, somehow got in to a CTB and went towards lunuwatta.

Year and Month December, 2012 Number of Days Three Day Trip Crew 8 (between 25-30 years of age) Accommodation Ondaatje Bungalow Transport Nissan Caravan, Land Rover Activities Wildlife, Photography Weather Average. Some rain and cloudy. Never been a big problem though. Route Gampaha -> Awissawella -> Rathnapura -> Palmadulla -> Udawalawa -> Thanamalwila -> Sooriyawewa […]

Year and Month December, 2012 Number of Days Two Day Trip Crew 8 (28 years of age) Accommodation Back of Beyond – Kahandamodara Transport A Jeep & a Car Activities Waterfalls, Sightseeing, Photography, Leisure Weather Mixed. Scattered rains, overcast and clear Route Day 1 : Kottawa -> Piliyandala -> Horana -> Rathnapura -> Pelmadulla -> […]

My No 1 is Sacred Sri Pada (done 5 times so far) other is Knuckles Range (2 times so far) and I’ve made my mind to visit these places at least twice a year. When I visited Knuckles(Meemure) last September I felt like giant mountains telling me “Hey Young man Come and see us again “

I have heard and seen some stunning images of a waterfall in a rural village in Uva long ago and I was tempted to visit this waterfall which is the 3rd highest in Uva and winning the 7th place considering all other waterfalls in Sri Lanka. So again it was a gamble with overcast conditions. First day I decided to spend the night at a friend’s place close to Madulsima.

We met 2 wild elephants on the road from Yala junction to Yala entrance. Van driver was so scared and we had to speak him through to reach the entrance. We reached the entrance by 6a.m. then our jeep came. Mr. Rupasinghe ( 0718424056- we highly recommend him .awesome person with 28 years of experience) in his old Land Rover. Jeep’s running condition is superb comparing to Indian jeeps which chases the animals away due to their sounds of the engines!!!

This whole idea of a “night climb” was in my mind for a while and was wondering where to try it out first. After evaluating the trails I have done already finally it was decided that I should try it on Bambarakanda first. The intention was purely based on excitement and the urge to try something different without following the same course as usual.