So the Monsoons seem to be arriving after almost two years and the first few showers were enough to give life to many waterfalls around Badulla district. My main focus was to reach some undocumented waterfalls close to Ella and enjoy all the seasonal beauties along Ella – Wellawaya road, Beragala – Wellawaya road & Haputale – Beragala road. Please do relish this fiesta but keep in mind when you are venturing around these areas to avoid heavy showers because these areas are known for landslides

We took the E01 from Kottawa and were doing 100kmph while the sun as usual started his morning painting rituals. Just like waterfalls, sunrise and sunset are two other things that I never seem to get tired of, no matter how many times I witness it. It’s a whole lot different each and every time, trust me on that. The white cotton wool like clouds reflected the morning rays while sun appeared over rubber plantations and tiny hills to our left. Hasi had been busy in the weekend watching waterfalls as he’d been to 11 of them in and around Bulathkohupitiya, the day before. I wish I could have joined him for that too even though I have been to them before.

Year and Month April, 2014 Number of Days 1 Crew 5 (between 24-27 years of age) Accommodation Nuwara Eliya Town Transport Van Activities Wildlife, Photography, Hiking, climbing Weather Excellent Route Kandy -> Nuwara Eliya -> Horton Plains and return on the same route. Tips, Notes and Special remark Planning in advance will save you lot […]

The more I see the more I wanna see and be with them. Visiting them again and again, I figured that I gotta do something special about them, the result being the birth of Tour de Waterfalls, my own and unique version of a guide to these wonderful creations of the Mother Nature.

The monsoon season over the last two years has been so vary and erratic causing so many discomforts to the farmers and the agricultural industry sky-rocketing the prices of food products. The draught has caused further damage depriving the people and animals of many districts. As usual the general public came to their rescue sending much needed water and dry food rations for their fellow countrymen regardless of their race or religion. Well, the draught was good for the bottled water companies, multiplying their revenues but at the same time adding an unbearable amount of plastic into the environment. Most of those (especially 500ml, 1litre and 1.5litre bottles) plastic will find their way into our forests, tanks and rivers polluting them heavily. These tiny bottles will have very little use after the draught is over.

I’ve a penchant for being with them as long as possible, simply looking at them can make my all sorrows, no matter how terrible they are, vanish into thin air. I’ve already a collection of more than 100 waterfalls in my Facebook page and I hope to visit as many as possible before they disappear from the face of earth thanks to ignorant, careless and heartless activities by many idiots.

I got a sudden craving to go see some of these beauties in and around the Sacred Mountain, Sri Pada and Atha too decided to jump in and this was a very last minute journey making only the two of us this time. We left around 4.00am on a rainy dawn and reached Kalugala Junction while the sun was battling an unwinnable fight against menacingly thick and grey clouds. The Kelani River that runs parallel to A7 was not so rich making us anxious to the water levels of the falls. We were nonetheless fully committed to the mission by then to turn around.

The first time I saw this majestic twin peak range was in 2009 and soon after seen it I attempted twice and ended up with failures. I have never failed twice but as one says failures show you the path to success. Let me start with a statement I did many years back “”***I will attempt to finish what i started, Imagination can take you to extremes sometimes ”” (check the last sentence). After five years of thriving the day I looked forward came. Gommolli has two peaks one been Gommolli peak (2034m) and the other was Balathoduwa (2012m).

Year and Month 2014 September 05th and 06th Number of Days 02 Crew 02 Uddika and Myself Accommodation Theldeniya Guest House 081-234916 Transport By train By motor bike Activities Archeology, Photography and Just traveling Weather Excellent Route Colombo -> Kandy -> Hasalaka (හසලක) -> Minipe(මිනිපේ) -> Rantambe (රන්ටැබේ) -> Randenigala (රන්දෙනිගල) -> Kandy -> Colombo […]

Wilshire is the mountain stands behind famous Aluwihare temple in Matale. It is also called Aluwihare Kanda (අලුවිහාරේ කන්ද) and Etigala (ඇටිගල). This mountain is nicely popped up at Asgiriya side (not in Matale town side) as a peak. Then it’s two peaks are prominent in that side.

Sun was opening his doors to the world sending the early rays across the world when the whistle blew, green LED torches flashed from the back and front and the train left for her long arduous journey. The things got nastier at Ragama, Gampaha, Veyangoda and Polgahawela as many people tried to get in pushing and squeezing. Those who chewing beetle leaves and aricanut were forced to go deeper into the carriages making it impossible to spit out of the train, and Tony joked they must’ve had to swallow the lot as a result.

Eventually after it felt like being in a sea of people, we reached Kadugannawa and got off with a sigh of relief and went in search of a place to have a hearty breakfast before starting. This is when we met two of Lakdasun Members, Amran and Parsi who were leading a bunch of their office colleagues on a hike to Bathalegala. It brought back the happy memories of Our Bathalegala Journey. After a bellyful meal, we started our journey from Kadugannawa towards Rambukkana and you’re gonna read that here on.

Sailing in yacht was once a fantasy but out of nowhere I got a wonderful opportunity which I couldn’t resist. The Dolphin season at Trincomalee was coming to an end so the whale watching luxury yacht was migrating towards Mirissa. Amila called me and gave me the news but I had to take 3 days of leave in middle of the week and getting to Trincomallee or Passikudha was not feasible. I didn’t want to let this opportunity fly by so I decided to join them from Arugam bay.

Year and Month 8th– 11th September 2014 Number of Days 2 Crew 4 Accommodation L.L.T Safari Inn- 0779478036 Transport By a car up to Safari Inn and safari jeep inside the park Activities Wildlife, Photography Weather Sunny Route Colombo -> Negombo -> Puttalam -> Wilpattu Tips, Notes and Special remark Sad to see plenty of […]

So thanks to them all, the fee was paid and the wheelchair was ready to be taken but how we were to take it from Colombo all the way to Kohonawala was the million dollar question. As it was custom built so that it could handle the rugged and uneven terrain of Kohonawala, the wheelchair was, compared to an ordinary one, larger and heavier making it impossible to transport by bus. We didn’t wanna send it by train either in case it got damaged in the process as there were many cables and handles that might not survive a train journey amid many other goods to Badulla. Dismantling it was out of the question as we had no technical knowledge about many screws and bolts attached to it so had to take the full packaged assembled as it was.

Again it was Ana who came to our rescue offering his SUV to take the wheelchair to Kohonawala. So we set the dates for 22-23 Aug but due to the busy schedule NG was unable to join us but Athula and I joined Ana for the Journey. Ana had gone and picked up the wheelchair from the manufacturer at Borella in advance which took the whole back space of the vehicle and we left around 3.00am on 22 August while the rains were hitting us from all around.