Year and Month July, 2013 (12th to 15th) Number of Days Four Day Trip Crew 3 on 12 & 13 July & 4 on 14 & 15 July (Age: Classified) – Tony, Lasantha, Dimuthu and Me with our helpful host Nava mama Accommodation Nava Mama’s House (081-3804191) – Best place to stay with a real village […]

There are some places one must visit and Nilgala is one of those places. Finally after 1 ½ years been to Monaragala that day seemed to be closing in. I was determined to visit Nilgala during the Esela weekend and only needed few guys to accompany me but at last I had a huge crew. First of all my office staff was ever so willing to venture on and later to be joined by few of my Lakdasun friends. Though I was disappointed with the wild life department because of all the messed up bookings, I was not going to give up this time and decided to camp the first day at the park entrance.

Have you guys heard about a village located in the valley of Loggal oya where they do not have a road even and they have to climb an abyss to get to the nearest city (Madulsima) for 3 hours. Yes still our fellow citizens do live in the dark where even some of the basic facilities are not available. The sun is seen only at 9am and it vanishes in few hours at around 3pm, even when the sun could be seen the thick layer of mist covers it off and deprive them with their right to enjoy the sunlight. And yet these 200 odd people have managed to survive happily despite all of their troubles. After some recent media programs these people have got some hope and they are looking forward for a brighter future.

It had been raining continuously during the past few weeks and the waterfalls were living their dream. It was time for another waterfall hunt and the idea was further facilitated by my friend Amila who said lets go on a bike ride and find few cascades tomorrow. So as usual this bike ride was planned on 8pm on the previous day and to be successfully carried out on the following day. Harinda decided to break the silence and join in this venture after a long pause and Sri was ever so ready to explore some beauties. We decided to explore Wee oya valley of Yatiyanthota and Ritigaha wahaka oya valley in Bulathkohupitiya , targeting few hidden cascades that were waiting until some waterfall lovers visit them.

When I first stepped in to Monaragala I planned to visit all four waterfalls listed under Monaragala district and suddenly one waterfall seemed to be a mystery and was bit of a challenge considering its location called Udavadiya. I was posted to Devathura to cover up another colleague’s duty for about one month and during that period I got some information from the local population about this village called Udawadiya.

Year and Month April, 2013 Number of Days Four Day Trip Crew Five (Myself, wife, daughter and two sons) Accommodation Four Tees Rest Inn at Mannar and a private house at Wilpattu Transport Car Activities A Family trip, Visiting Adam’s bridge, Wild life Weather Excellent Route Gampaha -> Puttalam -> Nochchiyagama -> Oyamaduwa -> Thanthirimale -> […]

It has been few days after we met at Cargills, I received a call from Sujeewa with an invitation for a trip to Wilpattu National Park on the following weekend which I could not resist. There was an uncertainty in my mind about the trip due to the weather condition when I receive second confirmation call from him just two days before the event.

It’s been a year ever since Sri de Lakdasun was born and I wanted to celebrate his first birthday in an unforgettable way. He’s now beginning to stand on his own and even say a few words such as: Waterfall, Hike, Mountain, etc. It’s been so nice watching him grow bit by bit and learn things as the time goes on

The coming weekend was Vesak holidays and there would be plenty of free food everywhere waiting for me to have a taste. So I decided to hang around Maha oya and experience the village style of celebrating Vesak though my main objective was visiting few archaeology sites. I got together with my batch mate Chanaka and arrived at Maha oya leisurely at around 9am and after having some breakfast we wanted to visit one of the Mega irrigation projects which was underway.

This year was not helpful at all for mountain climbers and whenever I planned one the weather conditions turned from bad to worst and it has been a gamble with the weather all the way long. So on a day with a relative good weather forecast I decided to climb a prominent peak at Passara which was on my “to do list” for a while. To appreciate a clear view one needs to climb as early as possible, so on the previous day I arrived at Mahadowa and took shelter at my staff members home which was few Km’s away.

It was a rainy Friday when I went to Gampola from Colombo to spend the weekend at my aunt’s place. I took the 5.50 am train from Colombo and reached Gampola at about 10.30 am. My mother was at my aunt’s place and as we were having a small chat, she wanted me to go to Haputale and deliver some documents to a relative. I was instantly willing to go because I have not been to Haputale for years. As soon as I was dreaming about going by train to Haputale, I remembered Ashan ayya’s trip report on his hike from Badulla to Ambewala 🙂 YES, I wanted to do at least a small bit of it.

I spend two days in my busy schedule to catch splendid beauty of these hidden beauties of Matara-Deniyaya area. I started my day with a friend from Matara town towards Mulatiyana. We got into a bus towards Kotapola from Matara and out first attraction was Kosgahadola Ella.