It was a period of mixed weather and I had been away from temples and Archeology sites for a while so decided to have a small tour around Padiyathalawa and Maha oya region on a weekend. Visiting archeology sites and temples is not an easy task since there are many issues lately that cause significant problems and it’s essential to win the trust of the head priests these days otherwise you would be labeled as a “Nidan hora” and be arrested by the 119 squad. Despite all the barriers I decided continue on my quest so on a Saturday I headed towards Padiyathalawa and took a bus towards Wahawa to start things off.

The people who’ve been on either along the road or by train must have seen a gorgeous girlie from Kadugannawa towards Aranayake. She’s so unique and iconic; you simply can’t have missed seeing her. I’ve seen many people including myself, craning their necks out of the windows to get a better look at her.

Kataragama CTB bus left Pettah sharp at 12.00 mid night, keeping our hopes alive to be at the entrance as early as possible. It was bit of a burden to reserve the seats in the bus, however it helped us to have a comfortable journey. A sleepless night for me as I had the duty of picking up some guys on the way. We got down at Tissa by 6.30 next morning & the jeep was there with just a couple of minutes delay. After buying the breakfast from a nearby bakery, we managed to reach Palatupana entrance by 7.15 on Saturday morning.

Thangamale forest is a place where I go to very often specially because it is a nice walk and a calm & quiet place. Going there also gives me a chance to travel by train

This was one of my dreams and even though I have been to Yala many more times I couldn’t achieve this until this time. This time we planned it well ahead and booked the bungalows for accommodation and got 2 jeeps arranged through our usual safari driver Ruwan Malli (one of Sugathe’s drivers).

According to Folklore During the war between Ravana and Rama, both Rama and Lakshman were hit by powerful arrows to fall unconscious and to bring them back to life Hanuman was instructed to fetch lifesaving herbs from Himalayas. Hanuman went to the Himalayas, rooted part of the hill and brought it as he was not able to identify the lifesaving herbs. Parts from the hill fell on five places in Sri Lanka, Rumasala, Dolukanda in Hiripitiya, Ritigala, Thalladi in Mannar and Kachchativu in the north.

I was on the foot board the whole journey, highly excited, enjoying it to the max. We passed many things and stations along the way. But one thing in particular got embedded in my mind. That was “Great Western Station”. The entering onto the Station area was grand and I can still remember that day. I’ve been viewing that picture every now and then and couple years back came to know about the GW Mountain which is surprisingly the 6th highest in SL.

Although I had been to Ella Rock Point many, many, many times before, it is this time that I decided to write about it.

So here I’m again with the continuation of my fairy tale from breath-taking Meemure and hope you’ve read it and enjoyed it as much as I did (Jaunting off to the Most Beautiful Village on Earth – Meemure). I left you guys at Hunnasgiriya after our morning snack of sponge cake, banana and what keeps me going Coffee… We had to wait at Hunnasgiriya for a Mahiyanganaya bus longer than I liked due to 25 April being a Poya day.

During this journey I needed to visit at places in Warakapola-Karawanaella, Galapitamada-Nelundeniya and Ruwanwella-Galigamuwa roads. Ancient Seethawaka kingdom was situated over this area. Although I had a tight schedule before the journey, the evening shower ruined some of my plans.

This journey we did some times back, most of the members of the crew are members of “Dumbara Mithuro” Environmental and Cultural Society. The society is devoted for the conservation activities in the Knuckles mountain range. On the other hand expedition in the knuckles forest is another prime objective of the society.

Yahangala prompted me to go through few Ravana documentaries and important places related to the legend; though I’m not a blind believer I think he was one of the greatest kings in Sri Lanka. While going through some articles I came across a site called chariot path which urged me to pay a visit someday because of the unusual location of it.