Actually this was an official journey to Mahiyanganaya but we planned it out to perfection. We took the 11.45pm bus to Mahiyanganya (the bus was packed @10.45pm) and the journey was a long one and we never regretted the night journey because the road trough Hunnasgiriya was heavily under construction these days. After the bus tackled the 17 hair pin bends, it was time for us to get down at Gurulupotha. The time was 5.30a.m so we decided to have breakfast at a nearby Tea shop and started our journey towards the Seetha Kotuwa ruins at Gurulupotha (the path starts near to the Rest house).

There were few places that I have visited previously that I thought of visiting again. It was a bit of a different journey for me(out of the routine) compared to my previous once! I really wanted to see the sun rise at Maligatenna but I got a bit late, nevertheless I reached there at around 7am and climbed up until I came to the Meda Maluwa & set my self off to the top of Maligatenna. The scenery was awesome as always. As I know this is the highest place in Gampaha District and one can enjoy the breath taking view of Siyane Korale from top of it!

This trip report does not cover any really new sites…thought of writing it up to share some pictures and also as a thank you for all the information provided for this trip by Lakdasun. Its quite amazing how places we go so often can still turn up enjoyable surprises, and its also very nice to be able to visit areas which we did in our childhood but then were not so accessible till recently. The sea in the Yala area is not so safe, but the beach is really worth exploring. And if you know your zoology? Biology? It’s a tremendous advantage!

Drove from Colombo to Kandy, took the scenic route along Raja Mawatha, past Victoria, Randenigala and Rantambe reservoirs and along the Minipe canal to Mahiyanganaya. It was almost dark when leaving Mahiyanganaya after visiting the temple. From there to Rathkinda, we took a long route for the fear that the causeway at Ulhitiya might be flooded.

Last week end, my self and Chamara (member) spent an evening at the rampart, Galle. We thought it is better to add some pictures from this historical fortress, a world heritage.

While at the top of the fort we saw a ship coming in to the Galle harbor. So the next day we manage to have a visit to the harbor. There we could experience how a ship brought in to the jetty.

Started from Gampaha @ 4.30am in order to reach bandarawela before dusk knowing we had a long day before us. Was past kandy by 6.30am and padiyapelella by about 9am(road conditions were really bad). After getting directions from plenty of people, 1 person mentioned the above route (special remarks) which we decided to take. From padiyapelella took a road that led us to mathurata plantation tea estates to get to kurundu oya falls

The best time to visit these parks is during the drought season during July to September but usually yala is closed for visitors during the month of September so I thought of doing this trip on late August but then again when I checked with my contacts @ yala I came to know that this time the park will remain open so shifted my plans to September where the affects of the drought is much more severe so our chances of sighting leopards is @ high.

It was my third visit to Batticaloa & first visit after ending the endless war of this country. Its not a leisure tour for me but by chance, most of the time I get to participate in official trips to all around the country.
It was 12th February 2010, we left Kurunegala around 10.30 in the morning. The vehicle was a van & there were 8 members in our team. Our first stop was at Polonnaruwa for lunch & Polonnaruwa Rest House was selected for taking our lunch.

Let me start by explaining about “Wangedigala”, Im sure all of you must be wondering where the hell this is. This is a mountain range situated close to Kalupahana and facing the Badulla A4 road. it came in sight of my attention for the first time when I visited Bambarakanda falls, since then I wanted to climb it because it was a mountain range that you can walk along and enjoy the view. But actually we wanted to go further than Wangedigala. Balathoduwa and Gommolli(13th highest) was our target.

A week end trip to Kalpitiya was planned as a family vacation. The main attraction was the dolphins but some detours to see interesting sites on the way were also in the itinerary.
We started around 4.00 am on a Saturday – just 3 of us in our car. En route to Palavi along A3, we visited the Munnewaram Kovil in Chilaw. The Munnewaram Hindu Kovil has many little shrines within the main complex; dedicated to various Hindu deities. Photography is not allowed inside the kovil.

We started from Colombo at 6.00 a.m. in the morning. Had morning Tea at Hingula and stopped for lunch at Loggal-oya. We reached Bulupitiya Junction [22km from Bibile town] around 3.00 p.m.
Few of us decided to walk [10km to the camp site from Bulupitiya Junction] watching birds and butterflies as older people and few others decided to go by the tractor. We reached the camp site by 6.00 p.m. We saw few birds and heard the “Painted Francolin” as well. Few Jumbos were there too close to the camp site.

It was 5.30 in the morning when we left this time and we never expected it to be a tiring day! Our plan was to visit all known Waterfalls around Uda-Maliboda. On the way to Deraniyagala we had a stop at Maha Oya which flows by the road and searched for the beauty called Thalkossa and yes we saw them and other Barbs and Dandi also! When we reached Deraniyagala our attention was taken away by the bus halt there were so many Vans parked, those were the only available transport for the people around Deraniyagala but from Deraniyagala to Awissawella there are buses until 8pm. From Deraniyagala we took the Noori route and after-wards we arrived at a junction where we took the right turn towards Maliboda via Nakkavita.