So without even informing Mrs.Mayakaduwa I started my journey towards Bambarakanda. I left home around 4.30 and came to Kaduwela by a Three-wheeler and got in to a Badulla CTB Bus. Neither bus nor me in a hurry so we slowly reached Kalupahana(just before the 172nd Mile post) around 10.30am(It stopped for breakfast at Pelmadulla).Then I took a TukTuk and reached the Bambarakanda rest around 11.00 am.

We got off the train from Badulla in the morning after a long 12 hour journey. The list of “must do” in Uva province was getting longer ever since Ashan started roaming in Uva and his reports started flooding into the Lakdasun forum. We were hoping to cover a few of those places and 5 of us were on a hiking trip, hoping to do 3 trails in 3 days. Our accommodation was close to Passara so we quickly did shopping and got into a Passara bus.

We came through Southern Highway and turned from Baddegama out. Then we came to Neluwa through Nagoda, Udugama, Hiniduma and Thawalama. From Neluwa you have to drive another16 KM on an extremely narrow road, through Kosmulla.

Water is life .Value of it cannot be measured in rupees or dollars. Not only for our basic needs but also for our pleasure, Leisure it’s the most commonly used thing. And for me if there is no water source it’s not a trip. I’d like to swim in swiftly flowing rivers and am desperate to dip in natural pools filled with Crystal clear water. When I jump in to water I forget everything other than dipping and swimming.

Hanguranketha and Walapane (Electorate areas) cover a large area of central hills. There are a number of unfamiliar waterfalls in this area. During my journey I wanted to visit at these waterfalls. Although I visited them haphazardly for your convenience I will note down them in an order.

After the preceding days failed attempt in reaching Milla oya falls I decided to give it another try on the very next day. I never wanted to give up knowing that this hidden beauty will not flow as she had been doing all these years in few more months after the newly built mini hydro project starts functioning. So I reached Millebedda early as I could to try and reach the waterfall from the top because visiting it from Walas ella side was a failure.

On our first day our plan was to visit Bambara kiri ella, Riverston peak , Pitawala pathana, Thelagamu oya and Sera ella. We met with heavy rain on the way of Riverston peak and we all got wet. We couldn’t reach Riverston summit because of it was not safe to visit summit while thundering. We couldn’t visit Sera ella and Thelagamu oya because we haven’t enough time.

This is the second highest water fall of Sri Lanka. It is situated in Nuwareliya district closer to Walapane town. Actually it is a cascade with two parts. (May be three parts). It’s origin is Kurundu Oya. Kurundu Oya fall is the tallest waterfall of Nuwaraeliya district and tallest waterfall related to Mahawali River. As it is situated in a remote area it has lesser tourist attraction. Reaching to bases of Kurundu Oya cascades is somewhat difficult.

The road took us passing the Kehelgamu Oya which was in over flowing condition forming creamy white foams and running mischievously passing rocks. We had to stop for a pic. The sky looked gloomy and threatened to rain at any moment but we were not swayed by that.

With most parts of the country experiencing rain continuously for 4 months, an amount of rain that has never been experienced for the past 40 years or so started to ease by end of July, the moment I’ve been waiting for. After experiencing 3 days of sunshine without rain I thought the moment has arrived for me to go on another waterfall hunt and decided to do it the very next day making use of the week-end.

ince we have enough time, we decided to go to Devil’s Staircase around 2.00 pm. Road beyond BHR was very good (Concreted / paved). Even though we expect bad road, less than 2 kms from BHR road condition was horrible. After climbing about ½ km we decided to revise the vehicle for ½ km and came back to BHR.

As usual, we spent longer than we could afford with her (not unusual when you’re at the bottom of that massive falls towering over you like a mother Panda trying to cuddle her babies.