We entered the road which goes to the tea estate. And the sun was directly over our heads, spreading its burning rays all over the area. It was really hard to find a shelter to have a rest in the beginning of the hike. We had a little problem to chose which way to go after coming to a junction. So we used our map to find the way. Of course Ashan’s Wangedigala trip report helped us as well. So we turned to the gravel road and start walking again. It was even hard to imaging how difficult it was to go up a hill with a heavy weight.

Started from Rathnapura (My Home) around 5.45 am , took 15 minutes to reach Rathnapura town . From there, straight to Balangoda (46km), early in the morning no traffic at all, Reached Balangoda By 6.50 am . Pumped Fuel and had a cup of coffee from a small “appa kade” It’s too early for me to have breakfast .Next stop will be at “ SUN HILL – HOLIDAY RESORT” owned by Udaya Abeysekara a friend of mine for breakfast .By 7.30 I was there “Sudu Bath and Pol Sambola” for my Breakfast. Spend about 45 minutes at Sun Hill.

We were beaten by sun rays showed no mercy. But in the next moment we were covered & protected by an umbrella woven with crowns of trees. Rubber was introduced to Sri Lanka by English in 1876. From the day it introduced as a crop, Rubber plant has been served the country for not only earning of coins, generating a culture of cultivation. Meanwhile rubber is known as the only crop which served the environment much the same like a forest. As like providing evidence for the same, the atmosphere of our surrounding became more & more fresh & comfortable in each kilometer.

We started our journey from Katubedda at about 11.00pm in the night. The crew was seven. We reached Colombo Fort at 12.00 am by bus. Then we took the Kandy bus and reached Kandy by 4.40am. By 7.30am we were at Bambarella village. On the way we passed a lot of beautiful waterfalls and nice sceneries. Rahas ella, Hulu ganga falls, A fall near Hathale tea estate and Two falls near Hagalla estate are some of them. Unfortunately bus was moving fast and I couldn’t able get least one clear photograph of them. I think Hulu ganga create more than hundred waterfalls in Bambarella, Panwila, Wattegama area.

Kotmale valley has been one of the places that I have always wanted to visit due to its hidden nature, natural beauty and the history it contained. This was sort of a quick trip which was planned about 10 days prior to the execution but even with such short time lines we were able to get together a good plan thanks largely due to the help from Lakdasun members. It has been raining quite heavily along the South – Wetsern areas of the country but we were determined to make the trip as it would give life to many beautiful cascades that would otherwise be non existent during the dry months.

The source of this breath-taking, 116m-high fall is the Kirindi Ella (stream), which flows from its starting point 940m up the Kuttapitiya Mountain. The stream travels 13km before the cascading point in the Kaluwaramukalana Jungle. It then flows via the Denawaka River to the Kaluganga River, located in the Bambarakotuwa Jungle. Local villagers say that there is a picture of a tortoise etched into stone here.

We started our journey from Colombo Fort at 5 am and took the Podi Menike train to Pattipola. We reached Pattipola around 2 pm. After having our lunch and finding accommodation, we started hiking towards Thotupola kanda. But the bad weather and lack of time forces us to abandon it and we returned to Pattipola around 7 pm.

Laxapana is world-famous because of the engineering excellence of late Eng. D.J. Wimalasurendra(1874-1953), known as the father of Hydro power electricity in Sri Lanaka. As per his project proposal submitted in 1918, the water potential, combined with Maskelioya and Kehelgamuoya, could be diverted to generate electricity to light 100,000 lamps (“Laksa-pahana” -> “Laxapana”). Being the house for complexes of hydro power plants, there are many security barriers & restrictions for the travelers who visit that area for years.

We started form Hikkaduwa at about 5.30 in the morning. The crew was two in my motor bike. We turned into Udugama Road from Galle and Stopped at Nakiyadeniya to have the breakfast.
The weather was quite nice and cool after a huge rain last night. After traveling about 30km we were able to reach Udugama Town. Then we traveled about 2km along Neluwa road we reached to the entrance of Kanneliya reserve.

We had to travel few kilometers towards Tanamalwila and another few on a sub route to reach Budhuruwagala, where a series of giant statues carved embossing partly on a huge rock. The main was a statue of Lord Budhdha in “Abaya Mudra” said to be 43ft in height. Statues of “Avalokitheshwara” & “Manju Sri” Bodhi-Sathwa(s) and Goddess “Thara” had been identified among the rest. As per the view of archeologists, all the statues were belonged to Mahayana tradition in 8th century.

Just to get away from our hectic work pattern, me and a few of my colleagues try to utilize every opportunity that comes by, by going out of the city. Every time, we try to select a place that fulfills our passion of being close to nature, which not only gives us plenty of fresh breath but also goes easy on the wallet. So it was Sinharaja this time.

We started form the Galle at about 5.00 in the morning. The crew was eight in a hired high roof Dolphin van.
The first stop of us was a beautiful waterfall called Ethamala ella situated near by Morawaka town.
You have to turn right 1km before the town and have to travel along NilElla estate about 1.5km. Our next stop at Hathmale ella near by Pallegama city.