This time we got it all wrong we got in to a Badulla bus from Colombo and without getting off at Balangoda we got down from Pambahinna and had to take a three-wheeler up to Mulgama which was about 18Km but never the less the journey through the Samanala Wewa forest part was a totally different experience, we also had a stop to enjoy the view of Samanala Wewa. On the way to Mulgama We noted a huge water-flow across the road which was leaking through the mountain, now this is the famous leak of Samanala project, as we heard this water leak runs through a mountain which borders the reservoir.

We left Malabe at 8.00 a.m. The destination for the first day was “Olu Ella inn” which is located 15.5km from Yatiyanthota town on the Yatiyanthota – Seeforth road. At around 9.30 in the morning we were stopped by the stunning scenery of the Kelani River at the Karawanella bridge on the A7.
After spending about half an hour on the bridge, enjoying the scenery we continued our drive along the A7 towards Yatiyanthota.

This was one of those trips where you pick a random week end and head some where you have never been to, with pretty much no planing in advance!

This time it was me and Prabath. We decided that Deniyaya would be a nice area to explore, so two of us boarded my old but faithful jeep at 2 a.m. on a Saturday and started driving towards Deniyaya via Rathnapura, Rakwana and Suriyakanda.

We started our journey from Laxapana where we faced a deadly incident( Laxapana trip will be reported as a separate article. It’s better to have a look at it because it describes some precautions which you need to be aware of, but sadly we’ve forgotten). After recovering from that incident we headed to kadi Ella, a waterfall which is located in Kadienlena. The waterfall acts as a divider between two districts, kandy and Nuwaraeliya..It’s easy to locate since it’s on the way to Thalawakele which is better known as the B317 route.

This was our last trip of the year! We started at around 5.30am from Nugegoda, On the first day the crew was only 4 of us! As always we kept our options open so at Kitulgala we took a detour which was not on plan, we visited the Kitulgala Beli Lena.
Belilena is the famous largest cave in Sri Lanka. It is located 8km from the town of Kitulgala.It is located 8km from the town of Kitulgala. It holds evidence of a lost generation of Sri Lanka 12,000 years old; then this cave belonged to the Balangoda People, described as Homo sapiens balangodensis by Paul E. P. Deraniyagala

We started from Colombo at 3.00 in the morning. Had morning Tea at Hanguranketha at a Friend’s place then visited the first Waterfall of the trip – Katugasoya Ella which is along the B413 road at 30km post. Can go to base of the falls in 1 minute going through a private land where a guest house being constructed.
After this on the way to Walapane We stopped at Andawala Ella Which is also right by the road along the Hanguranketha

We had reserved the Bambarakanda rest as our accommodation. After picking everyone, we left Kottawa around 2 in the morning. Stopped by somewhere around Avissawella for a tea and collected some short eat items from there. We were at Bambarakanda rest by 6.30 in the morning. It was nice to see the sun rise and Bambarakanda falls washed by morning sunlight.

We started our journey form Maharagama at around 6.00am, The Hatton bus from Maharagama. unfortunately there was a flat tyre so we had to go to Awissawella and get a Kitulgala bus (Awissawella-Kitulgala) the crew was three; we arrived at Kitulgala at 9.15 a.m. despite all the obstacles. With the Kitulgala bridge there is a road called Malwatte road, we got in to a three-wheeler from kitulgala and went to Malwatte which is few kilometers away from the town, after we reached Malwatte we continued in the same three-wheeler as close as we can get to the path to Mannaketi falls which is trough a tea estate, the distance to the waterfall is about1.5 km from the tarred road.

We started our journey form Maharagama at around 6.00am, there is a special bus to Hatton from Maharagama. The crew was three; we arrived at Ginigathhena at 9.00 a.m. We got in to the Nallathanni bus and got down at the 4th mile post which is after passing Nortonbridge. From this junction it was a 1.5-2Km walk for us on a good motorable road.

We started form Colombo at around 5.30 in the evening. The crew was three, out of the three two got in from Colombo and the other one joined us from Awissawella, It was a Hatton A/C bus, We bought biscuits and other stuff from the bus stand. We arrived at Hatton at 9.45 p.m. We had dinner from a Small hotel at Hatton and got a three wheel ride to Nallathanni. When we arrived at Nallathanni it was 11.15 p.m.