This is an isolated mountain range which is situated in Anuradhapura District closer to Medawachchiya (මැදවච්චිය) and Kabithigollawa (කැබතිගොල්ලෑව). It’s highest point is about 121m high and whole mountain covers by the forest. Most of the maps of Sri Lanka show this mountain. First I noticed it’s name when I was studying social science at school. Later when I started to travel, I had a curiosity to visit there.

Arangala is a mountain I came across while browsing through Chalitha’s profile on Facebook and since then I also wanted to be there and enjoy the magical scenery around Mathale and Dambulla! This gigantic rock is also called Nalanda rock since it is located close to Nalanda village. And also been at the center of the island it holds a special place compared to other peaks. Arangala also has a past history related to Weera Keppetipola and Gongale goda banda who formed troops at this mountain.

We booked the campsite early and arranged everything for 3 nights. Drive up to kumana was soo long and tiring. We left Gampaha around 11.30 in the night. Stopped several times and reached Arugambay around 8.30 am. Spent around 2 hours in the beach and went to Panama to meet our jeep guy, Sena. He is the only Sinhala guy operating in the area.

This is a journey which I treasured a lot and at the end of it I was left with many unanswered questions. Few weeks back there was a news clip from a TV channel shared around Facebook about some paintings in Ella, Karandagolla. The uniqueness of it was enough to stimulate me to go in search of these paintings within few weeks! The monk at Karandagolla was my main resource person who found a guide and arranged everything. Let me share with you my little adventure and reveal few secrets of a forgotten era.

Dimbulagala is a main religious attraction at Polonnaruwa. It is 534.5m high rock range situated 12miles from Polonnaruwa. To reach Namal Pokuna, Akasa Chaithya, Mara Weediya and Herbal ponds you don’t need a guide as foot pathways and steps can be seen clearly.

Few months ago Kokagala came across my visual path while I was on top of Olagangala hermitage. Never knew what this rock was until I noted it close up at Padiyathalawa. During my first visit to Padiyathalawa I requested from my trishaw driver to find me a guide and let me know and within few months I was all ready to conquer it. Though Amila planned to join me in this venture he couldn’t make it and as usual I was left alone.

As a bunch of wildlife lovers, we’ve always been fascinated by the sheer wilderness Sri Lankan national parks offered. We planned a trip to Udawalawa National Park this summer and it was one of the memorable ones.

This September I got an opportunity to visit Wilandagoda aranya and archeological site where King Dutugemunu’s son, Prince Saliya is believed to have run away to, when he abdicated the throne in order to wed the low-caste, Asokamala.

We started the journey around 10 from Colombo. Our target is to reach Kudiramale point before 4. We stopped at Halawata to fill our cooler boxes. We reached Wilpattu border around 3.30, but unfortunately that road was closed because of rain. It’s better if there’s a way to know that before we turn that way from Puttalam, but even Villages did not know that. So we had to turn back and go around the park to reach Mannar

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.

It was an unplanned trip this time around with my parents. Was there in wilpattu 2 weeks back and wanted to go for a trip before my sister’s wedding. So I decided wilpattu since my sis n parents haven’t been to a jungle for a long time + this is a good opportunity to try out my newly brought 500mm lens