I was used to travel from Colombo to Pollonnaruwa by morning train (Udaya dewi/උදය දේවී) in one part of my life and accidently noticed an isolated mountain just passed Konwewa (කෝන් වැව) station. I could notice this mountain till I pass Moragollagama (මොරගොල්ලාගම) station. As it was large and situated on a surrounding flat ground, aroused my curiosity and found to have it as the longest isolated mountain of Sri Lanka-Galgiriya mountain.

When I first stepped in to Monaragala I planned to visit all four waterfalls listed under Monaragala district and suddenly one waterfall seemed to be a mystery and was bit of a challenge considering its location called Udavadiya. I was posted to Devathura to cover up another colleague’s duty for about one month and during that period I got some information from the local population about this village called Udawadiya.

Year and Month April, 2013 Number of Days Four Day Trip Crew Five (Myself, wife, daughter and two sons) Accommodation Four Tees Rest Inn at Mannar and a private house at Wilpattu Transport Car Activities A Family trip, Visiting Adam’s bridge, Wild life Weather Excellent Route Gampaha -> Puttalam -> Nochchiyagama -> Oyamaduwa -> Thanthirimale -> […]

We started around 4.00 am from Maharagama. It was raining cats and dogs and motoring was virtually difficult. By the time we reached the extended arm of the island, it was morning and the weather was not that promising. However we were able to go to coal power plant of Norochcholei and got down in front.

Since he was planning to leave Colombo bit early, he asked me and one of our friend to stay overnight at his place.We started our journey from Palawatta, Battaramulla at about 4.30 in the morning on Friday the 5th The crew was three on his KIA Sorento (me, Yasa and our good old pal Upali) and his brother (Lakshman) joined us at the Kottawa Express-way entrance on his Toyota Hilux 4WD with 2 of our friends (Prasanna & Romesh) and uncle Yasa mama. Both vehicles were packed with rations and goods for two night stay.

It has been few days after we met at Cargills, I received a call from Sujeewa with an invitation for a trip to Wilpattu National Park on the following weekend which I could not resist. There was an uncertainty in my mind about the trip due to the weather condition when I receive second confirmation call from him just two days before the event.

The coming weekend was Vesak holidays and there would be plenty of free food everywhere waiting for me to have a taste. So I decided to hang around Maha oya and experience the village style of celebrating Vesak though my main objective was visiting few archaeology sites. I got together with my batch mate Chanaka and arrived at Maha oya leisurely at around 9am and after having some breakfast we wanted to visit one of the Mega irrigation projects which was underway.

This year was not helpful at all for mountain climbers and whenever I planned one the weather conditions turned from bad to worst and it has been a gamble with the weather all the way long. So on a day with a relative good weather forecast I decided to climb a prominent peak at Passara which was on my “to do list” for a while. To appreciate a clear view one needs to climb as early as possible, so on the previous day I arrived at Mahadowa and took shelter at my staff members home which was few Km’s away.

It was a rainy Friday when I went to Gampola from Colombo to spend the weekend at my aunt’s place. I took the 5.50 am train from Colombo and reached Gampola at about 10.30 am. My mother was at my aunt’s place and as we were having a small chat, she wanted me to go to Haputale and deliver some documents to a relative. I was instantly willing to go because I have not been to Haputale for years. As soon as I was dreaming about going by train to Haputale, I remembered Ashan ayya’s trip report on his hike from Badulla to Ambewala 🙂 YES, I wanted to do at least a small bit of it.

I started looking for options for another journey and came across Kalthota Doovili Ella from Harinda and Prince. After our unsuccessful attempt at Asupini Ella, I was planning on visiting her again but intermittent rains kept me isolated only in my dreams. So Wuminda’s phone call was a disguised blessing and I immediately formed a group called “Balangoda” on Facebook and sent the requests to my former crew.

Nuwaragala the fortress on top of a rock in the deep forest of elephant country was once a dream, nevertheless just like many other dreams this one also came true. After getting guidance from Priyanjan who had been there last year, I got together with my friend Dumidu and decided to give it a try. Though it was raining elsewhere and drizzling on and off at Maha oya we went ahead with our plans.

We wanted to do a complete Jaffna tour within three days. Before plan this trip I read Sri’s Jaffna and Delft report (The Land of Horses-Delft & re-awakening Jaffna) which was the most recent updates of Jaffna in Lakdasun especially about Delft Island. Then I went through Kristy’s reports of Jaffna (Jaffna-Micro Attractions and which gives a good idea about rare places there. Zoysa’s Jaffna report (On the A9 Road to Jaffna 2010) also helped me to know about Vallipuram and VVT. I knew about Fort Hammenheil from Chandanie’s report (Fort Hammenheil-a prison in the middle of the ocean)