This was one of my dreams and even though I have been to Yala many more times I couldn’t achieve this until this time. This time we planned it well ahead and booked the bungalows for accommodation and got 2 jeeps arranged through our usual safari driver Ruwan Malli (one of Sugathe’s drivers).

According to Folklore During the war between Ravana and Rama, both Rama and Lakshman were hit by powerful arrows to fall unconscious and to bring them back to life Hanuman was instructed to fetch lifesaving herbs from Himalayas. Hanuman went to the Himalayas, rooted part of the hill and brought it as he was not able to identify the lifesaving herbs. Parts from the hill fell on five places in Sri Lanka, Rumasala, Dolukanda in Hiripitiya, Ritigala, Thalladi in Mannar and Kachchativu in the north.

Whenever I take my camera with me it will drive me to somewhere interesting and this was one of those days. Since I had some official work on a Saturday which I managed to finish within 2 hours, decision was taken to pay a quick visit to Olagangala(at Mahiyangana). Working in a remote area where plenty of archaeological sites could be found is one of those benefits I cherish.

Although I had been to Ella Rock Point many, many, many times before, it is this time that I decided to write about it.

So here I’m again with the continuation of my fairy tale from breath-taking Meemure and hope you’ve read it and enjoyed it as much as I did (Jaunting off to the Most Beautiful Village on Earth – Meemure). I left you guys at Hunnasgiriya after our morning snack of sponge cake, banana and what keeps me going Coffee… We had to wait at Hunnasgiriya for a Mahiyanganaya bus longer than I liked due to 25 April being a Poya day.

““Once upon a time, there was this fella who happened to come across this remarkable word and it stuck very deep in his mind. Everyone who’d either been there or heard about spoke very highly of her and this fella kept dreaming about it all the time. He didn’t have the means or the resources to visit her then and dream was the only option he was left with which he was very good at. On top of everything, Meemure wasn’t ready to welcome him just yet.

There are plenty of scenic roads around Sri Lanka offering breathtaking views intersecting different landscapes. This was such a “photo journey” along three scenic roads offering unique views where Hambegamuwa – Welioya – Kaltota through Paddy centered low country dry/intermediate zone, Balangoda – Bogawantalawa – Norwood through Tea centered mid/up country, Dickoya – Delhouse through Tea centered up country reservoir banks.

We reached Ampara around 1.00 pm. We had to pick our two friends from Dayata Kirula exhibition stall. Therefore, we spent 1 or 2 hours visiting the exhibition. Next, 8 of us went to the friend’s place where we were spending the night. It was extremely very difficult to book a hotel or a government circuit bungalow as it was the Dayata Kirula exhibition period.

We, two groups on two vehicles, met at a road side night shop near Negombo at around 3.45 am. Six of us were on Prasanna’s Mitsubishi jeep, started from Nugegoda and went to Negombo while Theshantha started from Kiribathgoda, picked up 3 others and came to Negombo in his Toyota Double cab. We had a tea there and set off towards Puttalam

Peace in the country means that we can explore it at will and that was what took us to Mannar. Out of bounds until recently, exploring Mannar was an unforgettable experience as the area is steeped in both history and culture. After a lovely lunch at Four Tees, the first day had us exploring Mannar. The Fort and some birding at the Vankalai Sanctuary was all what we could manage

Yakdessagala first came across my senses in 2011 while I was on top of Yapahuwa and again last year when I visited Wellagala rock. The temptation of conquering this rock surged after seen Dinesh Dekkers video which prompted me to do so ASAP! I must thank Anupama who guided me in every way he can to make our journey a success!

රාත්රිටය පිලියන්දල ගත කලෙමු. පසු දින උදයේ ලබුනෝරුව බලා පිටත් විය. එදින දිවා ආහාරය ඉබ්බන්කටුව ජලාශය අසලදී ගත් අප ලබුනෝරුවට ළඟවනවිට සවස් වී තිබුනි. රිටිගල කඳු පාමුල පිහිටි ලබුනෝරුව ආරණ්ය සේනාසනය ඉතා නිස්කලංක ස්ථානයක් වන අතර ඊට මද දුරක් ඈතින් පිහිටා ඇති මූරියන්කඩවල වැව රිටිගල කන්දත් සමග දර්ශනීය දසුනක් මවාපායි