Seeing the country from the highest point in Sri Lanka has been in my wish list for a long time. A holiday at Nuwara Eliya in April saw us heading towards Pidurutalagala one sunny morning. At 2525 metres, Pidurutalagala is the tallest mountain in Sri Lanka. The climb to the top is now easy as it is motorable but the summit point is out of bounds unless prior permission has been obtained. The check point at the base allows vehicles to the top in an orderly manner to prevent overcrowding at the summit.

This is when Ana called and asked if I would like to join him for a hike. Well, this is what you call being lucky and without so much as a second thought I jumped in. Well what would you do if it turned out to be a journey which you had done twice before within the last year? I don’t think many would have been fancy to take on that offer but not me. I don’t mind visiting the same place over and over again because everytime it’s a different experience. After all, we eat the same thing again and again, do the same boring things day after day so why not see and visit the same place every now and then, I keep asking myself. So when he suggested to do the Kirigalpoththa Trail once again (for the third time within a year), I felt elated quite different from many others.

When we visited Mannar in 2014 we took the route through Thantirimale and on our way we did note many Black archeology boards. Since we skipped on Thantirimale during that visit we thought of loitering around Oyamaduwa while the north east monsoons were ending its all island havoc. We knew that Thantirmale was a huge site with an endless rocky plateau so we left home very early and reached Thantirimale at around 6.40am.

It was Vesak holidays and I wanted to visit some temples just like I did in 2013. Though I have been to Tinco as a kid I have not properly explored this region. So after some intensive planning with the aid of online and offline literature I was all set for this 2015 Vesak expedition. We knew that this was going to be a tough one especially with the extreme heat but we were up to the task. The added advantage was that every Buddhist temple was decorated for Vesak and it was easy to locate. The disadvantage was that it was too crowded since it was a long holiday.

Year and Month 2015 March 16th Number of Days One Day Crew 02-Nirosh and Niroshan Accommodation Uma Guest House-Uwa Thanna (Previous day night) Transport By bus and then climbing Activities Mountain climbing and Photography Weather Excellent Route Kalupahana( කලුපහන ) -> Beragala (බෙරගල) -> Back to Colombo Tips, Notes and Special remark Start the journey […]

We stayed the night at Panwila guest house and started the journey from there around 5.30am. By 6.15am we reached Thawalanthanna and kept our unnecessary stuff at Thilaka stores to start the journey. Three wheel driver agreed to bring us for another 1km along the gravel road and then started walking. (There is a foot pathway to cut this distance). Knuckles Mountain was clearly visible without mist covering.

Year and Month February 2015 ( 2,3,4 ) Number of Days Two and half days Crew Total: 8 Persons Six Wonderers ( Hi King , Stunt Prince , Silent Worrier, De Waterfall Hunter, Notorious Major & Jumbo ) Two Villagers as guides ( Suresh & Kadol ) Accommodation Village House and Camping in the jungle […]

Year and Month 1-2 Apr 2015 Number of Days 2 Crew Only Me Accommodation Daya’s Place, Keeriyagaswewa. Transport By Train, Bus, Tuk-Tuk and on Foot Activities Archaeology, Photography, Hiking, etc… Weather Excellent. Route Day 01Nugegoda->Colombo Fort->Aukana->Res Vehera->Kekirawa>Keeriyagaswewa.  Day 02  Keeriyagaswewa->Kekirawa->Colombo. Tips, Notes and Special remark The Udaya Devi leaves Colombo Fort at 6.05am. Niroshan is […]

I just checked out the time table of trains so that it’d give us a sense of times so that we could take precautions. These new Chinese trains are very quiet compared to the grumbling old German ladies. However I don’t think when it comes to performance, technology and endurance, the Chinese can come anywhere near. I’ve seen how they operate in my Exclusive Journey on the S12 some time ago. Hasi took over the meals with the help of his wife. Even though she wanted to join us, a sudden illness confined her to the house. We were very excited, especially Hasi as this was going to be his first ever rail hike. I could imagine how he felt coz it was the same when I was getting ready for my first rail hike.

We started out at 4 AM on day 1 and move towards Ratnapura on Horana Road. On the way we schemed to move towards Ampara and may be towards Trinco later on. We took a quick breakfast from a small wayside shop on the Horana road at about 6. We had passed Maha Saman Devalaya at Ratnapura so many times but never stopped since we always have been running with a another destination in mind. It was 6.45AM when we reached the Ratnapura Maha Saman Devalaya and there was almost no people there.

“Knuckles”, is a name that is known all over the world because everyone has got them. Well I’m not gonna talk about those knuckles. I’m trying to pave the way for another fairy tale. There are five peaks hidden deep in a forest bordered by Kandy and Matale districts. They are shaped in such a way that whoever saw them felt as if looking at an enlarged set of knuckles created by the Mother Nature. Thus the name “Knuckles” not only for the mountain range but also for the whole forest. Now this is a world heritage site and a dream for many hikers.

Both of us were looking for a getaway and this time we selected central hills rather than the usual dry zone. Went through the internet and finally found a nice place close to Nilambe. And yes the place was well worth and the perfect location with a window view towards Piduruthalagala western reaches (my kind of place). Though the food was terrible the surrounding environment made us forget it.