I have been living around Moneragala for few months and it seems I’m surrounded by heritage and nature. There is a place called Mayuragiri Raja Maha viharaya 2Km’s close to my quarters which I thought I have visited in 2009 but after seen NG’s post I understood that I have visited the Mayuragiri hermitage but not the temple. So on a peaceful day I decided to walk towards this temple.

As usual, this was another all-of-a-sudden-I-wanted-to-go trip. For some reason or the other, beginning of March, out of nowhere, I felt that I must go to Adam’s peak as soon as possible. I still have no idea how that notion came upon me but I was pretty much obsessed with it.

We left delgoda at 5.30am and was experiencing rain for the next 1 ½ hours till we reached our first attraction of the day at Ampagala, Bulathkohupitiya being Suramba/Punahela ella. After waiting for about 10 minutes till the rain subsided we decided to get a closer look at the falls

Since it was a four day long weekend only Monday was a working day and Tuesday a Poya day, we both decided to travel to Galaha Kandy Nilambe Meditation Center to spend the time in recluse and out of reach of the hectic life in Colombo, without Telephones, Radio, Television and Electricity and all that.

We started the journey early morning 5.00am from our home in galle. Then got the breakfast at beach side in matara.
After then stopped at few places between matara and kataragama.reached kataragama at 2.00pm. We had accomadation at “paviveki visrama shala” in kataragama . this is managing by kirivehera and double room(two beds, ceiling fan) with attached bath room cost is Rs.375.00 per night

As this trip was arranged in a hurry there were only 3 of us committed. From the information we got from some of our friends, and Lakdasun we knew that transportation from Hunnasgiriya to Meemure is the critical part of our journey. The only transportation was two vans leaving from Hunnasgiriya between 1.30-2.00 pm. So we had to plan our trip to match with that. Two of us arrived to Kandy at 10.15 am and the other joined there. We did some last minute shopping to buy some stuff like noodles, Siddhalepa’s, and left Kandy at 11.00 am in a Mahiyanganaya bus

Let me start by giving a small introduction of the relevant area which I travelled on this journey. Wadinagala which is 2400ft in height was our main target and it has been on my mind for few months, it is located within the Gal Oya national park bordering Jayanthi wewa and the area is over populated by wild elephants. This peak is known to be one of the mountains which lord Budhdha considered before choosing Sri Pada.

Ella is one of the famous tourist destinations in Sri Lanka and well known among tourist as a hiking destination. Ella rock and Little Adams peak are among those famous viewpoints. Since it was a nice sunny day with a clear sky I decided to hike around Ella. My first destination was the famous Ella rock which is about 1350m in height. After arriving at around 8am to Ella I started to walk along the railway track (which is prohibited by law) towards Kithal Ella station.

Our purpose was to see the Laxapana and Aberdeen Falls and travel along the Balangoda Bagawanthalawa road. (It is one of the extremely scenic road in the country) .Several hydropower plants of the Kelani river can be easily accessed by this travel

“Dethanagala” is a mountain of two peaks which is similar to breast of a woman. This mountain can be nicely captured from the Balangoda town and you can reach it by Balangoda-Bagawanthalawa road. It is in the boundary of Rathnapura-Nuweraeliya district and close to Horton plains.

It was May 1st so we 3 decided to do our own parade (:-)) in a unique way and our destination was the summit of Namunukula. The area has had few showers during the past couple of days but nevertheless we decided to go ahead. Been a popular hiking destination there were many routes that on can select if you are planning to do this hike. Most people told us to start from 5th mile post or 7th or 10th but thanks to Dinesh’s advice we stuck to the route starting from 3rd mile post on Badulla-Passara rd.

We were able to get a booking at Aligama Village. It was not a place recommended by anyone and it so happened that it came up on my Google search and we just liked the details on their web site. The main attraction was that it could accommodate only a small number of people – 2 cottages and 3 rooms – and we wanted “a quiet place that was green – away from all mankind”, so to speak! They responded very quickly to my email and booking was done in no time.