My kids school vacation is almost end and I was busy with my new job unable to take them for this holiday but luckily I was able to get some off days on the long weekend of Binara poya. After reading so many beautiful trip reports from Lakdasun I was forced by myself to take my kids out of our routine destinations (Nuwara Eliya or a Down south hotel) to show them the beauty of mother Lanka and to make them love with the nature.

This was a very well planned trip as our friend Lasantha’s home town is Welimada. We decided to pay a visit to his place and visit many other places. This came as a blessing having toiled night and day at office for nearly 2 months. So Roshan, Buddhi and I got into “Podimenike” leaving for Badulla at 5.55 am from Fort on 07 July. Lasantha was to meet us at Welimada.

Our basic target was to see the nine arches bridge at Demodera and travel around that area. We used different way to reach wellawaya instead of normal ways (not via Beragala or via Thanamalwila).

The journey started from different locations by my friends. Kandy Bus stand was the meeting point. I started from Ambalangoda at midnight and reached kandy at 6.00 in the morning. The others were there on time. We took padiyapalalla bus. The bus arrived in padiyapalalla at 8.00 am. There was a small town to buy our foods and other basic needs. We took Mandaram nuwara bus from there at 8.45 am.

We Started from Colombo fort 6th Friday 8.00Pm train(night mail).There were 10 persons with our team. We reach Ohiya railway station around 4.30Am 7th Saturday and had breakfast from the shop beside the railway station. Around 6.00 we came to the hotel. At about 7.00 in the morning we have started out Hike from the hotel.

From the beginning of this year I had planned to do a hike along the Bambaraknda – Ohiya track. August was my target month and I was thinking of doing this on my own even if my friends would not join me (I thought they might not be interested in a long hike). But surprisingly they all agreed to join me and were quite interesting in this hike.

This idea came up as our uncle wanting to go to Badulla to check a land for his son to buy and asked if we wanted to join. Since it was Independence-day time and a long vacation, my friend and I joined him for the journey. We left early for Fort station to catch the 5.55 am Podi Menike train to Badulla. However, when we came to the station, it was over-flowing with people and there were queues everywhere.

I’m crazy about N’Eliya and it’s a habit of mine to go there every year (from 2000). However, I couldn’t arrange anything coz all my friends were tied up with something or the other. By 26 December, I was feeling miserable and my legs were itching for some exercise. So I made up my mind to go on my own. I was initially planning to leave early morning, just walk around the town, park and Gregory Lake and come back in the evening.

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.