It was in July while we were at Birds’ Paradise, Kudawa touring Sinharaja, Nimal the owner of the place told us about this wonderful place. He really is a nature lover and after realizing our enthusiasm about the nature, he encouraged us to visit this place and then and there we decided to visit in December.

Raxagala is the second highest peak of Dolosbage range and having different names. Locals called it Kinihira (කිනිහිර), Paththini amma kanda (පත්තිනි අම්මා කන්ද), Wangedi molgas gala (වන්ගෙඩි මොල්ගස් ගල )1: 50000Map shows it as Stentry box east. The idea of climbing this unusual shaped mountain came into my mind when I climbed Kabaragala-higest peak of Dolosbage range.When I searched it, I found a nice article in Sri lankan travellers. It gave me a good guidance.

The primary purpose of this trip was to visit two different kinds of hydropower projects in Sri Lanka, to see the sites, equipment, mechanisms, etc. and learn about them. Enjoyed some other attractions on the way too. We got this opportunity as one of our friends is an engineer attached to Samanalawewa Hydroelectric power plant.

On top of the Manigala we could see Doovili Ella far away towards the Kalupahana range. That day we all decided to visit this somehow. Eventually we could visit all other water falls in the poem and hiked Manigala peak 3 times after that, but we couldn’t go to Doovili Ella, because it is difficult to reach that. There were only a very few who have done this hike and it was difficult for us to gather some information as well

On a gloomy day I took a bus towards Bibile and from there onwards I took another bus towards Alawaththagoda on Lunugala Rd. After getting down from Alawaththagoda and inquiring about Alawaththagoda falls few people directed me further towards Arawakumbura for 1.5km’s after passing a huge bridge I came across a second bridge and continued upstream until I reached a beautiful waterfall called Alawaththagoda Naya Kadura Ella.

So after work on a Friday we took the bus to Kandy from Pettah and reached the city of Kandy late night around 23:00 hrs. However the Tuk-tuk drivers who were there at the bus station were quite supportive and they dropped us at our guesthouse. The reason why we decided to take a night out at a guesthouse in Kandy is to save the day time of Saturday without having to travel all the way from Colombo to Knuckles on Saturday which will consume atleast half of the day.

Iginiyagala is a well-known travel destination for most of us but have you’ll ever noted the mountain peak which forms one side of the dam? The summit of mount Iginiyagala(1035ft) is one of those most scenic points I have ever seen which is why I wanted to climb it so much. So together with few friends working at Ampara, I decided to give it a try on a public holiday

It was a two day trip to beautiful Kotmale with its lush greenery, paddy fields and mountains and more importantly because Kotmale is steeped in history and tales of the past making it a very interesting place to visit.

The moment I read Bambarakanda trail reports on Lakdasun, the adventurer inside me kept saying “wanna go, wanna go, wanna go” like a mantra. So I tried to get a friend or two to join me but in the end I was left alone with no one to join me. Since I’ve already been to N’Eliya and around all on my own before, I thought of doing this too all on my own

This time we went on camping at Maha Eliya and climb Thotupola Kanda. Originally we planned a hike to Kirigalpoththa but due to time constraints and weather conditions we climbed Thotupola

One friend Tharaka out of blue moon asked if I would join with him for a trip to Handapanagala. I immediately wanted to know who was going as I’m always wary of people who go on trips as I consider myself more reserved and a nature lover than someone who goes on trips just to drink and waste time. However, after Tharaka’s repeated assurances that the crowd was ok, I was willing. Another reason was Handapanagala is very famous for its tank and the possibility of seeing my favorite elephants was very high.

We stopped at Wahalkada in Warakapola for breakfast. This turned out to be an excellent one. They serve buffet (a bit expensive – but once in a while on a day like this, it’s worth going for something like that) breakfast with a wide range of meals such as Egg Hoppers, String Hoppers, Rice and Curry, Rotii, etc… However, they serve Kenda which was one of the very best I’ve ever had.