This is part of my dream trip and part of Harinda’s dream. On my way to Kehelpothdoruwegala climbing I heard about a foot pathway from Kalugala to Meemure. Harinda has noted a foot pathway from Alugal Lena to Meemure in his Alugal Lena trip. We wanted to combine these two trails and do it in two days with camping at Alugal Lena.

Year and Month August, 2014 Number of Days 1st day of a 2 days visit Crew  4 (Me, NG, Yohan and Priyanjan) Accommodation NA Transport Private vehicle Activities Archaeology, Sightseeing, Photography Weather Excellent. Clear and Sunny Route Thalawathugoda -> Kottawa -> Bandarawela -> Wellawaya -> Monaragala -> Kodayana Junction -> Kotiyagala Tips, Notes and Special […]

The surrounding countryside looked parched and many Mana patches had been torched by people for some reason beyond me. So it was a mixture of dark green patches of trees scattered across the sun bleached yellowish hills. The ravines below showed signs of life with houses and plots of paddy fields. The charred areas where Mana was burnt added to the already vivid painting. In no time we reached the “Padi Seeya” (100 steps) where there is a steep downhill path through the tea bushes. Already there was a person coming up and a lady holding a baby girl closely behind him tackling the steep ascent. I spoke to him and he was very cheerful and even bothered to show me a worship place of the estate workers high up on top of a rock. The child, even though being carried by the lady right through, looked exhausted as a result of the heat and the continuous swaying. I managed to take a pic of her (one of the few must-have requirements for me during a journey) and we carried on.

Gombaniya is a mountain range and is located on the western border of Knuckles conservation its vegetation is almost similar to Horton plains because of its high altitude. The mountain could be reached from Rathnatenna (Alakolle estate) or Nelummale watta (Kabaragala side). The shorter but complex route is Rathnatenna side.

I have noted the road is little bit narrow, but some places can pass two buses. But on our way there is no trouble met like that. Also there is mini hydro plant locate near the water fall, which ppl cannot access.

ollowing heavy rains…I had the chance to explore the waterfalls close by……
As everyone know these falls and seen these falls before, I”ll post pictures rather than directions and full trip report. As a warning ,please do not attempt to go the base of Mara Kepu falls in rain…..Though I did it for pure curiosity…I won’t try it again…….

When I was working Hiniduma around 50km from Galle I went to see Nugagala Arannaya. You can use your vehicle but you have to climb a hill by foot to go Nugagala Arannaya. There lives a Hamuduruwo who has done amazing rock works. Believe it or not all this amazing works are done by this Hamuduruwo with his own hands.

This mighty rock was noticed when I was at Menikdena. It was situated closer to Kandalama Lake. I definitely knew it can be a good view point of Kandalama lake and surrounding area. Later I came across the archeology site called Kaludiya Pokuna (This is not the famous Kaludiya Pokuna at Mihinthale) also situated at base of the Erawulagala Mountain.

This was a journey I did more than a year ago and my focus was on some places close to Mahiyangana and Bibile – Medagama. On an overcast day I took a bus towards Padiyathalawa from Bibile and again took a bus towards Mahiyanganaya. Just before Wewatta temple there was a road to the left with Uva province tourism notice board directing towards Murungagala Archaeology site.

Atha picked me around 3.45am on 26th July and we then got Tony on board and took the Avissawella-Ginigathhena Road. It was good to be back with the old couple as it’s always full of many stories, most of them are hilarious. They kept at it right throughout and I hardly managed to get a word in edgeways. The Kelani River looked placid in the wee hours and the mist hung over her like a veil. We enjoyed her company most of the way. Reaching Nawalapitiya, the skies looked grey, heavily laden with rain clouds and I was thrilled as it meant more water for the waterfalls. You’d be surprised how low the water levels become even after a few days of rain.

This proved to be the case with Ramboda and surrounding waterfalls despite there had been a lot of rains even during last week. We took the Hapugasthalawa Road and then turned onto Harangala. As soon as we turned, there was a nice shop and we stopped for breakfast where they served hot, hot Coconut Rotti with mouthwatering Lunu Miris, delicious Kola Kenda and authentic Peni Walalu. We all stuffed ourselves to the tip and were on our way passing the Hapugasthalawa Tank.

It was in July 2013 when I celebrated my first year anniversary with Lakdasun, the biggest and richest bank when it comes to the Nature of Sri Lanka. I wanted to be with the ones I adore on my first year anniversary, the beautiful girls aka waterfalls. Since then, I’ve done a lot more travelling expanding my horizon, ticking the ever so growing to-do-list, adding onto my collection of waterfalls.

So if I was gonna celebrate my 2nd Year Anniversary with anyone but waterfalls, it’d’ve been a costly mistake as it was the waterfall season and most of the waterfalls along the slopes of western side mountains were in near full flow. I carefully picked the date and the route, Hasi, Dhana and Kassa nicely fell into my trap. So we were ready to go see some more waterfalls (the second of us four, you can check our Waterfall Hunt before here) in Nawalapitiya, Thalawakele and Pundalu Oya.

It was one of those random weekends and I didn’t have any scheduled places to visit so I headed towards Badarawela. It was almost 1pm when I got down at Halpe and my first place of interest was Gangarama temple. Though the Uva tourist board had put up a notice board, this temple didn’t have any historical importance. Next target was Yahalamaditta temple.