When Hariya called asking if we could go see Doovili Ella in Kalthota, I couldn’t have been happier. It brought back the sweet memories of our old gang doing a tour in and around Kalthota. Kalthota Doovili Ella is one of the most beautiful of all I’ve seen to date. She has this unique way of falling down very much similar to a pyramid. The whole Walawe River squeezed through that tiny opening with so much pressure creating millions of water drops scattering the entire area.

Even the base pool is nice and surrounded by some gorgeous rock formations. So thinking of the prospects of seeing her once again made my heart beat ever-so-faster. So we set our plans for the 6 Dec despite all the weather forecasts predicting heavy rains. As Hari hadn’t been to Kirindi Ella or Doovili Ella before, we decided to visit them plus another two, Kuda Ella and the evading Diyawini Ella that we missed due to lack of time even after going all the way to her.

The first remaining ruin of the Kingdom of Kotte which we were able to see was the Gal Ambalama. This was a resting place during the Kingdom of Kotte for people who visited the Kingdom for various purposes.The Gal Ambalama 20 feet and 15 feet in length.There are 10 posts made out of stone and the roof has a beautiful Kanimadala.(Configuration of the roof at that time).This is being used by people even today as a resting place.

River Boarding is a board sport in which the participant lies prone on their board with fins on their feet for propulsion and steering. This sport is also known as hydrospeed in Europe and as riverboarding or white-water sledging in New Zealand, depending on the type of board used.
Unlike the white water rafting It is quite challenging and you will need some practice before you take the ride. We didn’t know this so just went and took the ride but couldn’t get pass even the third rapid due to lack of training.

The North – East monsoons were setting in almost after two years so it was time to hunt some cascades around Dambethenna. There was an old trip report from Priyanjan which guided me through this adventure. I took a bus from Haputhale towards Dambetenna and got off at the tea factory. From here onwards my guide was the kmz file given by Priyanjan in his trip report. Better to refer that otherwise you would not see or find these beauties.

Year and Month 2014 December 05th and 06th Number of Days Two days Crew 3Ns- Nirosh, Niroshan and Nadeesha Accommodation N/A Transport By train, bus and climbing Activities Mountain climbing, Photography and spiritual activities Weather Slight showers and misty. Overall weather is good. Route Colombo -> Hatton -> Nallathanniya (නල්ලතන්නිය) -> Sri Pada peak -> […]

I didn’t wanna turn around having come so close coz not being able to visit especially a waterfall going all the way is something that tastes bitter. It not only tastes bitter and it keeps nagging at me. Reluctantly, we decided to let Sheham go and Shareez and I walked up for another 1-1.5km along the road till we reached a sign board giving details about a Asupini Ella Village Project with half a dozen faces of politicians. The road forks into two here and you have to take the right turn that goes uphill.

Another 500m or so will take you to a stream that flows across the road. Pass this and you’ll come to a sharp right bend with a black wooden electricity pole on the left. On this about 6ft up is nailed a tiny board saying “To Ella” with an arrow. We were grateful for this and followed it. The path hasn’t been used recently, must be due to rain and was infested with leeches. We kept going uphill and Shareez who had had very little physical activities in this kind was ready to give up after a 1km or so.

Staying at home, doing nothing in my weekend can depress me to no end. It’ll further increase when the darn weekend falls on a weekday. There’s a limit that I can sleep so when I knew I was in for yet another useless two days of weekend, I wanted to scream my head off. Amid all the confusion I browsed Lakdasun looking for somewhere to go and I hit the jackpot after a few tries. Ritigala has always been a mystery to me as much as to anyone else. So the need to go see was like a sleeping lion in me, or rather a semi-active volcano, bubbling inside trying to burst the outer crust.

Having failed to find a mate for this hastily arranged journey, I decided to do another solo stunt. Thinking back, I’ve only done 2 solo stunts before out of all the journeys. So this came as the third and I hope it’ll be the last as travelling alone is such a bore. There’s no one to talk to and make plans, it can also be a pain having to satisfy the curious people who are only interested in getting information from me, not giving the information to me.

This was a long pending trip in my list. Initially we have planned to explore Kandy area by spending 3 days. Unfortunately it was continuous drizzling throughout the day. Hence we decided to leave Kandy on the second day to Anuradhapura. This report contain only Kandy visit.

“Elihatha” is the most prominent water fall among Sri Lankan special and charming waterfalls. This is situated at Maliboda village, Daraniyagala. This falls continuously as seven falls which is situated in “Naya Ganga”. This river is commence from samanala Adaviya and fall down combining with Seethawaka River and then joins with kalu Ganga. Samanala Adawiya is very special biodiversity zone in Sri Lanka which having most conventional species of animal, flora & fauna.

We left from Pasikuda around 11.30 a.m. and took A11 road towards Polonnaruwa. From Polonnaruwa we preceded to Minneriya & about 2 km after passing “Gunners Club”, we took the road in to right that leads to Kaudulla NP entrance & reached there at 2 p.m. & started to see the Museum established at the park entrance until our safari jeeps come from Minneriya NP

Year and Month December, 2014 Number of Days 1 Crew 4 (between 25-30 years of age & the villager who guided us) Accommodation N/A Transport Three-wheeler up to Illubekanda school and then by foot Activities Waterfall hunting, Photography, hikking Weather Gloomy with intermittent drizzle Route Nivithigala -> Kalawana -> Pothupitiya -> Illumbekanda -> Denawaka Kanda […]

Year and Month November, 2014 Number of Days 1 Crew 2 (me and a freind) Accommodation At friend’s place in Medawachchiya Transport Motor Bike Activities Archaeology, Sight Seeing, Photography Weather Not good. Too gloomy and heavy rains in the evening Route Medawachchiya > Rathmalgahawewa > Kiralagala Tips, Notes and Special remark Accommodation options are scares […]