It was a longtime dream of mine to tackle the devil staircase. But because most of the travels went by 4×4’s on this road I was a bit skeptical how my vehicle, which is a 2wd(RWD) would perform. So on our way back from Horton planes we decided to travel via this road. Luckily there weren’t many landslides which could have made our journey more difficult. But the mist did block our view of the beautiful sceneries.

I have been closely following the topic “Nelu” since it first started appearing in the forum late October and with every report and every photograph the desire to see Nelu was becoming too irresistible. Moreover, the fact that the next sighting of Nelu will be in 2025 made this trip a “must do now”. Do not know where we would be in 2025 – grave yard/ hospital bed etc…etc??

Madakada proposed reserve spreads to 400hectaer. There are two peaks in this forest named as Nambapana-නම්බපාන (296m) and Sapugaha Kanda-සපුගහ කන්ද (203m). Nambapana water stream/ Nambapana Ela-නම්බපාන ඇල flows from Labugama-ලබුගම area and flows through this forest reserve and join with Kalu River (කලු ගග). It is commonly named as Nachchimale Dola (නාච්චිමලේ දොල).

We managed to reach Padiyapelalla via Kandy and Hanguranketha by about noon but the road condition was bad due to the road constructions that were taking place at that time.It was gloomy and raining in the morning which made us scared of a trip spoiled by rain. From Padiyapelalla we went to MA Eco bungalow at Elamulla and this stretch of road was carpeted and in very good condition. We were warmly welcomed by the manager of bungalow Mr. Janaka

“Among the carvings, there are 125 series of decorations, 256 liyawel, 64 lotus designs in Pekada, 30 decorative patterns on timber, roof members, making a total of 514 such exquisite carvings.”

“The ‘Madol Kurupuwa’ is one of the finest examples of medieval carpentry excellence. It is a wooden pin (this Madol Kurupuwa) which holds together 26 rafters at the hipped end of the roof of the Digge of Embekke Devale.”

It has been a long journey since I joined Lakdasun in 2009 actually it added some spice in to my life and enforced my passion for traveling. Now it’s almost four years since I have transformed in to an ideal traveler. The knowledge the experience I gained from Lakdasun is immense and that per se was enough for me to do 100 write-ups voluntarily for the betterment of future travelers of our pearl island. I still remember the day Mithila asked me to write a trip report on Adams peak which was the second trip report on this forum and since then I have been writing continuously(except 2011 latter half) on Lakdasun

Sri Pada(ශ්රීd පාද) /Adam’s peak one of my favorites places in Sri Lanka. After having seven visits to Sri Pada I wanted to do it in a combination of trails during off season. I selected Kuruwita-Erathna trail for climbing up and Rajamale-Sandagalathanna (සදගල තැන්න) route for getting down.

Mini world’s end of Elamanna is the best out of all four known worlds’ ends in SL for me and that’s why I visited the same place thrice within a period of one year. This time though I was lucky because there was no mist and I did enjoy the full view which I was craving for. On the previous two days I had hiked strenuously by visiting Udawadiya, Lunugala peak, Bambaragala pathana, Kohonawala villege and to add on to that I had to walk 18 more Km’s to achieve something I dreamt of.

Having stocked our larder with rice and curry and noodles, we reached at the Ambewela at moderate 8.45am and got the permission from the SM to park our car and leave it there. He was very willingly agreed and the Colombo-bound Podi Menike was arriving at the station and then sat waiting for the signal to run along.

Having stored water bottles, meal packs, portable cooker of Prasa and other essential items into our back packs, we left Ambewela towards Nanu Oya through the lush green patches of Ambewela farm.

It is fascinating what you could observe around your own residence sometimes! some people travel to places to see wild life but if you are observant enough there are plenty of things right at your doorstep. This is a collection of images taken around my second home while having a chat in our garden. The canal which lies at the boarder attracts many birds and its a great pleasure to walk along it when the water levels are low.

The idea of seeking knuckles like a beautiful dream of a seeker is born in my heart before long time ago. The end of my interest is run out of this journey with beautiful memories. I give my special thank to “Lakdasun” because of the help for materialize my dream.

Degal hela (Diggalahela) is also known as Rock of Siyambalanduwa. This isolated monadnock was first seen while climbing Govinda hela last year, since then it was a dream for me. Though I found a guide to show me the way the weather was always turning from bad to worse when ever I plan to do so. On a Saturday early morning I met Ajith from 2nd mile post at Siyambalanduwa and proceeded towards Helamulla ancient temple which lies at the base of the mountain where I was introduced to Sena who promised to take us uphill. The weather god’s made sure that a bit of drizzle would make it bit more challenging to us. We curved along the mountain climbing boulders and reached a slope which was not much difficult to tackle and at last we were almost at the top after a one and a half hour hike. The summit has two rocks hence Degal hela(450m).