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Trip to Sinharaja Via Pitadeniya to see the hidden waterfalls of Sinharaja in Deniyaya |
We started form the Galle at about 5.00 in the morning. The crew was eight in a hired high roof Dolphin van.
The first stop of us was a beautiful waterfall called Ethamala ella situated near by Morawaka town.
You have to turn right 1km before the town and have to travel along NilElla estate about 1.5km. Our next stop at Hathmale ella near by Pallegama city.
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage – An ideal one day trip for kiddies vacation |
Thusitha asked me to park the vehicle at a suitable place for the brake-fast, having observing my eyes were locating the face (dial) of the wrist watch. We were going on a trip with Thusith’s family; since it was the August vacation for kids. In the next moment we were under a tree near the construction site of proposed Zoo at Pinnawala. At that point; we had almost reached the first travel location of the journey, the elephant orphanage at Pinnawala.
Salgala monastery, Manella & Theli Falls (Galapitamada) |
We decided to go in search of a waterfall called “Theli falls” which is 3-4m in hight and which is formed by the Gurugoda oya. To reach to this waterfall one needs to travel on Nelundeniya- Galapitamada route and get down from “Thuntota” where you will have to travel about 4Km on a track which leads you in to an islolated rubber estate. At one point you will come across a huge rock on the left of the road(see the photograph), right after you pass the rock you will find the path towards the Waterfall! Since this was the dry season Gurugoda oya was sought of dried off.
Lankagama – An isolated village in the Southern boundary of Sinharaja Rain Forest. |
Lankagama is known as an isolated village in the Southern Province. It had no proper access road could not be reached without a tough 4×4 vehicle (until the first quarter of 2010). The village borders the Sinharaja rainforest & the Gin River. It is also the home for a complex of 5 ever young waterfalls within an area less than 1 Sqkm, known as “Hariyawa Dola” waterfall complex. By 9.00 am we were at Neluwa. The jeep ran & turned to a by road near the school at Happitiya village. There was an iron bridge over the Gin Ganga (river), established recently known as Mandugeta bridge
Fascinating Alagalla (1148m) & Dekinda Falls(30m) |
Alagalla hike was a hike I was looking forward to do since last year but always the weather condition was the limiting factor. I left early morning from Yakkala and arrived at Mawanella. Guess what! as I got off the bus straight away I saw the gigantic mountain covered with a veil of mist which is a peculiar sight. I decided to do the hike from the Ihala Kotte station because that was the route that I was aware about but the easiest way would be taking a Kandy-Poththepitiya bus from Pilimathalawa.
In search of “Soora Saradiel’s” hide out and Bo Ella |
I left Colombo and reached a small town just before Mawanella called Utuwankanda where you can find the road which leads you to Saradiels rock (Utuwan mawatha). After walking about 1Km I came across a small road branching off towards the Saradiels rock towards the left. I travelled uphill until I met some locals where I asked for directions, they said take the path which goes uphill so at one point I entered another path which branched out to the left trough a small rubber estate. The path was there until the last bit, it was a steep climb on the slippery muddy track.
Exploring the Southern boundary of Sinharaja Rain Forest – Duli Ella, Neluwa |
When a waterfall emits dust-like spray, people used to name it as a Duli ella. (Duli / Duwili mean “dust” in Sinhala). Other than the famous Duwili fall at Kalthota, there are several Duwil falls situated in various parts of the island. It’s a common experience that each an every waterfall has a unique beauty, though they are varies in height, width and capacity. Duli ella at Kosmulla, Neluwa is such a beauty, which allow travelers to explore her with a minimum effort.
Sripada via Deraniyagala, Uda-Maliboda Trail |
After completing the three most traveled trails (Hatton-Nallathanni, Rathnapura-Palabaddhala and Kuruwita-Erathna) to SriPada my focus shifted towards the lesser known ones. The Uda-Maliboda trail from Deraniyagala was on the top of that list. I was looking out for more details on this trail and that is when the topic came in to discussion on the forum in the threads – Trail to Sri Pada from Uda Maliboda, Deraniyagala and Trail to sri pada to udamaliboda – Thanks to the discussions there I got all the information required and was wating to find some time to do the walk.
Andahalena Falls (අඩාහැලෙන ඇල්ල) and Diwankara Lena Hermitage |
To reach falls, we travelled about 4kms along Elpitiya-Kahaduwa road and came to Pituwala village. Before the village we had to turn left from the main road. At that junction there was a yellow color name board of “Diwankara lena Hermitage”. If you come by bus you have to get in to Elpitiya- Kahaduwa bus and get down at the this junction. Road conditions are very good. Still the bus service is not good. There was only one bus for two hours.
Knuckles – Doovili Eli – Kalupahana 2010 |
Started from Colombo fort at 6.00 a.m. but got into a Kandy bus around 8.30 a.m. as it was the start of the ‘Wesak weekend ’. From Kandy to Wattegama around 1 hour in the bus and the last bus from Wattegama to Bambarella at 7.15 p.m.
There are enough buses on normal days to Bambarella from Wattegama. Even from Kandy there are few. Total distance from Kandy to Bambarella – 38km.
