This trip was planned by our crew when we hiked Eratna to Sri Pada last year. We were informed about this route by the shop owner at Indikatupana, so with the help of Lakdasun team members we were able to fulfill our dream this year.

We started around 4.30 am from Kolonnawa, had our Breakfast closer to Deraniyagala. We had bought all our requirements on the previous day so we did not have any problems in the morning.
We were at the Dik elikanda Primary School junction by 9.am; We got down from there and asked our Driver to meet us at Nallathanni following morning. We were at the Trail head by 10am..

Due to the dry weather we did not have many problems from the leeches, for which we were thankful though we were prepared with Tobacco spray and other things..

Tobacco spray was good enough to get rid of few leeches which climbed, but I am not sure if they in larger quantity.

Crew looks very happy….
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Now you can see the worried and tired faces…	Beautiful jungle……
Beautiful jungle……	Beautiful jungle……
Beautiful jungle……	Beautiful jungle……

.	Beautiful jungle……
.	Beautiful jungle……
Elephants had been here before us	Elephants had been here before us
Elephants had been here before us	.
Kuru ganga crossing…	Kuru ganga crossing…
Kuru ganga crossing…	At Eranthna Trail (Click Image to Enlarge)
Happy faces having seen the lights at Erathna Trail	At the summit…
At the summit…	At the summit…

At the summit…	At the summit…
At the summit…	At the summit…
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Panorama shot inside the jungle… (Click Image to Enlarge)

I had been looking forward an opportunity to visit the Hiyare Forest Reservoir since long time as I have never got a luck to visit this place even if I have born and grown in Galle up to 20 years of age. Still I am regretting to miss that great chance to visit this during my early stages. This located just 10Km away from my Parents place.

Hiyare Forest reserve is located just 18 km (about half an hour’s drive) Galle town. The 55 acre reservoir was built in 1911 to supply water to the Galle city and was only decommissioned in 2002. In 2003 the reservoir and 600 acres of the surrounding low country tropical rainforest was turned over to the Municipal Council of Galle. One part of Hiyare is managed by the Sri Lankan Forest Department and the Wildlife Society of Galle administers the reservoir area.

Route Map (Click Image to Enlarge)

In addition to this there is a Biodiversity Breeding Centre and an Animal Rescue Programme, which provides medical treatment and rehabilitation for injured wild animals, they are treated, rehabilitated and then released back into the wild.

Among its many activities, the Society also carries out educational workshops and conducts regular classes to interested parties.

Some of the injured and rescued wild animals under medical treatment.

Purple -faced Leaf Monkey (injured)	Eagle
Baby Slender Loris	Baby Slender Loris
Crested Serpent Eagles with damaged wings	Forest Eagle-Owl
Black Naped Hare	More Black Naped Hare
Injured Pangolin – Hide & Seek	Hog Deers
Hog Deers	Baby porcupine
Baby porcupine different pose	Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir
Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir	Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir
Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir	.
Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir	Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir

Boats are ready for a ride

We had to go to Kandy for a “bana” and an “arms giving” and since the”bana” was on Saturday night I made a plan and went on Friday night and reached Kandy at 11.45 pm and stayed at my Sister in law’s place in Katugastota .

The following day I started alone at 5.30 am as my wife and daughter was more keen on shopping at the city centre and went via Theldeniya and Digana and arrived at Deanston at around 7 am.

Sun strggling to rise	.
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Hunnasgiriya	.
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Hunnasgiriya town from above	.
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At Deanston	.

As there was heavy mist I did some walking checking for birds.

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Probably a female whistling Thrush

Later went in the vehicle towards Corbett’s gap and then turned towards Loolwatta and Meemure.Though I only did go close to the village due to time constraint, it was a very pleasing drive ,fresh air breathing down my neck and the awesome scenery opening up.

Heavy Mist Passing Deanston	Heavy mist passing Deanston
Turn off to Meemure	This realy made my day

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The only concern was the very narrow road going through the village from the turn off from Corbett’s view lodge and fortunately for me only a three wheeler came from the opposite direction and I could make room for it to pass and if a bigger vehicle came I would have had to reverse for a good kilo meter or so on a winding road.

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Grey Wagtail

Phillipine Shrike

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Red rumped Swallow

Crested Serpent Eagle

Black Bulbul

Brown Shrike

Female pied Bushchat

Lesser Yellow Nape

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It was a good day for birding as well and left Hunnasgiriya around 11.30

I have a dream to visit Uda-Maliboda, ඇලි හත (Seven Waterfalls) for quite a long time. Finally with some of my friends we decided to do it in beginning of the year 2012. Our objective is to visit all the seven waterfalls without a guide and also explore the area.

In the early morning at 5.00 AM we started the journey from Kiribathgoda by hired van. At around 9.30 AM we reached Uda-Maliboda. From there we had our breakfast and started the hike near the Naya Ganga.

Map of the area

Naya Ganga with Bambaragala at distance

1st and 2nd waterfalls

Old bridge goes to Uda-Maliboda

Babaragala and Seven virgin mountains

We had to walk about 2KM to reach the base of 1st waterfall. New mini hydro power plant is building at the base of 1st waterfall. We reach there around 11:30AM. Mahinda Aiya is the supervisor of this hydro power plant and he gave us direction to waterfalls and also kind enough to offer a tea. After having the delicious tea we started hiking parallel to Naya Ganga water stream inside the forest from lest side. Within 15 minutes we were able to visit the 2nd waterfall. It’s quite high and beautiful waterfall. We stayed some time with enjoying the beauty of waterfall.

1st waterfall	2nd waterfall
Mushrooms	Gon Diva

Again we entered into forest and climbed parallel to Naya Ganga form left side. Because of steepness we had to climb down to water stream. The time is near 3PM and we find a place to camp and decided to stay there. We had a cool dip of the water steam and prepared rice and dhal curry for the dinner. In the evening there is a mist and some rain. Because of rain we have to keep alert of the water level.

Where we camped 1st day night

Early morning

Next day morning we rise with the sound of singing birds. We prepared noodles for breakfast. We started hike around 9.30AM. We couldn’t follow the steam from left hand side of the stream because of the left bank is so steep. Therefore we cross the stream and entered to forest from right side of the stream. There the undergrowth is thick and we need to make a path though the bushes. About an hour we were able to reach the base of 3rd waterfall. Threre is a ‘Dhothuru’ tree side of the 3rd waterfall and this may be the reason to call it ‘Dhothuru Ella’.

3rd waterfall with ‘Dhothuru’ tree

Upper part of 3rd waterfall

Again we climbed though the forest to top of 3rd waterfall. On top of 3rd waterfall there is a quite space and can see the distance from there. We crossed the stream and again entered into forest from lest side of the steam. After climbing half an hour we were able to reach 4th waterfall. Along the water stream we climbed to 5th waterfall. These are small compared to other waterfalls.

Top of 3rd waterfall

4th waterfall

Time was around 4PM and we thought to camp top of 4th waterfall. We prepared rice for dinner with soya-meet and sinisambol. There was a clear sky and we can see the moon very nicely. Also it was a cold night.

4th waterfall	Wood carving?
Top of 4th waterfall	5th waterfall
Where we camped 2nd day night	Early morning view

Next day morning we got ready by 7AM and stared climbing without our backpacks. Our aim is to climb up to top of 7th waterfall and climb down to the place we camped second day. We started from the bottom of 5th waterfall and cross the stream to right bank and went parallel to stream. Then we climb down to bottom of 6th waterfall which is we think most beautiful. Then we cross the stream and entered to left bank and climbed up to where we can peek into upper part of 6th waterfall. From there again we climbed up to top of 6th waterfall where 7th waterfall can be seen. There is a quite flat space in top of 6th waterfall where you can clearly see the valley.

6th waterfall	Upper part of 6th waterfall
Top of 6th waterfall	7th waterfall

Top of 6th waterfall

More views from top of 6th waterfall

Fish tank?

After spending more than half an hour we started climbing up till we found the top of 7th waterfall. Here also there is a flat surface where you can see the valley. Time is nearly 1PM and we stared to climb down. Around 4PM we were able to reach our camp site near the 5th waterfall. We had noodles for dinner and also prepared rice for the morning since our plan is to leave early in the morning.

Top of 7th waterfall	Top of 7th waterfall
Bambaragala mountain peak	Achievement

Next day morning at around 7AM we stared to climb down. At around 2PM we were able to reach bottom of Bambaragala near the tea plantation. After meet Mahinda Aiya we haven’t seen any human been for 3days. Even no cell phone signals after 3rd waterfall. Then we had to walk more than 2 km to reach trail head. We had a bath from Naya Ganga and hired two three-wheelers and came to Deraniyagala. From Deraniyagala we took the bus to Avissawella and from there to home. This is the most adventurous memorable hike I have ever done.

Thank you very much for reading.

It was about 7.30am when we started our journey from Kaduwela and our only stop was for breakfast past Avissawella. The scenery changed after the turn off at dehiowita, it was a gradual ascend with the not so good road conditions giving us ample time to admire the beauty of mother nature.

Along the way…

Eli hatha as seen from the road

Sri Pada close-up on the way to uda maliboda

It was 11am when we reached the end of the motorable road and by 11.30am we were at the trail head.

Nade…

At the trail head-pandeniya river crossing

The crystal clear water at the river was so inviting that we were tempted to have a bath before the start but decided against it which in the end was the correct call with what we were about to encounter along the journey.

Pandeniya river

Entering the forest..

The initial phase of the journey was through thick undergrowth in some areas with ascents and descents..

Ascents..

Through the thick jungle..

And obstacles….

Also an occasional glimpse of wildlife…….

Minding it’s own business…

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Time for refill of water and to take care of leeches….

As the journey continued we deviated off the track on 2 occasions in spite of carrying and following the trail through GPS, due to the fact that my friend who is using his GPS for the very first time had missed a couple of waypoints when downloading the trail to his device.

We were lost for more than 2 hours…climbing a mountain not mentioned in the Lakdasun trail guide, the elephant dung, foot marks created by elephants with their constant travelling along the paths and the changing GPS readings to the next waypoint made us realise that we were lost.

Elephant dung…

Lost…deciding which way to go with the help of Lakdasun guide..

View of the surroundings on top of the wrong mountain..

Climbing back down…..

Back down..

Back on the correct path…

After getting back to the last correct waypoint and searching for any clues to identify the correct path, did we realize that there are cuts made by knives on the trees on either side of the path and other markings…these cuts and markings helped us when we got lost again afterwards .We were very much hungry by this time, the chocolates and the biscuits was not enough and was yearning for some pol rotti and katta sambal..we were desperate to reach the kuruwita trail by now…

Having lost a considerable amount of time being lost it was almost 6pm and dark when we reached the kuru ganga ..

Kuru ganga

Since the light was fading, it was very much difficult for us to find the correct point of crossing and we were scurrying to find the crossing point not wanting to spend the night in the jungle.

After about 30 minutes of searching it was pitch black when we found the crossing point and entered into the jungle again..

Finally…the entrance to the jungle after crossing Kuru ganga

And into the darkness…

It was an eventful 1 ½ hour hike with constant slips and falling over rocks in the wet conditions till we arrived at the erathna trail at around 8.30pm.

Kuruwita-erathna trail

After a 1 hour rest and change of wet clothes at the ‘indikatupana’ ambalama, we were back on the trail looking for a shop that would serve us ‘pol rotti’ and ‘kiri kopi’ and it was not until we came to ‘galwangediya’ did we find the one and only shop.

After a meal of rotti, soyameat, katta sambal and kiri kopi some of us decided to take a nap..

Some of us decided to take a nap..

4th glass of kiri kopi before the final ascent..

At about 1.30am we started the final phase of the climb and reached the summit at around 3am.
The summit was crowded with people eagerly awaiting the sunrise and was a dreadful 3 hour stay at the top with the gust of wind making the cold unbearable…

It wasn’t the day for a clear view of the sunrise because of the heavy mist and cloud cover.

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Mist and cloud cover dampened everyone’s expectations..	.

At the summit

At about 6.45am it was time to leave..

It was time to leave

The views when getting down was stunning..

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.	Two becomes one….meeting of two rivers

It was about 3pm when we reached the end of the trail at erathna and after a cool dip in the river it was time for us to head back home after one unforgettable journey..

This was our annual trip of school friends in 2008. One of our friends who works at CEB got an appointment as an Operation Engineer at Laxapana Power Generation Complex and he invited us to come there for 2008 annual trip since there are lot of things to see which we never experienced.

He arranged accommodation and other necessary things for us.

Day 1

We started our journey on 11th December around 5.00pm from Colombo. First day our destination was Laxapana Circuit Bungalow and we reached there by 11.00 pm with several stops in between; several security checkups were there since we were entering in to a high security zone and War was at peak during that time.

By the time we reached there we were very hungry and dinner was already waiting for us.

Kalugala Junction – Turn right from A07 Avissawella - Hatton road	“Laxapana” Circuit Bungalow
Seven Virgins – View from Laxapana bungalow

Day2

Because of our great friend we got a very rare & valuable opportunity which general public will never be allowed; which is a boat ride on “Maussakele” reservoir. This is the only reservoir in Sri Lanka which is directly fed from 4 waterfalls.

Hearing the specialty of the ride, we all got up early in the morning and got ready for the journey with great enthusiasm. We left the bungalow by 6.30am right after breakfast. It is about a 40 minutes drive from Laxapana to Maussakele through a narrow road (which is very similar to Riverston road from Mathale.) The fantastic view of “SAPTHA KANYA” (Seven Virgins) mountain range will be available throughout the journey. When we were reached Maussakele boats were ready for the journey.

There were 2 boats, 1 is from CEB and other is from SL NAVY. Since it is early morning the crowd who were in 1st boat got another rare opportunity. The water was so calm and they could see a clear shadow of Sri-Pada on water.

Mirror….

“Moussakele” in the morning

Entire boat ride was about 2 hours and we could see following water falls.

• Gartmore Ella (which can be seen from fishing hut as well
• Mooray Ella
• Lower section of Mohini Ella (on your way to Nallathanniya you could see the upper section on your right hand side.)
• Another anonymous waterfall

Rare Scenery : Gartmore Ella(Left), Moray Ella(Right)

1st one : Gartmore Ella

Closest Possible - Gartmore Ella

2nd one : Mooray Ella

Mohini Ella – Upper Section

3rd one : Mohini Ella – Lower Section

4th one : Anonymous, But beautiful

Other than that we could see closer view of Sri-Pada, the Kovil which was under the water, back side of the Maskeliya town and several tea estates. If you are travelling during the rainy season you could see several temporary waterfalls on surrounding mountains.

Closer View of Sri-Pada

After having this great boat ride we went to the “Saman Devalaya” which is next to Reservoir dam.

In the evening our plan was to visit Laxapana water fall.

Between Laxapana and Maussakale there is a junction called ‘Double Cut’ where the only ‘0th’ mile post in Sri Lanka is located.

The only ‘0’th mile post at “Double Cut” Junction

“Saptha Kanya” from another angle

The view of the area is breathtaking on your way to Laxapana, and you could clearly see the rock where the most tragic plan crash occurred on Saptha Kanya mountain range.

My father has gone to visit that ‘plane crash’ when he was young and he collected those newspapers for us to read in the future, and thanks should go to him!

Where the Plane Crash happened in 1974-12-04

My Father has collected all the News papers related to this accident (Click Image to Enlarge)

In the evening we went to visit Laxapana falls.

Laxapana falls in different angles	Laxapana falls in different angles
Laxapana falls in different angles	Breathtaking…

Day 3
The plan for the next morning was to visit Aberdeen falls. But suddenly our friend told that gates of “Canion” reservoir are going to open for an urgent maintenance work which will increase the water level of Laxapana falls. We cancelled all our plans and rushed to Laxapana before the gates are opened. But unfortunately we couldn’t reach the waterfall before that, but we could see the water flowing under the bridge which is located beneath the Seven Virgins mountain range and before the Laxapana falls.

We coudnt reach Laxapana Falls before it comes

Laxapana – After opening the gates

Laxapana – After opening the gates

Then we went to the “Aberdeen” falls and on our way back we stopped at Norton bridge town where you could visit another 2 important things.

1. The D. J. Wimalasurendra power plant (gratitude to father of hydro power in Sri Lanka)
2. Tyre of the crashed plane

“Aberdeen” falls

Nature Creations

Remainders of a Sarrowfull Memory

In the evening we went to Hatton to visit another 2 important places. Those are ‘Singimale’ tunnel (559.75m) which is the longest railway tunnel in Sri Lanka. This tunnel is at 5 minutes walk from Hatton station and you need to buy “Pandam” to walk through the tunnel. Houses at both the sides of the tunnel are selling Pandam(10/= each) for pedestrians. It was a very nice experience to walk in the tunnel with dim light.

The 2nd important thing is at the other side of the tunnel which is the largest tea plant in Sri Lanka. According to the worker we met there a single worker needs 1 full day to pluck tea from the entire tree. Weight of the crop would be around 20kg – 25kg at a time. But now this tree is abandoned.

Singimale Tunnel

After visiting all these places we came back to the Moussakale bungalow. During the night we had a singing session as usual before going to sleep.

School day Friendship

Next day morning we came back home and had a nice bath at Kithulgala.

Thank You!

It was a short Backpacking session [Travelled alone]. Left Colombo on the 23rd Dec [Friday] night and reached Pattipola on the 24th Dec at 04:30 hrs. Slept at the Pattipola train station till dawn and commenced my walk to Thotupola Kanda, 3rd highest peak in Sri Lanka, via Horton Plains at 07:10 hrs. Reached the summit and got back to the Pattipola Station by 11:46 hrs [18Kms by foot]. After a short break I started my railway trek to Ohiya from Pattipola at 12:00 hrs [06 Kms by foot]. Was able to arrive at the Ohiya station by 13:50 hrs and on my way I have walked through 04 railway tunnels including the 3rd longest Tunnel in Sri Lanka [Tunnel No.18]. Got to Badulla by train from Ohiya by 18:30 hrs [train was delayed a bit] and got into the train from Badulla on the same day and got back to Colombo by 06:00 hrs on the 25th Dec 2011.

I started my Journey from Colombo on the 23rd Dec 2011. Though I was informed that the tickets for Colombo – Badulla Night-mail train was fully sold out I tried my luck again on that day as I got down from Pettah Station around 18:00 hrs and I was lucky enough to obtain a 3rd Class Pre-booked Seat for my Journey.
The Night- mail train left the Colombo Fort Station exactly at 20:00 hrs and I reached my destination Pattipola Station at 04:30 hrs on the 24th Dec.

After I got down from the station I looked around for the friendly face of our dear old Station master Mr. Jayathileka. But to find out that he is been transferred to a nearby station and a new humble Station Master by the name of Mr. Rajarajasinghe [Hope I got the name correct] has been appointed for the Pattipola station who will be officially commencing his duty from 1st of January 2012. He is a very down-to-earth gentleman who is a nature enthusiastic as well.

Since it was still dark I had a little nap of around 2 hours at the Pattipola Station on a cold frozen bench when the temperature was around 12C.

After having an early Breakfast at a small shop nearby I commenced my walk to Horton Plains from the Pattipola Railway Station @ 07:10 hrs

NOTICE BOARD NEAR THE PATTIPOLA RAILWAY STATION (Click Image to Enlarge)

PICTURES TAKEN BY ME ON MY WAY FROM PATTIPOLA TRAIN STATION TO HORTON PLAINS

On the way from Pattipola Station to Horton Plains	On the way from Pattipola Station to Horton Plains
On the way from Pattipola Station to Horton Plains	On the way from Pattipola Station to Horton Plains
On the way from Pattipola Station to Horton Plains	On the way from Pattipola Station to Horton Plains

FAMOUS AMBEWELA FARM GREENLAND

I reached the Horton Plains Pattipola Entrance at 08:20 hrs and was met with my Trekker – Thushara [21 years] who is a young energetic person who is working for the Wild life Dep on volunteer basis! With him I commenced by journey to Thotupola Kanda which is the 3rd Highest Peak in Sri Lanka standing at an altitude of 2359M from the Mean Sea Level. It was just a 02 Km hike to the summit from Horton Plains. However as we climbed we felt that the O2 percentage is comparatively less hence we had to control our breathing and to inhale air as much as possible which will be a very good experience for those of you who have not encountered such an altitude before. On our way Thushara explained to me many things and also about how the maintenance of the trek is done and as per to him the path which leads to the summit is been cleared by the help of YZA [Young Zoologists’ Association

Thotupola Kanda (Click Image to Enlarge)

PICTURES TAKEN BY ME ON MY WAY TO REACH THE SUMMIT OF THOTUPOLA KANDA

On the way to summit of Thotupola Kanda	On the way to summit of Thotupola Kanda
On the way to summit of Thotupola Kanda	On the way to summit of Thotupola Kanda

The GPS point at the summit

From the summit of Thotupola Kanda you are able to get a superb 360* Arial view of the Horton Plains and of course all the mountains that are quite a picturesque sight!

Adams Peak in a distance

On completion after spending sometime at the summit I returned to the Horton Plains Pattipola entrance and bid farewell to my Fellow Mate Thushara and walked back to the Pattipola Station on foot.

After a walk of around 1 Hour and 10 minutes I reached the Pattipola Station by 11:40 hrs. I rested until 12:00 hrs while getting ready for the rail Hike. I have kept my mobile phone inside my back-pack while bringing out the torch where I can reach it easily and with my jacket and boots well tucked to avoid any wet condition that I may have to encounter during the hike.

Finally I checked with the station master about the train timings to check if I am to expect any trains while I am hiking upto Ohiya along the rail track [AN IMPORTANT FACTOR TO CHECK TO AVOID UN-EXPECTED DANGER]

Then by 12:00 hrs I was on my way along the rail track. ETA for the next train was approximately around 14:00 hrs.

PICTURES TAKEN BY ME DURING MY RAIL ROAD HIKE FROM PATTIPOLA TO OHIYA

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Tunnel Number 18 - The 3rd Longest tunnel in Sri Lanka 321.95m long	Tunnel Number 18 (Click Image to Enlarge)
Tunnel Number 18 - Halfway through the tunnel it is pitch black and the ground below is slippery

The exit from Tunnel No. 18 towards Ohiya

from Tunnel No. 18 towards Ohiya

If you walk through the Tunnel No. 18 from one side to the other you will realize how unique it is since the climates of the two ends are quite different from one another. While the Pattipola Entrance to the tunnel is comparatively warm and hot the exit towards Ohiya side is with a chilling/cold climate as you can see in the picture above

TUNNEL NO. 20 - My favorite..!

TUNNEL NO. 20

Even though you can see the exit at the other end of the tunnel, when you enter it just keeps on going and going like in those nightmare movies where the light is running away from you when you try to reach it

Though it is not very obvious you need a torch to go through this tunnel as well since it get’s pitch dark towards the core of it even when you can see the end at the other side.

During my trek from Pattipola to Ohiya I came across 04 tunnels.
Tunnel No. 18, 19, 20, 21 out of which Tunnel No 18 & 20 are comparatively long.

Just before I came across the below shown metal bridge all of a sudden out of nowhere there was a flying insect buzzing in my right ear and I believe it bit me before flying away leaving me with an aching ear [didn’t get a time to have a proper look at it but it was more or less like the common “kumbala” insects you get here in Colombo] to get rid of the pain though that is not the proper medicine for such incidents I applied Salonpas which I carried in my medikit just to be on the safe side since I do a lot of walking

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After 06 Kms by foot along the rail road I arrived at the Ohiya Railway Station at 13:50 hrs

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As usual the station master at the Ohiya Railway station greeted me with a humble smile and a chat about my journey so far and I enjoyed the chat with him pretty much.

The train which was expected around 14:00 hrs arrived pretty late around 15:30 hrs only. I got in and reached Badulla around 18:30 hrs from where I purchased a 3rd class ticket for the Badulla – Colombo Night-mail train putting an “End” to my short back-packing session for the Christmas 2011!

Day 1
We started our journey from Hikkaduwa at about 4.30pm and reached to Kaduwela at about 7.30. We spent the night at our relation’s place.

Day 2
We left Kaduwela at 4.00am and headed along the low level road reached to Avissawella about 5.00. We could see the first rays of the day at Kithulgala.

We stopped at a small restaurant near by the river and had hoppers as our breakfast.

Dawn at Kithulgala	Breakfast at Kithulgala
Early Morning at Kelani ganga	We noticed a giant moth near Kelani ganga which was attacked by a predator

We turned to B189 road from A7 at somewhere between Ginigathhena and Kithulgala. (I don’t know the exact name of the junction. A villager said that it is ‘Pitawala’. There is a police barrier here.)

Turning point

The road from here to Norton Bridge shapes very bad. But it spreads through very beautiful area. (Near Seven Virgins hills)

.	At the seven virgins hills near by ‘Koththellena’
Breathtaking scenery from the top of kottellena

Then we reached to the city of Norton Bridge and had a cup of tea from a small restaurant and headed towards Hatton.

In memory of Martin Air DC 8 crash

The road from Hatton to NuwaraEliya shapes very bad. (Specially the part from Kotagala to Thalawakele.) The situation became worst because of the construction of Ihala Kothmale hydro power house. The whole area was covered with the dust. We stopped few minutes at the beautiful and very famous waterfall.

Then it was the time to stop at another marvel of the nature, the St. Clair’s falls. But it looks little dirty because of the constructions of the power house.

Devon the veil of bride nature…

We tried in our best to avoid the wires but failed….

Then we headed to Nuwara Eliya and reached there about 1.30pm. We had the lunch at Sri Ambal’s vegetarian café. Then we went to the government holiday bungalow and the caretaker Thissa welcome us warmly. We went to the Gregory lake in the evening and enjoyed the activities like riding bicycles, walking etc.

Gregory lake in the evening

Gregory lake in the evening

Day 3

It was a bright morning. No rain or mist at all. We decided to leave as early in the morning to visit Horton Plains. We rode quickly to the same vegetarian café and had a heavy breakfast consisting of Thosai, Wadei, etc. Then we headed to Horton Plains via Pattipola.

Road towards Horton plains	Kande Ela reservoir
Heaven on earth at Ambewela

We stopped for a few minutes at Ambewela farm and tasted fresh yoghurt and proceed

Pattipola Railway Station	Horton Plains Location Map (Click Image to Enlarge)
Sri Padaya from Horton Plains	Breathtaking view of the plain

The plain was quite dry as there was no rain for a long time. The dust was there instead of mist.

.	A fresh water crab caught at the red bridge
.	Mini World’s End
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Dwarf Bamboo bushes	Beautiful tiny flower

We roamed all over the plains leisurely. We came across an endemic lizard coming out from a bush

Endemic lizard

We were quite sorry to see that many invasive species were spread all over the plains. Gorse (Ulex europeous) shows a noteworthy growth there. We noticed that some trails were totally covered with this plant making tunnels

Ulex tunnel

Ulex europeus

We were lucky enough to see some Maha Rathmal flowers blooming around chimney pool and my wife’s vigilant eyes found a Binara flower too.

Rhodrodendron (Maha Rathmala)

Binara

We reached to the ticketing office back at about 4.30pm. We collected our helmets there. We were quite tired at the moment as we had only biscuits and tea for our lunch. So we rode directly to NuwaraEliya and had a vegetarian diet at Ambaals.

Day 4

That was the final day of our journey. We woke up early in the morning and left NuwaraEliya about 6.00am. It was extremely cold and mist in the morning. We rode along Welimada road (was under construction those days) and turn to Bogahakumbura road from Keppetipola.

Road from NuwaraEliya to Welimada

From Boralanda we headed to Haputale. It was about 7.30am when we reached to Haputale. Then we stopped at Haldummulla to by some Aligeta Pera (Avacado).

We had our breakfast at a small restaurant near by the main road.

From Balangoda we turn to Kahawatta and reached to Madampe. The road shaped little bad from Madampe to Rakwana but we were able to manage.

.	A tea break at Beragala

Road go through the heaven after Rakwana. We met hairpin bends. We stopped our bike near Rakwana Bridge and walk along the river until we met a nice place to have a bath. We met other two guys who are also traveling by a motorcycle. They have come all the way from Kelaniya. That was the 3rd day of their trip. They wished to pay a visit to Morning side. They were exploring a hermitage inside the jungle near by Rakwana in the morning. We wish them a safe journey and they wished the goodwill of us too.

Dipping in the icy cold water

It was about 12.30pm when we left Rakwana. We reached to Deniyaya about 2.00pm and had out lunch there. Then we headed to Akuressa, Yakkalamulla and Hikkaduwa. It was about 6.00pm when we come back home.

Road from Rakwana to Deniyaya

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We organized this hike as a university tradition. There were seven secret members for organizing the hike.

We started the hike at about 9 in the morning from the Faculty canteen with a guide dog “White Fang” .

towards Udaperadeniya	We walked along the Udaperadeniya road to Upper Hanthana Bungalow
Upper Hanthana Bungalow

Then we entered into Hanthana forest reserve with sudden a rain fall. We had to face a terrible leech attack at the start.

Inside the Hanthana Forest Reserve	Inside the Hanthana Forest Reserve
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Inside the Hanthana Forest Reserve	Inside the Hanthana Forest Reserve

We came to a huge area with pine trees. Then we climbed through the tea estates to a plain area of the mountain range. We had our lunch there.

Pine Trees	Pine Trees
mist around pine trees	one after one
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.	White Fang needs a rest
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through the tea estate	beautiful
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Then we walked through the highest margin of the mountain range to Bowalawatta end.We could see the whole area of Heerassagala, Bowala, Gatambe and Mahaweli river from Peradeniya to Gohagoda.

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.	Bowalawatte
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.	White Fang

Then we climbed down towards Hotel Amaya Hills,Bowalawatta.

We came to Bowalawatta at about 7 in the evening and then walked to the university via Rajawatta.

We started at 5 am and reached Sinharaja via Mathugama/ Kalawana (Kudawa Entrance) at 7am. Unfortunately we had to park the vehicle 1 km before the ticket office at the regional forest office as a bridge was under construction.The climb to the park entrance was steep and by 7.30 we were inside with the tracker Somapala( 045 7210845)

May be Brown Shrike (migrant)

Green pit Viper

We came across the 1st bird flock around 8 though there were only about 6 species consisting of Orange billed Babler, Crested Drongo, Malabar Trogan, White faced Starling, Laughing Thrush and Schimeter Babler.

Malabar Trogan	Greenish Wabler (migrant)
Dark fronted Babler	Brown Breasted Flycatcher (migrant)
Orange billed Babler	White faced Starling
Female Jungle Fowl	Yellow fronted Barbet

It was a perfect day with the Sun up and was a very good session for photography.The best thing was finding a Frogmouth couple inside the shrub.I hope that some of the Birding members might enjoy looking at the photos.

Blue Magpie	.
Frogmouth	.
Sri Lanka Laughing THRUSH	Crested Drongo
Asian Paradise Flycatcher	Schiemiter Babler
Black Headed Bulbul	Kunakatuwa (a Pit Viper)

Giant Squirell

Nelu flower blossoming every 4 years

Back at the Entrance

While returning from Sinharaja yesterday, from Mathugama we turned towards the highway and after checking the credentials of my friend who carried a special pass we were allowed to proceed. We started at 3.15pm and by 4.45 we were back at Kottawa exit.

There were some work been carried out to finish before the opening on the 27th and the different colours of the carpet due to re-doing at places were seen but it was a good experience but it will be a different ball game when the full vehicular flow starts. The noteworthy concern was the number of dogs staying near the middle fence but hope that the necessary action will be taken to sort this out.

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This is my second trip report (I never thought I’d finish even one). We had our plans to go on a trip by our study group at the university which never came true until this December.

The trip wasn’t planned extensively but was well executed at the end. The trains were booked from the Fort railway station just that morning. Third class sleeper-rest was our choice (quite economical) and due to the fact that it was a Monday evening of a non-vacation time we were able to book the train on the same day. We were able to get contact details of a cab to do the day traveling in Nuwara-Eliya. Pello Resort was booked by one of our group mates.

We got to Fort by bus around 7.00 p.m. by bus with all our packs ready. Train was due to leave Colombo at 8.00 p.m. We got on to our relevant seats and got ready for the journey. Train left on time to my surprise. We had good time in the train singing, reciting jokes etc. Tried our best not to disturb the fellow passengers who were a minority (13 to 8).

Music in the train

We got some things ready to eat bread, seeni-sambol, salmon and had it around 10.00 p.m. The train was heading slowly but seemlesly to our destination.

Dinner in the train

Then it was time for some jokes from the past, things went out of hand sometimes. Then people wanted some nap. Some never slept though. When we were up again around 2-3 in the morning it was Hatton and we knew it was only few stations from there. Then people started seeing a UFO outside the train (I never believed). It was 4.30 a.m. When we reached Nanu-oya (We were planning to get there 1 hour early). I was chilling to the maximum around that time. Our transport had arrived 1 hour early to the station and he was waiting eagerly

Nanu-Oya station

We got to Pello Resort by 5.00 a.m. and we washed ourselves and got ready for the day-off. It was still chilling and was a wonderful experience.

Pello Resort near Gregory Lake, Nuwara-Eliya

From the balcony of Pello Resort

Breakfast due at 7.30 a.m. and we had a walk in the Gregory lake for site-seeing.

Pony by the lake	Our Pro
This is what he was aiming at	Sun rising on to the Gregory Lake
Birdy by the roadside	He too was busy
Good project	Not very far from the lake
Bell was ringing (In the tummy)

Tea was ready. A hot tea would be second only to water. Then we spent some time inside the resort singing until breakfast. Breakfast was ready by 8.00 p.m. We were surprised by the arrangement. Well above what we expected and the food was awesome too (Special thanks to the cook).

Indian cuisine

It was time (actually way out of schedule) to start to Piduruthalagala mount top. The area is controlled by the army and arrangements have to be made beforehand to get to the mount top. The journey was through the Galwaysland National Park. It’s a bird park but we never so any birds.

MaXXXX Jeep	Galwaysland National Park
Galwaysland National Park

Then it was just five kms to Piduruthalagala, of course a 15 minute drive thanks to the good roads. Maha-rath-mal was a frequent flower we saw by the road. It was so misty and cold on the way. We comfortably passed through the army posts due to the pre arrangement. It was chilling on the mount top (stayed alive due to the jersey). Yes! We reached the top of the highest peak of Sri Lanka (I felt like Sir Edmund Hillary – not seriously), but it was a land mark I wished I visited for a long time. Special thanks to the soldiers who showed us the way.

Road to Piduruthalagala	Road to Piduruthalagala
Stone marking of the mount top	Our group
Nuwara-Eliya from the mount top – It was misty and we never saw anything	Nuwara-Eliya from the mount top - It was misty and we never so anything

We were not allowed to take much pictures due to the security reasons and we paid due respect to that decision. There were many antennas and the Rupavahini Co-operation antenna was one of them.

Our next destination was the Lover leap Falls which was on our way back to Thalawakele. What a beautiful waterfall. It looked like man made at first sight. It was a 300-400m walk in a high steep road to get to the base of the waterfall.

On the way to the Lovers Leap Falls – Flowers by the road	On the way to the Lovers Leap Falls
On the way to the Lovers Leap Falls – Flowers by the road

A Swedish family was enjoying the beauty of the waterfall. We were mesmerized. This is a good time to go on a waterfall hunt.

Lovers Leap Falls	Lovers leap falls
From the base of the waterfall Nuwara-Eliya town was clearly visible

The time was 11.30 a.m. when we go to the waterfall. Spent some time there and came back quickly as time was passing by. Then it was a long 1-1 ½ hour journey to Thalawakele. The tea estates by the side were so beautiful.

Tea

Tea

Our next destination was the Devon’s falls. It was almost 1.00 p.m. by then and was clearly short of time but we never worried because there was no strict schedule (it was anyway a getaway)

Devon Falls

Time spent by the Devon’s Falls

Then we went to the world’s largest tea museum (source- our friendly driver) The Mlesna tea castle. There was a huge sculpture of James Taylor, some historic pictures of tea in Sri Lanka and lots of kinds of tea. There was a Restaurant run by the same company but we resisted our temptation due to the high price tag

Tea Castle	Tea Castle
James Taylor

Time was 2.00 p.m. and everybody was hungry by that time but we couldn’t find a good shop to have lunch. Most shops did not have finished serving by that time.Our next destination was the

It was so beautiful and the rain did not stop us from going close to the falls. The purple flower tree close the falls drew our attention.

St. Clair’s Falls

St. Clair’s Falls

Then it was clearly the time for lunch and In-between snacks were un-compensatory. We found a descent place Just after Thlawakele and they offered fried rice for a reasonable price. Food was good but the service was pretty bad. We had no other option but to stick to that place because Nuwara-Eliya was 1 hour drive away. Had to stay for half an hour for the food.

It was almost 4.00. p.m. when we finished our lunch and we knew that it was the end of our journey. All other plans had to be cancelled and we directly came to the Nuwara-Eliya town. It was 5.30 p.m. Did some shopping in Nuwara-Eliya town (mainly fresh fruits to take back home) by then and we got to a pastry shop to grab some stuff to eat on the way as well as to have a hot cup of tea.

When we went to the bus stop the last bus starting from Nuwara-Eliya to Colombo was been parked in the stands. We quickly got on to it and reserved our seats. Bus started to Colombo around 6.30 p.m. It was a new CTB bus and the seats were like made out of rocks. It was a very uncomfortable journey back in the first 100 km where there were huge turns. Oh yes bus stopped for tea and some of us had hot coffee.

We got to Pettah by 12.00 p.m. Then it was three-wheelers that helped us get back to our destination.

This is one of the best quick getaways I’ve experienced. Nuwara-Eliya is a town that is always to be enjoyed.

Thank you for the photos by Madura and Jalitha. These are some other beautiful pics taken in our journey

Beauty	Beauty
Beauty

I was away from Sinharaja for too long…….  It had been more than a year since the previous visit. Its a place which you can’t stay away from for long so I had to some how squeeze a two day trip in July. It  was going to be Thihela’s first visit to Sinharaja as well.

We left Moratuwa around 8.00 in the morning.  With no stops, we straigt away drove to the Blue magpie lodge. We reached there just passed noon.

This was my first visit to the Bluemagpie lodge. The lodge was located bordering a paddy field and a tea field. In front of the lodge, across a narrow concrete village road, was a crystal clear stream which was so inviting for a dip.

Shallow pool was so inviting

View Upstream from where we were bathing

rest of the day was dedicated for relaxation (a.k.a sleeping ). The lodge was well maintained and had all basic facilities required for a comfortable stay. The staff was friendly and very helpful. All in all it was a pleasant experience at the Blue magpie lodge.

After a good night sleep, we woke up to a beautiful morning.

Early Morning at Blue Magpie Lodge

Dining area overlooking paddy fields

After breakfast we thought of doing a short walk inside the forest.

The forest department ticket office has now been relocated further towards the protected area entrance on the Jeep track. The road up to the new ticket office is well paved. There is a parking area in front of the office as well. This new setup effectively reduces the length of the walk to the entrance of the forest from 2.5km to 1.5km.  The jeep track is now closed for vehicles and therefore you have to use the alternative jeep tack through the village (check trail map) if you want to drive up to the forest entrance (4WD only)

After completing the formalities we were greeted by our guide “Ajith”. Since we had the little one with us, we decided to drive up to the forest entrance.

By the time we entered the forest it was around 9.00 a.m. It was way past the prime bird watching window. It wasn’t meant to be a bird watching walk anyway.

We started walking leasurely towards the research center along the jeep track. Thihela was throughly enjoying his first walk in the rainforest. A lot of things facinated him on the way but what really caught his eyes was the little pool with a large shool of fish, on the side of the road.

Lush Green

Walking in a new world!

Fascinated by the large school of fish in the road side pool

The forest was full of may other fascinating creatures such as this Caterpillar swinging in the cool breeze

Even though we were not particuallry behind birds, we were pelasantly surprised when we came across a fairly large feeding flock where we were able to observe species such as Red Faced Malkoha, Malabar Trogon and couple other regular endemic species of bablers along with other regular feeding flock species.

We leisurrly reached the summer hut at the second Mulawella entrace at which point Ajith told us that there was a pair of frogmouth roosting in a tree fern and went to see whether they are still their. After some searching in the forest he came back with the good news. He had located them!

We were really happy to see the pair peacefully perched on a tree fern. Eventhough the location and light was not ideal to take pictures, I managed to take couple of “Average shots”

Pair of Frogmounth

Location and Light condition was not ideal but manageable

A closer frame with a long zoom Point and shoot

We spent a considerable time observing and photographing these rare Owls and came back to the summer hut to find another beautiful visitor at close range.

It was a flock of Blue Magpies. There were couple of individuals hanging in and around the summer hut. They appeared to be very comfortable with us and I could get as close as couple of feet from them.

Eye Catching Blue Magpie at Close range

Another one

They appeared to be very comfortable with People. So much so that one of them would even perch on a pillar of one of the concrete benches where we were seated!

The blue magpies were there for the entire duration of our stay at the summer hut. It appeared that they gather there when ever a group comes there to rest. These were clear signs of people feeding these birds there. In my opinion it is a bad trend which I have not previously observed in Sinharaja (Even though feeding wild animals have become serious concerns elsewhere for an example people feeding wild elephants at Udawalawa, See discussions Begging Elephants at Udawalawa and Elephant Beggars….)

We left the blue magpies and started walking back to the entrance. Up on our arrival at the gate guard brought us news of a GreenPit viper at a closeby location. It was easy to locate it with the information privided by the guard and the conditions were good of some macro shots.

The last photo opportunity of the day was a good one

green pitviper - a more serious look!

After a satisfying couple hour walk, we thanked our guide Ajith, particularly for his enthusiasm to show us most of the forest and locating some “not so easy to spot” species on his own initiative. We got back in to the double cab and drove back to the Blue Magpie Lodge.

after another cool bath in the river, we had lunch and drove back home. It was a short but an eventful two days at Sinharaja.