Studying the map was my childhood hobby. As soon as I returned from school every day, I used to open the World Atlas Map book and travelled around the world in my imaginations. It is still my hobby but the medium has changed to technology, a.k.a Google Maps. A couple of years ago, when I was looking for trails to Adam’s peak on Google maps, I noticed a place like Horton Plains on the peak Wilderness Sanctuary. It looked nearly impossible to access through the ground on Google Maps due to sudden elevation. Though I was eager to find out more about it, I couldn’t find a single thing for years.

This is the Rock located at the Kadugannawa Gap. The Rock is clearly visible from the Pahala Kadugannawa General viewing point.

We started our journey on November 21 on 3.00 a.m & we reached Hunnasgiriya at 8.00 a.m. From there we took 2.5 – 3 hrs to reach Meemure. Firstly we went to Meemure temple , met thero & disscuss about katina pinkama programme. After that we went oya & had a bath. Lunch prepared at temple & after lunch we went to see “Sooriya Arana Fall”.
In the evening we arrange Bodhi Puja Pinkama & Dhamma Desanawa. We prepared & serve dinner for whole village.

Waulagala is a rock with flat surface covered with Mana bushes and grass. This short note is about the journey to Waulagala.

Ok all started when someone teased me up with an image of a mountain top and he mentioned that this was shown on a TV program. I was tempted so I went through that video and decided that I need to visit this place. I was running through Google maps plus 1:50000 maps and I suddenly remembered that I saw this plain in 2009 while I was at Ihala Pelampitiya. I was told by a local at that time that this was Amanawala region though I was interested in climbing at that time, the interest faded away from me with years passing by. I was waiting till the monsoons to give a little break and soon as the weather settled during X-mas holidays I decided to give it a try.

I did the sensible thing on Ashan’s advice and hired a tuk-tuk. The driver was a friendly person called Ranga and we drove up to the last house where you have to start walking along an irrigation canal for about 400m. The path is now well paved and easy to reach the falls. We met one Mini Hydro Power Plant and Ranga informed that it is now redundant after the main power supply came to the area and he went onto say that the village used to have three such power plants. However all of them have been made redundant since the arrival of national grid. Hurrah!!! I felt like dancing.

We could also see the rocky hill where Kurullangala is. The memories of our back-breaking journey in the recent past sent a shiver down my back. Ranga said that there’s even a path from the top of the Wisari Ella to the Rakkiththakanda Cave Temple where we went last time before the hike. Project sites of Uma Oya could be seen in the distance and the water in the streams has turned into an unusual white color after the ammonia mixed with it as a result of tunnels dug out to take water for the Uma Oya Project. That was quite visible even to the naked eye.

I started my journey the previous day morning, around 3am and after a mixed bag of a day, ended up here at Monaragala sleeping off the weariness of the journey. Well, that’s all about the previous day for now. You can read more about it and the next day in the next report. For now, let’s concentrate on the present and see where I’m gonna take you this time. Waterfalls – one of the sweetest words in English. My heart starts beating faster and leaps with joy every time I hear that word. “You look like the cat that got the milk”, my friends say when they see me. It’s something beyond a passion for me.

It was first week of Jan 2015 when I did my last waterfall hunt and since then there was nothing much when it comes to waterfalls. I had to be content with other attractions while the rains played havoc with all of us. The patterns of the rains have shot to hell making it extremely unreliable and unpredictable. Is it the El Nino or the Global Warming to be blamed? I’ve no idea but I can feel we are heading towards the hell if anything like that exists. If you don’t know what a hell really is, just listen to the Red Indian Leader Seattle for a second.

We made an unplanned trip to Kataragama on the 17th and 18th October 2015 and on the return trip decided to visit some important temples on the way travelling on Galle road. We onward trip to Kataragama was on the National Highway up to Matara. As we have visited few historical temples in Hambantota and Matara (see previous trip reports on Hambamtota and Matara) we decided to visit temples beyond Matara starting from Kataluwa. But the evening thunder showers was dampening and hampering the sight-seeing.

On Aug 8 2014 three of us started the journey from Kandy at 14:30, it was a rainy day and we were about to miss the bus to Ratnapura but managed to catch it. We reached Ratnapura around 19:30, two of our crew were on their way to Ratnapura from Colombo and they reached around 21:30. There was a cab service we hired previously and they reached to the town around 22:00 and we all set to go.

I was travelling between Karawanella and Rajagriya few times in the past month and had few opportunities to visit places close to Karawanella. 1st day I went to Yatiyanthota and took the Seaforth road. Seaforth road winds around villages and rubber plantation areas and Wee oya providing unique views. Though this road is not carpeted, it can be easily navigated by a car.

Riding bicycles on those hilly roads were somewhat difficult, but it was a life time experience for us. Climatic condition in Nuwara Eliya during December and January is cold and dry. Therefore, it is better to arrange your journey during December.

It was totally random but we wanted to visit Kala wewa since it was named and opened to the public very recently. When we got there it was already drizzling and the lake was filled up to the brim. After getting in contact with the DWC officers and experienced “Ali Ananda” we went to get a ticket. We were surprised because we got to know that we were the first to visit the park since its opening. Feeling honoured we took the road towards Kala wewa reservoir. It was a muddy virgin road which was very slippery. This adventure was all about mud baths. When we reached the lake we noted that we had to abandon the idea of riding around the lake because the 20km path was covered with water.