We all get these impulsive thoughts of doing things out of blue moon every now and then. Something like that happened when we visited Eli Hatha deep inside the Sri Pada Forest Reserve off Uda Maliboda in the first week of February. That journey, one of the dreams of Hari, turned out to be a great success, probably the best ever. During this journey I kept thinking of visiting the Most Sacred Mountain, Sri Pada via Uda Maliboda trail, one of the six known paths to the summit.

I was longing for it by the time we returned from Eli Hatha and didn’t wanna do anything else but that. So when I presented the thought to Dodam, my mate for the Beloved Lakegala, he seconded it with no second thoughts. So we fixed it for the 15 & 16 Feb. Thanks to Hari, I got the contact number of Yasawardhane mama, a real nature-loving gentleman who is very friendly, humble and helpful. When I called him to check the status of weather conditions and the trail, he gladly offered to help us. I, being the cautious type, asked if he could find a guide for us at least till we reach the Kuruwita trail but he said that there was no way we could go wrong yet promised to get someone at least for a part of the journey.

Although I reached to SriPada in many times by various ways, I was eagerly waiting to reach there by using “Dehenakanda way” for a long time. When I said my idea to my friend of Lakmal who lives in Rathnapura, he also wasn’t walk to Sri Pada on this way. However we selected a date after the exam for this journey & get aware the crew.

Andiri Lena believes that this belongs to king Wlagamba, since he lived in forest for hideouts. Balangoda Buddhist monk stated that is there is a huge cave behind Pettigala Mountain. And the entrance is at Opanayake. He said he has gone to this cave 15 years back. Also told inside this is very huge as BMICH and its true. I started to search this cave, but couldn’t get any information. Finally after a 1-1/2 of searching, I found a blog (written by Sulakkhana Chamara), where he has gone to this cave in 2013. Now the planning begins; with Nishani, my office mate with the help of her cousin Pradeep. I contacted Pradeep and he gave us a great help of arranging the trip. On the 28 Feb 2015, we started the exploration.

Year and Month January 2015 ( 18,19,20) Number of Days Three days Crew 02( Me and My Friend Madhawa ) Accommodation Nawarathne Mama’s Place 0813 804191 Transport Colombo to Kandy By Train Kandy to Hunnasgiriya by Bus Hunnasgiriya to Meemure by Three Wheeler Meemure to Narangamuwa – walking Narangamuwa to Pallegama by Three wheeler Palegama […]

Ana booked Fishing Hut, an isolated log-cabin-type place at the border of the Peak Wilderness with Baththulu Oya flowing right next. It’s like a paradise on earth surrounded by the lush greenery rain forest, set at the edge of a tea patch belonging to Moray Estate bordered by one side by the virgin flow of Baththulu Oya with an amazing view of the Sacred Mountain in the distance. Having been used by the English during the colonial era for trout fishing gave it the name Fishing Hut. The trout and fishing all have now become a part of the history but the isolated and peaceful environment is a stress buster for the workaholic. I’d wanted to visit the place so much after all the good things I’d come across about it. So finally being able to go and stay there for a couple of days was yet another dream come true for me. Additionally,climbing the Sri Pada through a trail not attempted before was a gem of an opportunity. I wasn’t gonna miss it for the world.

Year and Month July 2014 Number of Days 2 Days Crew 3 – My Self, Thivanka, Buddhika & from Seetha Gangula onwards 6 Upul, Prageeth, Udayanath Accommodation Heramitipana Ambalama (Gal Wangediya) Transport Bus, Trishaw, Foot Activities Pilgrimage / Hiking / Photography / Adventure Weather Day 1 – Heavy showers Day 2 – Gloomy Route Colombo […]

Kurundu Oya Ella has been a very difficult customer all this time evading from our view every time we tried to get close to her. I don’t have to tell you how frustrated I felt missing her very narrowly about 3 times before. She proved to be a tough cookie and I intended to go see her even if it was the last thing I’d do. While the time passed and opportunities lost, I had kinda taken a backward approach mainly because of visiting a bunch of them during the heavy rains appealed more to my waterfall hungry mind.

Year and Month 2015 February Number of Days 1 Crew Myself, Saoodh and 5 O/L Boys (aged 16) Accommodation N/A Transport Public Transport and a three-wheel ride Activities Scenery, Photography, Hiking, and Waterfall Weather Sunny Route Daskara(10:00 am) -> Gelioya (10:15pm) -> Uthuwankada Junction(11:15 am) -> Uthuwankanda/Saradiel Village (11:45 am) -> Gondiwela (1:30 am) -> Bo-Ella (2:00 am) -> Koondeniya […]

Year and Month December, 2014 Number of Days 1 day Crew 4 (between 6-39 years of age) Accommodation N/A Transport Car Activities Sight seeing Weather Rainy Route Ragama -> Kandy -> Tannekumbura -> Raja Mawatha -> Victoria -> Randenigala ->Ragama (same route) Tips, Notes and Special remark Contact closest police stations to get the most […]

Hanthana (හන්තාන) is one of famous mountain ranges in Sri Lanka. It is located in central hills closer to the second largest city of Sri Lanka-Kandy. Hanthana provides a good view of surrounding areas. This range has seven prominent peaks out of them Ura Ketu Gala (ඌරා කෙටූ ගල) is the highest. A lot of University students have visited at Hanthana in their under graduate life as it is a common batch trip. But most of them go only to a part of Hanthana range.

Now that I’ve taken it off my chest, let’s see what was in store for me upon arriving in Kumbalwela where the Ella-Wellawaya Road begins. It had gone 8am, much later than I’d planned but there was hardly anything I could do about the crawling bus, when we reached Kumbalwela and waited for a bus to get us to Ella. The under construction road was full of dust and waiting proved to be a huge challenge but after it felt like an eternity, there was a bus and we got in quickly.

My efforts to catch up on sleep became futile so had a tough time waiting till we reached Belihul Oya for breakfast. Pan Cake just out of the oven washed down with ginger-flavored plain tea brought the active adventurer in me. From there the journey became more pleasant. The Walawe Valley stretched into miles with vivid colors. Finally around 8.30am, we reached Kumbalwela and got off the bus. Then it was another sometime before a bus arrived for us to get to Ella.

A much awaited trip! Me and my good old hiking buddy Murtaza (matz), with whom I went to Great Western a couple of years back, were eagerly looking forward for this hike since a long time. But since the both of us were not able to find time this topic was dragging on and on endlessly until the last weekend, Sunday the 15th of Feb.