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.

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.

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.

Arrived at the Mirissa harbour by 6.20am since we were to leave by 7am. Was at sea for around 40 minutes when the guide spotted whales. Got to see 3 whales(for the entire trip….hmph) of which only 1 posed for the camera. Disappointed with the lack of show put on by the whales for us we were circling around at sea for another good 2-21/2 hrs hoping to see some more when we came across a school of dolphins that put on a terrific performance cheering the whole group up after a disappointing morning……Should say that the dolphins made up for it..

Our van moved slowly since the road was narrow and hilly. The condition of the road was un-expectably good. (It seemed to be repaired recently). The sky was covered with crowns of wet zoned trees. We had moved more than 3km. along a by road starting from Ginigathhena. In the next moment, we were free from the shades of trees and came to an open area surrounded by a tea plantation. Then we notice a silver string laying on black dress in a distance. That was the Aberdeen fall; the most beautiful place in the Kehelgamuwa River

There was nearly 45 minutes drive from Ruwanwella to Bulathkohupitiya. Bulathkohupitiya was a small town at an elevation of 130 ft from MSL, located in between Kegalle & Karawanella. This colonial type town was margined by a stream known as Ritigaha-oya, a tributary of Kelani River. It was started from the ranges of Dolosbage, located within a distance of 20 km from Bulathkohupitiya. On the other hand, the elevation rose dramatically from 140ft to 3000ft within a distance nearly 14km.

Total distance of the boat tour was around 14 Km and it took 2 hrs. We started from Hamilton canal and the canal was full of water monitors. We were fortunate to see a young crocodile. We reached to Negombo lagoon within 20 minutes. Then we entered to Dandugam oya through boarder of the Muthurajawela marsh. There we saw lot of fishing boats (canoes) with fishing nets.

It took us almost 2 hours to traverse the perimeter of the island, thats how big it really is. We were in all honesty taken by surprise at the size and various different types of trees and vegetation located within the small space. We noted in one place a heap of godapora fruit, half eaten possibly by wild boar or porcupines announcing the presence of animals in the vicinity. In the center of the island on top of the larger trees flocks of birds gather and chirp peacefully.

On the Ratnapura to Ambilipitiya road between Godakawela and Pallebedda junctions, there’s a road to the right side which leads to Kumburugamuwa. From the main road, you need to travel about 13km on a mountainous narrow road to reach Waulpane village. Unfortunately, I wasn’t tracking the road on GPS, but remembered to mark the location.
The cave is owned by bats (100s of them) and is very very dark. Cave ground has at least an inch thick bat droppings, may be a bit less on the path where people usually walk

I & four of my friends went to Sri Pad via Udamaliboda trail on 13th of last December. Sri Pada season was started on 1st of December and we wonted go there before it gets crowded. On 12th we travelled to Anghettipola where one of my friends live which is 6 Km away from Daraniyagale. We stayed there whole day and also visited to Saman devalaya at Daraniyagala which is a tradition followed by the Sri Pada pilgrims. Next day we took a bus to Udamaliboda around 6.30 p.m. from Moda palama which is 1 km away from the place we stayed towards Daraniyagala.

One day trip to Aranayake, exposing to the nature & Heritage. Asupini ella (30m in height ) and Selawa temple were the main travel locations. Having nearly an hour of driving we stopped at Ambasevana restaurant just before Kegalle for the breakfast. We were at Mawanella in the next 40 minutes. Up to few kilometers passing Mawanella on the Aranayake road, we met the first barrier since the road was under construction. We were beaten by dust because our jeep was an open canopy one.

This time I was wondering about Gampaha district in search of two waterfalls said to exist by the LCWF web site! So decided to go to Alwala Devin Penna Ella which has a historic importance to reach Alawala one needs to take the first road to the right when traveling towards Pasyala from Aththanagalla, this road is well carpeted and the ride is very enjoyable specially because it runs through many Rubber estates! After reaching Ataudakanada we started inquiring about this waterfall but we were surprised because people said there is no such waterfall called Devin Penna Ella