The smartly dressed engine driver reminded me of a senior air force officer. Their uniforms were that good. Climbing up the steps into the engine at Nanu Oya was like a dream. Thinking back, I was as if sleep walking into it. Inside, the space was fully occupied by the two comfortable seats for the engine driver and his assistant, pilot and copilot in aviation terms. Behind them in the middle were two fire extinguishers. They could move about along the narrow path behind the seating. The engine compartment was the bulk of the sky blue enclosed wagon with no access whatsoever for others including them. If there was, I wasn’t gonna push my luck that far. The full length dashboard has various control panels including the touch LCD screen of the computer making it easy for the operators. The German and Canadian engines are more towards manual operations whereas this Chinese is largely computer-controlled.

After the journey to Mandaram Nuwara and then to Victoria & Randenigala, I was feeling lonely and jittery. I’m sure Hariya would have thought differently but couldn’t ignore the proverb, “make hay while sun shines”. Watching TV was an agony, and news only managed to rouse the adventurer in me showing all the overflowing reservoirs, tanks and waterfalls. When they showed St. Claire in full flow, my heart not only missed just one beat, but quite a few. How wonderful even to see her come alive on TV. I was craving for the big moment. The news once again showed that the spills of wretched Upper Kotmale Reservoir were open so I could wait no longer. The next morning I called Morgan, and found out St. Claire was really blooming.

Mostly used road is the one along A26 up to Medamahanuwara then turn into the Medamahanuwara-Adikarigama (B493) that runs through the Victoria dam. However we were skeptical about this due to landslides and resorted to the former choice. We finalized the journey around 8.30pm and decided to leave at 5am. Hasi’s wife and one of his friends, Gayan, too joined for the trip making it a full package for his car. We were excited and looking forward to the sight of the biggest dam in Sri Lanka.

Spills of Victoria are something you don’t get to see every now and then so this was going to be something unique and grand.

We walked close to 3km when out of nowhere came to see this gorgeous twin falls falling amid thick jungle. The real Kolapathana Ella is the one to the right, the one to the left is a seasonal cascade yet bigger and higher. This was something I won’t ever forget. The two white lines drawn amid the dark green background with touches of white was a painting that can only be drawn by the capable hands of the Mother Nature. The mist had covered the falls nearly completely when we arrived but I started singing “Mist, mist, go away – Come again another day” and as if on cue, the rain eased and the mist lifted calmly over the Piduruthalagala showing her prominent rocky slope. The radar site is located almost on the middle of the summit making it impossible to see from here and this angle. Sumanarathna mama too joined us now and Hariya went down to the base of the falls with him and Kiri while I stayed up and took hundreds of pictures.

However it didn’t appeal to Hari and we made plans hastily for Mandaram Nuwara. There was very little information about this mysterious place and we had to make do with what little was available. Credit must go to Hariya for planning the whole thing and we deliberated long and hard how to get there in the first place. Not having anyone else, it had to be just the two of us. Going by bike had to be ditched at the eleventh hour due to the rains and earth slips. So finally we decided to take the road via Kandy by bus. Getting Hariya up was as easy as lifting an elephant out of a well in an abandoned paddy field. Finally I picked him close to 5am on the christmas day, while most of the country was still under the wraps trying to get some warmth from the partial wintry chill. We went to the bus stand in Pettah while the rain kept its pace. There was an A/C bus that left for Kandy at 5.30am.

It was nearly a year and a half since we (Ashan, Amila, Hari and me) went on a bike tour covering Yatiyanthota-Seepoth and Parussella-Dedugala roads and saw many waterfalls. There were more than a dozen of them at the time making me think that the waterfalls headquarters were here. What’s more, there’s no need to go for treacherous hikes searching for these beauties as they’re more or less located either by the roadside or with a short hike.

So you’re blessed to go see more than a dozen of gorgeous falls within less than 12 hours that is something you won’t get anywhere else. So, having done it once didn’t stop me from getting back again. The intermittent rains made the thought more appealing and I managed to find Atha to accompany me after a numerous put-offs.

When Hariya called asking if we could go see Doovili Ella in Kalthota, I couldn’t have been happier. It brought back the sweet memories of our old gang doing a tour in and around Kalthota. Kalthota Doovili Ella is one of the most beautiful of all I’ve seen to date. She has this unique way of falling down very much similar to a pyramid. The whole Walawe River squeezed through that tiny opening with so much pressure creating millions of water drops scattering the entire area.

Even the base pool is nice and surrounded by some gorgeous rock formations. So thinking of the prospects of seeing her once again made my heart beat ever-so-faster. So we set our plans for the 6 Dec despite all the weather forecasts predicting heavy rains. As Hari hadn’t been to Kirindi Ella or Doovili Ella before, we decided to visit them plus another two, Kuda Ella and the evading Diyawini Ella that we missed due to lack of time even after going all the way to her.

Year and Month 2014 December 05th and 06th Number of Days Two days Crew 3Ns- Nirosh, Niroshan and Nadeesha Accommodation N/A Transport By train, bus and climbing Activities Mountain climbing, Photography and spiritual activities Weather Slight showers and misty. Overall weather is good. Route Colombo -> Hatton -> Nallathanniya (නල්ලතන්නිය) -> Sri Pada peak -> […]

Year and Month December, 2014 Number of Days 1 Crew 4 (between 25-30 years of age & the villager who guided us) Accommodation N/A Transport Three-wheeler up to Illubekanda school and then by foot Activities Waterfall hunting, Photography, hikking Weather Gloomy with intermittent drizzle Route Nivithigala -> Kalawana -> Pothupitiya -> Illumbekanda -> Denawaka Kanda […]

After a long silence due to the busy work life; I decided to break the silence by sharing a different and a very rare experience with you all. This is not my experience, it’s my father’s. Thought of share that with our generation. Here onwards I’m writing his story.
Those days he was teaching at Batugedara Maha Vidyala, Rathnapura and was staying at a house nearby the school. As a practice they used to listen to morning news on SLBC at 6.00AM every day.

Hike for Humanity project is an innovative and inspirational project interlinking the concept of hiking and humanity. That is to help underprivileged school students on the annual hike of Old Cadets Association (OCA). To begin with the project the #HikeForHumanity Concept was familiarized on the social media as well as in Zahira College Mawanella.

It’s been during one of those adventures Tony came up with the notion to explore things in and around Gampaha, the Siyane Korale. He’s closed to the area and knows most of it like the back of his hand. To make things interesting he’s also come across a paper article about some mysterious caves located close to Asgiriya, Gampaha. Probably you will hear more about them one day, fingers crossed.