We started our journey to Alagalla from the Colombo Fort railway station and got on the “Podi Menike” train which left Colombo Fort at 5:55 and we were able to reach the Ihalakotte station by 7:55.

After tackling Handurukanda in the morning we wanted to explore something new. The best thing is I selected this location with the help of Google earth and it did pay off as predicted. After having lunch at Ridigama we took the B264 route which was been carpeted and reached Ankumbura.

I hope you liked the new version of report which I’ve introduced which sort of told you the story of our wildlife, especially the plight of them in Wilpattu thanks to a Government Minister who’d taken the law into his hands destroying many acres of precious lands belonging to the buffer zone of Wilpattu by giving it to his supporters. It’s just pathetic the way things happen even though the Ministry of Environment is under the President himself. We also saw how they started building Mini Hydro Power Plants at Handagiriya destroying many more cascades very recently. It’s just so saddening to see the people who’ve been elected to safeguard these things help destroy them for monetary benefits. I hope they will soon see the erroneous ways they’ve been handling our natural resources and get back on track to protect them. However the million dollar question is, “Will it be too late?”.

So, just like that journey, I’m going to plunge straight into business and leave the fairy tale stuff aside. I’m sure the story of the wildlife in Kumana, the farthest away from Colombo, is much more interesting than my vivid imagination. However, just a bit of foreplay wouldn’t be too much to bear I suppose. Well, the newest of our crazes has become the wildlife, probably due to the less appealing states of my beloved waterfalls. Thankfully Hasi too shares the same taste and ever since Wilpattu, we’ve started to manic chase of our wildlife.

It was a 3 day holiday and I really wanted to go somewhere. So I decided to hike few Rocky Mountains around Kurunegala. After many years I got a chance to get Anupama involved and Chamara also joined in. we left early to reach Mallawapitiya at around 7.30am where we had breakfast. From Mallawapitiya we took the Indulgodakanda road and on our way we saw a jackal caught in a trap near a road side forest patch.

Every year there is something on top of my to-do list and this year also was no exception. It was something mysterious and well researched by me. Been a very dry year I decided to ride my luck. Thunhisgala / Kalupahana is one of the center most peaks of Knuckles conservation area providing the best view of the forest reserve. My attempts on searching for a guide was the most troublesome thing and hearing that the path to KMP wadiya was overgrown brought up some concerns.

Gala Pita Gala (ගලපිටගල) is an unusual rock formation found at Kalupahana area. There are three rocks and largest one on the smaller one is balanced on flat rock surface with small contact.

Going Camping alone is a one of the best experience you can get. This idea came to my mind on the beginning of this year. So I planned to go Balathoduwa & Gommoli kanda via Adara kanda. Then I asked from Ashan, Niroshan and Amran is it ok to go there alone. They all said it is bad idea go alone. So I changed plan and decide stop at 1st view point of adara kanda. Because I just wanted have Solo camping experience.

We started the journey very early in the morning and caught the Colombo-Badulla bus at about 3:30 from Maharagama, the bus had left Colombo at 2:55 according to the bus schedule which was on display. We reached Ratnapura at about 5:20 and managed to catch the first bus of the day to Kalawana from the Ratnapura central bus stand which was scheduled to leave at 5:30.

We started our trip on 5th March on 5.30 a.m. We reached Pinnawala at 8.00 a.m. First we went to see newly open “Ape Gama”( The model of old village ) We spent nearly 1 ½ hrs there & went to Deliwala “Kotawehera”. The temple situated in Rambukkana – Dombemada main road. After worship the viharaya we went to Kele Dambulla Temple. It situated 4 – 5 km’s away from Deliwala “Kotawehera”. It also nice place & we have to climb more than 350 steps to Len Viharaya. After that we went to relatives house in Kadigamuwa.

We looked rural Temple who needs our help. We got news about Temple in Kelenikawewa in Galenbindunuwewa. We got bus from Pettah – Dutuwewa on 10th March. It leaves Colombo at 11.30 p.m & reached to Galenbindunuwewa at 4.30 a.m.
We met the thero & went to Kelenikawewa Temple.

Karagahatenna peak occupies six transmission and radar towers. It provides nice panoramic view of surrounding areas. This is my experience on journey to Karagahatenna peak.

Year and Month March , 2016 Number of Days two separate trips Crew  3 & 12 Accommodation n/a Transport on foot Activities Hiking Weather – Route  – Tips, Notes and Special remark Always step forward to protect mother nature. even the smallest act of yours may trigger a huge change in the future. Author Kasun […]