Sandaraja Wana Arana is a sub mountaneous rain forest situated in Dotel Oya area at Kegall district. It is rich in bio diversity. Ganthuna Falls is situated closer to Sandaraja Forest reserve.

Parakrama Samudraya is the greatest lake of Polonnaruwa, was built by King Parkramabahu Great during Polonnaruwa period. There are enough places around and close to this great reservior travellers can visit.

Hanthana is the most popular hiking place among University students. Normally Social Trips and Batch trips are planned to hanthana due to less travelling time. It is my long term dream to hike Hanthana. With the aid of trip reports on Hanthana in Lakdasun we planned this trip.

This was my 11th visit to Sri pada and third off season hike. No matter how often I visit this sacred mountain I never get enough as this Sri pada Sanctuary is the best place on earth by means of bio Diversity and uniqueness.

After a snail-like journey, we reached Maskeliya and bought a couple of essential things like instant noodles. We were planning to take a tuk-tuk from here but our luck held coz there was a Nallathanniya bus leaving at 10am. So having breathed a sigh of relief we got into the bus and settled. The sun was back and my hopes soared like an eagle. However as we got closer to Nallathanniya aka Dalhousie (remember it’s Dalhousie not Delhouse or Delhousie), those hopes came down and down like a deflated balloon.

It was very gloomy and there were a couple of passing showers as well. “This is going to be one heck of a hike” I told Atha and we both regretted not having brought the umbrellas. Well we shouldn’t have worried coz the usage of umbrella becomes next to zero after Geththampana due to the open area and strong winds. We had our long overdue coffee from the shop just before the bridge. Already there was a group of people getting ready to climb for a Pooja and we started our hike around 11am, after 8.5hr journey, well literally.

Belihuloya and Non Perial estate is rewarded by number of waterfall. They got water from streams started from Hortain plains. Galagama Falls is the queen of these and she is a hidden gem from public.

The day I did the ‘Nil Diya Pokuna’ exploration, I was eager do the Kululangala too. Once I thought should have done with Nil Diya pokuna exploration, but this can be done in one shot (not on the same day). I buzzed trip partner, Kasun Janaka. He is always ready for adventures trips. So read the trip report by Ashan and called Methananda to check the weather. Everything was on the positive side. And also I remembered Kasun Des was telling about Budupatunna.

Minneriya National Park is one of our main tourists attraction for Elephants watching. This is my attempt to watch Elephants with a boat ride at Minneriya Lake.

Balangoda is the edge of Rathnapura district and Balangoda-Bogawanthalawa road provides access to number of waterfalls.

After a tiring day around Mullaitivu it was time for a relaxing evening. So we were headed on a rugged road from Iyakachchi towards Kaddaikadu. On the way at Kuweni junction we came across some ruins of fort Beschutter which is one out of the tree forts which were built around Elephants pass area.

Ok there was a huge gap in my traveling history and I needed to cover it up ASAP. Yes Mullaitivu needed to be explored but in a unique way. Both of us decided before hand not to focus on any remains that glorify the past of Terrorism other than few road side monuments. So this was more of a road trip and exploring beautiful and giant reservoirs in this virgin forest district.

Medirigiriya (මැදිරිගිරිය) is located closer to Polonnaruwa and it has few tourist attractions. When you visit at Polonnaruwa you can pay a visit at Medirigiriya as well.