Day 1
We started our journey from Hikkaduwa at about 4.30pm and reached to Kaduwela at about 7.30. We spent the night at our relation’s place.

Day 2
We left Kaduwela at 4.00am and headed along the low level road reached to Avissawella about 5.00. We could see the first rays of the day at Kithulgala.

We stopped at a small restaurant near by the river and had hoppers as our breakfast.

Dawn at Kithulgala	Breakfast at Kithulgala
Early Morning at Kelani ganga	We noticed a giant moth near Kelani ganga which was attacked by a predator

We turned to B189 road from A7 at somewhere between Ginigathhena and Kithulgala. (I don’t know the exact name of the junction. A villager said that it is ‘Pitawala’. There is a police barrier here.)

Turning point

The road from here to Norton Bridge shapes very bad. But it spreads through very beautiful area. (Near Seven Virgins hills)

.	At the seven virgins hills near by ‘Koththellena’
Breathtaking scenery from the top of kottellena

Then we reached to the city of Norton Bridge and had a cup of tea from a small restaurant and headed towards Hatton.

In memory of Martin Air DC 8 crash

The road from Hatton to NuwaraEliya shapes very bad. (Specially the part from Kotagala to Thalawakele.) The situation became worst because of the construction of Ihala Kothmale hydro power house. The whole area was covered with the dust. We stopped few minutes at the beautiful and very famous waterfall.

Then it was the time to stop at another marvel of the nature, the St. Clair’s falls. But it looks little dirty because of the constructions of the power house.

Devon the veil of bride nature…

We tried in our best to avoid the wires but failed….

Then we headed to Nuwara Eliya and reached there about 1.30pm. We had the lunch at Sri Ambal’s vegetarian café. Then we went to the government holiday bungalow and the caretaker Thissa welcome us warmly. We went to the Gregory lake in the evening and enjoyed the activities like riding bicycles, walking etc.

Gregory lake in the evening

Gregory lake in the evening

Day 3

It was a bright morning. No rain or mist at all. We decided to leave as early in the morning to visit Horton Plains. We rode quickly to the same vegetarian café and had a heavy breakfast consisting of Thosai, Wadei, etc. Then we headed to Horton Plains via Pattipola.

Road towards Horton plains	Kande Ela reservoir
Heaven on earth at Ambewela

We stopped for a few minutes at Ambewela farm and tasted fresh yoghurt and proceed

Pattipola Railway Station	Horton Plains Location Map (Click Image to Enlarge)
Sri Padaya from Horton Plains	Breathtaking view of the plain

The plain was quite dry as there was no rain for a long time. The dust was there instead of mist.

.	A fresh water crab caught at the red bridge
.	Mini World’s End
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Dwarf Bamboo bushes	Beautiful tiny flower

We roamed all over the plains leisurely. We came across an endemic lizard coming out from a bush

Endemic lizard

We were quite sorry to see that many invasive species were spread all over the plains. Gorse (Ulex europeous) shows a noteworthy growth there. We noticed that some trails were totally covered with this plant making tunnels

Ulex tunnel

Ulex europeus

We were lucky enough to see some Maha Rathmal flowers blooming around chimney pool and my wife’s vigilant eyes found a Binara flower too.

Rhodrodendron (Maha Rathmala)

Binara

We reached to the ticketing office back at about 4.30pm. We collected our helmets there. We were quite tired at the moment as we had only biscuits and tea for our lunch. So we rode directly to NuwaraEliya and had a vegetarian diet at Ambaals.

Day 4

That was the final day of our journey. We woke up early in the morning and left NuwaraEliya about 6.00am. It was extremely cold and mist in the morning. We rode along Welimada road (was under construction those days) and turn to Bogahakumbura road from Keppetipola.

Road from NuwaraEliya to Welimada

From Boralanda we headed to Haputale. It was about 7.30am when we reached to Haputale. Then we stopped at Haldummulla to by some Aligeta Pera (Avacado).

We had our breakfast at a small restaurant near by the main road.

From Balangoda we turn to Kahawatta and reached to Madampe. The road shaped little bad from Madampe to Rakwana but we were able to manage.

.	A tea break at Beragala

Road go through the heaven after Rakwana. We met hairpin bends. We stopped our bike near Rakwana Bridge and walk along the river until we met a nice place to have a bath. We met other two guys who are also traveling by a motorcycle. They have come all the way from Kelaniya. That was the 3rd day of their trip. They wished to pay a visit to Morning side. They were exploring a hermitage inside the jungle near by Rakwana in the morning. We wish them a safe journey and they wished the goodwill of us too.

Dipping in the icy cold water

It was about 12.30pm when we left Rakwana. We reached to Deniyaya about 2.00pm and had out lunch there. Then we headed to Akuressa, Yakkalamulla and Hikkaduwa. It was about 6.00pm when we come back home.

Road from Rakwana to Deniyaya

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Early morning on Friday we started from Colombo and headed straight to Back of Beyond – Gurugoda. We were greeted by Ajith and Anverdeen (a veteran trekker with excellent knowledge about Yala) along with Priyanjan who were waiting there to join the four day excursion to explore, particularly the block two of Yala national park. Yohan’s Nissan Patrol and Ajith’s Land Rover were quickly loaded with supplies and we left straight away to Palatupana Entrance.

At Back of Beyond - Gurugoda

Formalities at the park office did not take long. Wildlife department guide assigned to us was Premarathne. Premarathne is one of the most expreinced guides in service at the department today and he claimed that he is a descendant of Henry Engelbrecht, the first park warden of Yala. Well, he knew Yala well but largely his attitude and certain behaviors did not make us very comfortable with him.

Leaving park office we drove along the Yala main road to paranaganthota (a.k.a Parana Thotupola) where we crossed Menik River and entered Block 2. Our camp site was “Nuga Sevana”, one of the newer camp sites established on the bank of the river. It was only a couple hundred meters away from Paranaganthota (පරන ගං තොට).

Location of the camp site was good, particularly because of its proximity to the river. The river was so inviting with shallow flowing water and clean sandy bottom so that we couldn’t resist a long bath under the shade of giant Kumbuk trees every day! One of the negatives of the camp site’s location was its proximity to the Paranaganthota which is the designated resting place for day visotrs to Yala Block I. On Saturday and Sunday we got disturbed by their noise occasionally. Also there are couple other camp sites on the either banks of the river in some what close proximity. If a party at any one of the camp sites does not behave well, that tend to disturb the rest of the sites. On one of the nights we could hear people singing at one of the other camp sites (most likely Kosgasmankada). Wonder why the wildlife guide who should have been with them did not stop them.

It took some time for us to setup our tents. We had quite a number of them.

Crossing Over to Block 2 at Parana Gan Thota	At Nuga Sewana Camp Site
Menik River bordering the camp site	So obviously this is what we did for hours EVERY day

After setting up tents we had lunch we brought form BOB-Gurugoda. After lunch we relaxed a bit, and set out for the first drive in block 2. Passing Yala wela (යාල වෙල), we drove up to Katupila Ara (කටුපිල ආර).

Yala Wela with Maliththan Trees scattered

Water level in Katupila ara was too high for a vehicle to cross it safely at the usual crossing point. This is a usual occurance, particulalry in the dry season, when river mouth gets blocked with sad, forcing water to build up upstream.

Katupila Ara - Water Level was high due to closed river mouth

Mangrove Roots, Katupila Ara

We had to drive couple of kms  upstream to find a suitable crossing point with less water and we did a hassle free cross over to the other side.

Having crossed Katupila Ara, we drove back along the opposite bank of it and got back on the main road. Passing vast, dry, open, sandy sections of Pilinnawa Eliya (පිළින්නාව එලිය) we drove along the main road towards Kumbukkan Oya. On our list to see were fresh water wells at Pahala Poththana (also known as the Navaladi wells in Paada Yatra) and Uda Poththana Modara (උඩ පොත්තන මෝදර) (View Google Earth Trail Map (KMZ))

As soon as we entered Block 2, we immediately noticed two remarkable differences in the animals we saw, compared to block 1. The first was the size of herds of Deer, Buffalow and Boar. Every herd we saw had many dozens of animals which was a great sight to see. The second was their unfamiliarity with vehicles. Every creature we saw would start running like mad as soon as it saw our vehicles!

We came across large groups of Deer, Buffaloes and Boar but all of them were on the run!

A Large group of Wild Boar, again running like crazy for the dear life!

Occasionally there were "Brave Hearts" as well

We drove mostly  along the main road through scrub forest typical in the area. Passing open areas at Uda Poththana (උඩ පොත්තන), we drove further down towards Pahala Poththana (පහළ පොත්තන). To reach fresh water wells, one should deviate from the main road towards right, just before entering open areas at Pahala Poththana.

We first reached the place where there are three fresh water wells together. It immediately brought back memories of Pada Yatra we did couple of months back. While on Paada Yatra we spent couple of hours resting at this very same place. The only difference this time was that the huge Dun trees in the vicinity were full of fruits!

The three Wells

Dun Trees were full of Fruits

Signs of Pada Yatra

Signs of Pada Yatra

We left the three wells and drove few hundred meters further to reach another freshwater well. We were pelasantly surprised to find another hudge Dun tree full of fruits there as well. The Dun we found were much more tastier than what we had before .

Yummmmmmy!

Leaving fresh water wells we started our journey back along the main road. It was late in the afternoon and the light was perfect for photos.

Malabar Horn Bill in Flight	Herd of Spotted deer paused their mad run briefly and posed beautifully against the light
Harsh Dry Environment was certainly not forgiving the weak	Driving on the "Death Valley" - Uda Poththana
Spikes and the Spider Web	Closed River mouths force water to accumulate upstream like this, sustaining life in a death valley even during the height of the dry season

Once we returned to Uda Poththana area, which is supposed to be an abandoned saltern, we turned left from the main road and drove towards the sea to explore the river mouth (Uda Poththana Modara – උඩ පොත්තන මෝදර) and the Estuary. (View Google Earth Trail Map (KMZ))

We parked close to the beach and explored the area. With pure white sand and calm water of the Estuary bathing in the late afternoon light, it was such a beautiful sight to see.

Sky, Sand, Water and exposed Corals - Uda Poththana Modara

Magical setup at Uda Poththana Modera kept photographers busy!

Lonely "Krishan Putha" at Uda Poththana Modara; most likely brought here by the Tsunami

We tried to locate “earthened wells” some of the previous travellers had described at Uda Poththana but we couldn’t locate any signs of them. Both Anverdeen and Premarathne were of the opinion that those must have been washed away by the Tsunami as they had been located very close to water.

The day was coming to an end. We started our journey back to the camp site. On our way back we saw fresh paw marks of a leopard on the jeep track but were not luky to see it.

Fresh Paw Marks on the Jeep Track

Heading back to Camp Site

Day 2

We left the camp site early morning on Saturday. The Plan was to explore Pilinnawa sand dunes and “Miniha gal Kanda (මිනිහාගල්කන්ද)”.

We crossed Katupila Ara and reached Pilinnawa Eliya driving along the main road. Then we turned right towards the sea and drove until we reached Agara Ara (ආගර ආර). Turning left at Aragara Ara, we continued to drive along the bank of the Ara until we found a point where we could safely cross over to the other side (just like Katupila Ara, water level was high in Agara Ara too; both share the same river mouth). Once we crossed the Ara we tackled some steep climb up to the sand dune and parked right at the base of it. (View Google Earth Trail Map (KMZ))

Parked at the Sand Dune at Pilinnawa

The sea is right there on the other side

It was very early in the morning (just past 6.00 a.m.). Sun had just started to emerged from the sea (Yes, we were in the east coast!). We climbed up the sand dune and reached the undisturbed, beautiful beach on the other side. To reach Miniha Gal Kanda we had to walk 2.1km along the beach. We thoroughly enjoyed this early morninng walk on the beatiful, undisturbed, remote beach. On our right had side it was the Indian Ocean meeting the horizon and on our left was the tall sand dune with perfect patterns created by wind, complimented by dune vegetation.

Sand Dunes complimented by dune vegetation

Rising Sun and the Ocean

The Walk; looking for the "lonely man in the beach"

Patterns on Sand and the colorful rock formations

Closer look at the patterns

……and the man came to our sight!

The rock was certainly resembling a man looking towards the vast ocean in a relaxed posture with his hands on the hips. “Miniha Gal Kanda” is said to be an ancient Coral reef which had been elevated from water a long time back and since then had been eroded by the wind and water to create some unique shapes like this “lonely man”. It is constantly changing, as per Anverdeen, who has seen the lonely man for more than half a century now,the man used to be even more prominent before.

The Lonely Man by the Sea - Miniha Gal Kanda

This is what the man is made of - A coral reef elevated from the sea many million years ago

The area immediately around the man was a fascinating geological formation. Continuous erosion of lose rock have created massive, roughly semi-circular craters with vertical walls. The rock wall was a live demonstration of what lies underneath, a perfect cross section with clearly segregated layers of earth in different colours. Travelers who visited the area before had called these gigantic craters “Amphitheaters” and they had described three of them.

One of the Gigantic Amphitheaters

Vertical Rock wall with layers of earth in different colours

We spent some times exploring the “Amphitheaters”. The rocks were so fragile and would trun in to powder with the ligthest pressure applied. Again Anverdeen recalled that the rock walls had changed drastically over the past few decades due to continuous erosion.

Travel literature describes three Amphitheaters along the coast. Even though we thought we saw all three,  Priyanjan’s studies of Google earth images afterwards suggests that we may have seen only the first one, or the first and the second. Certainly future visits are on plans to Verify

From the base of the Amphitheater

More like Martian Land than Earth

We also found evidence supporting the elevated coral reef theory. Hard shells of sea creatures could be seen trapped in lose rock. They appeared to be in some stage of fossilization.

Lose rocks that formed Amphitheaters

Evidence of early day sea life - Are these shells in some stage of Fossilization?

The sun was rising and the whole area was starting to heat up. Since we had a 2km walk back along the beach, we started our walk back by 8.15 a.m.

Light was getting Harsh

But photo opportunities were not all exhausted

A long the beach we walked back to where we started. Rather than walking back to the vehicles, we decided to continue the walk along the beach to reach the place where the Estuary opens up to the sea. We were also looking for an archaeological site where some stone pillars are said to be there. Again Anverdeen and Premarathna were able to show us the stone pillars scattered in the scrubs.

Pilinnawa Modara (Pellussa Modara) - Where water form Menik Ganga, Katupila Ara and Agara ara meets the sea

Two of the Stone Pillars. We saw couple more standing in the scrub forest close to the Modara

Estuary at Pilinnawa

Estuary at Pilinnawa - from another view point

We then returned to our vehicles. Getting them out of the dunes was not that straight forward!

Sand Dune 4X4 Action

Getting the Land Rover out of it was not that Straightforward

We drove back along the same track we came, crossed Agara Ara and approached the Estuary from the side of it. We found a large tree under which we settled down for breakfast.

Egg + Some sort of sauce + cheese sandwhich - Near Pillinnawa moya

After breakfast we returned to the main road and again continued along it towards Kumbukkan Oya. The plan this time was to explore “Mahirawa – මහිරාව” where a camp site from the hunting days with a waterhole that persists through the dry season were supposed to exist.

Passing Uda Poththana and Pahala Pothathana, we drove up to Ethiliwela Eliya (ඇතිලිවෙල එලිය).

At Pahala Poththana we drove passing the lonely Dan tree, known as “Boer’s Tree” which is said to be where Henry Engelbrecht (The first Park warden of Yala National park during the colonial era) used to camp. (View  Google Earth Trail Map (KMZ) )

"Boer's Tree" at Pahala Poththana where Henry Engelbrecht said to have camped.

Ethiliwela Eliya is another open, dry stretch of land around an Estuary (The water ways that feed this estuary are Athurumithuru Ara – අතුරුමිතුරු ආර and Nabadagas Ara – නාබඩගස් ආර).  Again we turned right towards the sea and drove around Ethiliwela Kalapuwa (Lagoon) in an attempt to reach Mahirawa beach. Again, water bodies were pretty full and we could not approach the sea. We parked beneath a large Dun (දං) tree, again full of fruits, and decided to have lunch there.

The five Dead Bodies! (and the authorities discussing how to dispose them)- After Lunch at Mahirawa

We did not particularly attempt to locate the fresh water hole or the camp site. Water levels was restrictive and we had no specific clues to look for on the ground. Anverdeen and Premarathne were also not too sure about the exact location of the campsite/water hole.

After some rest at Mahirawa, we headed towards “Walas Kema – වලස් කෙම”, another camping location said to have been frequented by the hunters in early 1900 when Yala was a game reserve.

At Walaskema we found a large rock scattered with several water holes (Kemas), most of them had water even in this height of the dry season. View from  top of Walaskema was nice too. Also there were signs of steps cut in the rock surface leading to one of the water holes. May be work of hunters or can this also be an archelogocal site?

Walaskema - Three of the water holes in the rock bed	View from the top - Walaskema
.	Clean Bones of a beast, according to Anverdeen and Premarathne it is not uncommon for animals to fall in to these waterholes or get ambushed by a waiting leopard in their desperate search for water in dry season

On our return journey to the camp site we explored the large earth mound right by the jeep track, close to Katupila Ara, known as “Weheragodella – වෙහෙරගොඩැල්ල”. The inch maps shows a Dagaba in ruins here but we couldn’t locate any signs of it. The soil and the rokcs appeared to be different in color and heavier than ususal. The surrounding and the rocks reminded us of a large meteorite impact site.

Weheragodella as seen from the main road	Climbing up
View from the top	Unusually heavy, colored Rocks - Can this be a Meteorite impact site

Leaving Weheragodella we came back to the camp site along the usual track. A gentle giant proved that our decision not to cross Katupila Ara at the usual crossing point was a very rational one!

Crossing the road between the two Jeeps

Getting in to Katupila Ara

Crossing over to the other side - as you can see there was enough water to submerge this giant so a vehicle crossing the Ara at this point is impossible

Day 3

We had explored most of the key places in the block 2 during past two days. Several other places we wanted to see were lying in areas not open to visitors (inside the strict nature reserve) and we did not want to break any rules. Also the drives in block 2 did not give us opportunities to observe wildlife. Therefore we decided to dedicate the third day to explore block 1.

An elephant feasting early morning at Buthawa lake

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Driving by the Elephant Rock also know as Akasa Chaithya - You can see ruins of two Dagabos at the top of this rock

An egret

A common Kingfisher

Early Morning at Parana Gan Thota

As we return to the camp site after the morning drive, we were called up on to help a jeep stuck in Katupila Ara.  Some 4X4 craze had foolishly attempted to cross the Ara from the wrong point. They had no guide with them and had not got proper permission to enter block 2 even! Apparently he drove the jeep in to the water with women and kids on board just of the fun of it and and ended up like this!

Stupid and Irresponsible are the most suitable words to describe the situation

We Pulled it out. Since the vehicle could not be started, they had to tow it out of the park with the help of the other vehicle which accompanied them

After breakfast Anverdeen shared some of his experience with us. It was very interesting to listen to him. We were particularly interested to find about  ”Ali manthara – අලි මංතර” from Anverdeen. Our conclusion on  අලි මංතර was that it is the aggressive and dominant behavior demonstrated by the person who chants the Mantra that deter the elephant, not the Mantra it self!

How about some sweets after breakfast - we had a load of sweets

Anverdeen Relating a Story

Around 3.00 p.m. we again headed towards Block 1 in anticipation of seeing more wildlife. It certainly was a good start with a peacock in full display.

Beautiful Display

The next sighting was this bear. It was feasting on Maliththan seeds and we watched it in close range for a quite long time

Bear feasting on "Maliththan" seeds

Closer look

Leaving the bear we drove towards Darshana wewa (Modaraagala Digana Wewa). On our way, we came across a family of yellow wattled lapwings. Two parent birds and their three little chicks. As soon as the parent’s saw us approaching, they forced the little ones under their wings. One of the chicks however kept coming out despite the parent bird’s desperate attempts to keep it under the cover.

Mother's protection - One chick is already hidden (you can only see its legs) and another one is hurrying in!

One brave chick kept coming out despite its mothers desperate attempt to keep it under the cover

By the time we reached Darshana Wewa it was late in the after noon. We drove along the earth bund enjoying the tranquility.The place looked very calm and quite with only some birds and couple of crocs in the vicinity.

Crocodiles at Darshana Wewa

1...2...3....

The silence did not last for long. A herd of elephants (with young) got in to water form the opposite bank of the lake. They walked right in to the middle of the lake and started drinking and bathing. It was such a lovely sight to see . The herd would keep the little ones right in the middle of the pack and would chase away anything that came close to the herd, including birds and even Crocs, quite aggressively.

The herd walking in to water with Young in the Middle

Enjoying the cool dip - All what the Croc could do was to watch

Drinking.....

After some time, the herd decided to get out of water. Again, chasing anything and everything that came in their way, the whole group came out of the lake.

Walking out of water

" Being BIG means a lot" - this young calf learnt it first hand (it was just a mock charge and there were no casualties!)

The herd then started spreading sand/dust all over them and we decided to leave them alone.

With the last rays of  sun hiding behind the tree line, we returned to the camp site with exciting memories of the day.

Sun Setting behind the tree line over a lake

Day 4

It was the final day!

We decided to do a one last round in Block 1. The very first destination of the morning was “Padikema – පඩි කෙම” rock to see whether the famous “Rukvila” cubs are around. Sure enough, they were there.

Wake up brother

Jumping out of the bed!

The play continued at the base of the rock

Siblings In Actions!

.	Walking against the Light

It was such an amazing sight to see!

The place started to become congested with more and more jeeps gathering there to see the cubs. Therefore we decided to leave them and explore more of the park.

Seen on the opposite side of "Padikema" rock	Flowers seen close to Patanangala beach
Buthawa Lake	More early morning activity

The last treat of the trip was again a herd of elephants. This time, they were busy playing on a newly built bund of a tank (breaking a good part of it in the process!)

Pushing and Pulling	A closeup
Colorful Dust Bath	.
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Well it was time to say goodbye to all the wonderful things at Yala. We left the paradise behind and faced the relaity of having to go to the office and start work on the following day

My very first visit to Yala was in July 2010. “Armed” with my new Canon 100-400 we headed there with the hope of capturing a good shot or two of the elusive Sri Lankan Leopard. But much, much to our dismay, even after two rounds, we failed to catch even a glimpse of a Leopard! Dusty, tired and so disappointed, we headed back to Colombo. We must have been so upset with Yala, that Wilpattu got our undivided attention thereafter for the next 14 months

September 2011 came by – the time seemed ripe for “revenge”! So one fine afternoon, we headed off to Yala with renewed anticipation.

BUT FIRST, a relaxing evening at the new “hotspot” of Yala – the exciting new BACK OF BEYOND GURUGODA. Ever since seeing Priyanjan’s fantastic pictures, we were dying to experience the place first-hand. We were certainly not disappointed.

As are all BoB retreats, Back of Beyond Gurugoda is beautifully and thoughtfully designed – It is rustic but has ample comfort, with little touches that warms the heart. Priyanjan has captured all the “essentials”, but let me add something that made me smile.

A Deer with a Mission Didn’t you always want to hang your clothes on a Deer’s antlers? Well, here is your chance

The roof is beautifully thatched with palm leaves.
The color scheme is lovely, and the furniture has been carefully and artistically chosen.
There is one bedroom that sleeps 3, and two other beds outside.
The linen is crisp, clean and spotless white.
The toilet and washroom are both semi open-air. Lovely to gaze up on starry nights!
The cook and caretaker are very nice chaps and very accommodating.
Located only about 15 minutes away from Yala main entrance and situated before the Governer’s Camp (GC).
Just follow the sign boards to GC, but before that, you will find a “Designer Gate” to the left leading to BoB Gurugoda.
We heard that the latest Designer to add some finish touches was a Wild Elephant  :-)
It might be good to pay a visit to Back of Beyond Gurugoda before more people get to know of this lovely hideout.
You won’t be disappointed.

After a good night’s sleep, we started off to Yala feeling the warmth of the rising sun. The Jeep was hired from Yala Jeep Safaries, and driven by the owner’s son Sumudu, a good driver.
As usual, Yala was beaming with life, and before long, we couldn’t believe our luck when we spotted a Sloth Bear just by the roadside!!
I must have been so excited by my first wild Sloth Bear encounter that I totally forgot a basic rule of photography – always check your shot – only later did I realize that my camera settings were wayyy off, leading to shots so bad that I am ashamed to put them up here…sorry…
But we got to observe the bear for about 15 minutes, and it was a flying start to a great safari.
The first of the BIG THREE, THE BEAR covered! LEOPARD AND TUSKER to go. Fingers-crossed!

Our driver and our tracker were very eager to show us Leopards, and I must say we were so excited at the prospect too, but we did remember to take it a bit slow and enjoy the other beauties of Yala.

A dress that never ceases to impress - Indian Pea Fowl	black-naped hare
An albino Wild Boar

GOT TO REST TOO (A Spotted Dear resting under a Bonsai-like tree)

GOT TO REST TOO (a Grey Langur)

There were also Hornbills, Orange-breasted Pigeons, Serpent Eagles, a family of Jackals, Open-billed Stalks, Egrets, numerous crocs and many other birds. It was a beautiful flock of Painted Stalks that next caught our attention.

Try sitting like that!

Jumping the line!

More painted storks

“Am I the prettiest of ‘em all?”

You certainly are beautiful!

Ending a serene interlude, Sumudu’s cell phone rang. It was news of a Leopard!

When we got to the spot, two other Jeeps were already there, so we didn’t get the best view. But there they were, two Leopard cubs hidden well inside the bush. Finally, the dream of seeing a wild Leopard at Yala was coming true! Yippiee! When more Jeeps start arriving, one of them rose up and walked inside the bush, leaving only one, who compensated for her brother’s rude exit by posing for us beautifully.

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A final glimpse through the trees

Two of the “BIG THREE” – THE LEOPARD – Covered! Yayyyyyy

Fully satisfied, we returned to BoB Gurugoda for a good lunch. After resting a bit and enjoying the bungalow, we left and headed off to our accommodation inside Yala – the Old Butuwa Bungalow – to leave our bags and provisions before the evening round.

On the way, we had the privilege of spending some time with this Elephant Family – There was just us, which must have put them at ease. They went about enjoying the afternoon and giving us the pleasure of observing some heart-warming moments of Bonding and LOVE…

Trunks of all sizes …they can stroke..	…and wrap around …(Awwww…)
…or hold gently too…Awwwwwww

Seeing them so carefree, I thought, what a sin it is to disrupt their lives by robbing their habitats, or separating them, especially moms and calves, in order to satisfy Man’s personal gain or greed…They belong free in the Jungle…and we need to protect them.

Walking towards an uncertain tomorrow???? So hope not.. Dear God help us keep them safe

Warmed by the “Elephantine” Love, we arrived at the Old Butuwa Bungalow – Probably the best maintained bungalow in Yala, thanks to the caretaker KULE and his staff.

Old Butuwa Bungalow	Old Butuwa Bungalow
Lovely sea view from the bungalow	Fabulous view of the Elephant rock and beach from atop the rocky mountain

Panoramic view of the ocean and sky in various shades of blue

After a nice cup of tea, we started the evening round.

It was always a dream of mine to see a leopard on a tree, and it was about to come true. There he/she was – a very cute cub, lazily napping on a tree, observing the excited humans who were gathering fast to watch him

“Hmm, what a bunch of Nuts!”	“But I am too sleeeeeepy to keep my eyes open..zzzz”
“ok, ok just one pose ok”

After a lovely 20 minutes or so, the place became so congested we decided to leave and head off to a small lake close by, where a fully-grown Leopard had been observed the day before. We parked there, and patiently waited..a bit long..but the wait was finally rewarded by Leopard No. 4 for the day!

It suddenly appeared from behind a tree giving us a start!	After observing us for awhile, he decided to come out into the open Yes! We were delighted!
One SCARY Dude!!!!

He soon vanished off into the jungle, but we were happy to be the first to see him. Another jeep arrived as he went in. Don’t think they could see much..

It was getting somewhat dark and we decided to head towards the bungalow…on the way, we came across a fleet of vehicles. Two cubs and a mom! Leopards, 5, 6, 7 to complete the day. Mom was too hidden to photograph, but the two cubs were visible over the grass.

Could it be a boy and a girl?

Saying the Bedtime Prayers?

Sweet!

It was time for us to retire too.
We headed to the bungalow. When we arrived, we were a bit disappointed to hear that Gamini, the Tusker had just been there looking for food…come to think of it, we did hear some crackers – Kule and crew had used crackers to chase him away. We had missed a Tusker by a mere few minutes!

A good wash and a delicious dinner brightened our spirits, and we dozed off happily on the beds in the verandah, bathed in moonlight, to the lullaby of the sea.

The next morning, we were told to go to Rukvila as early as possible since the famous Rukvila cubs come there early morning to drink from it. When we got there, we could see fresh pug marks, but no cubs in sight. We drove towards the rocks, and as we took the bend, there was a leopard lying on a rock by the side of the road! Our driver for the day was a very young chap (Sumudu had a previous booking). Neither our tracker nor driver spotted it, and when my cousin who spotted it first said “Leopard”, our driver suddenly braked and stopped the Jeep right in front of the leopard! It looked at us for a couple of seconds (I thought he looked quite annoyed!), quickly got up, crossed the road and went up the rock. There was hardly anytime to get the cameras out… Lesson learnt : when a leopard is spotted suddenly, if you can’t give the Leopard a good distance, slowly drive by past it, turn and come back slowly. Give the leopard space so as not to bother or startle it. This will also give you good shutter chances than stopping abruptly in front.

We waited at the spot, being the only Jeep there. And a few minutes later the Rukvila Cubs appeared, Leopards 8,9 and 10.

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I may look sweet

but I can be scary too

climbing up the steep rock together

.	A beautiful finale

The last and final Leopard No. 11 was a very sleepy cub napping on a far-away rock near the fishing village.

I really wished I had a longer lens!

Afternoon round was nearing the end, and we had almost given up hopes of a Tusker, when we spotted an Elephant Family drinking water in a small pond. We stopped by to observe and the babies started playing in the mud! It was so sweet!

“Little Bro, I am gonna push you!”

Mission accomplished! See the small one on all fours? He had a time getting up!  But he sure was enjoying himself!

Then they came out and started playing again

Trunk Sumo?

A close up – Wait a minute! Could that be a small tusk on the little one in the right?

Have we completed the BIG THREE???
It seems like a Baby Tusker to ME
Well, I will leave it to you to decide

Thank you very much for reading!
Hope you enjoyed it.

This was one of the best hikes we experienced so far and on the other hand a good example on how the travelers will have to survive the consequences caused by unavoidable delays.

I have done the same hike in 2002 with my school friends and this is after 6 years of that.

We were planning to start our trip at 12.00Noon from Colombo. Due to some unavoidable situations it was delayed for 2 hours and finally we left Colombo by 2.00PM. We took the low-level road and unfortunately there was heavy traffic at Orugodawaththa since construction of the flyover was taking place and we had to wait almost 1 hour there. After so many delays we were able to come to Rathnapura by 6.30 PM and still had a lot of things to be bought from Cargills. By the time we started the journey again we knew that we won’t have time to cook our dinner and decided to buy dinner from Balangoda town.

We turned left from A4, Colombo – Badulla road to Hirikatuoya camp site somewhere around 162km post (1.5km – 2km after the Belihuloya Rest house) and from there we had another 5.7 km to our 1st day destination. But the time was 10.30PM.
After several obstacles we were able to reach our day 1 destination by 11.00 PM. By that time the care taker has gone home assuming that we would not arrive on that night.

.	From A4 road to camp site 5.7 KM

‘Hirikatuoya’ Camp Site

Scenery…

Next day morning our plan was to get the breakfast & lunch prepared with the help of the care taker. Since he was not there we had to go to the main road to buy food for both breakfast & lunch. Group of people went back to main road (A4) while others were getting ready for the great hike. Bad luck was at its worst for us during the trip. When we were coming back the wooden bridge between camp site and main road was repairing by estate workers and we had to wait there another 1 hour till they give us a temporary solution to pass it.

The Wooden Bridge, we were given a temporary solution	‘Hirikatuoya’, from misty mountains…
Marvelous creation of nature	Scenery on the way to Non Pareil tea factory

Finally we came back to camp site with necessary food items for the hike. Then all of us got in to the van and went up to the Non Pareil estate Tea factory. From camp site to tea factory was another 9km and view of the surroundings was fantastic.

Beyond this place vehicles are not allowed (with prior approval you can go if you have a 4X4 vehicle) and therefore we started our hike (We told driver to go to ‘Maha Eliya’ bungalow via Ohiya). From the tea factory it is 15km to World’s End. We started our hike at 11.30AM. Fortunately we met an estate worker and he said “මහත්තයා short cut වලින් ගියොත් 7km, මම පාර පෙන්නන්නන්.” But we didn’t believe him because reducing 8kms was not seemed to be possible.

Non Pareil tea factory, where we started our hike. From here 15km to World’s End	.
Breathtaking…	Little Break

After several hours we were able to reach Bekar’s bend and view from there is marvelous. In a clear day you can see up to the Southern coastal line.

The famous Bekar’s bend - Click Image to Enlarge

Clear view of Samanalawewa

At the ‘Nagrak’ we had our lunch. From ‘Nagrak’ there is another route to Bogawanthalawa side.

Where we had lunch

Breathtaking…

After having little rest at ‘Nagrak’ we started our journey and came to the upper end of the Non Pareil Estate.

“Garden of the God”, View from the garden of manager’s bungalow at upper end of Non Pareil Estate	Bloomed for Sun
Bloomed for Sun

From here the jungle is thick, and another 3km to go.

In thick jungle…

Above all…

After 5 hours of journey we were able to come to our destination. Estate worker was correct. We were able to reduced 8km using shortcuts.

Breathtaking…	Hills and Clouds
Climax….	The way behind. Non Pareil tea factory where we started our hike marked in red circle. Finally travel distance is 6.99km, walking time 2h & 24mins, Waiting time 2h & 44mins
We made it…

Have a safe and enjoyable trip!!!

We started our journey at about 9 pm from Colombo with five members and headed directly to kurunegala to accompany with the other two. We spend the night at kurunegala and headed towards puttalm early morning, from this point onwards our crew was 7 in Hilux Vigo cab and a motor car. Road condition is excellent we only spend 45 minutes to travel 87 Kms. At puttalam we had our breakfast and drive towards Willpattu on A12 Puttalam Anuradhapura road.

We reached Wilpattu park entrance at about 9.30am and we had a grand welcome from the members of the Wildlife office since one of our crew members is senior State counselor who has helped DWC (Department of Wildlife Concervation) people quite lot punishing hunters and poachers at the Nochchiyagama courts.

Just before we entered into the park

Then we met Mr. Munasinghe who was willing to join with us as our tracker but actually he is a assistant Ranger, with help of him we contacted a safari jeep. It was a 4DR5 jeep. At last we entered the park at about 10 am and headed directly to Kokmote bungalow.

On the way to Kokmote

On the way to Kokmote

We reached Kokmote at about 12 noon and had an unfortunate incident minutes after we arrived. One of our crew member had cut his finger severely while re trying to cut a king coconut. We had no option other than taking him to Nochchiyagama hospital since we were at deep inside the thick jungle 48 Km away from the park entrance. So Jayathilake Uncle who is our jeep owner, left behind his 4DR5 and get into our hilux cab and flew towards Nochiyaagama again.

They came back at about 4.30 after getting treatment to the wound. Our friend had 8 stitches to his finger and back on his feet again.

At Kokmote Bungalow

Rushing towards Nochchiyaagama and Coming back…..

Everything went fine after that and we had a short safari session on that evening. We visited several villus, but didn’t had enough luck to see a leopard.

Next day morning we packed our goods again and moved towards kudiramalei and came to panikka vila Wildlife Bungalow where we stayed that night. If any one willing to planning a trip to wilpattu, better to reserve Talawila, Manawila or Panikka Wila bungalows. Those are best places to see wildlife. Kokmote is little bit luxurious bungalow but it’s quite isolated and cannot see much animals nearby. All the wildlife bungalows were solar powered (No hot water, no refrigerator but having light inside a thick jungle is vital) and carefully maintained, all of them had new linen and new mattresses.

Panikka Wila Wildlife Bungalow

We were able to see a pair of Sloth bears near the Maradanmaduwa tank bund, but unfortunately we couldn’t take any photograph because our DSLR ran out of battery life. Any way we met quite lot of wildlife in our stay but not lucky enough to meet any of the legendary Wilpattu leopards.

We met this eagle flying over the Kali villuwa	Croc at Kokari Villuwa
Near Maha Pathessa wila	.
.	තුන්පත් රෑන…. Off the Maradanmaduwa tank bund.

We started the journey later than we expected, around 7 am from Battaramulla. After having breakfast we went straight to Belihuloya where we had planned to have a bath and lunch. But there was not enough water to have a dip and we found lunch was bit pricy than we expected. So we decided to go ahead. Finally we stopped near the double bridge before Kalupahana junction. It also did not have a lot of water but it had few rock pools where we could manage to have a dip. There were two small shops on either ends of the bridge. We had lunch from one of them named “Double Bridge Hotel”. Surprise, the food was very tasty and very cheap. Though the place was a small, the lady and guy (should be her brother or brother in law) were clean, pleasant and polite. They served 5 curries and fried fish with “wadei”. Food was very tasty and it cost just 110 rupees per head.

The Double Bridge Hotel

Our next stop was the Adisham Bungalow.

Adisham Bungalow	Adisham Bungalow
Adisham Bungalow

After spending some time at the Adisham we hit the road again towards Ohiya. Road was not in the best condition, so it took us some time. After the Ohiya Railway station the road condition was good and started to be scenic. It was around 5.30 pm when we reached the turnoff to the Hill Safari’s gravel road. We were mesmerized by the stunning view and simply forgot to proceed towards the Hill safari.

We were mesmerized by the stunning view	We were mesmerized by the stunning view
We were mesmerized by the stunning view

When we realized we have a difficult road ahead it was already dark. Our vehicle was wider than an ordinary van, so it was not easy to get it from two hairpin bends in the dark.

We preferred walking admiring the nature…

Our vehicle down the estate road…(අපේ පාන් වෑන් එක .... )

Hill Safari was a good place, the cook was OK but not the best. All 3 bathrooms had hot water, 1 of them was working well, 2nd one took much time to heat the water and the last one which was instant heater, hardly heated water. However we liked the place pretty much.

Next day morning was a bright and very cold one. The splendorous view from the bungalow towards the Walawe Valley was stunning.

මනස්කාන්ත වලවේ නිම්නය...	.
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Hill Safari eco Lodge

After walking around the Udaweriya estate admiring the nature we left the place and headed towards the Horton Plains. Road was steep but was in good condition without pot holes.

Then we had a walk through the Horton Plains to the World’s end and Baker’s Fall before heading Colombo via Nuwara Eliya

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World's End	.
.	Baker's Falls
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This trip too was organised for 2 purposes. The first day was dedicated for all the religeous activities.We started at 6 from Battaramulla and went to Saman Devalaya in Ratnapura and took part in the morning poojawa.Afterwards had breakfast that we had prepared in Pelmadulla and took our time taking photos of Birds and the Elephants near the fence in Udawalawe and arrived at the guest house for lunch. In the evening we went to Sella Kataragama, Kiri vehera and to the main devalaya and went to bed early.

The following day we hired a 4* 4 defender that has 9 very comfortable jeep which came and picked us at 4.45 ( For the full day he charged 9000/-) The driver was Janaka a very experienced and an interesting young boy. We were the first to enter the park at 5.40am and our tracker was Shalika may the best tracker around. (0776808666)

As soon as we entered the 2 started taking us to most of the rocky places famous for LEOPARDS and at 6.10 we came across this family at Rukwila and the pictures will tell the story.

At Play.....	.
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At Play..	.
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Mother Leopard in a pensive mood	Mother Leopard in a pensive mood
Relaxing...	Relaxing...
Relaxing...

It was amazing to watch and after that we had the luck to see 2 more during the day : one on a rock and another on a tree.It was a treat to watch and one of the best movements in wild life encounters . This was followed by coming face to face with a herd of Elephants with the young who were just meters away from the vehicles. and it was a very satisfying and a good day for photography.

Sleeping while standing	Sucking Milk
Protecting the young	Protecting the young
Protecting the young	Protecting the young
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Expecting a baby...	Closer to the Vehicle
Closer to the Vehicle	Closer to the Vehicle
Closer to the Vehicle	Protecting the young
Protecting the young	Protecting the young
crossing the road	crossing the road
crossing the road	crossing the road
.	crossing the road

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Openbill Feeding	Openbill Feeding
Openbill Feeding	Openbill Feeding

Coming out of the hideout	Coming out of the hideout
Coming out of the hideout	Coming out of the hideout
Coming out of the hideout

Relaxing on a tree	Relaxing on a tree
Relaxing on a tree	Relaxing on a tree
Relaxing on a tree

Showing off...	Showing off...
Showing off...	Showing off...

Sunset at its best	Sunset at its best
Sunset at its best	Sunset at its best

“The Rock of Lanka” is the meaning of “Lakegala” in Sinhala language. The rock is about 1310m high and it is in the Knuckles mountain range aka “දුම්බර කදුවැටිය”. According to the Sinhala legend, the Lakegala rock is considered as the Kingdom Lankapura where King Ravana’s capital was. It is also said that Ravana met Princess Sita, the Queen of Rama beside this rock. But the most people in Meemure Villages believe that Lakegala is the place where King Ravana lifted his air plane called “Dhandumonara (දඩුමොණර)”; an ancient glider; an Air Chariot. The triangular shape of the Rock is ideal for such an operation. This Dhandu Monara was his official Plane and he used it to capture Sita from India.

It was one of my dream journeys which I had waited for a long time to accomplished. Finally that day came.We departure from colombo on 4th of September by 12.45AM Ampara bus to go to the ancient Memure village.We arrived Hunnasgiriya at about 5.30 AM and get breakfast from there. We went to Loolwatta by a van which leaves at 8.00 AM from Hunnasgiriya. After that, there was no public transport vehicle on that road until 1.30 PM. After scenic drive along the Hunnasgiriya-Loolwatta road we came to the destination at about 9.00AM.From there we started our long walk towards Meemure.

Knuckles Range from Corbetts' Gap

From the Loolwatta there is short cut road to Corbetts’ Gap (In Sinhala අට්ටල මෙට්ටුව). Though it goes along steepest ascending, it saves lot of time because normal road longer than about 1.5-2 km. After about half hour hiking we reached Corbetts’ Gap. It was such a beautiful place where you can see mountain range all around you which goes to the infinity. Sometimes strong wind flow across corbetts’ gap, so be careful about your stuffs like caps. From corbetts’ gap to Meemure there is no considerable steep climb in road. After waiting a little while there, we stared to walking down towards Meemure. After Loolwatta we didn’t see any clean water source for drinking until Pusse ala, so carry enough water for drinking.

We thought this as Knuckles Mountain

After long walk we came to a small shop near the Pusse ala. We had tea with ‘Kithul Hakuru’ from there. Our plan was to stay at Pusse Ala on first day night. Since time was still about 1.00PM we decided to visit nitro cave. While we were walking towards nitro cave we saw Lakegala from far away.

Lakegala from Kumukgolla Village

We reached Kumbukgolla village in about one hour and asked for the distance to the nitro cave. But no one gave confident answer except everyone said different distances from there. Therefore we decided not to continue from there since we kept our stuffs and tent at the shop nearby Pusse ala and it was already 3.00PM. Later I found that there were only 3km from Kumubukgolla to Nitro cave while some locals said there was about 9km.

We came back to the shop and went to our destination for the 1st day which is Pusse ala. Although there was not much water in the stream it was a nice place for camping. There is a small water fall down the stream but bathing there is dangerous according to villagers. After having bath we prepared our dinner.

Pusse Ela

On 2nd day we faced unfortunate situation because one of our friend cut his arm while preparing breakfast. We faced lot of difficulties because there was no signal for mobiles, no transport and no dispensaries but luckily we got vehicle going to Hunnassgiriya. Two of our friends went with injured friend to hospital which caused to change our plan totally. We were able to understand clearly, difficulties of people there in a situation like that. Later I could find a location where mobile signal receiving. After getting positive answer from them we decided to continue our journey.

Remaining four of us continued walking towards Meemure while other three agreed to come from daily van going to Meemure in the evening. On the way we could see a Snake & buffalos.Since cultivation doing according to ‘හෙල් මළු’ land masters and tractors cannot be used. Therefore buffalos are very useful for villagers.

Snake

Buffallo

After passing Kaikawala Heen ganga bridge we entered to the final part of our jounery.We could see Lakegala in distance.After walking about 2km from Heen ganga we came to Meemure village.

Lakegala from Kaikawala

Since rain hadn’t fallen in months, Meemure seems like Anuradhapura area.Water streams almost dried out. We went to see popular suriya arana water fall,but there was not much water.:(

Suriya Arana Waterfall

However we decided to camping on a harvested paddy field after seeking permission from villagers. Some of them did not have a good impression about visitors due to bad incidents happened before. They said some were used water streams as toilets, put garbage all over there, make noises thorough the nights etc. If you aplan to go there keep in mind that it is a village, so don’t disturb their life style. And also don’t leave anything there. It was a beautiful evening at Meemure. Lakegala was standing behind the village proudly with full of colors at sun set.

Sunset at Meemure

Following morning four of our friends left by the van which goes to Hunnasgiriya. Three of us stayed back there to climb Lakegala. It is hard to imagine that one can climb it as seen from the ground. By getting help from villager we started to climb Lakegala from the left slope. First part of the journey went through the jungle and then we came to an open area. After that climbing was very hard and steep is about 60-70 degrees. One missed step would mean that you end up in the valley. There were no trees in that area and only had ‘mana’ and small plants.

Climbing was not easy

After about 2 ½ hours of hiking we came to a place where there was no plants even until the top of the mountain. Although villagers can walk on rock surface we couldn’t do that without the help of a rope. At the beginning of the hike we asked about ropes from the guide, but he said it would not be needed. But at the top he said it would be difficult for us to climb and specially climb down without the help of a rope. . And at that time sun troubled us while we were getting out of water and we hadn’t any thing to eat. So we had no option except climbing down . For future travelers, I would like to say carry enough water, food and a rope with good guide.

Above the clouds from Lakegala

After came back to village we were able to taste jack fruit. Then We came back to Hunnasgiriya by a three wheeler which cost us Rs.2000 . That was the longest three wheel journey in my life .From there we went to Kandy and return to Colombo by a Kandy bus. It was a most adventurous joinery I ever had with lot of experiences.

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This is my first trip report (Always wanted but never completed). We were on our family trip to Gal Oya Reservoir on the summer vacation (so cold) in September 2011. The interest to go on camping was drawn by my recent trips. We couldn’t get ready extensively (as we would do with my Uni mates) but adequate planning was done by my mother and me.

We planned the trip initially to the August school vacation but due to the National Elephant Senses which was on the way we had to reschedule the trip to September. All were enthusiastic on the trip and final number on for the trip was 10 with 3 teenagers, 2 youths and 5 adults. The campsite was booked in advanced and officers were helpful to provide us a campsite despite their strike. Cab service van was booked which was familiar due to the past experiences with the driver/owner of that van.

Kottawa- Kandy- Mahiyanganaya- Inginiyagala (Click Image to Enlarge)

Inginiyagala- Monaragala- Ratnapura- Kottawa (Click Image to Enlarge)

Splendid view of the temple of Tooth Relic and ‘Nuwara Wewa’

We started around 12.00 a.m. from Kottawa and last man was picked up from Borella. Driver was in no hurry and took his own time throughout the journey. We passed Kandy around 4.00 a.m. Cold weather made us stop near Digana for a tea break at 5.00 p.m. We passed one of the Fundamental Benchmarks of Sri Lanka (British survey point which is the center point of Sri Lanka) and the morning sun was rising and the view from the edge of the hill country was worthwhile of spending some time.

Fundamental Bench mark (Center of Sri Lanka)	board nearby (Click Image to Enlarge)
Road from Hunnasgiriya to Haslaka – Just before the great 18 Bends (දහ අට වංගුව	At the edge of the upcountry, golden sun is rising beneath the silver lake

All roads from Digana to Haslaka were under construction and even the road at the 18 bends was even widened.

Is this the 1st or the 18th bend? You need not reverse and take the bends anymore

We passed Hasalaka (Hometown of the war hero Gamini) and Reached Mahiyanganaya by 7.00 a.m. Passed the ‘Mahaweli River’ (longest river of Sri Lanka) and for our interest there was virtually no moving water in the river (it did not prevent people from enjoying a bath from the river). Whole Mahiyanganaya was getting ready for the ‘Binara Perahera’ (festival of September moon) and was busy and crowded (no traffic though ). Worshipped the temple of Mahiyanganaya but the temple area was pretty messy.

A salute to the great war hero Hasalaka Gamini	Mahaweli River – surviving the drought
Budun wedi Mahiyanganaya – The Mahiyanganaya Temple once even visited by Gouthama Buddha according to the legends

We had our breakfast by a man made waterway. ‘Seenisambal’ (Fried onion) and bread was great for the occasion

Lake, Van, Bread and our Friends and Family

From Mahiyanganaya we went to Bibile planning to go to Inginiyagala through Namal Oya Road. Our Driver was not that happy saying the road is pretty old and not good for the journey. With our persuasion he agreed to go. Around 10.30 a.m. we stopped for tea in Bibile and there was a warning that there is 7km of ‘Wedda territory’ (native peoples land) which we never understood until we reached that area. Road was not repaire for some time and was bad as anticipated.

Road to Inginiyagala trough Buttala from Bibile

We were passing the ‘නිල්ගල ඖෂධ වනය’ (Nilgala medicine forest) and there was more than a million butterflies mainly of two types(I’m not a specialist in wild life and I could only say one was predominantly Yellow and the other was brown). Butterflies were dead on the roadside

Nilgala Reservoir – Part of Gal Oya

A gang of Butterflies

We passed a Police post and our driver said that this route was used as the main route to Ampara in the war period. Rathugala would be a not nice to remember but an unforgettable experience of our trip. There was this wedda children by the road and two of them offered ‘Mora’ (a local fruit) and said one pack was 50 rupees. We did not want to buy Mora but we gave some money to both and started off. Only few hundred meters from their there were another bunch. They did not have anything to sell but asked for money or food. Then only we saw that it was continuous and there were more and more gangs of Wedda children ahead. When we said we don’t have anything to offer the wedda children started to put their hand in and tried to grab our stuff. We got pretty scared and one wedda child was hanging by the front passenger door (Where I was) and he did not let go. After a struggle with that child we started off and did not stop on any request. It was a pretty freighting experience.

Karandugala Police post – Used in the war time

We passed Namal Oya and the reservoir around 11.30 a.m. it was relieving as we knew that we are close to our destination.

Namal Oya

We reached Inginiyagala Wild Life parl office before 12.00 p.m. and the staff was welcoming. We did our payments for the booking of the campsite and other charges. We were asked to go to the Kossapola park office and we were told that a guide will join our journey from there.

Gal Oya, Inginiyagala Park office – Wild Life

Gal Oya, Inginiyagala Park office – Wild Life

We passed the Inginiyagala power plant and entered the Gal Oya resovoir. The sub office was 7km from Inginiyagala and was not so difficult to identify the route.

Inginiyagala power plant	Galoya Valley National Park
On the way to the campsite from the entrance

We met our guide and filled up the water bottles. Though it was said the water comes through a pumped well the water was not that pure. It was another 9km to the camp site. Our Guide Susantha ayya only had time to say that elephants drop down trees to the road we witnessed it. Had to spend almost 5 to 10 minutes to clear the road for 5 grown adult males.

Kossapola campsite office	.
Clearing the road to make way for the van	Termite mounds (වේ හුඹස්) were abundant on the way to the campsite

As we reached the campsite around 1.00 p.m. it was breathtaking to see a herd of 21 elephants near the campsite. The area was good for camping with a bit of slope towards the tank which prevented water collecting under a tent. There was a toilet without a door (a roofing sheet was close by to manually move and close the opening of the toilet. There was a concrete table and bench which were good as we could do the cooking on top of it. There was also a cloths line and a plenty of firewood around.

Breathtaking view of the herd of elephants with cubs having a mud bath	A toilet which was usable
Campsite ground

Then we got the chance to see elephants from close range. Guide Susantha took me pretty close to the herd and I was able to take some good pictures (with a Sony 14MP camera with 5x zoom – it was the best I could do).

Herd of elephants in close range	Solitary cub
Closer shot	Mother elephant and the cub

Watching elephants didn’t last more than 2 hours. We made too much noice and elephants head back in to the bushes. Some in our group were pretty scared of having an elephant herd so close and the retrieval of the herd in to the jungle was blessing to them.

Daytime view of the lake and the surrounding jungle was even worth it to camp at Kossapola. When we started to cook the wind started to blow everything off. The gas burner started to go off every minute due to the wind and we had to find an alternative place to do the cooking. Luckily Susantha ayya found a place nearby on a rock. It was difficult for the females to reach there and males had to do most of the cooking on the first day.

View of Gal Oya from the campsite – Splendid isn’t it?

Alternative place to do the cooking

We had lunch and went out for bird watching and had a wash in the lake. Water in the lake wasn’t so good due to the drought in that area and it was muddy. But it never kept us from enjoying a swim in the lake.

Birds in the dawn by the lake	Birds in the dawn by the lake
Enjoying a swim in the lake

We had the tents ready by evening and then came a heavy rain which was rather anticipated by all of us. We went to our tents and one of our crew members started to collect firewood and kept under shelter (something to be appreciated). Rain settled within 2 hours but our driver panicked and wanted to head back because the clay road would be slippery if the rain lasted like that overnight and he won’t be able to drive out of the jungle. After our persuasion he agreed to stay.

Why need an umbrella when there is 2 camps to share

Evening came so early but the change in the sky was something you would not forget for life.

Below: view above the tank in two hour intervals… (2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m.)

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Then it was night and a campfire was essential. This was the first time I experienced a real campfire done by an expert. A large trunk of a fallen tree was used as the base, then came the small sticks and branches on top of it, two polythene bags was the fuel that was only needed, a campfire was ready thanks to Susantha ayya

Setting up campfire	Setting up campfire
campfire

Two campfires were lit on both sides of the campsite and we were getting ready for the night. We had our pre-prepared dinner had a chat around the campfire. Though we felt pretty safe under the trees, for our surprise a large branch from a tree fell on to the camp site where we were having our dinner. No one was injured luckily. Everybody was scared whether animals would come to the camping area in the night after seeing the herd of elephant in the day time. The fully charged emergency lamp as well as the fully working (but very difficult to switch on ) torches were a blessing.

We were tired after the long journey and went to bed around 8 o’clock. It was neither cold nor hot inside our tents. Packing up some pillows and a ground cloth is invaluable though it is an extra weight. We planned to maintain the campfire in a shift but it was mainly two of the adults who did that job until 4.00 a.m. in the morning. I also joined the crew around 3.00 a.m. and the fire was kept until morning. For my surprise the whole trunk was in ashes by 3 o’clock. Morning was so beautiful

Panoramic view of the lake in the morning

Panoramic view of the lake in the camp site

Breakfast was prepared early and was taken warmly. We always had to eat more than what we eat back at home to fulfill the hunger. Then came bird watching by the lake and thanks to the Nikon Actionx binoculars we were able to identify a large amount of birds (my best experience in wild – I’m an amateur )

Best place to see most of the birds around	.
Bird watching in the morning	Bird watching in the morning

After some rest and tea we started to trek in the shoreline.

Animal dung of an unknown (by me) animal	Mating butterflies
‘හතු පිපිලා’ Mushrooms on an elephant dung	On the trekking pathway

We had another bath in the lake (with some swimming practices). We had our lunch and started back to Colombo around 1.00 p.m.

Large tree by the side of the road

We passed Siyambalanduwa and Mahiyanganayaand came through Wellawaya to Beragala and then to Balangoda.

Filling place in Siyambalaanduwa.	Work by the White – more than 100 years old
Work by the White – more than 100 years old

Diyaluma waterfall was on our way and we enjoyed time by the waterfall.

Waterfall was fascinating but water level was so low

Diyaluma waterfall (Click Image to Enlarge)

We came to Ratnapura around 9.00 p.m. and took the Panadura road. As it was the full moon of September the ‘Perahera festival of ‘Saman Devalaya’ was going on. We experienced some amount of traffic and a dely not less than 20 minutes.

‘Perahera festival of ‘Saman Devalaya’

‘Perahara’ festival in ‘Saman Devalaya’

We came home by 1.00 a.m. and that was it. Although we faced some rough time, Trip to Gal Oya is one of my best trips.

As we had to fulfill a vow at Sri Maha Bodiya with regard to my Daughters A/L’s results and made this visit to Anuradhapura in September2009.

We Started around 6 in the morning and took the Kurunegala Dambulla cut and had breakfast we had prepared on the way. Reached Anuradhapura around 10 am and went and fulfilled the vow first. Afterwards spent time till 12 pm going around the sacred city and visited atamasthana and other sites of interest. It was very refreshing to see these historical marvels again. We took pride in seeing Ruwanweliseya, Thuparamaya, Lovamahapaya, Abayagiriya, Jethawanaya, Samadhi Pilimaya Moonstone etc.

Sri Maha Bodhiya	Lovamahapaya
Ruwanweliseya	Thuparamaya
Abayagiriya	Moonstone
Guard Stone	Samadhi Pilimaya
Jethawanaya	Ruwanweliseya & Jethawanaya seen from Thissa wewa

We went to Amaya lake in Dambulla for lunch. The hotel is built on a picturesque spacious land with lot of trees and greenery. The welcome was done by village women clad in traditional attire doing “raban thala”The buffet spread was very impressive and we enjoyed very much.

Welcome by Raban Thala (රබන් තාල)	Amaya lake Hotel Reception
Hotel Pool	Lake seen from the hotel
Hotel Garden

We left the hotel around 3.30pm and used the same route to get to Colombo and by 9pm reached home. Though it was a dual purpose visit the ruins of Anuradhapura refreshed our mind and soul.

Went on a dual purpose visit. The main purpose was official on a fact finding mission where we wanted to appoint 2 dealers one in Vauniya and the other in Jaffna to meet a couple of clients .The other was an adventure and pleasure considering the fact that Jaffna was cleared just one year back and to get first hand experience and bask in the glory of post war mood.
Started from Nugegoda at 4in the morning and by 6.20 were in Puttalam . The road is wide and carpeted and it was a smooth drive.Had string hoppers at a way side hotel in the town. Reached Anuradhapura around 9am. Took the Jaffna road and passed medawachchiya and took the Mannar road as we had to see a building site close to Madu.

A REFUGEE CAMP ON THE WAY	ROAD LEADING TOWARDS MANNAR
ON MANNAR ROAD (Click Image to Enlarge)	ROAD CONSTRUCTION TAKING PLACE
DIRECTIONS TO MADU CHURCH (Click Image to Enlarge)	TO MADU CHURCH
MADU CHURCH	A BLCK DRONGO

We had asked the are Manager covering the east and North to meet us near the site and after that went to see Madu church and later to Vauniya. Had lunch at a restaurant (sorry forgot the name) and then went and discussed with the vauniya dealer about putting up a hoarding, display racks etc and proceeded to Jaffna.

After Omanthai you find army detachments and sentry points all along road up to Jaffna but you feel very safe. At couple of places you have to get out from the vehicle and show ID etc for record purpose but does not take much time.In Kilinochchi you get a very good place run by the army for refreshments and a few kilo meters after the turn off the road was gravel and dusty.We reached Elephant pass around 6.15 and it was getting dark.

VAUNIYA TOWN	ROAD AFTER TURNING FROM KILINOCHCHI
AN IMPORTANT PLACE	A SENTRY POINT
A COMMON SIGHT IN THIS AREA	A WAR RAVAGED SITE
WAR RAVAGED SITE.	WAR RAVAGED SITE
MONUMENT IRECTED AFTER THE WAR
NEGLECTED	THE DAMAGED WATER TANK-KILINOCHCHI
THE FAMOUS MONUMENT IN ELEPHANT PASS	SUN SET AT ELEPHANT PASS
THE WAR MONUMENT AT E-PASS

Came to Jaffna around 7.30pm and went to the hotel. The notable thing was that the hotel was full of people , motor bikes and cars like in Colombo but not only with outsiders like us but with the local crowd who had come to relax and go. Went to the pool and had a swim and then a shower (The pool needed a good cleaning) and went to sleep after dinner at around 10.30. The rooms were good with A/C and the toilet was ok but nothing fancy.

The following morning we checked out early and had breakfast at a way side hotel. There are enough and more places to have a decent meal. Went to Naga Viharaya on the way to appoint a dealer and took the opportunity to look around and take photos of many buildings that had got damaged over a period of time.

THE PLACE WE STAYED-GREEN GRASS HOTEL	EURASIAN CURLEW
A KOVIL IN JAFFNA	CLOSE TO TOWN AREA
IN THE TOWN	A STREET CLOSE TO THE TOWN CENTRE
CLOCK TOWER	RUINS
A GIRLS SCHOOL	NAGA VIHARA..
A MONUMENT	WHIMBREL
CLOSE TO THE CITY	DIRECTIONS TO NAGA DEEPA
A BUSY DAY	JAFFNA HOSPITAL
A BLACK KITE	MAIN STREET
A WAR RAVED BUILDING	SANDERLING
ASHY CROWNED SPARROW LARK	COMMON REDSHANK
MONUMENT AT E-PASS	A BLACK SHOULDERED KITE IN OMANTHAI

We left Jaffna around 12pm and reached Anuradhapura around 6.30pm had dinner from the same place we had breakfast the previous day and left for Colombo around 9pm and reached Colombo at 11pm.The trip was a little hectic for a 2 day affair but enjoyed fully. The photos shown tell the story. As this trip was done 9 months back some details are vaguely remembered and hope the readers will excuse.

It was 4.30 in the morning. And a bit rainy in Colombo. Moe like a drizzle. We were waiting for a 99 (Colombo – Badulla) bus. But then a Ratnapura bus stopped. and the conductor said we could get a direct bus from Ratnapura to Haputale.

Oh..these were so heavy!!

Waiting for a bus!!

And on the way near Ratnapura our bus had a punch in a tire. So we had to wait in the bus for more than a half and hour. We were like 2km away from the Bus stand of Ratnapura. But it was almost impossible to walk in a town with such big bags. We searched for a bus to Haputale. But there were no direct buses from Ratnapura to Haputale. So we took a bus to Balangoda.

On the way to Balangoda

After getting down at Balangoda.

After we came to Balangoda we bought some goods which were needed for cooking. And we searched for a bus to Haputale. Because Halpe is on the way to Haputale. But there were none. But fortunately we got the bus from Colombo to Welimada.

The town of Balangoda...surrounded by mountains.

Where we got down at Halpe..It was 12.45 in the mid day!!

It was almost burning with the scorching heat of the sun. It was not a good time to start a hike.

The sky without clouds!!

Come on guys...let'z start!!

We bought some lunch packets from a nearby restaurant. And we started the hike. We were expecting at least a little rain as almost everywhere else in the country was experiencing some rain. But it had not rained for months it seemed.

It was hard, walking in the hot sun with a bag weighs almost 40kg !!

Surathalee Ella seen from the upper side of the main road.

We walked about 200m up the road to the entrance of the tea estate. We were already tired when we reach the gate.

Entrance to the "Non Pareil Estate ".

Wangedigala Mountain range seen from the entrance.

We entered the road which goes to the tea estate. And the sun was directly over our heads, spreading its burning rays all over the area. It was really hard to find a shelter to have a rest in the beginning of the hike.

We had a little problem to chose which way to go after coming to a junction. So we used our map to find the way. Of course Ashan’s Wangedigala trip report helped us as well.

Which way should we go??

Having a compass is really worth it!!

So we turned to the gravel road and start walking again. It was even hard to imaging how difficult it was to go up a hill with a heavy weight.

On the gravel Road....

We walked along the gravel road. And we had to stop and have a rest for every few 100s of meters. It was really exhausting!!

Nice shade!! Of course we had a rest here.

Again..we were exposed to sun's intense heat!!

It was shady along the gravel road. But not for long. As soon as we came to the western side of the mountain burning heat almost killed us.

What a view!! we were still on the beginning of our hike...

We are gonna finish this..Hell yeaH!!

We walked more along the carriage way. Then we met an old person who was walking down our way. We asked him to make sure whether this was the correct way. It seemed we’ve taken the correct path. So we continued our hike which felt like never ends.

Felt like a chicken in an oven..

Clear sky...from where we had our lunch...

We were so exhausted and hungry when we reached a bend of the road with a good shady spot. And there was a man was having a little rest . We couldn’t capture any moment of our lunch because every one was really busy, having lunch. And while we were eating we talked with that person. He said he was Krishnamurthi. A labor who works at the tea estate. He said he was also going up the mountain to his home. So he became our guide. But he suggested to see a waterfall in the nearby jungle, first.

In the jungle there was a little water stream. After the lunch we had a little cooling under the jungle canopy and with the help of the water stream. But searching for the water fall was a painful idea. almost every plant in that forest was thorny. So we gave up and head back to the road because we had to go a 5 more hours of hike according to Krishnamurthi.

Nice pose!!

Not the best path to go with a huge weight!!

Krishnamurthi showed us a short cut to the up hill, through the tea plantations. It was a difficult way to go. But still it was really a short cut. But dangerous. One slip, we would stop after falling a 100 meters.

While walking up the "Short cut"....

Again on the gravel road...

After climbing couple of hundred meters, we joined the carriage way again. It was 3.26 p.m. More to go….

Burning sun....and the mountain range..

Our guide..Mr.Krishnamurthi...

After walking few more hundreds of meters we stopped and had a rest. There was a little stream of water and was a god sent gift for the thirst!!

It feels really nice to get rid of the heavy weight and take a look around !!

After the break we started our never ending journey again. But as we go up the mountain, it started to feel like our tiring hike was not gonna be worthless at all.

At Krishnamurthi's place....

At 3.49 p.m. we were at Krishnamurthi’s house. We had some water to drink and started our hike again. But we were on our own as Krishnamurthi stopped at his place

Upper you go...more beautiful the view!!

"No more machan.....this is enough"....

Krishnamurthi told us about another short cut before we left his place, to up the mountain. So we turned to another stairway through the tea plantations. It was a steep climb. So we had to stop several times.

More to go...and the sun is about to set...!!

And another problem was added to our quest. The sun was about to set. We were running out of time. To set our camp and get our selves refreshed, we had to reach the camping site before the sun goes down behind the mountain. It was a race against the time.

As it seen from the top of the tea line....

It was about 5.30 p.m. when we reached the end of the tea line. Again we joined the carriage way runs on the top of the tea line separating tea plantations from the turpentine trees.

The sun is almost set.....

Carrying two bags like this, gives you a good balance...

I reached the camping site which was used by Ashan according to his trip report. Others were having a break on the way. So I set up my tripod and started photographing the surroundings .

Just WOW!!!

Nature..the mighty artist!!

Haputale area....

As I was photo shooting, my friends finally reached the camping site. So we started setting up camp. We had few more minutes before it gets totally dark.

Setting up camp.....

After setting up the camp we got refreshed by a water stream nearby. The wind was getting cold. And the water was chilling. So we prepared the things to have a camp fire.

We made it.....!!	Awesome view......!!
Nice photo shoot .....hah!!!	Sky is The LimiT!!!

After refreshing our selves, we prepared dinner. We had brought bread. So it was easy to make only a curry.

After the dinner we went out side the tent and gathered around the warmth of the camp fire.

Who is ready for dinner????

Fire...sometimes a very good friend!!

It really was a chilling night....

It was burning with the heat in the mid day. But the night was really cold. But of course we had some beer to warm our selves up, besides the fire. It was a really tiring day. So we had to sleep in order to gather some strength to make the hike to the top of the mountain on the following day.

I woke up earlier in the morning. So I could take some good snap shots.

Sun is about to rise..............	Above the horizon..................
Brighter and brighter..............	Blue sky appears as the sun comes up.............
I was completely mesmerized!!	Starting to feel the heat of the sun..........
Our flag caught up by the wind in the morning..........	smoke from a jet, on the "divine ocean".........
Sun is about to rise..............	Road to a mythical world................

As the temperature started to rise I went under the turpentine trees by the carriage way. It was still kind of dark among the trees.

Who wants tea???

Preparing breakfast.....

After half an hour we had breakfast. and our kerosene cook was set on fire accidentally. It was really difficult to kill the fire.

Fire.....not much of a good friend now.............!!

While we were preparing lunch and planning our next step, Two men came to us by a jeep. And they asked what was our purpose there?? We explained that we were only here to camp. And he said it was a private property and we could not stay without the permission from the owners of the tea estate. And they asked us to leave on that day. But of course they did not threaten us.

while making lunch.....!!

We planned our next step while we were having lunch. None of us wanted to stop camping and go home. Of course it was a long awaited trip. So we decided to go up the mountain through the turpentine trees, after the lunch.

My portable phone and battery charging equipment.....	Sun starts to burn us alive..............again...
Where we camped.........now its time to leave...	"Im ujrox...and I'm here to show you how to survive this wilderness"

After packing up everything, we started our hike to the mountain top. And it was 12.30 p.m. Obviously not a good time for a hike. But we were not defeated by the sun.

The sun was ok. It was the most painful walk I’ve ever experienced. No clear path to go to the top. There was an old carriage way through the turpentine trees. But it was completely out run by bushes. Not normal but thorny bushes. One of us had to take the lead and clear the way to the others. It was no easy with our huge bags.

Oh..this was the worst part...It really was hell!!

Oh no.....more to go........!!!

Sometimes we had to crawl under thorny bushes. We had cuts all over our hands and legs. And some bags we torn while we were crawling. And it was sweating like hell. We had only 3 bottles of water. At 1 p.m., this kind of hike can be called “a hike to hell”.

We stopped many times, because it was one hell of a hike. But thorny bushes couldn’t stop us. We walked further more. Slowly….!! Step by step…!!!

Having a break.....

Hey guys I can see the mountain top...!!!

Finally we came to some kind of a clearing. Now only “Mana” bushes were on the way. So we could walk faster and easier.

Wangedigala............

Few more steps.......

Eventually we got out of the carriage way and climbed directly up the mountain. So we could find a good shade under a pine tree. It was 2.40 p.m. and we walked up hill carrying heavy weights, two days in a row. We did need a rest.

Wangedigala.. seen from the other edge of the mountain.

After the break, we started photographing the marvelous landscape.

Samanala wewa reservoir...	Main road to Haputale.
Bambarakanda Falls.	Devil's Staircase.
"Oh man... this is awesome"	looks like another world....

The world is mine...!!!!

We were hypnotized by the surrounding view. So we were walking along the plateau and photographing everything which can be caught by our cameras. I’ve put here only few of them

Twins................???	A snap shot from heaven!!!
The mountain range on the other side of wangedigala..	Nice place to set up camp...

We had to stop being photographers, as we had to set up camp before the sun goes down. And we had to collect more and more fire-wood for the camp fire. And We knew it was gonna be cooler than the previous night because we were few more hundreds of meters higher.

Camp was set. Then we searched for water. We found a water spring about 100 meters down from the tent. fortunately we had few large bottles to fill water.

No water...???

"Machan keep the tent tidy"

On the top of the mountain there was a windy condition. So we had to make some support lines with ropes. But luckily. it was not too windy!

The sun goes down!! Shadows fall..!!!	Oh man...this world is so huge!!! and beautiful!!!
I wish I could live here.....forever!!	Making fire...Bear Grylls style!!

I always wanted to start a camp fire by using a flint. So our camp fire was lit. And we gathered more fire-wood. And of course we cleaned our selves up with the help of that water spring.

The camp...and the camp fire...

"Machan what is that??"

Everything for a chilling night was ready. So we started experiencing the mysterious beauty of the eve in the mountain top. The sky was blood red. Wow.. even now.. I wish I were there.!!

"No one can challenge me!!!!!!!!"	Best color balanced back ground!!
Oooh YeaH!!! We made it!!!	It looks like a painting...doesn't it??
Setting up self timer......	The dark gates to the highest mountains of our country.

Burning charcoal...hard to recognize??

We were enjoying the evening beauty of the mountain until it was almost totally dark. So we gathered around the camp fire and prepared dinner. We made 4 chairs around the camp fire by using rocks. Trust me…they really were comfortable.

Nice fire eh??

Even the devil is scared of us..

Smoking causes cancer...

After having dinner we did not wanna go to sleep. So we grabbed the lantern and walked a few hundreds of meters away from the tent. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Starts all over the sky. There was not even a single cloud. we couldn’t see the surrounding mountains. but the electric light from them were seen. So they were seen like some little stars. So it was like we were on the top of the world and around us there were only the star filled sky. nothing else…!!! We tried to catch the view with our cameras. But it was hard to take a good picture of stars with ordinary digital cameras. After couple of hours we went to sleep… in a tent which was set near heaven.

Morning paintwork...by nature!!

Next day I woke up early and photographed the rising sun. And inhaling morning fresh air really made me feel like I got a brand new set of lungs.

Altitude -1434m above the sea level.

Cooking is fun

We had breakfast and started enjoying the surroundings. And we were never fed up of it.

We had to share the tent with the beauty of nature...

Heaven has come closer....

It was misty and cloudy day. Sun’s burning rays hardly reached us through theavy blanket of clouds above us. And of course it was so beautiful. It really made us feel like we were in a mystic world.

Nature...covering her beauty with a white blanket...

We are in the sky...

As It was covered by the mist, we walked away from the tent to experience this moment. We couldn’t see any surrounding mountains or landscape below us. All were covered by white clouds. So it was like we were on an alien world. We walked along the mountain till it was about 2 p.m. then hunger stopped our exploration .

More and more mist!!	Heaven's forces are invading the earth!!!
Hard to believe its 1.37 p.m...	Our tent is seen..as we were heading down!!

We were so hungry and the thin air in higher altitudes made us so tired of walking. So we headed back to the tent to have our lunch.

A helping hand for cooking!!!

After the lunch we enjoyed the scenery as we were sitting near the tent. We had some tea in the eve as well. And we prepared for the night. because it was the last night of our trip. So we cooked a grand dinner with so many dishes. WOW..that was a good dinner!!

Lantern....definitely worth carrying!!

Another night...!! A misty night .........!!

After having dinner we came out of our tent. And we realized that we were covered by a thick cloud of mist. We didn’t go much further in the misty night because it would have been difficult to find the way back to the tent. So after about a half an hour we went to sleep.

Next day morning we got up and started getting ready to head back home. We really didn’t wanna leave that place. But we could only be visitors, there.

Another morning..........!!!	Don't wanna leave???
"Machan..setting up this tent is easier than folding!!"	Of course we did leave this flag....

After we got ready for coming back wanted to leave something of ours. So we left one of our flags there. We put it on a tree next to the place we camped.

yeah!!!

Our stone made chairs!!!

We started walking downhill at about 11.30 a.m. Of course under the hot sun. But going downhill was way easier than climbing up.

It only took about 40 minutes to reach where we camped on the 1st day. But under the suns intense heat it was not easy at all.

Where we camped on the 1st night!!

Nice background and good lighting for a photo....

We were climbing down the hill on stairs which were made of loose rocks. So it really was dangerous. But it was faster. And of course we did not forget to have a little break and enjoy the view!!

Down climbing was easy...but dangerous...!!!	Good bye...mountains!!
Water.....is the most precious...!!!	Where we had our lunch while we were climbing up...

It was 2.30 when we reached the place we had lunch on the day 1. It took only 3 hours even we had long breaks. We had a little rest there as well and after few minutes we started walking again.

Of course we set the self timer on the camera!!

The main road.........

After reaching the main road we needed to find a place to have a good bath. We were covered with sweat and dust. So we hadn’t to go anywhere else as a water fall was just 300m away. So we were headed to Surathalee Ella.

Surathalee Ella Name Board

Nice place to have a bath...!!!

As soon as we turned to the path which was led to the water fall, a mess was seen. It was completely polluted by human garbage. Plastic, Polythene, Glass and many more…. A disappointment at the end of the trip. Man is the only animal who kills the environment!!

But near the waterfall was not polluted that much. We had a good bath in clear cold water. It was really refreshing.

Upper part of the waterfall!!

A parody for the boy bands....

After having a bath our hunger rose up. So we headed back to the main road and had the lunch from a restaurant near by. After a good meal we were lucky to have a 99 Badulla – Colombo bus. So we came to Nugegoda at about 9.30 p.m.