In Red Alagalla peak and in Blue Dekinda falls

Covered with a veil of mist as seen from A1 Highway

Alagalla as seen from Utuwankanda

Alagalla hike was a hike I was looking forward to do since last year but always the weather condition was the limiting factor. I left early morning from Yakkala and arrived at Mawanella. Guess what! as I got off the bus straight away I saw the gigantic mountain covered with a veil of mist which is a peculiar sight. I decided to do the hike from the Ihala Kotte station because that was the route that I was aware about but the easiest way would be taking a Kandy-Poththepitiya bus from Pilimathalawa. From Mawanella I took a Rambukkana bus and got off at “Hathe Kanuwa” and took a three wheeler up to Ihala Kotte where I had to walk few hundred meters before I reached the railway station.

As I reached the station I just gazed up and there it was a huge steep rocky wall challenging me to climb it if possible. You need to head towards Kandy along the tracks for a few meters and you should come across a path heading upwards through the trees to your left. This 3mile walk will take you to Poththepitiya but if you take the Pilimathalawa route you can cut off this walk. It was a steep climb around the rock and took a while until I came across a stream which crosses the path & my ears heard the roar of a nearby waterfall, thanks to Randy’s tip I knew that I needed to take the right hand path which starts near the cement road and travel downwards along the stream till I came across another foot path which branches off downwards through the jungle on the left. It was a 30 meter tall waterfall (Dekinda Fall) served by the Alagalla forest reserve. After enjoying few moments there I continued my journey towards Poththepitiya.

Starting point

Towards Poththepitiya

Bathalegala and Ura Kanda seen while hiking

Utuwankanda	The path towards the Waterfall
Dekinda Falls	Top of the lower part

The upper part

Just before reaching Poththepitiya town there is a road that starts near the Alagalla tea factory which goes uphill (to the left). This is the path that will take you to the top of the hill. If you want to buy stuff there are two boutiques where you can refill your resources. As you travel along the road uphill you will be passing line houses and entering a tea estate. At one point the road will divide, you will have to take the road towards the left. The road will start to narrow as you continue uphill through the tea estates. It is a nice scenic walk and I enjoyed every moment of it. After a while the tea estate ended up at the base of a jungle where the foot path continues through the forest. Before entering the forest it is recommended to wear some clothes that will protect your body from “itchy Savanna” & thorny bushes. Also don’t forget leech protection

Alagalla peak as seen from the tea factory

Tea estate

Entering the forest

The path will be very slippery depending on the weather condition. It is a strenuous climb where you will have to make multiple stops to have a rest but having a rest causes more leech attacks which will make your journey to slow down. First part of the jungle is not much difficult but in the latter part you would have to tackle the thorny bushes which have grown across the path. Locals recommend that hikers should climb the mountain after February 4th since they would be clearing the path while they annually celebrate Independence Day on top of Alagalla. After passing through the thorny bushes you will end up at an open Savanna land which you feel like you are on top of the mountain but it is not the true summit there is more to climb and the worst part is that the “Mana” bushes, they make you to scratch your body like hell. After climbing up through the “Mana” you will come close to the summit point but to get to it you have to attempt something dangerous. So after all it is pure rock climbing, If the rock is wet it nearly impossible to get to the summit point. After creeping through the rocks I was at last on top of the world.

The Path

Balana peak and the paddy fields

The Tea Factory where I started my climb

Out of the forest

Is that the summit?

More to climb	The Mana patch
The toughest part of rock climbing	Wow!
Almost there	Yes I was now in heaven

In seconds I forgot the toughness of the journey, I was felling the breeze and I was lying flat on the rock which was covered by mist. I felt like I was in heaven. After few minutes the mist was blown away and after that it was a 360 degree scenic panorama. I walked all around the rock. You can clearly see Mawanella town, Balana , Kadugannawa, Bathalegala, Ura kanda, Utuwankanda, Hanthana range, Ambuluwawa , Ihala Kotte Station and many more. This is a hike everyone needs to do, it’s simply marvelous.

Then came the mist	Then it cleared off
The other side of the mountain which spans 1 Km	Greeny side of the potato

more scenery

A Projection towards Balana

A train stopped at Ihala Kotte station

Sloping down	Rocky wall
Mawanella town and Bathalegala in the backdrop	Some body has camped here
Kegalle district side of the mountain	More to walk on

Nice colours

Kandy district side of the mountain

Mawanella town and bathalegala with ura kanda

Balana and Kadugannawa peaks

The clouds cleared off from Mawanella

Provincial border mark

After staying for about 1 hour on the summit I decided to get down, the downhill journey was a quick one. After reaching the bottom I travelled towards Poththepitiya and refreshed myself before I left towards Pilimathalawa where I took a bus towards Colombo where I had a nice nap after an exhausting pleasurable journey to the top of Alagalla.