This was a sudden decision taken before two days and we left Gampaha around 5.00am and came to Southern highway via Kottawa.

It’s 6.10 am on southern Highway

From Pinnaduwa outlet we came to Udugama and reached Kanneliya Mount Resort around 08.30 am. After a quick breakfast we walked towards the park entrance, which is only 300 meters away. Vishan, our guide was waiting for us.

On the way to Kanneliya entrance

On the way to Kanneliya entrance

We visited following places

1. Cave 2. Anagimala waterfall 3. Giant Creeper 4. Narangas Ella 5. Navada Tree

Entire hike is 14 KM and approximate time is 7 hrs.

Forest Department Dormitory

Entrance to forest

Sri Lankan Kangaroo Lizard(පිනුම් කටුස්සා)

Wal Midi(වල් මිදි )

Giant Spider

We turned from main trail towards the cave. This cave is the natural habitat for certain frogs and bats. I am clueless about them and they were named by Vishan, our guide.

Entrance to the cave

වක රැලි මැඩිය

සයගිලි මැඩියා (සයගිලි = six fingers)

කිරි වවුලා

Turn off to Anagimala fall

Observation center at turn off to Anagimala fall

Anagimala fall

Giant Creeper (යෝධ පුස්වැල)

Thereafter we walked further along the main trail towards the next destination, Narangas Ella. On the way our guide Vishan suddenly spotted a Green Vine Snake (ඇහෑටුල්ලා ) aiming at a lizard

Just caught

Vishan held the snake to capture some closer views which I didn’t like, but couldn’t resist

Gulp………… Gulp…………….

Last bit

Then we set off towards Narangas Ella where we had to cross several streams.

Bandura(බාඳුරා)

Had to across many streams(Nanikitta Dola)

Finally came to Narangas Ella

Narangas Ella

We spent about half an hour at Narangas Ella enjoying the cool and calm surroundings and headed back on the same route.

Thalkossa in crystal clear water at base pool

Prawns

On our way back we turned towards the Nawada Tree, the final destination. This tree is 250 years old with a circumference of 16.5 feet.

On the way to Nawada Tree

Giant Nawada Tree

Then we came to the resort and after lunch proceeded to Duli Ella. It’s 26 KM from Kanneliya through Hiniduma, Thawalama and Neluwa. Duli Ella consists of three parts and you can easily climb as there are concrete stairs all the way up to the top.

Lower part of the fall

Middle part of the fall

Upper part of the fall

Base Pool of the upper part

Next day morning we left Kanneliya mount resort and on our way to Pinnaduwa entrance of Southern Highway, turned at Amalgama junction and drove another 6 KM to reach another vital place, Hiyare conservation centre.

This is an animal hospital conducted by a group of dedicated volunteers, who are doing an exceptional job, in collaboration with the Wild life department. One must personally visit this place to observe the commitment of these volunteers, doing their best yet with the limited resources.

They provide medical treatment for injured wild animals. These animals are treated, rehabilitated and released back into the wild. This place is also shelter for several baby animals who have lost their parents. These animals are looked after until they become fit enough to release to the wild.

Hiyare tank

Conservation Project

There were few birds with burnt legs and feathers following electrocution while they were trying to perch on road side power lines.

This poor eagle will be a permanent resident at Hiyare. Both legs were burnt, cannot move

Another victim of electrocution with Minor injuries

Can you hear the cry of this yelling monkey

About to release, leg wounds are healed

Adult porcupine awaiting release

Still under treatment with minor injuries

There were few orphaned baby animals who had lost their parents.

Please find my mother

Cute baby ‘Mee minna’

This bat was brought by a villager, found fallen along the road

This baby porcupine was very playful

When we came out there were two Giant squirrels.

Had already hacked off half of a jack fruit

There is a plant nursery at the corner of the same premises, maintained by Wild life department. Most of them are medicinal plants and we got few plants free of charge.

Plant Nursery

This place needs some help from people who are concerned about the well being of wild

animals. They will certainly do a better job with some assistance from public.

This was one of my dreams and even though I have been to Yala many more times I couldn’t achieve this until this time. This time we planned it well ahead and booked the bungalows for accommodation and got 2 jeeps arranged through our usual safari driver Ruwan Malli (one of Sugathe’s drivers).

Day 1 we left around 8AM in the morning by our personal vehicles and reached Tissa by 2PM with several stops on our way. We parked our cars at Sugathe’s home and started the journey to Warahana bungalow by our usual Safari jeep (even though it’s a Land Rover it is not suitable for Block 2). Warahana is at the border of Manik Ganga and so we decided to go to the bungalow after a round of safari. Since it was raining until the previous day, the park was very greenish and there was no dust at all. Since it was a weekday we met only 3 local parties out of 40, 50 jeeps on that evening. There were a lot of foreigners and there was no rush like during a long week end.

While we were driving on Yala main road we could see a leopard walking leisurely on the road at about 200m in the front. There were no any other jeep and we slowly followed him for some time.

Searching…

Should I cross the road or go straight?

Walking in to the jungle…

Walking in to the jungle…

Then he crossed the road and hid in the jungle. After a good safari finally we came to the bungalow by 7pm. We stayed that night in Warahana and went to sleep dreaming the next day Block II adventure.

Next day early morning we got up with enthusiasm and prepared for the great adventure. But it took some time to start the journey. Because Ruwan Mall i(Our Safari driver) had to return his jeep and bring 2 jeeps which were arranged for block II trip. Initially our plan was to drop us at Warahana bungalow on 1st day evening and return the jeep; so that he could come next day early morning with 2 jeeps. Since Warahana is far away (1 to 1.5 hours) from the entrance he didn’t have enough time to return the jeep on day 1 evening. Once 2 jeeps reached the bungalow we all got in to jeeps and started the journey.

We drove towards the ‘පරණ ගං තොටුපොල’ to cross the Manik Ganga. On our way we were lucky enough to see another leopard on the road. After experiencing that we reached to the Parana Thotupola. I have been to this place many a times but never crossed the river from here.

Ohhh…he is coming

Keeping an eye on us…. – Click Image to Enlarge

Each jeep had 2 persons including the driver who came for support in any emergency. First they walked and crossed the river to decide the depth and then decided whether to cross the river or not. (if not we had to use Warahana bridge to cross the Manik Ganga)

පරණ ගං තොටුපොල

1….2….3……………

In the middle….

Unfortunately the 2nd jeep was stuck in the middle of the river. Our journey was stuck at the very beginning. Now what to do???

First jeep had to winch the second jeep and it took about 15, 20 minutes for both the jeeps to cross the river.

Stuck in the middle…now what…?

Helping each other in need

Helping each other in need

That’s why it is mandatory to have 2 jeeps at least

Finally…

After that we offered our gratitude to God Ayyanayaka and started the journey. We were the first group after 2 week to enter to Block II according to our tracker.

For you to keep in mind…

Gratitude to God Ayyanayaka

We couldn’t go even 10 minutes, again there was a huge mud pit in front of us. We again had to winch our jeeps.

Obstacles

Struggling to get through the mud

Our next obstacle was ‘Katupila Ara’. But it was not bad as we thought

Crossing Katupila Ara

Katupila Ara

Block II is significantly different to Block I; In block II most of the areas are meadow lands with ‘මලිත්තන්’ trees. The reason is in ancient history during Magama Kingdom this areas was a huge paddy field. Because of that this area is called ‘‍යාල වෙල’ today.

Meadow Lands

‍යාල වෙල

Animal diversity also has a significant difference. We could see hundreds of wild buffaloes in each herd and 200 – 300 of dears in each herd. But not like in block I, they are not used to vehicles and they run away when they hear the noise of the vehicles.

Watching us coming… – Click Image to Enlarge

Running like mad – Click Image to Enlarge

Without any major obstacle we could come up to the ‘පොත්තන කලපුව’. Due to the heavy rain during the last couple of days and closed river mouth we could not cross the jeeps from the usual jeep track. We had to go around the lagoon to find a suitable place to cross it. After additional 20 minutes of drive we could find a place to cross the ‘පොත්තන ආර’. After that the road was terrible.

‘Poththana’ lagoon

Who are you to disturb the peaceful life here???

Scared!

Waiting for the next yummy meal…

Then we came to an area called ‘ගජබාව’. I guess it is part of ‘පිලින්නාව කලපුව’ (I’m not sure the names, pls correct me if im wrong). Drivers got down from jeeps and walked to the lagoon to test the water level and to find a suitable place to cross the lagoon.

Unfortunately the water level was more than 3 feet and it was wider about 50m to 100m. Even though it was riskier than other obstacles which we crossed, our experienced driver Rathnayake was ready to cross that. But tracker was reluctant to take that challenge due to 2 reasons. One is it was wider and if we get stuck in the middle there would be no way to winch our jeeps. Other reason is the time was around 2pm and if something happens we cannot come back by 6pm.

According to the drivers and trackers it was only 3km – 5km to Kumbukkan Oya from there. Even though it was very sad we decided to obey the rules and stop our journey from there and return.

Our Safari Machines

Our Safari Machines

Rathnayake & Tracker

Lunch

We made it…

On our way back we came to a place called ‘ගණ දේවාලය’ which is at ‘මහිරාව’. That is the place where you can find the 3 hot water wells. This is not on the main road. You have to go towards the sea side to reach this place. The significance of this sacred place is those who come in පාද යාත්‍රා make offerings to this place. (කැලේ වැටිල තියන මුව අං තට්ටු එකතු කරගෙන ඇවිත් මේ දේවාලයට පූජා කරනව) Since we could not go to Kuda Kabiliththa Dewalaya we decided to do our offerings here.

Nice and calm…

Preparing the offerings

හදුන් කූරු පත්තු කරන අලුත්ම විදිහ

Ready to pay gratitude to god

Thankful to god!

දේවාලය

Coming back; crossing Katupila Ara

Ohhhhh…..

Trying to prevent the jeep turning upside down!

Common….

.	Faces say it all

Although we were mentally prepared to end our journey there; we were able to see a very rare sighting in block I. It was as I published in the forum some time back – a leopard carrying a dead rabbit which was still bleeding on Yala main road. It was priceless and it was the fist time I saw a leopard carrying its hunt.

Priceless… – Click Image to Enlarge

With all these enthusiasm, by 7pm we came to the Ondajjee bungalow and Sunil – the bungalow keeper for the last 5, 6 years – prepared ginger tea for us. It was very refreshing. Ondajjee also is a very nice place; where you could see Katharagama mountain range with ‘වැඩහිටි කන්ද’ clearly in a distance and there was a herd of about 50 dears relaxing in front of the bungalow until the next day morning. The entire night was filled with different noises of different animals – specially the sound of crocodiles playing in the lake.

Unfortunately we could hear the sound of a gunshot by some anonymous huntsman as well

Shouting loudly… – Click Image to Enlarge

‘වැඩහිටි කන්ද’ mountain range at a distance from Ondajjee bungalow

Always Majestic – Click Image to Enlarge

Looking for a hunt

Yala is a place where you will never be fed-up. After one of my long awaiting dreams coming true we came back home. Thank you so much for reading my experience until the last word. Hope you all gather some knowledge and enjoyed a lot.

Green = ambalangala, Red = maligatenna, Blue = ponds, Purple = weheragala, Black = cave, Orange = rassa muhuna – Click Map to Enlarge

Download Google Earth Trail Map

According to Folklore During the war between Ravana and Rama, both Rama and Lakshman were hit by powerful arrows to fall unconscious and to bring them back to life Hanuman was instructed to fetch lifesaving herbs from Himalayas. Hanuman went to the Himalayas, rooted part of the hill and brought it as he was not able to identify the lifesaving herbs. Parts from the hill fell on five places in Sri Lanka, Rumasala, Dolukanda in Hiripitiya, Ritigala, Thalladi in Mannar and Kachchativu in the north. Archeologically the mountain range has received some importance because of the well-known Arankele monastery been located at the base of it. Regarding the geometry it’s about 2km in length and 0.5km in width with a vast intermediate zone forest reserve on top of it. First time I came across this mountain range was when I visited Wellagala at Wariyapola and few months back while we were on top of Yakdessagala I noted this range for the second time. And the temptation was exclaiming to uncontrollable levels since then. Conquering unique mountain peaks has been my passion and day by day my list has been growing and growing with occasional tick offs. This time Anupama was the man who bought me the solution; he had already climbed up 3 times but was generous enough to join me this time too. Other than Anupama and his friend Dinusha my friend Harinda also joined me in this adventure. Harinda and my self-arrived at Kurunegala at around 7am by bike and bought some bread and dhal for lunch and together with Anupama we went towards Hunupola on Hiripitiya road where we met Dinusha and our guide Kumarasekara.

We started climbing from an abandoned rock quarry where huge square rocks cut by machines could be found. According to locals some Indian guys have done treasure hunting in large scale with heavy machinery. Next we came across few abandoned “kuti” which were built few years back when Dolukanda was a very famous place of worship for Sri Lankans. The initial stretch was through a relatively flat area but within no time we were starting to ascend uphill. The undergrowth was not much but since the area had received some showers on the previous few days it was enough to make things bit slippery. Suddenly the climb got steeper and more pit stops were a must and our guide Mr Kumarasekara was staring at us because we were crawling at a snail pace compared to him! On the way we came across few medicinal plants which is the most unique feature of this forestry and Harinda managed to root off few accidentally . After about 1hour and 45 minutes of climbing we came to the base of Ambalan gala and after tackling the last rock we were on top of it with a smile on our tired faces

gloomy morning at dolukanda

treasure hunting done by indians in large scale(according to locals)

entering the forest

abandoned sakman maluwa

off we go

may kollo nam ada ena patak naha

try and un tie it

harinda plucking huge trees

coconut!

then it got steeper

leading the way

finally on top of ambalam gala

Ambalan gala is a bare rock located on the edge of the mountain and at a center location. There was a Buddhist flag post on top of it waving in proudly signifying the importance of this place. At this location one can enjoy a 180 degree view towards Wariyapola and Kurunegala but since the cloudy and misty nature on that morning we couldn’t appreciate much of the landmarks. Some landmarks we noted were Alagalla, Athgala, Mawathagama peak, Anda gala, Kuruminiyagala, Yakdessagala range, plenty of paddy fields, Dolukanda temple at the base, Wariyapola, Hiripitiya side, new Deduru oya reservoir and few lakes. We spent about 30 minutes on top of the rock enjoying the stunning scenery before we decided to enter the huge forest patch to explore around.

it was gloomy towards kurunegala

dolukanda temple and its pond at the base

raising the fallen flag

kurunegala region

paddy and coconut together

Yakdessagala range

wow	towards wariyapola

expecting rain

started clearing off a bit

time for a panorama

wonder what is this

ambalan gala

ideal place for a team pic

Though we thought it was already done and we could return early Kumarasekara mama and Anupama listed out some interesting areas worth visiting and from here on it was a never ending walking session on the top of the 2km long mountain range. We got in to the forest which was very shady and cool and within no time reached Maligathenna which might have been an ancient castle according to the locals. There were plenty of fallen pillars covered with moss and been Camouflaged with the greenery while few pillars were still standing tall like tree barks. Also there were rock walls here and there creating platforms and borders indicating that this was once a prosperous kingdom of a king. We also came across a huge “katarama” on a rock used to divert water from one place to another. This archaeological site had gone through the devastating illegal excavation process just like other locations in the island.

in search of maligatenna

Dummala

fallen pillars of maligatenna

treasure hunters have done their part

no this is not a well

more pillars

drainage system

a rock wall

remains from a different era

After exploring the ruins we set foot towards the other end of the range an on the way we came across a very rare “Wanaraja”plant which has a medicinal importance. There were other plants with medicinal value showed by Kumarasekara but I’m unable to recall any. Been so rich with medicinal plants Dolukanda might have some connection with Hanuma’s story just like Ritigala and Hakgala. Next we reached the famous rock ponds called Kalu diya pokuna, Dunukei pokuna and etc these are said to be found full even during droughts. This was an ideal place for us to have a rest under the shade and have a sip of jeevani to replace the lost minerals. Next we came across Watekei pokuna which was covered with plenty of Wetakei bushes hence the name.

life on life

barks were decorated

more mushrooms

Wanaraja

my favourite

Kalu diya pokuna

reflection

Kasi pethi (Panam pethi)

wetakei pokuna

On the way to Weheragala and not so far away from it we came across the trail used by villagers of Doluwa linking up with the main trail. By the way Wheragala got its name because of the huge ancient sthupa located on it and was vandalized by treasure hunters as expected. Weheragala been on the opposite side of the rock produces a different view compared to Ambalan gala and there is a very nice view point close to it where one can enjoy again a 180 degree panoramic outlook towards Ritigala, Arankele, Kibulwana reservoir, Dolukanda lake Ambokka and Mathale areas. This point seems to be the highest place and the drop towards the base of the rock was too scary to have a look even.

demarcated path

ancient pagoda at weheragala

gloomy scenery from weheragala

kibulwana reservoir

Hiripitiya town

doluwa side

Pano towards arankele

next observation point

dolukanda reservoir

wow	mondanocks of wayamba

phew the drop (this is the highest point)

Ritigala and Galgiriya can be seen

towards Rassa muhuna

We continued along the edge of the mountain through the forest cover and came to our next pit stop which is the Hulang Kapolla and its beautiful cave. This is a very dangerous but yet fascinating place and at some months a monk resides in this “kutiya”. There was a bed used by the monk and few saucepans used by visitors who spent the night in this non drip ledged cave. We decided to have our afternoon meal which was Bread and dhal while enjoying the scenery towards Arankele from the cave. This cave also was not spared by visitors who were muttish enough to scribble their names on the rock.

hulang kapolla

the cave which a monk used

view from the cave

vandalized

the view from our lunch table

the rock looks like pasted

ambokka got cleared off a bit

Rassa muhuna

ambokka peaks through the gap

Next we wanted to get to the last view point which is called “Rassa muhuna” because of its appearance like a devils face. It could be appreciated properly from Hiripitiya area according to the locals but we had to satisfy our selves with a different view. En route we came across another cave where a monk once meditated keeping dead human corpuses. To get on top of the Rassa muhuna we had to crawl along a bark of a tree and it was totally worth it because we enjoyed a good 270 degree view and at that moment the sky also had decided to clear of a bit to produce some stunning scenery towards Kala oya side. Galgiriya kanda and Ritigala were seen far away while Arankele was at the base of the rock. After enjoying some breathtaking scenery we decided to return back and for that we used a different route.

seems like some one has roasted some meat here

climbing along a fallen tree

on top of rassa muhuna

gala pita gala

the sky cleared off

arankele

Yakdessagala again appeared to our visual fields

towards kala wewa side

ambokka

very tempting

Ritigala side

i was on top of that peak few months ago

wow again

pano towards wariyapola

pano towards arankele

After getting to the opposite side of the rock we continued along the rocky area known as Kalu gala and came across an area covered with Bowitiya bushes and it was like Horton plains on top of Dolukanda for us. Finally we reached Ambalan gala where we rested a bit before starting to descend.

tackling kalugala

dolukanda bowitiya plains

on the way scenery

treasure hunting continues

the dry forest in the center of the mountain

alagalla and mawathagama peaks

last pano for the day

now it seems cleared off

pride

While descending I sprained my knee joint which was a nightmare for me and from there onwards I had to crawl down slowly without bending my left knee as possible. While I was tackling with a sprained knee Harinda was rooting up few huge trees and producing some chuckles in our minds ha ha ha… If Hanuman was a live he would have come in search of Harinda and asked him to pay for the damage:-D. Anyway it was unintentional and descending is always a problematic when it’s too steep. We ended up finally at Kandagoda RMV which is located at the base of the mountain. It seemed to be an ancient temple with a huge caved image house with a drip ledged inscription. After getting back to the village house where we halted our bikes, we were served with a glass of sweet orange juice by the owner which was like “Amurthaya” for us and not so far away we got a hot Belli mal drink and a piece of papaw from another villager which was like medicine for our tired souls. After thanking Kumarasekara mama we went to Dinushas place and had a wash before we departed, to experience a continuous shower until we reached Hettipola. Harinda was kind enough to drop me off at Chilaw and return back towards Colombo to end our one day adventure at historical Dolukanda. Thanks for reading!

getting down

last moment captures

kandegoda RMV

the inscription

good bye dolukanda

You are embedded in my mind….

It was year 2001 and my first-ever train journey was to Diyatalawa with my AL class friends from Fort by 5.55am Podimenike Train. It really was a remarkable and unforgettable journey. We were on our way to do a project on Horton Plains and heading to stay at one of my friend’s place in Diyatalawa.

I was on the foot board the whole journey, highly excited, enjoying it to the max. We passed many things and stations along the way. But one thing in particular got embedded in my mind. That was “Great Western Station”. The entering onto the Station area was grand and I can still remember that day. I’ve been viewing that picture every now and then and couple years back came to know about the GW Mountain which is surprisingly the 6th highest in SL.

But it never occurred to me to do this till I joined Lakdasun (that has inspired me tremendously to achieve greater things) and heard that this could be done. At the Lakdasun gathering on 2nd of March 2013, helped me meet with lots of people with great experience.

I then came across Ashan’s report on GW and thought it would be grand if we could do this. However, it wasn’t not one of my priorities and been in the back of my mind all along. However, t suddenly dawned on me that it’s now or never. I casually suggested this to Harinda in April and he readily agreed. I didn’t wanna wait long and fixed it for first week of May. This was pushed back to second week coz of my beloved Meemure and Hasalaka trips and it turned out to be a hidden blessing as it rained very heavily in the first week.

We panicked and I was very worried. I kept calling Morgan (he’s also called Velli) and checking the weather and it was always raining. I decided to call it off if it kept going on like that and buying the train tickets was also delayed. However, to our great relief Morgan said the situation is getting better on 09 May. It was barely 3 days for the trip and we agreed to get the tickets and go anyway. Unfortunately all the sleeping berths had been booked and had to settle for 2nd class. If it rained we would abandon the hike and do something else like waterfall hunting around Talawakele.

10 and 11 May, the weather improved dramatically and I was beyond the point of getting cranked up. So on the 11th night around 7.30pm Harind joined me at the Fort station and after buying snacks and biscuits for the journey we got on board and were ready to venture into new heights.

General Information about GW.

• 6th Highest in SL. (2,212m – 7,257ft)
• It got its name Great Western from the English who ruled the up country, they named nearby places Somerset, Glassaugh, etc.
• Located right behind GW station with an elevation of about 748m (2,454ft).
• GW station is between Watagoda (from Col) and Radella (from Badulla) and has 5.01km and 3.4km in between respectively. (Good for a rail walk)
• From Colombo it’s 199km and from Badulla 93km to the GW station. Difficult to access by road. You can come from Talawakele to the nearby village where Morgan lives (about 1km away) and then walk from there. If you wanna do that, do check with Morgan.
• Don’t try this if it’s raining coz the path is very slippery. The earth is soggy and the underbrush is so thick. The climb is too challenging, at times near vertical and there are very little footholds and branches to cling onto.
• The trail can be separated into 4 parts. It’s about 6-8km in total. Strenuous trail and shouldn’t be attempted without a guide.

1. GW station to the Trail head along the railway track (about 1.5-2km). There are steps built into the mountain to a Kovil on your left hand side just before an Iron Bridge. You can start your trail either along the Kovil steps or near the Bridge.
2. From the Railway line to the beginning of the Forest Patch through the Kovil. About 1.5km
3. Through the forest patch to the top (about 2-2.5km)
4. Along the top to the summit (about 1.5km)

We had nice and long chat about our adventures and planned a few too for the near future. We decided to get some shut eye around 10.30pm. However, the poorly maintained carriages and seats offered little comfort. My seat was broken and it felt as if sitting on a rock. The whole carriage was reeking of the lavatory which was stinking so bad I found it difficult to breathe let alone sleep. This was my worst experience on a train journey (I’m a frequent traveler) and had jitters about the hike. Harinda managed to get short bursts of shut eye (just like his short breaks along the hike ).

From Nawalapitiya, it was on a crawl due to the mist. It was so thick you could have cut them like cheese and have. This delayed our arrival time by good 1.5hrs. We reached GW by 4.15am and I was glad to get out of that stinky rat hole. Morgan had informed the station of our arrival and they helpfully opened the rest room and let us stay till the morning. Anyhow, the chilly cement benches offered little consolation and I decided to sit and wait till the dawn. By 5.30am, it was light enough and I got out immediately and came out despite the cold. It really was like heaven. They say that you can see the Adam’s peak from the station but the thick mist wouldn’t have any of it.

We started snapping away and a dark cloud was heading our way making us skeptical. However, after about 15mins, it went away as if seen our concerned looks. Morgan arrived with hot coffee and packed breakfast. We washed and changed into combat gear and went away around 6.30am.

The map I found

Just arrived…

Early morning, couldn’t wait anymore

Lovely station…

She’s watching us

It really is Great

Here comes the Nawalapitiya bound train from Nanuoya

Good old German W3 engines at work

Step 1 – GW station to Trail Head

The mist got thicker but Morgan predicted good weather, free of rain. We passed a small but abandoned hut which had built for a watcher man. The reason being, rocks had fallen from the mountain onto the rail track last year closing the line to Badulla for full 48hrs. They even have put up a notice there. Army’s demolition team had had to blow those rocks away and clear the path.

We reached the trail head, about 7.00am where whitewashed steps leading up to a Kovil is clearly visible on the left hand side. This is just before an Iron Bridge, where there’s another trail. The trail through the Kovil is relatively easier but longer whereas the one off the Bridge is difficult but somewhat short. We obviously had no debate over which one to take. (You guessed right, the easy one )

Flowers at large at the station

So cute

Never ending penchant for the flowers

Some more

Still going strong, coz made in England

Mist hung thickly

Walking to the starting point

Fine Pine forest

Specially when it’s raining real hard

Where the rocks had dislodged

Rocks which were blasted by Army…

Iron bridge before the kovil steps…

The fellow I went with…

Step 2 – Trail Head to Forest Patch

Up we went along the steps, and according to Morgan there are nearly 200 steps up to the Kovil. It’s been built after a promise (in Sinhala, Bharaya). It goes like this:

Nallusami was a KP (a sub Superintendent) in one of the estates and once he had got lost on the path of the mountain. He got panicked and reached the point where now the Kovil is built. (It used to just a small worshipping place). According to the story, he’d found his way like a miracle and to show his gratitude to God Paththini, he’d promised to build steps right up to the Kovil from the railway line. He did build them and overtime, the villagers have renovated them.

Morgan did the rituals at the Kovil and as always, I asked for good weather (which was duly granted) and having filled our containers to the brim with the spring water near by, we went along the foot path up. The going was not to bad coz the path was clear and Harinda took his nice and short 30-second breaks. Along the way, we found the hooves’ marks of the stags on the earth and Morgan said they might’ve just crossed the path. We also saw the markings where jungle fowls had been digging for their breakfasts and wild boars for their previous night dinner. The mist kept coming in keeping the sunlight away (which was a blessing) and the chill in the fresh air kept us going.

About 1km away, I was hungry and good wait no longer for breakfast. We sat on the path and had a sumptuous (in my terms) meal of hot hot Roti, mouth-watering Lunu Miris and Dhal. Cream crackers dipped in Dhal and Lunu Miris was just the icing on the cake. Harinda kept hiding the cheese for the summit. We got our things ready, not leaving even a scrap of paper behind and got back on track. Soon we entered into the thick forest and it was dark inside the forest.

Entrance to the Kovil

The 200 steps

Our super-duper guide Morgan

Paththini Kovil

Overlooking the lush greenery

Morgan doing the rituals

Giving us blessings

Tea estates below

Gorgeous

Another 30-second break

Misty tree

Stags’… just been there

Harinda is catching up

Horton plains like

Breakfast… delicious

Mini train coming to taste our BF

Gosh, now the hard bit

Step 3 – Climbing up to the top.

Things got more and more difficult the sooner we reach into the steep bit of the climb. Morgan said that the forest department people based in N’Eliya doesn’t visit the forest up in the hill. They apparently, just come by train and walk about the tea estate below and go back to their warm offices not caring what’s happening up in the hills. We saw so much evidence to prove that wood choppers had been busy at work. So many trees had been cut down and we came across many not-so-big tree trunks yet to be taken away. Some had been left to rotten so that they can be used as firewood.

Morgan said that the forest department officers arrest anyone who’s even trying to get some firewood in the tea estates below saying that they destroy the forests but not really looking where it actually happens. They are barking up the wrong tree.

After sometime, we came across a funny looking tree with white trunk, but to see the bark had been gnawed by stags. I was very curious coz they had very greedily taken it clean off. Just out of my never ending curiosity, I just picked at a remaining piece and chewed it. Wow, it tasted nice, mixture of sugar and peppermint with a touch of bitterness to it.

I kept chewing it like chewing gum most of the up hill journey. Then we came to the most difficult part with a very steep climb through thick bushes, rocks and slippery earth. However, climbing up is easier compared to coming down. It’s just scary. Once the steep got too much for us, Morgan had to climb first and give us his rope to support ourselves up. Same way we came down but Harinda nearly went all the way to the GW station, but managed to hold onto the rope bruising his arm.

Photo taking opportunities were hard to come by coz we sometimes had to use our arms as well to support us. Harinda kept switching himself to 4WD (all four limbs). After a lot of huffing and puffing we were finally on the top but the journey was far from over. We had another long way to walk across to the summit at the other end about 1.5-2km.

Looks like Batu

So many artistic things

Not edible

Katu Imbula?

Dead ones

Stag’s favourite meals, barks of this tree

No artist can match this..

Close or far, she’s great

More arts of the Mother Nature

Still misty…

Harinda is showing the damage done to the forest

Very difficult going

At last, reached the top… plenty more to walk

Step 4 – Walking across to the Summit

We reached a rock surface and were surprised how high we actually were. We got a great view of (still partially covered by the mist) Radella Broadcasting tower, Nanuoya and beyond that Piduruthalagala Mountain range with the telecommunications towers, Hatton-Nanuoya road via Thalawakele. It was such a great panoramic view.

Moving further on, we saw the rock forming the summit of the GW and about 100m below we saw kinda Hawk or an Eagle perching and screeching. We managed to take a few pics of the fellow (pity didn’t have about 40+ zoom on me) but my 20X plus digital zoom got me a passable pic. I had to use Harinda’s back instead of the tripod to eliminate the shakiness at the extreme zoom range.

Passing a makeshift Kovil, only with a Trishul which had been dug out by the searching boars. Just beyond there was a tree with fertilizer bags hung like flags. Morgan said many think that this is the summit and turn around but not so. Then it was the camping site and as I said above, there were only charred remains of wood remaining, no plastic or papers strewn about. So whoever did the camping had done a tremendous job (hoping they didn’t throw anything over the rock to the bottom) and hats off to them.

Just through a thick bush, we reached the summit. Some team from Kandy had gone and put up a flag not at the correct place but Morgan had put it up near the actual summit. There is hardly any room to sit and wind is fierce. Be very careful coz the edge is always wet due to mist and deadly dangerous.

We had our remaining breakfast, more Roti, cheese and cream crackers with the precious Lunu miris and dhal. It took us exactly 4hrs to reach the top (by 10.40am) and decided to stay till 11.30am hoping the mist would clear enough for a few pics. Around 11.10am, I decided it’s pointless to wait anymore but Morgan reassured it will clear away. About 11.15am, the mist cleared even though partially, and we managed to get a few pics and turned around.

Mist was so stubborn…

Tea estates below…

Grand pic

Jutting out of the rock… love those colours

He’s the one who was making noises all the time

Know the fellow?

Ready to fly away

This is towards Radella

Rock formation of the summit… more to go

Life on the rocks…

Vividness

Lovely

Morgan was constantly on the phone with the station checking the train times

The three musketeers

This is marked as the summit, but not actually… further more to go

Camping site

The flag carried by a previous group but had hung at the wrong place, Morgan had put it here

Mist enveloping the surrounding and she was so cool with drops of water

Not to be taken away…

Love that water on the leaves

Finally a breakthrough – GW station

Village further on

Morgan’s village, the Kovil in the middle

The ground beyond Morgan’s village

More buildings and villages nearby

Railway and its quarters below

Mist went away completely

The edge is slippery and earth is very loose….

There comes Udarata Menike bound for Colombo

Passing the quarters below

Disappearing

Panoram

Coming back….

Along the way, we stopped by again coz Morgan wanted to show us the Colombo bound Udarata Menike snaking its way to the GW from Nanuoya station. We heard the train but the mist still very stubbornly refused to go away. However, as the train appeared at the bend, the mist went away and we managed to take pics of the new Chinese S12 train. Light blue was very prominent against the green background and it’s longer with 8 carriages and two either side engines than the good old M6 with 6 carriages. However, Morgan predicted those new Chinese ones will be outta service in 10 years…

Then it was time to take on the horrendous downhill journey and Harinda used his rock sliding skills to the max. He made new inroads and paths were cleared as if by magic. He said “I wish I could fly to the GW station from here” and I wanted to help him with my Kung-Fu and replied that I could maybe send him right into Morgan’s village and with luck he’d end up at the Station. He simply wouldn’t hear any of it and trust my skills. Instead he used his own methods and after a strenuous journey we did the worst part and heaved a sigh of relief.

Walking back we came across the Stag-gnawed tree and I wanted another tiny piece of chewing gum. It tasted grand after the exhausting climb. I was relieved to get back to the open area and we heard the Badulla bound Podi Menike coming from GW and waited anxiously for her to appear. It was very clear as we were very close to the bottom and it was easy to point and shoot.

Came back to the Kovil, paid our respects for giving us good weather and making our journey a safe one, replenished our water bottles and was on our way back to the GW station around 1.30pm (It only taken 2 hours for the downhill).

Near the station, there was a butterfly beauty bathing in the sun. She said that she just returned from Adma’s peak and posed for a few pics for me. The workers were redoing the track changing the old sleepers at the station.

We were hoping to catch the 2.15pm train back to Colombo and there was a delay. We washed and had the delicious lunch brought to the station by Morgan’s wife. There was a dog (now you gonna wonder what’s so special about a dog, right?) and surprisingly his name was “Kema” (food). We gave him some of our lunch and when called “Kema” he responded. Funny things do happen.

Apparently, the delay got worse coz the M6 engine had failed at Nanuoya and they were waiting for a replacement from Nawalapitiya which was good 2hrs away. We didn’t wanna push our luck anymore instead took the Badulla train to Nanuoya around 4.00pm and then proceeded to N’Eliya. Fortunately there was an AC bus leaving for Colombo at 5.15pm and took it and reached Colombo around 10.00pm.

Well, that’s the story of the Mysterious girl of GW. She is so proud and wouldn’t let many people get close to her. She keeps her beauty hidden most of the time with mist. So should you ever to attempt her, don’t do anything to harm her beauty. She’s such a gorgeous mountain.

It was my first trip with Harinda (a Lakdasun member) and there’ll be plenty more coming in the future.

Sri & Hari de Great Western fairy tale ends here and do enjoy the pics…. Ask any questions…

Radella broadcasting tower

Abandoned Tea factory, they had tried to convert into a garment factory but not worked out

Wild boars are responsible for these…

Making new paths

Bidding us farewell

Don’t wanna leave her

The other peak…

There goes Podi Menike towards Nanuoya

Up close, I guess the guard is looking at us

10 carriages in all

Morgan leading the way…

The path you have to take across the mountain to the summit… easier shown than done

She just said Hi…

Told me just returned from Sri Pada

Happily agreed to pose for a pic for me

Side view, see the Butterfly Walk

Signals not ready yet

Walking the final bit…. legs screaming at me

Changing the old sleepers

Hard work

Ready to weigh?

Tiny tiny birds eveywhere…

The first ever pic of a Maina, had to go all the way to GW to take it

Here’s the fellow with the funny name “Kema”

“Darling, don’t look, they are taking our pics”

08.30am Badulla train coming in to GW

This is the only old engine at work now due to the introduction of Chinese S12

See ya later guys…

Lady… see you later….

I see this mountain from faraway almost every day but had not got a chance to climb it. My father had told me that the area was controlled by the army and we needed permission to go up there. He promised that he would one day find a way to take me up there.

In November last year my father was invited to join some of his friends to climb Piduruthalagala Mountain. He had asked them if I too could join.

The following day we went to Nuwaraeliya by vehicle and reached the army check point at the entrance to the forest. Although we had permission to walk to the top, the soldiers at the check point were reluctant to allow us to walk. However, my father’s friends made a few calls and then we were allowed to walk.

Although Piduruthalagala is the highest point of the country (2524m) the walk up the mountain along the road was easy. The distance to the top was 5.6km. Walking through the trees was interesting and as the weather was good whenever there were openings in the trees we could see beautiful scenery.

Adam’s Peak far way

Nuwaraeliya Town far below

Waterfall in the Jungle

Along the road there were some thorny bushes that had some wild berries. We picked some just to taste and I got the ripe ones.

Yammy

When we reached the top it looked like a town. There were lots and lots of buildings and antenna towers. Many more buildings were also being built.

We walked up to the top most point where the Survey Department has made a ‘Trig Point’.

2524m

North – South – East – West

However, as the mist had come down we could not see around.

After spending some time at the top we came back down the road in a vehicle and returned home.

Map of Olagangala – Click Map to Enlarge

Map of Kanugolla – Click Map to Enlarge

Whenever I take my camera with me it will drive me to somewhere interesting and this was one of those days. Since I had some official work on a Saturday which I managed to finish within 2 hours, decision was taken to pay a quick visit to Olagangala(at Mahiyangana). Working in a remote area where plenty of archaeological sites could be found is one of those benefits I cherish. I have seen a name board previously somewhere around 15th mile post on Bibila – Mahiyangana road and was thinking of it visiting this hermitage called Olagangala someday. The provincial tourist board of Uva has done a splendid job by putting up boards all around the province aiding random travelers to notice these places and visit them. And I have been one of those guys

After getting down at the name board I had to walk for about 2km along a calm gravel road shaded by huge dry zone trees until I met a lake just before the hermitage. The hermitage of Olagangala had few newly built buildings and it seemed to be visited by many worshipers and roamed by notorious monkeys . After meeting a head priest and explaining my intentions he was kind enough to let two little monks to show me around since I was all alone. So we started climbing along an uphill path which began close to the “sthupa”. Though the climb was not tough at all (there were rock steps) the extreme heat made things bit difficult for me. The two monks took me to the main cave which once had 21 partitioned “kuti” and the marks on the cave roof justifies the fact. There was along inscription mentioning that it belongs to 3rd king Shiva and it is supposed to be belonging to 2/3 B.C.

starting point at 15th mile post

the board seems like 1000 years old

the road towards Olagangala

Olagangala

Kiriweleddagoda lake

they were mischief’s

the foot path

the monks who guided me

first and main cave with 21 kuti

the inscription – Click Image to Enlarge

statue in the cave

cave view

evidence of kuti

the huge cave

Next we continued uphill until we reached the top of the rock where a vandalized modified “sthupa” could be found. The view from the top is simply great in the sense one can appreciate the mountain range with the famous 18 bends, part of Knuckles range, Sorabora lake, Mapakada lake, Kokagala of Pad’iyathalawa, mountains of Maduru oya and Ulhitiya. We were also lucky enough to have a glimpse of the koth kerella” of Mahiyangana “sthupa” too. After having a good look around we started descending along another path which led us towards the second cave with an inscription saying that it belonged to “Washa thero” and donated by king Shiva. The other end of the cave had a “kutiya” made out of rocks and currently it was not in use. Not so far away there is another “kutiya” with a Budhdha statue where currently a monk meditates but at that particular moment he was not in the vicinity. Within 10 minutes we reached the temple premises from a totally different path. It’s better to ask directions precisely because there are few foot paths around. Also having a little monk to show you around will be a great aid. After getting to the base I was treated with a hot cup of tea, as always monks are kind hearted and will offer you something if they have and I was pleased to have that cup of tea since I was so hungry. After having a short conversation I decided to head back towards the main road though my soul wanted to stay there for few days.

off we go

view from the top

view towards maduru oya and padiyathalawa

towards ulhitiya

dambarawa lake

diyawana oya and sorabora

kokagala of Padiyathalawa

more scenery, couldnt take my eyes off

end of the central hills (18 wanguwa)

Panorama from olagangala

vandalized

they have scribbled on the sthupa too

sakman maluwa

2nd cave with inscription

part of the cave

its inscription

rocks placed together

steps on the rock

modified kutiya

resembling lord budhdhas dushkara kriya process

down we go

Next place of interest was not in my days plan and it was all because of a notice board put up by the Uva tourist board. I had to head back towards Ridimaliyadda and I got down at 8th mile post close to a 3way junction where there was an uphill road. It was only 1km from the main road towards Kanugolla temple but it was a 60 degree climb along a tarred road which was heated up to the extreme. Once you get to the temple you will not find anything fascinating but there is a huge drip ledge cave in the forest behind the “sthupa”. There is a clear path which will take you towards a well cemented fleet of steps leading towards the main cave complex. This huge cave had been recently renovated. Also there were two small rooms in it and one was been redesigning as an image house. There were some scattered bricks to be seen around the corner belonging to past and let to be decayed.

next attraction

fleet of steps

first view of the cave

repaired recently

view of the main compartment

the two rooms

framed

colours were changed a bit

preserved wall

double drip ledges

vandalized by treasure hunters

another kutiya

a drip ledge

Later I decided to get to the top of the cave to find the interesting rock pond encircled by “bo” trees and to do so I had to go around the cave a bit and find the foot path. On top of the rock one can enjoy the unique view towards the hill tops of Elamanna mini worlds end. It’s like looking up from the bottom of the worlds end. After hanging around bit on the slanted rock I descended back towards the temple and inquired about the history of the place and as usual no one knew anything about it. Since I was extremely hungry and panting in thirst had to rush back to the main road to catch a bus towards Bibila where I had a late lunch before departing towards Monaragala. This was one of those days where I went to work and ended up loitering around. Also here are some interesting places close to Mahiyangana which I have visited previously (view Trip Report – Ancient Paradise – Mahiyanganaya) and out of them Naghadeepa RMV is located between Olagangala and Kanugolla on Bibila road.

the pond with bo trees on the summit

madulsima worlds end

panorama towards bibila

used for meditation

owards dehigala and elamanna

wow	must go there someday

view towards bibila

far away mountains of medagama and kotabowa

plenty of paddy

perfect frame

Thanks for reading

On 1st of May, we took a bus to Ellamalle and then walked towards Ella Rock Point. The day was clear and all the mountain ranges were visible.

Thotupola Kanda

The ‘Double M’ – Hakgala

It was an easy walk though mostly eucalyptus plantations

We came across a lot of spider webs of different sizes

As it was after the rainy season there were a lot of new pine plants all over the place

We reached a clear place and were able to see far away

When we reached the 1st observation point, we could see the Babaragama waterfall and the Wellawaya – Ella road.

The Bridge far below

The top part of the waterfall

As it was just after the monsoon the whole area was green

‘Handa Mama’ was still around

After spending some time at the observation point we started walking towards Ella Rock Point. On our way to Ella Rock I had to listen to several lectures……. and my father was the lecturer!!!

Lecture 1 – Water making its own shadow

Lecture 2 – Protection from fire

Lecture 3 – Part I – Natural Spring

Lecture 3 – Part II – Feeling the ‘water jet’

Lecture 3 – Part III – The beginning of a river

Lecture 4 – Lighting Strike

Lecture 5 – Survey Departments Measurements

At Ella Rock Point, we were able to see all around us and the scenery was beautiful.

Namunukula Range

Little Adam’s Peak

At the start of the hike my father gave me ownership of his camera. During the hike he tried many times to encourage me to photograph wild mushrooms and other tiny plants which I refused to do as I was more interested in chatting with my Loku Amma & Loku Thatha. My father was not too happy about it and he photographed them himself. These are some of what he shot.

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However, I photographed a tree mushroom and he says I have scored 100/100 for it. Here it is…

My father calls this ‘Natures Bulls Eye’

Later we walked down to the railway track at Kithalella and walked along the railway track to Heeloya railway station. Here I observed a funny incident. A train that arrived at the station started pulling out of the station. Two ladies who were coming towards the station signaled to the driver to stop the train for them to get in. The moving train stopped for at least 5 minutes and waited for the two ladies to get to the station, buy their tickets and board the train.

We hopped a bus home.

Hasalaka = Elephant Pass

Ring any bells? How about this formula then?

Hasalaka + Gamini = Elephant Pass

That should certainly look familiar coz those are inseparable names in our recent history and it would only be infants or very young children who haven’t heard this war hero Corp. Gamini Kularathna. I actually had to change the name of my report from “Pride of Hasalaka” to “Lifeline of Hasalaka” coz Hasalaka Gamini is the Pride of Hasalaka.

So here I’m again with the continuation of my fairy tale from breath-taking Meemure and hope you’ve read it and enjoyed it as much as I did (Jaunting off to the Most Beautiful Village on Earth – Meemure).

This banner is at diplay at Elephant Pass, I took this pic in Apr 2011…

This is the destroyed bull dozer at Elephant pass

I left you guys at Hunnasgiriya after our morning snack of sponge cake, banana and what keeps me going Coffee… We had to wait at Hunnasgiriya for a Mahiyanganaya bus longer than I liked due to 25 April being a Poya day.

Finally around 8.15am, there was a CTB bus and we gladly got into it. However, to my utmost amazement, after about 600m, it stopped for tea. Would you believe it, you wait about 40mins for a bus and then it stops for tea as soon as you get into it  I realized they usually stop at that particular place not far from Hunnasgiriya town for a break. I was anyway in a very happy mood coz Meemure was magnificent and everything went according to plan. After another 10mins we were finally on our way, passing Dumbara mountain range.

You gotta see them to believe it. Such beautiful unending, misty mountains, glinting in the morning sun like diamonds, gosh, I was speechless and the bus driver wasn’t kind enough to stop for a quick snap We then reached the newly laid 18-bends and it’s been ages since I last was here and I’d practically forgotten all about it till recent hullabaloo of widening the road. It really is great that they’ve widened and carpeted that bit coz it’d been very difficult for vehicles, especially for buses and Lorries, to maneuver around, causing long tail backs.

They even have put up mirrors at the bends so that you can see the opposite end, I guess this helps when it’s misty and you can see the reflection of headlights of other vehicles coming up or down. Again, the driver won’t have any of my pleas for a quick stopover

Lemme tell you something very interesting happened in the bus. There was this fellow (later he said his name Asela, if I’m not mistaken) and started, I guessed, a typical bus talk and I simply ignored him. However, after sometime, I realized that he was actually talking about preserving the nature and giving us advice what we should and could do. Unfortunately, when I realized this, he was at the end of his speech and requested all the mothers to pack their husbands’, sons’ or daughters’ lunch into a container, not to use polythene covers. Well I felt ashamed of not listening to him properly:-(

His parting words were these: “We don’t own this Mother Nature. We just belong there”. What a remarkable saying it really is. He even sold a tiny booklet of his ideas and things we should do for Rs. 10/- and let me tell you, by the time he reached the back of the bus, every one of them was sold out. It shows that our people really do care about this world, what they need is some good advice delivered nicely and practically. I hope Asela would forgive me for thinking as if he was just another nuisance in the bus. (Hope one day he will get to know this

We reached Hasalaka around 9.30am and went in search of a tuk-tuk. However, I went and spoke to a fruit vendor and asked the directions to Rathna Ella rather than speaking directly to a tuk-tuk and my tact worked. He then pointed at a certain tuk-tuk and said he’d know where to go. He’s been called by his buddies “Deyya” and he asked for Rs. 400/- for the trail head and promised to take us right up and show how to get to Rathna Ella.

We happily got in and went past the Statue of Hasalaka Gamini and turned to our right (coming from Hasalaka town) along the road to Wasgamuwa. After about 1km passing the main bridge across Hasalaka tank, we turned left to Sri Dammananda road which too has a narrow (passable by a small vehicle like a Dimo Batta or tuk-tuk) iron bridge. You can’t miss it

From there, difficult go get the directions, but you just have to follow you nose and ask the villages if you travel by your own vehicle. In about 20mins, we reached the end of our journey by tuk-tuk and I asked Deyya if we could leave our baggage somewhere. He then took us to this Weda Mama’s place (Ashan had used the same place when he went to see Rathna Ella) and got the permission to keep our baggage there. Unfortunately, Weda Mama wasn’t at home but his wife was very kind.

Through his garden, we had to climb (about 10ft) up to the channel which is about 4-5ft in width. Along it, they had built a bunt and we just had to follow it to the Rathna Ella. (Walk in the park compared to what we did in Meemure, but not even close when compared to the surroundings).

Sometimes, the path is too narrow, you gotta be very careful as there’s a steep downhill on the left. We walked and walked thanking the thick forest patch on the right above us sheltering the path from scorching sun. This channel carries water to the paddy fields down hill and the farmers plough and harvest 3 seasons (other areas only two, Yala and Maha) and Deyya mentioned that the water levels don’t get completely dried up. Hasalaka Oya keeps the water levels sufficient enough for those people to farm.

We passed about 3 falls below, which can only be heard and barely seen due to thick grown trees on the downhill below. It’d be really challenging to get down through all that. I though it’d be more feasible coming down from Rathna Ella along Hasalaka Oya as the water levels were not at an alarmingly high. There’s another famous water fall called “Kaluwa Wetuna Ella” before the Rathna Ella. Unfortunately we couldn’t get down to her even though we heard her clear enough. However, there was another beautiful fall considerably high about 150m from the base of Rathna Ella and I’m not sure if it has a name.

The Statue at Hasalaka, behind is the road towards Wasgamuwa

One of the greatest heroes of our recent past….

This is the narrow iron bridge I mentioned about… I’m watching if a vehicle is coming coz you can’t be on the bridge when one does

Haslaka Tank

I love this pic

Along the way, they are getting ready of another ploughing

Up there is the main road but you can’t really see it through the trees

Resting place at the paddy field

Ok, just got on to the bunt and away we went

Some tricky passes (you gotta jump from one to the other or get into the channel )

Shady all the way

This water is precious for those farmers

The first glimpse was through the forest patch above a paddy field and many millions of wows were started there. She was so rich and beautiful and I was staring at her in a trance till my friend reminded me that we could of course get nearer to her I felt very silly.

Then there was the talking rather communicating bull (again you heard it right) and here’s what happened. He was huge and pitch black fellow and my friend asked if the falls is near from him and to my disbelief, he actually nodded not just once but twice. (Reminds you of fairy tales of Andare, right?). My friend too was flabbergasted and he then asked if we’d have any difficulties getting to the falls. Guess what happened? He simply shook his head, twice again as if to say “No, there won’t be any trouble”:-) :-) :-)

I decided not to burden him with further questions and went happily and at a quicker face to reach my beloved Rathna Ella ASAP. We first saw the cascade I mentioned above and she too was about 20-30ft in height. Even though it was considerably dry, the water levels were great and helped us get closer without any trouble. Rathna Ella was like a mother to many falls. If you look closely, she resembles Baker’s falls a bit, like a stretched version of Baker’s falls. (I simply don’t like to use that name as it’s a name of a killer of many Elephants, but what choice do I have?

There’s a path you have to take to get to the base of Rathna Ella, but it’s really difficult to get very close as the water is fiercely coming down with billions of water droplets covering the whole area. You’re bound to get wet completely in seconds. We stayed as close as possible about half hour and then came back to the first cascade and got this urge to go for a cool dip. It’s very dangerous to go for a swim in the base pool, so we chose a harmless, innocuous rock pool and had nice cool dip and it really refreshed us.

After about another half hour, around 11.30am, we left, sadly though, and reached Weda Mama’s place around 12.30pm. On the way back, we met about 2-3 groups of people carrying bottles and food to the falls and felt very annoyed. Hopefully, they didn’t abuse her that much. We reached Weda Mama’s house and there was a nice cocoa tree which donated us one of her juicy cocoa which we devoured after a tiring walk.

Deyya was waiting and we said our thanks to Weda Mama’s wife and departed for Hasalaka town. On our way back, we paid our respects to one of the greatest heroes of our recent history, Hasalaka Gamini, who made the supreme sacrifice for this country. He’ll forever be remembered.

Then Deyya showed us the place called “Ambula” (right in front of Hasalaka Police station) for lunch. They served us a very delicious meal of Carrot, Polos (my favorite), Mallung, Papadam (full vegetarion coz it was the Poya) and I simply loved it. The price was too very cheap and we then crossed the road and waited for a Kandy bus.

On our way along 18-bends, we could see miles into Mahiyanganaya area, Hasalaka Oya was clearly visible and I suppose the bigger one beyond that was the famous Sora Bora Wewa. It’d’ve been grand to go for a walk along the 18-bends in the early morning coz you can see the sun rising and the surrounding mountains will be simply amazing to watch.

We reached Kandy around 3.55pm and had nightmarish incident with the Kandy station officers those who were extremely rude and impolite. We then were forced to take the 4.06pm Podimenike instead of the Intercity at 5.10pm or 5.30pm and reached Fort around 7.30pm.

That’s the end of my fairy tale of Rathna Ella, Sri de Hasalaka…. What an unforgettable journey it turned out to be coz Rathna Ella came into my radar very unexpectedly and since then I wanted to go see her.

Hope you guys enjoyed my vivid fairy tale

Cheers… now to the most amazing pic story.

There She issssssssssss

Getting closer, zooming in

Up close, such a beauty

All done and dusted

Grand place to spend a night, complete isolation

Giving them a hand

Talking Bull posing for a pic

Need to wait a bit more

The cascade just before the Mother Rathna Ella

You can see they’ve built a wall and made a small reservoir like

Above the trees, very near

The small cascade flows down

Not overflowing but enough to retain the beauty

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Steep climb to reach the Rathna Ella

Rock boulders

Some more, apparently in high season, water flows clean above these

Finally full face… she’s a Queen

Breath-taking and majestic

Wish I could hug you

When the water levels are very high, it would be the sight

Wasps’ honey (Bambara Wada)

Curd and Honey??? gorgeous mushrooms

Well….

Tiny falls just below

Mother is watching over her daughter

Had a dip in a shallow rock pool

Bidding farewell

Where did she come from?

Pair of them

Awesome

See you lady, and we gonna badly miss you

“We don’t own this Mother Nature; We simply belong there. We depend on her. So we have no right to abuse her in any way. Protect her by all means…. “

During this journey I needed to visit at places in Warakapola-Karawanaella, Galapitamada-Nelundeniya and Ruwanwella-Galigamuwa roads. Ancient Seethawaka kingdom was situated over this area. Although I had a tight schedule before the journey, the evening shower ruined some of my plans. Somehow I was able to visit at following places.

Day-1

1. Dorawaka pre historical cave (දොරවක ලෙන)
2. Pethangoda garden (පෙතන්ගොඩ උයන) and Wangedi-Molgas Ella (වන්ගෙඩි මෝල්ගස් ඇල්ල)
3. Manikkadawara ancient Tampiti temple (මැණික්කඩවර ටැම්පිටි විහාරය) and remaining of Portuguese castle
4. Holombuwa Sthreepura cave temple (හොලොම්බුව ස්ත්රීකපුර විහාරය)
5. Dadigama Kotawehera (දැදිගම කොට වෙහෙර), archeology museum and Dadigama temple

Day-2

1. Brandi Kovil (බ්රැදන්ඩි කෝවිල)
2. Tomb of King Rajasingha (රාජසිoහ සොහොන)
3. Ancient Britain Castle of Ruwanwella
4. Palngamuwa suspension bridge (පාලම්ගමුව සoගිලි පාලම) and Hakurugala cave temple (හකුරුගල රජමහා විහාරය)
5. Manella waterfall (මානැල්ල)

Places of visit – Black star = Dorawaka cave, Purple star = Pethangoda garden, Red star = Manikkadawara temple, Brown star = Holombuwa temple, Green star = Dadigama. Orange star = Britain castle, Yellow star = Palangamuwa Bridge, Blue star = Manella fall – Click Map to Enlarge

Places of visit – Black star = Brandi kovil, Red star = Rajasingha tomb – Click Image to Enlarge

Dorawaka pre historical cave

Importance of this cave is it has about 30 sketch drawings belonging to pre historical era.

You have to get Madeniya (මාදෙනිය) bus from Warakapola town. (Alternative bus is Warakapola-Ruwanwella bus and has to get a three-wheeler from the junction where Madeniya road starts). If you tell the conductor or driver they will drop you in front of the road towards the cave. Actually this road starts in front of a boutique. Then you have to walk about 2km, initially it is a concrete road and later it becomes a footpath way within a rubber estate. Vehicles can be driven to a certain extent.

It likes an inverted ‘V’ shape. 82 feet long, 55feet high.

Drawings were numbered by the archeology department

Brahmin letters and symbols belong to pre-historical period

Belongs to B.C 8-10

Sketch of a Tusker

If you need a closer view of letters and drawings, have to jump over this fence

Newly built Kuti

Following the cave we walked back to the main road and got the bus towards Pethangoda. (First have to go to the junction where Madeniya road meets Karawanalla road and then Karawanalla/Ruwanwella bus).

Pethangoda garden

You have to get your turn to left side on the Warakapola-Karawanalla road at Pethangoda to watch Pethangoda Bamboo bushes.

The ancient road from Seethawaka kingdom to Central kingdom was situated close to this garden and people were used to rest at this garden on their way.

Following the war with King Wimaladarmasooriya, King I Rajasingha (Seethawaka Rajasingha) came to get a rest here on his way back to the Kingdom. His leg has been pierced by a bamboo thorn and it was enough to kill the King.

Nowadays you can see only two bamboo bushes here. The lake in front of the garden is now covered with plants. Ancient garden was large about 42arches.

There are other stories also behind the death of King Rajasingha. While the king was walking in the garden he was bitten by a cobra and king was unconsciousness due to snake venom. Then he was brought to the Seethawaka kingdom by a boat. Near the Anguruwalla, king’s feet became black. (Gangrenous.) Further down the river, king wanted to step down the boat and he became limp once he stepped on the bank. That area is called Karawanalla. (Korauna walla->Karawanalla)

කොරවුන+ වැල්ල-> කරවනැල්ල

The place where king’s feet became black now called Anguruwalla.

අගුරු වුන+වැල්ල->අගුරු වැල්ල

Warning – Click Image to Enlarge

Historical information – Click Image to Enlarge

Two bamboo bushes

Bamboo thorns

Ancient lake now covered with plants

Then we preceded our journey towards a nearby waterfall called Wangedi-Molgas Ella. (Actually it is a small water stream). This name is due to a piece of rock likes a “Molgaha” and bathing pool likes a “Wangedi”. You have to walk about 2km from Pethangoda garden towards this waterfall.

So called Molgaha

Bathing pool-Wangediya

After having a bath at this water stream we came back to Pethangoda and got a bus towards Galapitamada. The time was around 2pm and we had to satisfy from bread for our lunch at Galapitamada town.

Then we took the Kegalle bus from Galapitamada and got down at Manikkadawara junction (less buses in this road compared to Warakapola-Ruwanwella road).The archeology board shows the direction towards the temple and distance was 2km from Manikkadawara junction.

Manikkadawara Temple

• It has three importance.
• Ancient Tampiti Temple-Belongs to Kandyan era.
• Paintings of this Tampiti temple. One of them shows a Sinhala king is eating by spoon and fork.
• The Bo tree. This is the one mention in famous poetry called Thisara sandeshaya. (තිසර සන්දේශය)

Tampiti Temple.-now under renovation. Therefore unable to watch paintings

Temple is on 14 stone pillars

The Bo tree

When you cross the road from the temple, you can visit at remaining of Old Portuguese castle. Nowadays you can see star shaped basement only.

Star shaped castle

Then we came to Thunthota (තුoතොට) junction and got a three-wheeler to Holombuwa to visit Sthreepura temple.

Holombuwa Sthreepura cave temple.

This is one of an interesting place I have visited.

.	Historical information – Click Image to Enlarge

Nice arch over the temple

The door with paintings

Small pagoda within the image house

Roof paintings

Perennial pond

Then we walked about 3km towards the Dadigama (Road on the other side of the temple connects to Dadigama.) It was scenic in the evening.

Another evening to Dadigama

Dadigama has three importance.

• Kotawehera
• Archeology museum
• Dadigama ancient temple

Kotawehera

This was built by King I Parakramabahu (1153-1186) at his birth town Dadigama. This pagoda doesn’t have a Pinnacle. Only has three basal rings and dome.

Height is 47feet and top is 26000square feet large

There is a small stupa inside this large stupa

Number of antiques were excavated from this archeology site and now kept at Archeology museum of Dadigama.

The brass elephant oil lamps and gold plated Samadhi Buddha statue can’t be seen there. They are kept at National museum Colombo.

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As it was around 5pm we couldn’t visit at archeology museum at Dadigama. (Archeology museum opens from 8am to 4pm) Then we came back to Colombo.

Day 2

Second day I started my journey from Awissawella and preceded from there towards Ruwanella. Before Thalduwa junction, the archeology board can be seen in right hand side towards the Brandy kovil.

Brandy kovil

The great king Rajasingha (The last king who has brought the Sri Lanka to one canopy in 16th century.) has built this kovil under instructions of “Aretha keewendu Perumal”(අරිඨ්ඨ කී වෙන්ඩු පෙරුමාල්). This was built as seven stories building to worship devil Kala or god Shiva. Rajasingha I has killed his father and later worried about it. The person Aretha Keewndu came from India and instructed the king the only way to come out of the sin is to build a Kovil by diverting the Seethawaka River.

Later Portuguese have destroyed it.

Now we can only observe the basement of this building. This land is boarded by Seethawaka River from three sides.

Brandy Kovil with it’s entrance

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Following Brandy kovil, we walked towards Thalduwa junction. Our next place of visit was tomb of Rajasingha I. you have to go in Gurugalla road about 2km to reach there.

Tomb of King Rajasingha I

Remaining of the tomb

Historical information – Click Image to Enlarge

Then we came back to Thalduwa junction and got the bus to Ruwanwalla.

Ancient Britain Castle of Ruwanwella

This is situated in the right middle of the Ruwanwella town. Nowadays Ruwanwalla police is situated in the castle. I first spoke to the receptionist of the Police and she was kind enough to show remaining of the castle after getting permission.

Entrance of the castle

The year is 1817

The wall

This part of the building is also belonging to old castle

Due to historical values of the castle, police can’t do new constructions here. Therefore they have planned to shift the police to somewhere else.

Palangamuwa suspension bridge

You have to walk towards the Ruwanwella ground to visit at suspension bridge. This was built few years ago it is 555feet long and considered as the longest suspension bridge of Sri Lanka.

Longest suspension bridge of Sri Lanka

The Kelani River meets Gurugoda oya

This is their bread and butter

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We crossed the bridge and got a three-wheeler to the nearby cave temple called Hakurugala temple.

Hakurugala cave temple

This is considered as a creation of King Rajasingha I. On the way to Hakurugala temple, you can see another rock called “Biso Panna Gala”. බිසෝ පැන්න ගල

Before go to the war, one of the King has told to his seven queens, if he win the war a white flag would be waved otherwise a black flag would be seen. Although he won the war, the person who waved the flag showed the wrong one. Seven queens realized the king has lost the war and suicide by jumping from this rock. Now it is called as Biso Panna Gala.

Biso Panna Gala

The rock where the cave temple is situated is contact with the ground by only limited area. But the nature has kept this rock like that for a longtime without rolling down.

Hakurugala cave temple

Note this rock touches the ground only by limited area. This is the side view

In some areas you can see the other side

Not like other cave temples. Other side of the rock is also a cave. Therefore you can walk around the rock

The water flows down from Hakurugala is having high density

Image house is under construction

Drip ledge

The person who worked at temple was kind enough to tell all these information as the priest was not at temple at that time. You can have a panorama view from the top of the rock but we didn’t try to climb it.

Manella waterfall

To reach Manella waterfall you have to take Kegalle bus from Ruwanwella and get down at Liyangahamula.(ලියන්ගහ මුල) From there you have to cross the bridge and walk towards Patti pelpita(පට්ටි පැල්පිට)about 2-3km. This bridge was built few years ago and villagers used the ferry to cross Gurugoda oya (ගුරුගොඩ ඔය) before that. If you come from Warakapola, there is a direct bus towards Weragala (වේරගල) to reach Manella fall.

Newly built bridge over the Gurugoda Oya

Gurugoda Oya flows. It is a branch of Kelani River

Main road and foot pathway towards Manaella. It is not difficult to find the waterfall

Maha Manella (මහා මානැල්ල) waterfall. 20m height. Villagers believe the God Manella stays here and named this waterfall by his name

This waterfall has two parts as Maha Manella and Kuda Manella. ( කුඩා මානැල්ල)

Kuda Manalla. 6m height

Going through bamboo bushes to climb the waterfall

Puhuwala ela flows to make Manella fall

Friends who came to visit at waterfall

After having a bath at Kuda Manella we finished the day. There are some more places belong to Seethawaka kingdom to be visited. Will see later

Thanks for reading

This journey we did some times back, most of the members of the crew are members of “Dumbara Mithuro” Environmental and Cultural Society. The society is devoted for the conservation activities in the Knuckles mountain range. On the other hand expedition in the knuckles forest is another prime objective of the society.

Knuckles mountain range consist of 34 main peaks and the most popular one among the public is “Knuckles” peak( 6,128), while the highest peak is “Gombania(6,253)”. Kalupahana is famous for disastrous cardamom estates, but it locates in the middle of the knuckles range, the peak (5,341) also surrounded by the estates. Our journey was planned in order to achieve the highest peak and assess the current condition of the “cardamom estate” in Kalupahana. We planned the journey in two stages as there is a long distance between Gombania and Kalupahana via forest, and that direction is very difficult due to the steep slope. It’ll take at least 12 hours to reach gombania to kalupaha, and also carrying a heavy backpack to facilitate 3 nights is not possible with the difficult path. (No path, actually we’ve to find a path).

Part 1 – Gombania

We started the journey around 4.00 a.m. at Malabe and reached Bambarella around 7.30 a.m. the first target was “Gombania”. Mr. Talwatta at Panwila helped us to find a well experienced and knowledgeable guide called “Nimal”. Through panwilla, huluganga we came up to “Alakolla Estate” by car and a motor bike. Road inside the estate is not possible with a car up to the point where road ends, but a vehicle with more ground clearance could do.

Factory

The road is ok about 1km after the factory using a normal vehicle, thereafter about 2km road is available up to the resting place constructed by the estate.

Resting Place

This is an ideal place to have a rest, before start the hiking through the forest, better to refill the water bottles. After this point up to another 1 km there is a foot path used by the estate workers. Thereafter we decided to find a direction to reach the peak, with the guidance of the land marks, but on our return we realized that there is a hidden path to the peak, but it is not clear at all.

We had to find our own path and clear the under grown

Gombania mountain range

Hiking through plants

Nimal, our guide explaining the plan to the crew, at this point we’ve done a half of the trek, behind the crew you can see the surrounding area down (Panwila & bambarella).

After that planning session we started the most difficult half of the trek, both the slope and thickness of the forest increases.

You cannot walk steadily and have to bend down.

The mountain is covered with plenty of flowers specially orchids.

The mountain is covered with plenty of flowers specially orchids.

After about 3 hours trekking we reached to the bottom of the rock (peak)

Then we had to go around the rock to reach the summit.

Happy faces at the summit

The peak is always covered in mist and sometimes it clears for few minutes, we captured some village in the down.

we captured some village in the down

Misty mountains

Misty mountains

We spent about 2 hours at the peak while having lunch and started to climb down , at least 3 hours is required to reach the resting place, hence before sun go down we went down.

First day night we stayed at the temple at bambarella

Part 2 – Kalupahana

Next day morning we started the journey to Kalupahana from bambarella, which is fairly easy one, as there is a very clear foot path. Two new members from bambarella joined the crew in place of local members (Nimal and Talwatta) participated in the yesterday.

A Typical view of “Knuckles Mountains” from bambarella

We continued our journey to kalupahana through “Lebonan Estate”

Without any difficulty we reached to Kalupahana cardamom estates within 2 hours and decided to stay at “KMP wadiya”

You can imagine the scale of cardamom estates in Kalupahana, these constructions are permanent illegal things within the knuckles range. Compared to the past now the cardamom estates are not functioning actively as it is prohibited by the rules. But we’ve observed still some “Ovens” which used to dried cardamom are operating. Due to the cardamom estates there is two main threats to the forest. First the under grow is cleared for cardamom plantations and hence in future when the matured trees died, there is no generation to fulfill the gap. Second, for, the matured trees are used for the fuel requirements of Ovens. Once the matured trees are died the “Kalupahana” will just be a grass land.

KMP wadiya

Pictures of Ovens

Cardamom – inside the oven

Cardamom Plantations – see the entire under grown is cleared

We started the trekking for Kalupahana peak early in the morning and had to reach the peak through cardamom estates while having a worm well come from leeches

worm well come from leeches

Sunrise at the peak, while we are striving

Beauty of a Montane forest

Crew at the summit

As I mentioned earlier Kalupahana Mountain is located in the center of the knuckles mountain range, hence you can have a 360 degree view of the entire range could be observed.

Knuckles mountains

Lakegala

Weak sight of Gombania through clouds

We came back to the bambarella via the same route to end our jouney. If you visit kalupahana do not forget to climb the mountain to get a panoramic view of the entire forest.

අපගේ මෙම සංචාරයේ මූලික අරමුණ වූයේ සිංහරාජ වනාන්තරයේ සිංහ ගල සොයායාමයි.

කඹුරුපිටියෙන් උදේ 7ට පමණ ගමන් ආරම්භ කර අනෙක් සාමාජිකයින් 5 දෙනා සමග අකුරැස්ස, උඩුගම හරහා නෙලුව බලා ගමන් ගත් අතර මංජු සහ ජයනෙත්ති පිලියන්දලින් ගමන් ආරම්භ කර දක්ෂිණ අධීවේගී මාර්ගයේ වැලිපැන්න පිවිසුමෙන් පැමිණ පැලවත්ත හරහා නෙලුවට පැමිණ අප හා එක්විය. නෙලුවෙන් අවශ්ය ආහාර ද්රාව්ය හා අනෙකුත් භාණ්ඩ මිලදී ගැනීමෙන් පසු අප පලමුවෙන්ම නෙලුව ලංකගම මාර්ගයේ නෙලුවේ සිට 7km ක් පමණ දුරින් පිහිටි කොස්මුල්ල දුවිලි ඇල්ල නැරඹීම සඳහා ගියෙමු. අප එම ස්ථානයට ලඟාවනවිට වර්ෂාව ඇදහැලෙමින් පැවතිනි. වර්ෂාව නොතකා ඇල්ල නැරඹූ අප, අපගේ දිවා ආහාරය එම ස්ථානයේදී ගැනීමට සූදානම් කර තිබුනත් වර්ෂාව නිසා දිවා ආහාරය නොගෙනම එම ස්ථානයෙන් පිටත් වී ලංකගම බලා ගමන් ඇරඹීමු. 11km ක් පමණ දුර ගෙවා ලංකගමට පැමිණෙන විට සවස 3.00 පමණ විය.

කොස්මුල්ලෙන් පසු මාර්ගය ඉතා පටුවන අතර, අධික කඳු බෑවුම් සහ වංගු සහිත එම මාර්ගයේ ඉතා සැලකිල්ලෙන් රථ ධාවනය කල යුතු විය. මාර්ගය ලංකගම තෙක් කොන්ක්රීට් අතුරා ඇති නමුත් සමහර ස්ථාන කැඩී ගොසින්ය.

Neluwa Kosmulla Duvili Ella

Click Image to Enlarge

ලංකගම ගම්මානයට පැමිණෙන විටම මාර්ගයේ වම් අත පැත්තෙන් දර්ශනීය දිය ඇල්ලක් දිස් වේ.එය බ්රාමහ්මණ ඇල්ලයි. එයට ඉහලින් තවත් දිය ඇලි හතරක් පිහිටා ඇත. ඇලි නැරඹීම පසුවට කල් තැබූ අප අපගේ නවාතැන වූ පිටදෙනිය නිවහන බලා ගමන් කලෙමු.

ලංකගම පාසල පසුකර ඉදිරියට යන විට පිටදෙනිය සංචාරක කළාපය, හා ලංකගම සංචාරක කළාපයට ඇති මාර්ග පෙන්වන පුවරුව හමුවේ. ඔබ පැමිණෙන්නේ 4WD හා Winch සහිත ජීප් රථයකින් නම් පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යබස්ථානයටම ගමන් කල හැක. ඒ සඳහා ලංකගම සංචාරක කළාපය පෙන්වා ඇති දිශාවට ගමන් කරන්න. දැන්වීම් පුවරුවෙන් දකුණට හැරෙනවත් සමග ඉදිරියෙන් යකඩ පාළමක් හමුවේ. එම පාලමෙන් ගමන් කර 500m ක් පමණ ඉදිරියට යනවිට මාර්ගයේ දුෂ්කරම කොටස හමු වේ. ටැක්ටර් ගමන් කිරීම නිසා මාර්ගය දෙපස හෑරී දැඩි ලෙස අබලන් වී ඇත. අප ගමන් ගත් ජීප් රථද එම මාර්ගයේ ධාවනය කරවූයේ ඉතා අපහසුවෙනි. මාර්ගයේ සමහර ස්ථානවල්දී ගල් දමා සකස්කර ගැනීමට සිදුවිය. එක් ස්ථානයකදී Winch එක පවා භාවිතා කිරීමට සිදුවිය.

Lankagama Pitadeniya Map (not to Scale) – Click Image to Enlarge

ඔබ පැමිනෙන්නේ වෑන් රථයකින් නම් එම මාර්ගයේ ගමන් කල නොහැකි අතර දැන්වීම් පුවරුවේ ඇති පිටදෙනිය සංචාරක කළාපය ලෙස පෙන්වා ඇති දිශාවට ගමන් කල යුතුය. එවිට පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යනස්ථානයට වාහනය රැගෙනයාමට නොහැක. එම මාර්ගයේ 1km ක් පමණ ඉදිරියට ගිය විට ආරණුව දොළ හරහා ඇති පටු යකඩ පාළම හමුවේ. ඒ ආසන්න ආරක්ෂිත ස්ථානයක වාහනය නවතා, එතැන් සිට අඩි පාරේ 300m පමණ ගිය විට ගිංගඟ හරහා ඇති වැල් පාළම හමු වේ. වැල් පාළමේ අනෙක් පස ඇත්තේ පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යපස්ථානයයි.

Crossing the Ginganga

Aranuwa Dhola

On the Way

On the Way

Pitadeniya Nivahana

Plant Demonstration of Rain Forest – Click Image to Enlarge

මෙම පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යගස්ථානයට ආසන්නයේම වනිගසේකර නිවහන පිහිටා ඇති අතර ඊට 50m ක් පමණ දුරින් ගිංගඟ නිවහන පිහිටා ඇත. ගිංගඟ නිවහනට 30m ක් පමණ දුරින් පිටදෙනිය නිවහන පිහිටා ඇත.

පිටදෙනිය නිවහනේ සිට බැලූ විට ආරණුව දොළ හරහා ඇති පාළම දිස්වන අයුරු

පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යදස්ථානයේ සිට බැලූ විට ගිංගඟ දිස්වන අයුරු

අප පිටදෙනිය සංරක්ෂණ මධ්යගස්ථානයට පැමිණ සුලු මොහොතකින් වර්ෂාව පතිතවන්නට විය. එම ස්ථානයේ සිටම දිවා ආහාරය ගන්නා විට වේලාව සවස 4.30 පමණ විය.

අපගේ අනන්ය්යතාව තහවුරු කිරිමෙන් පසු රැගෙන එන ලද ආහාර ද්රතව්ය හා ඩීසල් භාර දීමෙන් පසු අපගේ නවාතැන වූ පිටදෙනිය නිවහනට වර්ෂාව මධ්යලයේම ගියෙමු. සවස 6.30 පමණ වනවිට අවට තිබූ නිහැඬියාව බඳ දමින් විදුලි ජනකය ක්රිලයාත්මක විය. එයින් නැගුනු අධික ගෝෂාව නිසා අපටද ඇතිවුයේ ඉතා අප්රබසන්න හැඟීමකි. ඒ අවස්ථාවේ විදුලිජනකය අක්රී යකරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටීමටද හැකියාවක් නොමැති වූයේ, ඒ වනවිට වනිගසේකර නිවහනේ තවත් කණ්ඩායමක් ලැගුම් ගෙන සිටි නිසාවෙනි.

එදින රාත්රීක ආහාර ගැනීමෙන් පසු අප පසු දින දිවා අහාරය පාර්සල් කරදෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටි අතර අපට සිංහ ගලට යාමට මගපෙන්වන්නෙකු ලබා දෙන ලෙසද ඉල්ලා සිටියෙමු.

පසු දින උදේ 8.30ට පමණ සිංහ ගලට යාමට ගමන් ඇරඹූ අපට අනුර නම් මග පෙන්වන්නෙකුගේ සහාය ලැබුනි. අධික ලෙස කූඩැල්ලන් සිටින නිසා අධි සාන්ද්රරන්යෙන් යුත් ලුණු වතුර බෝතලයක් සාදා ගන්නා ලෙස ඔහුගෙන් උපදෙස් ලැබුනී. අප ලුණු වලට අමතරව සබන් හා සිද්ධාලේප රැගෙන ගියෙමු. සබන් හා සිද්ධාලේප කූඩැල්ලන්ට එතරම් තර්ජනයක් නොවුවත් ලුණු වතුර කූඩැල්ලන්ගෙන් අපව ගලවා ගැනීමට සමත් විය.(සිංහගලට යන තෙක් පමණී)

සිංහරාජය තරණය කරමින්

සිංහගල සොයා යන අතරතුර මද විවේකයක්

පිටදෙනිය නිවහනේ සිට සිංහ ගලට 14km ක් පමණ දුර බව ස්ථාන භාරකරු අපට පැවසීය. අපේ මග පෙන්වාන්නා වන අනුර ද එය සනාථ කරනු ලැබීය. පිටදෙනිය නිවහනෙන් ගමන් ඇරඹූ අප ගිංගඟ හරහා ඇති වැල් පාළම හා ආරණුව දොල හරහා ඇති පටු යකඩ පාළමෙන්  එගොඩ  වී වතුගල ගම්මානය හරහා 3km ක් පමණ ගොස් සිංහරාජ වනයට ඇතුලුවිය. වතුගල ගම්මානය හරහා පැමිණෙද්දී අධික වෙහෙසක් දැනුනමුත් වනයට ඇතුලු වූ විගස එය පහව ගියේය.

ඝන  වනාන්තරයේ පැහැදිලි අඩි පාරවල් නොතිබූ අතර අපගේ මගවෙන්වන්නාද තැනින් තැන මග සළකුණු තබමින් අපව රැගෙන ඉදිරියට ගමන් කලේය. වනය තුල 5km ක් පමණ ඉදිරියට යද්දී අපට එම ප්‍රදේශයේ අලි ගැවසුනු බවට හැඟෙන සලකුණු හමුවිය. විශාල අලියෙකුගේ හා කුඩා අලියෙකුගේ පා සලකුණු අපට පැහැදිළිව දැකගත හැකිවිය. බිම දමා පොඩිකර ආහාරයට ගත් කිතුල් ගසක කොටස් ද අපට හමු වූ අතර, එම ගසේ කොලවල තිබූ පැහැය අනුව එය සතියකට මෑත කාලයක බිමදැමූ ගසක් බව පැහැදිලිව පෙනිනි. අලි වසුරුද හමු වූ අතර  ඒවාද එතරම් දවස් ගත නොවූ බවක් පෙනින.  අප  ගමන් කල යුතු මග අලීන් ගමන් කල මගම විය. අලි ගමන් කල මාර්ගයේ 4kmක් පමණ අප ගමන් කල අතර එම මාර්ගය දල බෑවුම් සහිත කඳු හරහා වැටී තිබුනි. සමහර ස්ථානවලින් අලි කෙසේ ගියේදැයි අපට සිතාගැනීමටත් අපහසු විය. මාර්ගය ඉතා පටු වන අතර පහළින් විශාල හෙල වල් තිබූ ස්ථානවලින් අලි ගමන් කර තිබුනි. අපද එම මාර්ගයේ ගමන් ගත්තේ මාර්ගයට ඉහලින් ඇති ගස් වල එල්ලී ගෙනය. අපගේ මගපෙන්වන්නාද අවුරුදු 20ක් පමණ සිංහ ගලට යන මාර්ගය ගැන  අත්දැකීම් සහිත පුද්ගලයෙකු වුවත් ඔහුටද මෙය ආගන්තුක දර්ශනයක් බව අපට හැඟීනි.

සිංහගල මත

සිංහගල මත සිට ප්රිපාතය පෙන්වන අයුරු

10kmක් පමණ ගමන් කල අප තැනිතලා ප්ර්දේශයක් හරහා ගමන් කලෙමු. එහි ගලායන දොලපහරවල් කිහිපයක් හමුවූහ. එහි ජලය ඉතා පිරිසිදු තත්වයේ තිබූ අතර අප පානය කලේද එම ජලයයි. සිංහ ගල නැගීමට ආසන්න වෙද්දී අපගේ මග පෙන්වන්න පවසා සිටියේ අප රැගෙන ආ බෝතල් වලට ජලය පුරවා ගන්නා ලෙසයි. අප සිංහ ගල නැගීම පටන් ගත් අතර එය සීග්ර නැගීමක් සහිත විය. මාර්ගය පැහැදිලිව නොපෙනුනත් අනුර ගමන් ගත් මාර්ගයේ අපද ගමන් ගතිමු. කන්දේ ටික දුරක් යනවිට අපට ඉතා අධික වෙහෙසක් දැනුනමුත් තැනින් තැන කෙටි විවේක ලබාගනිමින් අප කන්ද මුදුනටම පැමිනියෙමු. ඉන් පසු සුලු දුරක් කන්ද අනෙක් පසට බැසීමෙන් සිංහ ගල නම් ස්ථානය හමු විය. එවිට වේලාව දහවල් 12.30 පමණ විය. අපට සිංහ ගලට පැමිනීමට පැය 4ක් පමණ ගතවී තිබුනි.

සිංහ ගල උඩට පැමිණි මට මතකයට ආවේ පළමුවෙන්ම ලෝකාන්තයට ගියපු ගමනයි. මෙම ස්ථානයද ඊට ටිකක් දුරට සමානය. පහලින් ඇති ප්රටපාතය ටික වේලාවකින් මීදුමෙන් වැසීගිය අතර එයද ලෝකාන්තය මෙන් විය.

මීදුමෙන් වැසී යන අයුරු

කුණකටුව

අං ශක 300 ක පමණ පුලුල් පරාසයක් නැරඹිය හැකි එම ස්ථානයට රත්නපුර, මාතර, සහ ගාල්ල දිස්ත්රී ක තුනම දැකගත හැකි වීම විශේෂත්වයකි. මීදුම තුරල් වූ විට ඈතින් පෙනෙන ගොංගල කඳුවටිය පැහැදිලිව දර්ශනය විය. අප සිංහ ගලට පැමිණ ස්වල්ප වේලාවකින් පසු මද වර්ෂාවක් ඇදවැටුන අතර ටික වේලවකින් එය පහව ගියේය. ඉන් ටික වේලවකට පසු අප රැගෙන එන ලද දිවා ආහාරය එම ස්ථානයේදී ගත්හ. ටික වේලාවක් එම ස්ථානයේ රැඳී සිටි අප මීදුම ගලා ඒමත් සමග එම ස්ථානයෙන් පිටත්වූහ. අප සිංහ ගල කන්ද බැසීම ඇරඹීමත් සමග තද වැසි පතිත වන්නට විය. වැස්සට තෙමි තෙමී ගමන් කරන අපට ලොකුම බාධකය වූයේ අපගේ කැමරා උපකරණ වැස්සෙන් ආරක්ෂාකර ගැනීමයි. අප පහසුවෙන් පසුකර ගිය දොල පහරවල් වලින් නැවත පැමිනෙන විට විශාල ජලපහරවල් ගලායාම නිසා අපට එම ස්ථාන පසුකිරීමට සිදු වූයේද ඉතා අපහසුවෙනි. අප නැවත පැමිනෙන විට වැස්සට හසුවීම නිසා ලුණු වතුර සහ සබන් වලින් කිසිම ප්රසයෝජනයක් නොවූ අතර කූඩැල්ලන්ගේ දැඩි ප්රඹහාරයට ලක්විය. අප නවාතැනට පැමිනෙනවිට සවස 5.00 පමණ විය.

බ්රාුහ්මණ ඇල්ල

තට්ටු ඇල්ල

පසු දින උදේ 8.30ට පමණ අප පිටදෙනිය නිවහනෙන් පිටත් විය. එසේ පැමිනෙන අතරතුර ලංකගම ආසන්නයේ ඇති දිය ඇළි නැරඹීමටද ගියෙමු. මෙහිදී 1km ක් පමණ දුරක් තුල දියඇළි 5ක් දැකගත හැකිවීම විශේෂත්වයකි. මාර්ගය ආසන්නයේ ඇති අවසරපත් කවුලුවෙන් අවසරපත් ලබාගත් අප මගපෙන්වන්නෙකු සමග පිටත්විය. පලමුවෙන්ම ඔහු අපව රැගෙනගියේ බ්රා හ්මණ ඇල්ල වෙතයි. එය තරමක් පළලින් වැඩි දිය ඇල්ලකි. ඊලගට අප ඌරා වැටුන ඇල්ලට ගියහ. මෙම ඇල්ල නැරඹූ අපට හැඟී ගියේ මෙය ඌරා වැටුන ඇල්ල නොව රූටා වැටෙන ඇල්ල ලෙසයි. මක්නිසාදයත් එය ගල්තලාව දිගේ රූටා වැටෙන නිසයි.

ඌරා වැටුන ඇල්ල

ලංකගම දූවිලි ඇල්ල

ඌරා වැටුන ඇල්ලෙන් වැටෙන ජල පහර ඊට පහළින් පිහිටා ඇති පටු එහෙත් ගැඹුරු ගල් දොරුවකට ඇද වැටේ, එය ගල්දොරුව ඇල්ලයි. එය ආරක්ෂිතව නැරඹීම සඳහා කුඩා වේදිකාවක් ඉදිකර ඇත. ගල්දොරුව ඇල්ලෙන් ගලායන ජලය ඊලඟට එකතුවන්නේ බ්රා හ්මණ ඇල්ලටයි

ඊලඟට අප ගියේ දුවිලි ඇල්ල බැලීමටයි. එය තරමක් උසින් යුත් දිය ඇල්ලක් වන අතර එයින් විසිරී යන ජල බිඳිති ඒ අවට දූවිල්ලක් සේ ගුවනට මුසුවේ. එම නිසා ඇල්ල ආසන්නයට ගිය විට ජලයෙන් නැහැවීයයි. ආසන්නයේ සිට ඡායාරුපයක් ගැනීම පවා අසීරුය. අප එම ස්ථානයට යනවිටත් විශාල පිරිසක් එහි නාමින් සිටියහ. දූවිලි ඇල්ලෙන් ගලායන ජලය එක්වන්නේ ඊට පහළින් පිහිටි තට්ටු ඇල්ලටයි. එය තට්ටු 2කකින් යුතු අතර තරමක් පළලින් යුතු ඇල්ලකි. තට්ටු ඇල්ලෙන් ගලායන ජලය එකතුවන්නේද බ්රාඑහ්මණ ඇල්ලටයි. දිය ඇලි නැරඹීමෙන් පසු ආපසු ගමන් ඇරඹූ අප නෙලුවට ලඟා වූ පසු මංජු හා ජයනෙත්ති අපෙන් සමුගෙන පිලියන්දල බලා පිටත් වූ අතර අප කඹුරුපිටිය බලා නැවත පැම්ණි මාර්ගයේම පිටත් වීමූ.

ගල් දොරුව ඇල්ල

ආපසු පැමිණීමට සූදානම් වී

ආපසු පැමිණීමට සූදානම් වී

Singharaja Rain Forest Map

Singharaja Rain Forest Map (මෙම සිතියම අන්තර්ජාලයෙන් උපුටාහන්න ලදි)

In red trail ends, green chariot path, blue loolecandura estate – Click Image to Enlarge

It was dawn of Sinhala & Tamil New Year and I wanted to make it a memorable one. All started one year back after hiking Yahangala which was linked with Ravana epic. Yahangala prompted me to go through few Ravana documentaries and important places related to the legend; though I’m not a blind believer I think he was one of the greatest kings in Sri Lanka. While going through some articles I came across a site called chariot path which urged me to pay a visit someday because of the unusual location of it. There was very little information about chariot path and the only way to find out was to go in search of it! This place is being visited by Indians regularly so then why not us been Sri Lankans should not!

3 of us arrived at Gampola on a sunny day trying to figure out a way to get to Frotoft estate so after talking with few locals we were told to go towards Pussellawa. From Pussellawa we gott in to a crowded “Pettarasi” bus which ascended through the delta estate and kept winding around tea estates producing some of stunning scenery which we couldn’t capture due to many reasons. After a bumpy bus ride through the upper Ramboda estates we reached the old Frotoft hospital. We were told that there is a clear trail to the said site but finding the trail head was the main problem. Fortunately we met Nimal at Frotoft estate line houses and he agreed to show us the way. We were extremely lucky to come across this guy at that moment because it was already 1pm. After walking about 1.5km through the scenic tea estates of Frotoft we reached the trail head at the boarder of the estate.

now abandoned old frotoff hospital

kotmale reservoir as seen to Frotoft

on the way towards the trail head

getting misty

this young stream later forms devathura oya

ladscaped perfectly

a lonely tree

this is what we are going to climb

There was a clear path almost all the way and even if it was bit covered at some places, it was not so difficult to keep in track. The initial stretch was almost flat and ran through the bushes and within no time it was a mild continuous ascend. This foot path is used by locals to cross over to the tea estate on Hewaheta side so it will not get completely covered for any reason. Even If you have a look in google earth the trail can be easily identified. The last bit was the toughest since we had to climb in a zig zag manner continuously uphill until we reached the top of the Piduruthalagala range. At this point we tipped of our helpful guide and walked through the mountain range with ease. The walk was through a classical mountainous forest just like walking in Horton plains and in no time we reached our destination which was a large plain area middle of no ware.

entering the forest

it continues through the nelu

Frotof watta line houses where we started the hike

its gonna rain soon

Sitha flowers(Ashoka)(Maha rath mal)

Bowitiya decorating the sideways

spookiness at its best

guess the direction of the wind

colourful mountainous forest tops

It took us about 1.5hours to reach the plains from the trail head and after we got there our exhaustion simply disappeared. It is a bare area with a huge grass land surrounded by short Nelu trees and mountainous forest. The chariot path is a road like path where the “Dandu monara” has been landed and it is said that King Ravana brought Sita devi to this place to show the beauty of his kingdom while flying from Lankapura to Ashoka Vatika!

Quote

The summit of the mountain next to the mountain range overlooking Frotoft Estate in Pussallawa is the place where Lord Hanuman first set his foot on mainland Lanka. This mountain known as Pawala Malai is visible from this mountain range. These hills stand tall in-between King Ravana’s capital city and Ashoka Vatika.

The barren land top of the mountain range is believed to be the route in which King Ravana took Sitadevi from his capital city Lankapura to Ashoka Vatika, which was a paradise on earth. Till date no vegetation grows on this passage except grass. King Ravana is believed to have taken this passage on top of these hills to show Sitadevi the beauty of his kingdom.

The Sita tear pond is found en route by the chariot route, is believed to have been formed by the tears of Sitadevi and has not dried up since, even during severe droughts when the adjoining rivers dry up.

In this area there are many large trees whose bright red blooms add colour to the scenery. These flowers are called Sita flowers. The peculiarity of these flowers is the configuration of the petal’s, stamen and pistil’s, which resemble a human figure carrying a bow, and is said to represent Lord Rama. These flowers are unique only to this area in the whole of Sri Lanka

the chariot path where Ravana took Sita to show the beauty of his kingdom

towards hewaheta

beautiful layers

one of those birds we met

experiencing a different world

The area was gloomy and there were signs of a rain within no time but that didn’t stop us from exploring around. It is truly a paradise and we experienced it at the fullest only on the next day. There was a clear water stream close to Sithas tear pond. There was evidence of recent illegal mining in the area and the other disheartening sighting was all the biscuit wrapping papers left over by visitors. Just before we pitched our tent we came to the edge of the mountain range which was at an altitude of 2000m to enjoy the panoramic view towards Kotmale and upper Ramboda regions. We found a suitable grass patch to camp on and when we were done with our tent it started to rain at around 4pm which lasted until 7pm. During this period drops of rain water started to seep through the zippers and made our life much more difficult! After the rain seized we did mop up our tent and had some bread and butter as dinner before we fell in to an interrupted sleeping process. Neither of us tried to get out of the tent to go in search of Samber because of the misty freezing climate on that day.

mist cleared off a bit

where we climbed from

the drop

we camped here

the plains

Sita’s tear pond(i didnt taste and see if it was salty)

without flowers

here comes the mist and rain

tree tops

Next day at around 4am we woke up and wanted to have a look outside, once we opened the cover of our tent we saw something we never expected to see. It was Adams peak with Hatton- Nallathanni trail lit up and that was simply an awesome unexpected sighting for us. We were pumped up and waited impatiently until the sun rise. We were also expecting some stunning scenery because the sky was already cleared off, so at around 5.45am we jumped out of the tent and proceeded along the path towards Rikillagaskada side where the sun seemed to be rising from. And it finally appeared behind an isolated cloud which lightened up the plains with its shiny orange rays to form some magical scenery. At this point mountain peaks at Rikillagaskada , Knuckles range and Mool oya estate started to become clearly visible.

dawn of day 2

the view of sri pada from chariot path note the hatton route lit up

Dawn over the chariot path

towards rikillagaskada

towards knuckles

the sun is covered

mool oya estate

grandfathers beard

here she comes

breathtaking…!

colourfull indeed

magical path

sun was shining on my tent

scenery at its best

We rushed back to our camp site and proceeded towards the opposite edge of the mountain to witness the beauty of Kotmale valley. It was totally cleared off and only a small patch of mist covering Nawalapitiya town far away was seen. It is obvious why Sitha devi was brought here by king Ravana! From one end to the other one can easily spot Piduruthalagala summit, Kikiliyamana, One tree hill, Pundalu oya, Great western, Totupola, Adams peak at the center, Galaboda range , Kabaragala of dolosbage, Peacock hills, Kotmale reservoir and New Kotmale town, Frotoft estate, Peacock hills, Alagalla, Gampola and Ambuluwawa. This is one of those places which I will re visit in near future for obvious reasons!

the shadow of the cameraman

golden rays

drops of water

more scenery

the three shadows

perfect framing

walking to the edge from the tent along the chariot path of Ravana

towards pundalu oya and great western

Kikiliyamana range with its towers also one three hill towers can be seen

summit of Sri Lanka

wake up kotmale

sun is shining over frotoft

kotmale reservoir and its dam

Piduruthalagala summit and kikiliyamana

towards peacock hills

gampola kanda and ambuluwawa

not much of water these days

new city of kotmale

peacock hills and dolosbage

top of peacock hills

valley of kotmale

the holy peak

sri pada zoomed

Ramboda area

kabaragala of dolosbage range

the tea estates of upper ramboda

beauty of the wild

living in harmony

Panorama of kotmale valley

team spirit

nawalapitiya covered with mist

Though we were unlucky to spot some samber around there were plenty of signs suggesting that there is a healthy population around. Also we did here a barking deer running screaming through the bushes. Only in the morning did we notice that the stunning view of Adams peak is seen in line with the chariot path symbolizing the importance of this place and the folklore may be true though we don’t have pure evidence. They have also found Ravana Guli(nutritious Aggala prepared by Ravana for Sita to keep her a live) around Frotoft estate, according to some articles I read these were thrown around the area by Sitha who refused to have any.(check this video  to get more info on Seetha guli) at around 8am we started descending towards our next target which was loolecondura estate. According to our guide the path leads towards Loolecondura but later we figured out that he was not correct at all.

clear sky

grass at the plains getting sun burnt

adms peak is directly seen from the chariot path

the three webs

good bye is only for now, i will be back

Descend was very steep and seemed never ending plus the loose quartz were not helpful at all. The scenery towards the estate which we thought as Loolecondera was simply amazing also the mist was kissing the tea estates reminding us how beautiful our mother land is. We rushed down to the estate within one hour but after getting to the estate we faced an awkward situation while trying to get directions towards famous James Taylor bungalow and seat because neither of the estate workers new anything about it. When we showed them few photographs even they didn’t recognize the place so we finally asked the name of the estate and we were told that we were in Mool oya estate and loolecandura was two estates away. So we had to hire a trishaw and head towards Loolecondera. Rather than descending to Hewahata and taking the main road the trishaw guy took us through a tea estate which was totally worth it because the ride produced some panoramic views towards Rikillagaskada. After a rough ride we came towards Loolecondera James taylor museum but unfortunately it had been moved towards Pussellawa. From there onwards we proceeded towards the entrance point which begins near a road side shrine and continued uphill along a poorly maintained estate road. I wonder why they can’t maintain it despite getting good revenue from the visitors.

the steep descent

wow the misty mountains

mool oya our destination

refilling at a water way

finally back to civilization

oh i love these flowers

welcome to mool oya estate

all of them were busy

a yellow eared bul bul

petals every where

After about 1.5km there was a junction and if one took the 1.1km road to the left it will lead to the first ever tea patch planted in 1867 but we decided not to go that way due to lack of time. Further 3.5km along the winding road through one of the most beautiful tea estates in Sri Lanka one will reach another junction where the road to James Taylor’s log cabin and Seat divides. When you wonder around the tea estate you will note how James Taylor has blended with nature and tried to protect the forest as possible while carrying out his tea plantation. Some places are fully shaded with huge trees and other tea patches concealed with mountainous natural forest. A 100m walk will take one towards the remains of James Taylors log cabin and only the chimney and few scattered rocks can be seen at this present day. The location was simply one of the best places on earth to build a cabin. Near by the cabin the well he used can be found and from there onwards there is a foot path which will lead up towards Dotelagala rock.

somewhere close to james taylor museum at loolecandeara

the museum which is closed

the shrine close to the entrance from the main road

name boards

yes you have to pay to go on a broken road

sub mountanious forest blended with tea

lush green

the 3way junction – Click Image to Enlarge

on the way scenery

trees everywhere

well trimmed and tea bushes grown along contor lines

view towards Piduruthalagala range

well maintained tea estate having many summer huts to have a rest

we went to the cabin and pettiyagama estate

peak at galaha very tempting

Dotelegala may be on another day!

the well

the well is not in good shape

remains of the log cabin

few words…. – Click Image to Enlarge

ode to james taylor – Click Image to Enlarge

only the chimney remains

beautiful garden view

We returned back to the junction and proceeded towards James taylors seat and summer hut also there is a pond close to the summer hut. James Taylors seat is really one of those relaxing places you would love to sit on for hours and hours. I just could imagine how this guy would have spent his evenings smoking a pipe and enjoying a cup of tea with leamon overlooking Knuckles mountain range. The panoramic view towards Galaha , Delthota, Rikillagaskada was unforgettable also we noted Hunnasgiri peak, Knuckles / Kalupahana area, parts of Victoria reservoir, a peak at Galaha, Rikillagaskada peak and plenty of paddy fields of Hewaheta region. It was time for us to return back at least before the Nonagathaya so we had to say good bye to James Taylor and the lovely memories of our journey and rush towards Colombo to prepare for the New Year!

james taylors summer hut

meaningful words

James taylor seat

endless view

view from the seat

towards rikillagaskada

Panorama of hewaheta- galaha taken from james taylor seat

kaputagala rikillagaskada

note hunnasgiri peak and knuckles mountains

wow what a view james taylor had

paddy fields of hewaheta

Delthota

the road which leads to the seat

it sums up our day

Mr James Taylor(taken from internet)

Quote

The first commercial planting of tea was on Loolecondera Estate, some 18 miles southeast of Kandy, No.7 field is where the first tea plants were planted.

Mr James Taylor of Loolecondera – now acknowledged as the Father of the Tea Industry – was quite unassuming man who arrived in Ceylon towards the end of 1851 when he was but 17 years old and took up duties as Assistant Superintendent on Lolecondera. He remained on loolecondera for his entire planting career of 40 years and only left Ceylon on one occasion in 1874, when he went to Darjeeling in India to absorb as much tea lore as he could. He was painstaking in the extreme and by reading and experimentation took every opportunity to increase his knowledge of the tea-bush and its fragrant product. In a letter written by James Taylor he starts by recalling that how in his China phase a Cachar (North Indian) planter, Mr Noble, showed him how to pluck, wither and roll tea with a little leaf growing on those old bushes near his bungalow. All the rolling was done by hand and Noble also told him about fermenting and panning and the rest of the process.

Taylor made a further batch under the direction of the old Assam Planter, W.J.Jenkin, whom he met earlier experimenting on Condegalla for the Ceylon Company. A sample of this batch, together with seven samples Taylor had made before, was sent to Weinholt in Calcutta, India, in 1872. Taylor says with justified pride that while the Jenkins-controlled sample was valued a little higher than his own single-handed effort, all but two of these were ‘reported on as being better than the Indian teas then sold in Calcutta’. Up to this time Taylor explains that his entire tea making had been with ‘arrangements in the bungalow verandah’. Many famous Coffee Planters learned the art of tea growing and manufacture from him.