Lakdasun Trip Reports Archive » Knuckles Experience 2012, Maningala Camping

Year and Month	February, 2012
Number of Days	Three Day Trip
Crew	4 People
Accommodation	24th Feb – Drop Inn, Kandy [077 935 7154] 25th Feb – Camping on Maningala Summit, Knuckles
Transport	24th Feb – Colombo > Kandy – Public Bus 25th Feb – Kandy > Matale – Train 25th Feb – Matale > Maningala Trail Head – Hired Van [Madarata Rent a Car – 071 33 88 215 / 075 76 76 811] 26th Feb – Illukkumbura > Matale – Hitch Hiking 🙂 26th Feb – Matale > Kandy – Public Bus 26th Feb – Kandy > Colombo – Public Bus
Activities	Hiking, Trekking, Photography, Camping
Weather	Awesome weather! No rain at all!
Route	Colombo -> Kandy -> Matale -> Raththota -> Reversturn -> Etanwala -> Maningala -> Illukkumbura -> Matale -> Colombo
Tips, Notes and Special remark	BE PREPARED FOR THESE CONDITIONS, If it rains, there will be a lot of leeches, scorpions Heavy wind at the summit [Pitch your tents very well so that they will not fly away 🙂 / High tents are not recommendable] Cattle belonging to the villagers roaming around who can foul the water so be cautious if you are planning to use the water at the summit [Recommend you to bring your own water] Cold at the night Villagers roaming around occasionally looking for opportunities [In my case I was a bit worried as I was with 03 Foreign girls and was hoping that they will not get a bad impression about the villagers due to their occasional bad conduct which I prefer not to mention here. Having said that I urge you all not to consider the villagers as a bad influence as well] The reason why I mentioned the above is for your information only in a neutral tone as it is always better to know the area before you step in..
Related Resources	Trail Guide: Maningala Nature Trail from Etanwala to Illukkumbura – Knuckles Range
Author	Thinuwan
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The whole trip was arranged and sketched within less than 48 hours. It all started when one of my colleagues at work dropped me a mail asking if I’d be interested in visiting Knuckles with them for the upcoming weekend and that they are interested in doing some outdoor camping. So we did some trip planning and finally was able to finalize the trip. To save precious travel time we left Colombo right after work on a Friday and took the bus to Kandy for an enroute night stop at a cheap guesthouse [Drop Inn, Kandy] The following day we took the early morning train to Matale from Kandy and reached Matale around 09:00 hours. Afterwards we headed for Knuckles onboard a hired vehicle from Matale [Madarata Rent a Car Service, Matale] On our way we visited the famous Bambarakiri Ella passing Raththota and we also visited the SLT Broadcasting Centre located at the summit of Riverstone before meeting up with our trekker at Pathana for the trail upto Maningala Summit. We reached the summit around 15:30 hrs and spent the rest of the day at leisure, unpacking and collecting wood for a camp-night fire and had an awesome time. The following day after a scrumptious Breakfast we continued our descent from the Summit towards the Illukkumbura Side ending our journey with a bath in the stream which runs parallel to the “Dumbara Wana Nivahana” premises at Illukkumbura. The journey back home was a bit of a tiring journey and reached home at 01:00 hrs on the 27th Feb.

So after work on a Friday we took the bus to Kandy from Pettah and reached the city of Kandy late night around 23:00 hrs. However the Tuk-tuk drivers who were there at the bus station were quite supportive and they dropped us at our guesthouse. The reason why we decided to take a night out at a guesthouse in Kandy is to save the day time of Saturday without having to travel all the way from Colombo to Knuckles on Saturday which will consume atleast half of the day.

After an overnight in Kandy we came to the Kandy Train Station early in the morning on Saturday to board the train for a 1 hour ride upto Matale. During the ride I met a vehicle supplier in Matale [Madarata Rent a Car – 071 33 88 215 / 075 76 76 811] and it was quite useful for us since we were actually on the lookout for the same for us to reach the trail head for Maningala 🙂

A dried off tree at the Matale Train Station

Busy Matale town on a Saturday morning

After having a scrumptious breakfast from Matale we were on our way to Knuckles..

After passing Raththota the road was narrow and was getting steeper with every curve we took towards the mountain range

Enroute we visited the mini-waterfall known as “Bambarakiri Ella”

Bambarakiri Ella

Next stop was the Riverstone Gap located in the Knuckles Conservation Forest

Click Image to Enlarge

After getting down from the vehicle we hiked up the paved way all the way to the SLT telecommunication tower which was located at the summit of the mountain. The person who was on duty at the control centre was kind enough to take us on a guided tour around the centre and to explain the duty that is being taken cared by the establishment

On our way to the summit

.	A picturesque view of Maningala Mountain from a distance

AT THE SLT TOWER PREMISES

After descending from the Telecommunication centre we were on our way to the pre-designated meet-up point to link with Guide Wasantha from Pathana.

Upon meeting him we paid our hired van the fee of LKR 3500.00 and commenced the trail to the summit of Maningala via Etanwala village

It all started with a walk across the lush green paddy fields of the Etanwala

lush green paddy fields of the Etanwala

After stopping by the village houses for a quick snack we commenced our climb up the mountain. Since this mountain is being used by the villagers of Etanwala the road up the mountain was an easy way up with the steps made out of stone

A view of the mountain from the below

Picturesque scenery from the upper layer closing into the summit level

Our welcome wagon

After reaching the flat terrain closer to the summit of the mountain we decided to pitch our tent and to rest for the day with a camp night.

The location where we pitched our tent initially was too windy and after realizing the risk of getting blown off the mountain in the night we decided to move the tent closer to the bushes so that we are safely covered from the heavy wind path

More pictures from the summit on the following day..

The telecommunication tower of Riverstone visible at a distance

After having the breakfast at the campsite we continued our ascent to the Summit. The trail upto the summit is easy since it was a footpath that we had to follow all along.

From the summit the descend to Illukkumbura side was a bit of a challenging steep descend which we enjoyed a lot! However since the terrain was quite dry I assume it was rather easier than having to tackle it on a rainy day when the soil is all wet and unstable along with the slippery rocks 🙂

Pictures of our descend

A sign board located at the foot step of the mountain from the Illukkumbura side

The trail ended with us reaching the Knuckles Education & Training Centre in Illukkumbura site which is located above a nice chilled out stream that flows right next to the premises

The sign board at the training centre

Also when the training centre is not occupied note that there are 02 dormitories that are available at this premises which can be reserved through the Forest Dept. [The location name is “Dumbara Wana Niwahana”]

A mileage notification board located right in-front of the Illukkumbura Training Centre

After refreshing ourselves from the stream we were on our way back to Colombo with a load of adventurous memories that we all will cherish forever 🙂

Cheers!! 🙂

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