We started our journey form Maharagama at around 6.00am, The Hatton bus from Maharagama. unfortunately there was a flat tyre so we had to go to Awissawella and get a Kitulgala bus (Awissawella-Kitulgala) the crew was three; we arrived at Kitulgala at 9.15 a.m. despite all the obstacles. With the Kitulgala bridge there is a road called Malwatte road, we got in to a three-wheeler from kitulgala and went to Malwatte which is few kilometers away from the town, after we reached Malwatte we continued in the same three-wheeler as close as we can get to the path to Mannaketi falls which is trough a tea estate, the distance to the waterfall is about1.5 km from the tarred road.

Let me try and explain the path as I can, but I recommend getting advice from locals, because we took the wrong path and ended at a place below the waterfall. After passing Malwatte and traveling about 1Km ahead we came to a junction with a name board saying “Samanapura Bodhimalu Viharaya” (See the photograph) as we passed this name board to the right there was a gravel road, you need to travel along it for about 1Km then you will come to a place (Photo 1) with a road going uphill (Left), take the one going downwards(R hand side), until you reach the next small junction near a house (Photo 2) take the Right hand road and travel until you come to the last junction from here (Photo 3 )take the left uphill road and continue, unfortunately we took the down hill one and ended up at a place below the waterfall. After traveling uphill along the road(Tea estate is now on the left hand side) we arrived at a junction with two foot paths joining the main gravel road (Photo 4) .There is an old chopped of tree trunk, as a landmark which divides the two foot paths, the foot path on the right will take you to the base of the fall & the one to the left will take you to the top of the Mannaketi waterfall.

junction with a name board saying “Samanapura Bodhimalu Viharaya”

The place with a road maving uphill (Photo 1)	Small junction near a house (Photo 2)
The Last junction (Photo 3 )	Two foot paths joining the main gravel road (Photo 4)

As I said earlier we ended at a place below the waterfall and it was rewarding because we came across a very nice and dangerous place as seen in the photo. At this point we decided to go upstream and came to a place where we saw the waterfall trough the “Gal Debokkawa” Sad getting to the waterfall from this place was impossible because it was deep, so we decided to cross the stream and take the jungle route, but fortunately a village person known as Keerthi was there and said that its difficult to get to the base from the side we attempted to do so. He was kind enough to guide us to the correct tract. Mr. Keerthi was here to wash his “Manne” as all other villages do, This waterfall has got its name because the local villagers wash their Manne & Kaththa from this water stream resulting in Manne + Keththa = Manneketi Ella.

we ended at a place below the waterfall	we decided to go upstream
Trying to get to the falls in an orthodox manner	Waterfall seen trough the “Debokkawa” (Rock Chasm)

fter a slippery decent trough the foot path we arrived at the base with few leeches hanging around too. This is a awkward looking waterfall but its very beautiful and the word Danger is written all over it. To get a clear glimpse of it we had to climb on to an extremely slippery rock near by, we added some sand on the rock which made the surface some what rough so we can stay stable on it, if we slipped we would have been in the deep “Gal Debokkawa”. Please people if you’ll go to this place be careful. After enjoying the beauty we decide to go to the top of the waterfall, so we returned back to the junction and took the foot path to the left and ended up near the top of the waterfall, we had a small peep to have a view of the drop, and captured some photos. Then we continued upstream where we came across a small waterfall with a huge water filled deep pool, as we heard from Mr. Keerthi there are many more mini waterfalls upstream. On the top of Mannaketi Ella we found a safe place to have a swim, after the swim we came back up the foot path and had a look at the opposite side and noticed the Wewelthalawa mountain with the ITN transmission post on top of it, as I remember this is one of the mountains belonging to the “Dolosbage Kandu” also we noted the Ampana mountain range which is where Sampath Ella starts its journey. After returning to Malwatte we decided to go and visit Sampath falls which was a 3Km hike, there are two paths to this waterfall we took the path which begins just after the junction. it was a cemented road which was on the left hand side from Malwatte.

The Slippery path	Crashing Force of Water – Manna-Kethi Ella
The “Knife Shape” Falls – Manna-Kethi Ella	The base pool of Manna-Kethi Ella

Quote from Srilanka waterfalls web site
The source of this 60m-high fall is the Girankitha Oya Reservoir, that is served in turn by the western slopes of the Unagula Mountain. Later, the Mannaketi Falls flows into the Kelani River that enters the Indian Ocean in Colombo North.
The fall is situated in the Kegalle District. Take the highway from Kitulgala, over a bridge, to Malwatte. From here, climb the mountain above the Girankitha Oya Reservoir (across the road at a small hamlet in the rubber plantations) for 3km until a footpath is reached. After about 400m, the footpath reaches the fall. Alternatively, take the highway from Kegalle, and 13km before the town of Bulathkohupitiya, Mannaketi Falls can be viewed on the right-hand side. The Kitulgala rest-house is 5km away.

The Chasm	The slippery rock
Top of Manna-Kethi Ella falls	Top of Manna-Kethi Falls
A smaller waterfall found further up stream	Safe place for a swim

As we traveled along this road we arrived at a small boutique and we were advised to continue our walk passing the rubber estate, some parts of the waterfall were visible to the road, specially the upper part. After passing the rubber estate we came to a “H shaped” shaped Un noticeable junction where the Short cut to Malwatte joins the main road. From this junction take the upper left(Of the H) road and continue, this trail continues along a water stream(Liyan oya), after traveling trough this trail we crossed a bridge and came to a place where the trail goes across a water stream, we traveled about 40m upstream and there it was hidden between the bushes, the part visible was only the lower part, other parts were not visible because of the tall trees, after enjoying this hidden beauty we came to the above stated “H” junction and took the shortcut path which goes trough a rubber estate(cemented steps) and reached the Malwatte – Kitulagala road at a place just before the the Malwatte junction. We returned back in a three-wheeler to Kitulgala at around 4.30p.m. and ended our journey.

The small boutique	Upper two arms of the H shape junction
Lower two arms of the H shape junction(Right hand side is the shortcut path)	The small bridge

Quote from Srilanka waterfalls web site
The stream flowing from Ampana, north of Kitulgala, creates three falls – Sampath Falls at 30m is the biggest of them. Take the road to the village of Malwatte. Just before the village, there is a junction. Turn left and take the footpath through the rubber estate and up the slope. After a while, the fall comes into view.

Sampath Falls – the part visible was only the lower part

Upper parts of the cascade of falls

Hidden Falls

Dolosbage Mountain Range

Wewalthalawa with the ITN transmission tower

Suggestion: Since Kitulgala Beli lena and Handun ella which are situated near by Mahabage, we suggest that one should attempt to visit these two places first, cross the rubber estate and the small forest part and try and reach Mannaketi falls, after that reach Malawatte and take the route which we took initially to Sampath Ella and return back trough the short cut to Malwatte & Kitulgala. To get to Beli Lena and Handun Ella there is a separate road from Kitulgala to Inoya estate(8Km?), IF YOU CAN ALWAYS GET THE HELP OF LOCALS.

The yellow road is the the road to Malwatte and the Mannaketi waterfall is formed by the Girankiththa oya, Handun Falls is close to Mahabage.

This map represents the area to the left of Malwatte, Sampath Falls is formed by Liyan oya which comes down the slopes of Ampana mountain range