It took us almost 2 hours to traverse the perimeter of the island, thats how big it really is. We were in all honesty taken by surprise at the size and various different types of trees and vegetation located within the small space. We noted in one place a heap of godapora fruit, half eaten possibly by wild boar or porcupines announcing the presence of animals in the vicinity. In the center of the island on top of the larger trees flocks of birds gather and chirp peacefully.
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Trip to Mannar and Talei Mannar
We started our journey around 12.30 AM and continuously drove up to Puttalam it was 2.45AM when we arrived Puttalam. From Puttalam there were 2 roads to go to Talei Mannar. Short one goes through Willpattu but it need a 4×4 vehicle and the other one through Madawachiya and joins A14 road. We chose the long drive as the Road through Willpattu opens at 4.30AM and it is a Hazardous journey. We came to know later when we arrived at Mannar the road through Willpattu was flooded.
Investigating the Waulpane (Wawulpane) Lime stone cave
On the Ratnapura to Ambilipitiya road between Godakawela and Pallebedda junctions, there’s a road to the right side which leads to Kumburugamuwa. From the main road, you need to travel about 13km on a mountainous narrow road to reach Waulpane village. Unfortunately, I wasn’t tracking the road on GPS, but remembered to mark the location.
The cave is owned by bats (100s of them) and is very very dark. Cave ground has at least an inch thick bat droppings, may be a bit less on the path where people usually walk
Heaven On Earth (Knuckles – Illukkumbura, Reverstan)
I was bit worried because I couldn’t do a trip to knuckles but luck was on my side our guys decided to go on a trip & asked me a place to go ! After doing the reservations from Baththaramulla we left on an early morning from Colombo to reach Mathale at around 10a.m where we bought all the stuff we needed & lunch packets. We then continued our journey towards Rattota in search of Bambarakiri Falls (fed by water streams of knuckles mountain range).
A Three Day Trip To Nilgala – Gal Oya National Park
We left Colombo at around 4 pm on Friday, planning to stay overnight at the Wildlife Trust TREE centre at Randenigala. We left Kandy at around 7.30 pm after picking up a member of our group. It was a wet night and visibility was poor – interestingly the route tracked on my GPS (which has preloaded 1” topo maps of Sri Lanka) varied quite significantly from the roads marked on the map. We reached the barrier at the reservoir shortly before 10 pm – the road is closed to traffic at 10 pm, and reopened at 6 am, and reached the TREE centre soon afterwards.
Exploring Nature & Heritage around the bay of Koddiyar (meaning “Fort by the River”) in Northeastern Coast
After hours of traveling we were at another grate irrigation wonder of our ancients. That was the grate tank at Kantale, which was built by Kind Mahasen the grate and renovated by the Kings Agbo II and Grate Parakramabahu. We turned right at Kantale to visit Seruwavila. While passing few kilometers in that road, we realized the difficulty of driving a vehicle with low ground clearance, in such a road being under constructed. Our vehicle was fully utilized & loaded. This was our annual family journey of the year 2010.
Sri Pada via Udamaliboda trail, Deraniyagala
I & four of my friends went to Sri Pad via Udamaliboda trail on 13th of last December. Sri Pada season was started on 1st of December and we wonted go there before it gets crowded. On 12th we travelled to Anghettipola where one of my friends live which is 6 Km away from Daraniyagale. We stayed there whole day and also visited to Saman devalaya at Daraniyagala which is a tradition followed by the Sri Pada pilgrims. Next day we took a bus to Udamaliboda around 6.30 p.m. from Moda palama which is 1 km away from the place we stayed towards Daraniyagala.
One day trip to Aranayake, exploring the Nature & Heritage
One day trip to Aranayake, exposing to the nature & Heritage. Asupini ella (30m in height ) and Selawa temple were the main travel locations. Having nearly an hour of driving we stopped at Ambasevana restaurant just before Kegalle for the breakfast. We were at Mawanella in the next 40 minutes. Up to few kilometers passing Mawanella on the Aranayake road, we met the first barrier since the road was under construction. We were beaten by dust because our jeep was an open canopy one.