We started form Colombo at around 5.30 in the evening. The crew was three, out of the three two got in from Colombo and the other one joined us from Awissawella, It was a Hatton A/C bus, We bought biscuits and other stuff from the bus stand. We arrived at Hatton at 9.45 p.m. We had dinner from a Small hotel at Hatton and got a three wheel ride to Nallathanni. When we arrived at Nallathanni it was 11.15 p.m.
At Nallathanni had a chat with the policeman, put on our rain coats and on we went, it was pitch dark but there were some places with lights, then we arrived at Sama Viharaya and had a break for few minutes because it was raining. Continued the journey up to the Sidhdhalepa Resting Place where we had to take a break again due to heavy rains.
We continued our journey after about a 30 minute break, it was drzzling all the way and it was pitch dark, the only lights we saw were the lights of the occasional small stalls which were been built for the upcoming season and the Maussakelle town far away. Except for the on and off stops we didn’t have any major break until we reached Idikatupana , 3 dogs accompanied us until we reached the summit around 4.30a.m.

Sama Viharaya

Sidhdhalepa Resting Place on Hatton Route to Sri Pada

It was freezing cold on the top; the only caretaker who was living up there invited us to his room and was generous enough to give us a hot tea!  Had some biscuits with him and waited to see the Sun rise until 6am by then few foreigners had also arrived. We didn’t get a clear glimpse of the Sun rise but captured some great sceneries, and noted down two waterfalls (Gawarawila falls, Seethgangula Ella)

Warmath at the summit of Sri Pada	Sun Rise fro the summit of Sri Pada
Bana Samanala as seen from Sri Pada	Dharmaraja Gala & Kunudiya parwathaya
At the sumit of Sri Pada	Seetha gangula Ella waterfall as seen from the Summit

Garawawila Falls(Will upload a better photo in future)

At around 7.15 we decided to climb down to Palabathgala, now during the journey to Palabathgala the first 100m decent was marvelous for Scenic photography.We came down rapidly until we reached Heramitipana, on the way we enjoyed the scenery and some wild life like seen Wild Hog’s and birds. After Heramitipana it was a bit off a tricky part because of uneven rocky steps.

Climbing down on the steepest stretch - Mahagiri damba	Climbing down on the steepest stretch - Mahagiri damba
Scenary on the way - Mahagiridamba Rathnapura Trail	Scenary on the way - Mahagiridamba Rathnapura Trail
Scenary on the way - Mahagiridamba Rathnapura Trail	Scenary on the way - Mahagiridamba Rathnapura Trail

Then we arrived at the junction ware the two roads to Kuruwita and Palabathgala unites.  At this place we met some guys from our Colombo University doing a study on distribution of Lorris and an Amphibian study. According to them they suspect that they have found some new species and they were collecting data for that, we wished them best of luck for there immense effort & their generosity.

After that we left via the Rathnapura route, it was all about climbing hills up and down, until we arrives at Geththampana, this road was trough the mountain forests full of bio diversity and it was fantastic, we met few people on the way who were climbing up, majority were young guys from Schools(Cadets) & University students.

A place to have a bath	climbing hills up and down, until we arrived at Geththampana
Stalls coming up for the season	The research team looking for Loris and Amphibians
Walking through the forest	Typical wet mountain forest in mist
Geththampana on Rathnapura Trail	One of many water sources

After Geththamapana we met some military personnel (Lihini hela camp)  at one point, they were  the people who were  building the stairway up to Geththampana( they had expanded from 1500 to 6000 steps and the interesting thing we noticed was local people carrying sand bags as a voluntary service to help out the army personnel. Climbing down the steps was not an easy journey; because we climbed down so rapidly. I ended up with sever joint pain, which made it very difficult to climb down the last 2000 steps. On the way we came across a place that said Kalu Ganga starting point. Last few 100 steps were trough the village. We arrived at the village at about 1.45 p.m.

Birth of a mighty river - Kalu Ganga

Locals Helping Out extending the stairway up to Geththampana

After been to the village we came and got a three-wheeler and went to see Mapalana falls which is the tallest waterfall in Rathnapura district, we travelled on a road which was in very bad condition, after we passed the bridge we entered a tea estate and had a 50m walk up to the base of the waterfall. Mind there were leeches. The most disheartening thing was, because of been in a remote place it has turn in to a paradise for couples, the problem was some were even having — , its very disturbing ,coz this water fall belongs to all citizens of this country, If I came with my family members it would have been an embarrassment for me for sure….we had a short swim and travelled back to catch the bus, there are buses from Palabathgala (probably the ones from Siripagama) to Kuruwita and Rathanapura, we arrived at Rathnapura within one hours time and returned back to Colombo.

Mapalana (Mapanana) Falls

I think the one marked as waterfall on the map is Mapalana falls, but its not difficult to find since locals know about it very well

from http://www.srilankanwaterfalls.net/waterfalls/Mapalana.htm
{Situated amongst medicinal herbs, the 114m fall consists of three sections and is served by the Ella Oya (river). During the rainy season the simultaneous flows can be heard from up to 6km away. According to legend, the fall is named after a local noble man who used to bathe here. When drought sets in, local villages hold ceremonies in the middle of the dry fall and hang lighted lanterns and palm leaves from its upper reaches, asking the Saman god to provide rain.

The Mapanana Falls is located in the Siripadda Mountain (1868m), 22km from Ratnapura, at a point known as Kondagala. Take the road from Ratnapura via Gillmale for 8km to Asoka Karniya. It is another 20km along the bank of the Kaluganga River to a road that leads up to the colonies, where the fall can be found.}

Below are two maps of the Gatmore area s you can see the left side water fall is Gawarawila Falls & to the Bottom right there are two other falls, Im planning to explore these someday(P.S. the reservoir & Gatmore/Adams peak falls)

Map One - Waterfalls Around Sri Pada (Adam's Peak)

Map Two - Waterfalls Around Sri Pada (Adam's Peak)