දුමෙන් බර මිටියාවත නොහොත් දුම්බර වන පියසේ වසන් වූ තවත් හරි අපූරු කන්දක් සොයා යාමට අපට සිතුණේ මිනින්දෝරු සිතියම් තුළ එය ස්ථානගත වී තිබුණු නිසාවෙනි. මුහුදු මට්ටමේ සිට උස මීටර් 1800 ට වැඩි කඳු හතරකින් පිරි නකල්ස් වන පෙතේ පස්වැනියට උසම කන්ද වූ අලියා වැටුණ ඇළකන්ද උසින් මීටර 1665 ක් විය. කිසිදු තොරතුරක් සොයාගත නොහැකි වූ මේ අපූරු කන්ද සොයා අප වන වැදුණේ ජී.පී.එස්. (GPS) තාක්ෂණික සිතියම් අනුසාර කරගනිමිනි.

Kobonilagala is a 1556m height mountain situated near Thangappuwa village. This mountain is known as Aliya Kanda by the villagers as per the exact shape of the elephant. There are 2 routes to reach the mountain such as from two opposite side of the mountain. We followed the hardest one getting upward from the Thangappuwa to Corbet gap footpath side. But the easiest path is fallen from the Silent Bungalow side located near Liyanagahapala Estate. 

As per my view Thangappuwa is the most beautiful village rather than Meemure. Because this innocent village still under traditional and village life style.

Once we are searching for a new destination we come across about the giant solider at Corbet’s Gap. The name of that giant is Dumbanagala (Dumen bara kanda).

දුමෙන් බර මිටියාවත නොහොත් දුම්බර මිටියාවත ලෙස නම් කළ හෙක්ටයාර 22,000 ක පමණ භූමි වපසරියකින් යුත් නකල්ස් වනපෙත ලංකාවේ අතිශය වැදගත් රක්ෂිත වන පියසකි.

Kota Ganga Fall is a cascade of six+ waterfalls flows from Thangappuwa to Kota Ganga village in Knuckles area. I have trekked from Corbet’s gap to Thangappuwa and enjoyed the beauty of full spectrum of Kota Ganga Falls.

We started our journey on November 21 on 3.00 a.m & we reached Hunnasgiriya at 8.00 a.m. From there we took 2.5 – 3 hrs to reach Meemure. Firstly we went to Meemure temple , met thero & disscuss about katina pinkama programme. After that we went oya & had a bath. Lunch prepared at temple & after lunch we went to see “Sooriya Arana Fall”.
In the evening we arrange Bodhi Puja Pinkama & Dhamma Desanawa. We prepared & serve dinner for whole village.

I haven’t been doing any hiking recently and I was starting to see leeches in my dreams too and finally it seemed like my dreams were converting into a reality. Krishani called me and asked for some information of a guide in Thangappuwa to do the Kota ganga trail. I asked her whether I could join them because this hike was in my long list and my request was accepted gladly by Krishani.

“Knuckles”, is a name that is known all over the world because everyone has got them. Well I’m not gonna talk about those knuckles. I’m trying to pave the way for another fairy tale. There are five peaks hidden deep in a forest bordered by Kandy and Matale districts. They are shaped in such a way that whoever saw them felt as if looking at an enlarged set of knuckles created by the Mother Nature. Thus the name “Knuckles” not only for the mountain range but also for the whole forest. Now this is a world heritage site and a dream for many hikers.

This is part of my dream trip and part of Harinda’s dream. On my way to Kehelpothdoruwegala climbing I heard about a foot pathway from Kalugala to Meemure. Harinda has noted a foot pathway from Alugal Lena to Meemure in his Alugal Lena trip. We wanted to combine these two trails and do it in two days with camping at Alugal Lena.

Around 4.30pm, the clouds arrived thick and fast and we heard the distance rumble of thunder making us run all the way back to Nava mama’s house. If I had any hope of doing Lakegala, this nearly made it the last nail of the coffin. Having come back and lying in one of the mattresses cursing the rain and thunder with all the bad words I could think wasn’t gonna help my cause but I kept at it. The sky split into many pieces with lightning and I decided to call it quits.

Around 8.00pm, everything settled down and thunder and rain vanished without a trace of them being just a short while ago and my hopes soared into the sky. I went and asked Nava mama, “Mama, shall we go no matter what happens? To hell with this rain and thundering.” He must’ve sensed my state and very reluctantly agreed. I came and broke the news to Dodam and asked if he’d wanna join the hike regardless of what happens and he jumped in. That settled everything in under 5mins and we were ready to go.

We stopped to take a few pics of the morning sky painted with gorgeous colors. The shadows of trees added to the beauty with the contours of the mountains in the distance. I wouldn’t have minded walking along this road at this time as it felt heavenly. However, time was a luxury we couldn’t afford at the time as we had planned something unprecedented even in Nava Mama’s standards. KCC at Deanston was still in darkness and no sign of activity there. It’d’ve been grand if we could be at the mini world’s end when the sun is rising. We could’ve got a super panoramic view towards Ududumbara, Hasalaka and Mahiyanganaya. I had to restrain myself so hard not to venture into the trail without this early and there was no way to get permission.

Passing Loolwatte tea shop made me crave for yet another coffee but we simply wanted to get to Meemure as soon as we could and start on our first hike. We stopped nonetheless at Corbet’s Gap for a few pics of the mountains which were rising majestically to a clear blue sky. From then on, it was a downhill journey along a circular road that entwines the mountains like a giant snake. It’d already gone by 6.30am and we hurried. There were a few places where the road was terrible but we had a somewhat higher ground clearance enabling us to pass without incident. Reaching Kaikawala concrete bridge, we saw a monk who’s going collecting his meals (Pindawatha Wadinawa). He simply stepped out of the road, without even looking back and kept looking downwards till we passed.

There are a few monks who stay meditating in this part of SL as it’s so beautiful and calm. We even came across one such place deep inside the jungle on our way back from Gala Muduna later in the day. Closer to Nava mama’s house, we got the first glimpse of the gorgeous Lakegala. Whoa, what a beauty she is despite being continuously harassed by unforgiving sunlight and intermittent rains.