It was 9 Years back when I first came to know about this magical location but somehow I couldn’t pull it off due to various reasons. Not like 9 years back now I was fully equipped with lot of information which aided me to pull this off! I think I dont need to explain the route details since its documented well in previous reports and almost every one is aware about the trail.

After two years of planning and reading trip reports in Lakdasun and posts on Elakiri about Doowili ella, finally we were able to gather 4 people (well, in the beginning there were 6 and on the day sprit was remain), who were extremely needed to do this hike.

There had been some discussions with Ashan, me and Nishan to do a Mega journey starting from Bambarella and reach KMP at Kalupahana then climb Thunhisgala and descend to Pallegama by exploring Duwili eli. Although I had been to Duwili Eli once from Etanwala, Thunhisgala was a dream for me. Ashan and Amila went for a two day hike to Thunhisgala but I couldn’t join them as I couldn’t take leave from my work place. So I missed their journey.

Most of the Sri Lankan’s are connected to the names derived from “Sinha” The race Sinhalies, Areas like Bulathsinhala etc . Surnames such as Jayasinha, Ranasinghe 🙂 etc and of course we have a forest called by that name. “SINHARAJA” origin of this sinha term is not from the carnivorous animal “Lion “or lion centered fictions concluding half humans. Those were myths put in to our minds forcefully. It’s truly because of the four superior races who lived in sri lanka commonly known as SIV HELA who gave birth to one nation .Those were called Yakkaha, Naga, Deva & Gandharwa.

We started out at 4 AM on day 1 and move towards Ratnapura on Horana Road. On the way we schemed to move towards Ampara and may be towards Trinco later on. We took a quick breakfast from a small wayside shop on the Horana road at about 6. We had passed Maha Saman Devalaya at Ratnapura so many times but never stopped since we always have been running with a another destination in mind. It was 6.45AM when we reached the Ratnapura Maha Saman Devalaya and there was almost no people there.

Road condition up-to Panamura is quite good with carpeted road…. But after passing 2-3kms road become old tar road with on and off road constructions. As there were no big pits on the road, easily motorable by a car with less speed. One has to beware of the edges of the road as road constructions and erosions have caused considerable height difference….

It was the period of heavy monsoons and we managed to find few days which was perfect to travel. On day one Kasun & I got together and headed towards Balangoda to try and do a complete copycat of Niroshans trip. After having breakfast from Balangoda we took the road towards Kalthota and at Tenjentenna took the carpet road to the right to reach Kuragala.

Year and Month December, 2014 Number of Days 1 Crew 4 (between 25-30 years of age & the villager who guided us) Accommodation N/A Transport Three-wheeler up to Illubekanda school and then by foot Activities Waterfall hunting, Photography, hikking Weather Gloomy with intermittent drizzle Route Nivithigala -> Kalawana -> Pothupitiya -> Illumbekanda -> Denawaka Kanda […]

When I was working Hiniduma around 50km from Galle I went to see Nugagala Arannaya. You can use your vehicle but you have to climb a hill by foot to go Nugagala Arannaya. There lives a Hamuduruwo who has done amazing rock works. Believe it or not all this amazing works are done by this Hamuduruwo with his own hands.

This beautiful waterfall is situated within the Sinharaja rain forest. It got my attention in my visit to Sinharaja in Kudawa side. But this was attempted by waterfall lovers from Morning side at Sinharaja. Mr. Thilakasiri (Caretaker of Morning side forest bungalow for a long time) confirmed the foot pathway to waterfall has been forested now. Then I was heard it can be attempted from Ilumbekanda side. From our inquiries at Pothupitiya town, we got to know it can be reached by Denawak Kanda.

How can I start? As you may aware Sri Pada and Knuckles are my favourite places on earth. I used to visit them at least 2-3 times per year. If I talk about knuckles it’s a vast area covering more than 30 mountains, more than 20 isolated villages, so many waterfalls and caves large variety of flora& fauna etc. Importantly in this range you can find waterfalls cascading over caves. One example is Sera Ella in Puwakpitiya area.

I started around 5.30 am on Poya day with my wife and younger son and reached Eheliyagoda and turned left along Dehiowita road and reached Eheliyagoda Rubber estate where you can see Bisodola Ella. Then we came back to A4 and turned left before Kuruvita junction to reach Bopath Ella.