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Trip Reports Archive » Trips Filed Under Horton Plains

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Today's Most Viewed

  1. Two days in Heaven (Madulsima to Pitamaruwa) 83 views
  2. ගලේ බණ්ඩාර දෙවියන්ගේ අඩවියේ පිහිටි රාවණා රජු මල දවස රජුට ජනතාව ගරු බුහුමන් දැක් වූ ස්තානය (යහන්ගල/Yahangala 1220m)... 46 views
  3. Narangala the second peak of Uva (1500m)! 46 views
  4. Sensational Mandaram Nuwara – Tour de Waterfalls 15… 40 views
  5. Chariot Path of Ravana & Sitha on top of Piduruthalagala range and James Taylor’s Loolecondera! 40 views
  6. Knuckles Doowili Eli from Etanwala-Walpolamulla and return to Rambukoluwa. – Mapping the Dream Trek 33 views
  7. Four peaks in one line-Wangedigala, Wangedi kanda, Balathoduwa and Gommolli Kanda 31 views
  8. Back to Yahangala (1220m) 31 views
  9. Scenic Hike to Wangedigala 26 views
  10. Arangala the centered rock (792m) 26 views

This Week's

  1. Two days in Heaven (Madulsima to Pitamaruwa) 314 views
  2. Chariot Path of Ravana & Sitha on top of Piduruthalagala range and James Taylor’s Loolecondera! 163 views
  3. ගලේ බණ්ඩාර දෙවියන්ගේ අඩවියේ පිහිටි රාවණා රජු මල දවස රජුට ජනතාව ගරු බුහුමන් දැක් වූ ස්තානය (යහන්ගල/Yahangala 1220m)... 153 views
  4. Makulussa Mountain/මකුලුස්ස කන්ද (916m) 121 views
  5. Narangala the second peak of Uva (1500m)! 97 views
  6. Bathalegala (Bible’s Rock) 798m 95 views
  7. Waterfalls of Colombo District 95 views
  8. Sensational Mandaram Nuwara – Tour de Waterfalls 15… 94 views
  9. A walk to Hanthana Mountain Range 93 views
  10. Scenic Hike to Wangedigala 86 views

This Month's

  1. Chariot Path of Ravana & Sitha on top of Piduruthalagala range and James Taylor’s Loolecondera! 1,115 views
  2. Two days in Heaven (Madulsima to Pitamaruwa) 1,106 views
  3. Muthukeliyawa Lake : Moragolla, Kandy : The Sky View 582 views
  4. ගලේ බණ්ඩාර දෙවියන්ගේ අඩවියේ පිහිටි රාවණා රජු මල දවස රජුට ජනතාව ගරු බුහුමන් දැක් වූ ස්තානය (යහන්ගල/Yahangala 1220m)... 537 views
  5. Scenic Hike to Wangedigala 532 views
  6. සබරගමුවේ ආදරවන්තයන්ගේ කන්ද (Paraviyangala) 457 views
  7. Knuckles Doowili Eli from Etanwala-Walpolamulla and return to Rambukoluwa. – Mapping the Dream Trek 453 views
  8. Waterfalls of Colombo District 447 views
  9. Bathalegala (Bible’s Rock) 798m 426 views
  10. A walk to Hanthana Mountain Range 373 views

All-Time

  1. Camping trip to Meemure – One of the best trips ever!!! 28,741 views
  2. Bathalegala (Bible’s Rock) 798m 18,799 views
  3. Waterfalls of Colombo District 16,937 views
  4. Two days in Heaven (Madulsima to Pitamaruwa) 15,911 views
  5. Rarely visited places in Trincomalee 14,513 views
  6. Chariot Path of Ravana & Sitha on top of Piduruthalagala range and James Taylor’s Loolecondera! 14,452 views
  7. Heaven On Earth (Knuckles – Illukkumbura, Reverstan) 13,933 views
  8. Kebaliththa (Kebiliththa) Devalaya 13,726 views
  9. Memorable Pilgrimage to Kebiliththa (මහ සියඹලාව දේවාලය) 13,640 views
  10. Trip to Mahiyanganaya and Badulla visiting 5 reservoirs, 5 temples and 5 waterfalls 13,301 views

Worlds end at dusk

In 2013 we camped at Hortain plains for the first time , since the day we left that place we were missing that place this is the second night we stayed up there .

Fiery Gusts, Shrouding Mist & Freezing Cold – Nuwara Eliya & HP…

Just a brief word on HP, especially its buildings inside as most of you might not be aware of her past. Apart from the Farr Inn and the Anderson Lodge which were built by the English Planters during colonial era, all the other structures are results of the mega potato farm that saw HP lose most of her forest making it this grassy plain. Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, well I’ll leave your capable thinking to decide. So these buildings had been used as storage for potatoes and fertilizers, staff quarters and other purposes. If you visit the Moon Plains where they still have a government-owned seed potato farm, you can get an idea what it must’ve been at HP before being named as a wildlife park.

So we planned alternative options to visit on the way and I was long overdue for a visit to Moon Plains and so was Hasi. We then planned to be there by 6.30am in order to get the best out of the morning rays. Hasi then came up with the idea of visiting Single Tree Hill aka One Tree Hill, the 10th highest mountain in SL with a height of 2100m. So that sealed the first day and we decided to reach HP afterwards. On the 25th Jun, we left home around 3am and having made excellent ground arrived at Nuwara Eliya by 6.10am.

From Wildlife to Forest – Kande Ela & Pattipola…

The constant rains made it pretty awkward for us but it wasn’t going to hold us back. So finally as usual we set off on our journey in the dawn of 16 Oct. The topic of the day was based on the wildlife in Borneo such as Bearded Pigs, Orang-Utans, etc. We stopped at our usual place at the Devon Viewing Point. As usual she was in full flow making my heart leap in joy. She also made my hopes soar high in anticipation of seeing my beloved St. Claire in full flow. “Dear god, please let her be in full flow even if you have to blast the darn sluice gates of the wretched Upper Kotmale”, I prayed while we took our breakfast baskets of Seeni Sambol and Egg Sandwiches. I’m sure you would wanna see some pictures of the surrounding and it is my pleasure to oblige.

Along the Horse Tracks – Galagama Ella…

We reached Belihul Oya and I called Premadasa and got the directions to his place along the Belihul Oya-Landuyaya road. Yeah, you guessed right coz another beautiful waterfall known as Pahanthudawa Ella is also located on this road. Premadasa’s house is in Galpoththenna, Ibbanwala about 3km from Belihul Oya. However we missed him and drove all the way to Ihala Galagama School. It was a good thing coz we could see the Galagama Ella in the far distance and so far higher in the mountains bordering the Horton Plains. The elevation difference was around 1000m (yeah 1km) or probably more. Nagrak Bungalow is located well over 7200ft (almost as high as Sri Pada). Therefore Galagama Ella must be one of the falls located at the highest altitudes in Sri Lanka, of course in closer competition with Baker’s Falls aka Gonagala Ella.

Riding towards Horton Plains by Bicycle (Kirigalpotta hike returned via, Thalawakele)

Riding bicycles on those hilly roads were somewhat difficult, but it was a life time experience for us. Climatic condition in Nuwara Eliya during December and January is cold and dry. Therefore, it is better to arrange your journey during December.

Conservation Project No. 2: Continuing the Hunt for Ulex in Horton Plains…

Hello everyone, hope you guys are doing great and had enjoyed our conservation effort at Horton Plains before. Well, we (rather Ana) simply couldn’t rest letting Ulex take control of our beautiful country, especially our beloved Horton Plains. So we went earlier (about 6 weeks before this) with a larger group of 9 people and worked for two days and cleared a substantial area with the help of couple of HP workers.

During that journey itself, Ana must’ve made a vow to come back to destroy more Ulex as we got yet another invitation from him to go back once again to clear as much of an area as possible. Well, all we had to do was say yes which we did with no hesitation. So our familiar bungalow was booked once again and we were counting days to go and fight this menace once again. Ana had brought the broken equipment from the last journey and had got them repaired, this time with more robust handles.

Conservation Project No. 1: Combating Ulex in Horton Plains…

I’m sure you might have come across theories by many pundits claiming the usefulness of Ulex in many of their theories. Most of these pundits (as Ana rightly put armchair critics) haven’t even been to HP to see the real danger posed by the Ulex. It was as if fighting the terrorists from AC rooms in Colombo. The biggest theory is that Rhino Horned Lizards take shelter in these plants and nest in them. Well how did they survive before these were introduced? HP is not the only place where they live so how do they survive where there is no Ulex? Why the wildlife department is so anxious to get rid of them if they were that useful? So we decided to leave all the theories behind and take some action instead. As Sash rightly put in the forum under the Video Journey, “It’s better to light a single candle than blaming the dark” which is exactly what we had in mind.

It was during one of those casual chit-chats that this idea of doing something about Ulex came up. By then I had climbed Kirigalpoththa 3 times (KGP) within 18 months and had seen the fast and furious spread of Ulex covering the path at many places. So Ana as usual spotted the benefit this would give to the HP and pursued it further exploring ideas. Finally after a few dozen emails and hours of phone conversations we managed to find the best possible way.

The Hat-Trick of Climbing: Kirigalpoththa & Many Others…

This is when Ana called and asked if I would like to join him for a hike. Well, this is what you call being lucky and without so much as a second thought I jumped in. Well what would you do if it turned out to be a journey which you had done twice before within the last year? I don’t think many would have been fancy to take on that offer but not me. I don’t mind visiting the same place over and over again because everytime it’s a different experience. After all, we eat the same thing again and again, do the same boring things day after day so why not see and visit the same place every now and then, I keep asking myself. So when he suggested to do the Kirigalpoththa Trail once again (for the third time within a year), I felt elated quite different from many others.

Winding Path to the Misty, Cloudy & Mountainous Land – Nagrak…

We passed the idea this way, that way and the other way and still got nowhere. After what felt like an eternity, we came to the conclusion that we need minimum two nights. We couldn’t anyway afford more therefore settled at two. Having arranged everything we set off on the dawn of Saturday, 21 February. Just a word on the way we were given the instructions by the Nagrak Management. They gave us the account details promptly to deposit money and other than mentioning about the electricity which is available from 6pm to 12 midnight, there was no other information given. It’s a major lapse from their end because the way Fishing Hut Management (click on the link to check the info sent by them) sent out the information was simply brilliant. They had gone to great trouble to put everything in writing so that there was no misunderstanding. We knew exactly what was they were giving and what we had to take. Further, what we could do and shouldn’t do. It was just great and I feel Nagrak Management failed to meet those standards. They have some catching up to do and do it fast coz that small lapse could lead to very unpleasant things and disappointments.

Mystery of Galagama falls finally reveled

Mysteries are to be solved and this time we made sure to put an end to this long lasting mystery. Galagama falls which is very well marked on many maps is a glamorous beauty hidden in the wilderness. It all started many years back when a discussion was started in our forum regarding this mysterious fall. Few years back when Lahiru and I decided to reveal this mystery we ended up with a failure.

The Repeat Performance – Kirigalpoththa & Thotupola…

I woke up and lowered the blanket covering me and a rain of needles hit my exposed skin. Oh dear, I’m in HP, it suddenly dawned on me. There was a light moving out of the room and it made me feel jittery. Getting out of the bed and landing my feet on the ground sent another dose of needles up my body. It was so cold (probably around 10-degrees) and I followed the light out of the room to find Ana already up and getting ready to make some coffee. The time had just gone 4.30am and I was shivering when I entered the kitchen. There wasn’t any sign of the bungalow keepers (they can’t have ever had their guests waking up at 4.30am) and I waited with my feet up for a steaming cup of coffee.

Atha and Prasa were still sound asleep and I went back to wake them up. It was very cold and we sipped at our scalding coffee hugging ourselves so tight. The caretakers got a shock when they appeared around 5.30am to see us up and about. I guess this was a great shock for them and they got very busy making our breakfast while we washed in the freezing water and got ready to leave while the sun was beginning his painting class towards the east.

K28 Expedition

Year and Month April, 2014 Number of Days 1 Crew 5 (between 24-27 years of age) Accommodation Nuwara Eliya Town Transport Van Activities Wildlife, Photography, Hiking, climbing Weather Excellent Route Kandy -> Nuwara Eliya -> Horton Plains and return on the same route. Tips, Notes and Special remark Planning in advance will save you lot […]

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