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.

It has been a few months since we did something adventurous and we were itching for some action. We were clear from the beginning on what we wanted to do; it had to be at least a 3day hike, away from civilization and most importantly we didn’t want a guide or a clear trail. Although we knew what we wanted finding a hiking trail that we like proved to be much more difficult than we initially imagined.

However Ana had booked the Ginihiriya Bungalow aka Anderson Lodge by mistake as we were originally planning to stay at Maha Eliya Bungalow. Looking back, I feel that mistake too was a god send as Ginihiriya is located in a very secluded place along Ohiya Road, about 5km before the Farr Inn. I’m sure you know that more than 80% of the tourists use the Pattipola Entrance when visiting the HP. Only a very few people use the Ohiya Entrance. As a result, Ginihiriya is not disturbed by the continuous stream of travelers and vehicles. Ginihiriya is built in such a place where it is not even visible from the road giving you all the privacy you want. A perfect place for a bungalow.

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 […]

The first time I saw this majestic twin peak range was in 2009 and soon after seen it I attempted twice and ended up with failures. I have never failed twice but as one says failures show you the path to success. Let me start with a statement I did many years back “”***I will attempt to finish what i started, Imagination can take you to extremes sometimes ”” (check the last sentence). After five years of thriving the day I looked forward came. Gommolli has two peaks one been Gommolli peak (2034m) and the other was Balathoduwa (2012m).

This was a once in a life time trip and I wanted it to be a spectacular one. When one is in a romantic mood its always best to stay close to mother nature and far away from the busy world. This is what we did in our little paradise nation within 10 days. So let the pictures say our story. Our first and second day of relaxation was at Back of beyond Kahandamodara. This was absolutely the paradise we searched for. Two days of perfect harmony with many activities to pass ones time like boat rides in lagoons, cycling and etc. Thanks Yohan for building such a lovely place. The staff was simply the best; you don’t get good guys like them at 5 start hotels.

We, my self-my wife and two kids, started from Kandy at about 7 in the morning. Journey to Nuwara Eliya was eventless through beautiful mountains and tea estates. We reached Nuwara Eliya at about 10 in the morning. On the way to Horton Plains was also through beautiful farms.

We started from Kalupahana and came to V cut by a three wheeler and started walking in the jeep track. Had a de tour to Top of Bambarakanda falls and came back then continued walking. After passing Devil staircase and walking further few kms we camped in the last part of the jeep track (in the tea estate) and reached Ohiya – HP paved road next morning and reached ticketing office around 8.00 a.m.

hen we were (Ashan, Sanketha and Me) climbing Pettigala I pointed my finger to a far end and asked Ashan whether it’s Horton plains. He replied me with a smile “Hariya Nogiya Thenna “. Surprised???? Yes for more than 30 years of my life I had never been to Horton Plains. So I was desperately needed to do HP ASAP and was in a hunger to do many trails within a short period. Within 3 days we ( Me and my friend Thenuka ) were able to cover five paths/trails of Horton Plains

This was the first trip of New Year. We reached Pattipola railway station around 4.30am and Ashan came to accompany us to Karunadasa guest house which is situated in walking distance from the railway station. Following our bed tea we started the journey to Hortain plains National Park by a three-wheeler. Weather was excellent and Piduruthalagala mountain range, Ambewela area, Namunukula, Hakgala mountain were visible one our way.

We recently concluded our camping trip to the campsite 3 in Horton Plains and spent 3 nights and four days. We have camped at sites 1 and 2 before and when we wanted to book site 3, we didn’t really know if these were better than the others, so decided to include a small comparison also with the report so that you can choose the sites as you prefer.

After a long journey we were finally almost on top. We reached an opening about 100ft below the summit where it gave a 180-degree panoramic view. This is where you can get the best view more than even the summit coz the summit point is covered to a certain extent by trees. We rested our tortured legs and had our energy bars and drinks giving us a boost for the rest of the day. I took hundreds of pics and managed to get Tony to do a short documentary too.