We departed from Colombo early morning and reached Beragala around 9am. When we got down at Beragala there was a bus waiting for Wellawaya. Latter part of A4 road from Beragala to Wellawaya was not in good condition. From Koslanda we got a trishaw to first visit at Meeriyabadda (මීරියබැද්ද) Land slide site and then Diyaluma waterfall.

I immediately felt better and at the sight of Bambarakanda Falls, the tallest girl in SL, made my day. She had more water, at least more than my last visit, and was looking radiant in the morning. We parked the vehicle and went inside for a warm welcome by Mrs. Mayakaduwa and her daughter Erandi who served us with tea and coffee. We were staying in one of the two cottages there. The walls were built using mud and had the look of a typical rural house. It can easily accommodate 8-16 people and has 4 rooms and a large living area and a verandah as well. Two washrooms are located at the back and with hot water.

We unpacked and got everything ready while they prepared our breakfast, Rotti with a Dhal Curry and Lunu Miris. Some cowpea was also served with freshly scraped coconut and we had a bellyful breakfast and were ready to go. It was so good to see Ranjith again and together we left for our hike that turned out to be tougher than we anticipated.

So the Monsoons seem to be arriving after almost two years and the first few showers were enough to give life to many waterfalls around Badulla district. My main focus was to reach some undocumented waterfalls close to Ella and enjoy all the seasonal beauties along Ella – Wellawaya road, Beragala – Wellawaya road & Haputale – Beragala road. Please do relish this fiesta but keep in mind when you are venturing around these areas to avoid heavy showers because these areas are known for landslides

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.

The primary purpose of this trip was to visit two different kinds of hydropower projects in Sri Lanka, to see the sites, equipment, mechanisms, etc. and learn about them. Enjoyed some other attractions on the way too. We got this opportunity as one of our friends is an engineer attached to Samanalawewa Hydroelectric power plant.

One friend Tharaka out of blue moon asked if I would join with him for a trip to Handapanagala. I immediately wanted to know who was going as I’m always wary of people who go on trips as I consider myself more reserved and a nature lover than someone who goes on trips just to drink and waste time. However, after Tharaka’s repeated assurances that the crowd was ok, I was willing. Another reason was Handapanagala is very famous for its tank and the possibility of seeing my favorite elephants was very high.

Our basic target was to see the nine arches bridge at Demodera and travel around that area. We used different way to reach wellawaya instead of normal ways (not via Beragala or via Thanamalwila).

It was an extraordinary cool morning to Wellawaya. We waked up before the Sun and left the Little Rose Inn, the night stay of us at Wellawaya. We moved heading Diyaluma, as the first travel location of the day. The fall was rather young because it might rain at Bandarawela area, those days. Because Poonagalla Oya the stream Foamed Diyaluma, was originated from Bandarawela area.

We were able to reach the Lipton’s Seat at around 10.30am in the morning. Cars can go up until the last turn to the Lipton’s Seat from there you have to walk around 500m through the tea estate to arrive to the view point. Since it was a very bright and sunny day we were able to enjoy clear and endless views.

We started our journey from Matara at 3.00pm in the evening and arrived at Wellawaya by 7.00pm. We spent the night at Wellawaya and planned to visit Diyaluma falls the next day. At 8.00am we caught a Wellawaya- Haputhale bus (Through Beragala) and got down near ice peella (අයිස් පීල්ල)- Nikapitiya road

We planned this trip to visited Victoria, Randenigala, Loggal Oya and Sorabora Wewa dams, Mahiyanganaya, Nagadeepa, Muthiyangana, Bogoda and Buduruwagala temples, and Dunhinda, Rawana Ella, Diyaluma, Bambarakanda and Kirindi Ella waterfalls. We started form Kandana at about 4.30 in the morning. The crew was three in a car. I was driving the car. We took about 25lts of water with all other belongings

This was a family trip with other families of my father’s friends joining in. We started from Galle and proceeded via the Galle road up to Waskaduwa (Kalutara) and turned to Bandaragama and then took the route to Ratnapura. The first destination was Kirindi Ella near Pelmadulla. The road up to where the staircase leading to the base of the fall starts was not great but acceptable. The water level was probably just right and it was absolutely deserted. 🙂 Also the vicinity of the fall was unspoilt thankfully.