As there was a long week end and (earlier months we were mostly abroad), we decided to explore the vicinities of Ranapura. We like many have been passing the town many times but not seen its historical and other important places. With my wife and son and daughter joining us with her husband and two kids we started off towards Ratnapura on 30July afternoon after lunch. We booked the Deer Park inn close to town to stay the night over.

Year and Month July 2014 Number of Days 2 Days Crew 3 – My Self, Thivanka, Buddhika & from Seetha Gangula onwards 6 Upul, Prageeth, Udayanath Accommodation Heramitipana Ambalama (Gal Wangediya) Transport Bus, Trishaw, Foot Activities Pilgrimage / Hiking / Photography / Adventure Weather Day 1 – Heavy showers Day 2 – Gloomy Route Colombo […]

It is November the month before the official Sri pada season and I just couldn’t resist not visiting Adams peak before the crowds took over. I and Thinu were wondering whether to go to Sinharaja or Adams peak and suddenly the weather seem to be settling off so we decided to do an off season hike. Early morning we arrived at Kuruwita where we had breakfast and took the first bus (6.10am) to Erathna and from there took a trishaw to Adawi kanda (there is a bus to Adavi kanda at 7.45am). Sharp at 7 we started the hike and off we went through the overgrown mana section. The humid environment started to cause few problems within no time but we proceeded continuously.

After our Hunt on 01 May, I was yearning to do more of them as the season is ideal for it. However, there was this nagging feeling in the back of my mind about visiting Batadomba Lena as well for the past year or so. My visits to Beli Lena, Pahiyangala and Alawala Pre-Historic caves stimulated this idea more and more so decided to get two birds with one stone.

Tony managed to get permission from his Royal Highness and joined me for the 2nd leg of Tour de Waterfalls with his ever so trusted bike which is as old as him. We met around 4.30am and hit the High Level Road and were on our way merrily. However come Godagama and Tony suddenly braked hard to avoid a ghost Tuk-tuk which drove across with no lights whatsoever. The result was the headlamp of our bike came off and was hanging from the wires as a result of the brake. Just imagine how old is the bike and Tony himself. I was worried right throughout that Tony might fall apart just like the bike.

The 1 May that has a very dramatic history behind was about to be celebrated yet again by all the laborers and working people around the world. Unfortunately in SL, it’s nothing but political drama being played on vividly decorated stages by bringing hundreds and thousands of people to Colombo from all around the corner using our public transport buses depriving the needy to go anywhere on that day.

We decided to celebrate this historical day with the beloved Mother Nature by visiting the Best Creation of her, the majestic Waterfalls. While the Sri Pada season is about to wind down and the South-West monsoon rains are beginning to hit the parched and cracked earth bringing that freshly earth smell with it. Trees were beginning to dress nicely and Hasitha out of nowhere suggested we do a waterfall hunt on A4.

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.

We started the journey from Petta CTB stand around 2PM on 21st Friday, 2014. There was a Rathnapura bus and we took it to go to Kuruwita. It was around 4.30 when we got down from kuruwita. Our aim was to go up to Erathna and stay there. However after getting down at Kuruwita, we were lucky to catch the last bus that goes up to Adewikanda which is the last point that public transport is available during Sri Pada season.

Sri Pada(ශ්රීd පාද) /Adam’s peak one of my favorites places in Sri Lanka. After having seven visits to Sri Pada I wanted to do it in a combination of trails during off season. I selected Kuruwita-Erathna trail for climbing up and Rajamale-Sandagalathanna (සදගල තැන්න) route for getting down.

With most parts of the country experiencing rain continuously for 4 months, an amount of rain that has never been experienced for the past 40 years or so started to ease by end of July, the moment I’ve been waiting for. After experiencing 3 days of sunshine without rain I thought the moment has arrived for me to go on another waterfall hunt and decided to do it the very next day making use of the week-end.

It has long been one of my dreams to travel along the A17 but every time we tried to organize this for one reason or other it didn’t take place. This time it was a spur of the moment thought that triggered this off and less than 24 hours later we were on the A17. 🙂 To make things more adventurous we decided to take the journey using a 3 wheeler. Suraj with his tuk tuk has been our trusted accomplice on previous trips and we roped him in this time as well.

Bunch of people at our office decided to climb Sripada off season back in 2007. I’ve involved in many hikes before, but I knew 12KM + is not an easy one. We arrived at Erathna day prior to our hike and stood at one of our colleague’s relatives place.

It has been a while since I have visited few waterfalls, so on a Sunday I decided to have a quick tour around Rathnapura following Inter-monsoon showers. This quick trip was planned within 4 hours on the previous night of the journey. While planning was going on I gave a call to see whether Lahiru (another waterfall fan) was available and he was ever so ready for another waterfall hunt. At around 6am we met up at Avissawella and started on our quest in search of cascades which we mapped out on the previous day.