I and three of my friends decided to attend the Somawathi religious function on 8th May. Along with that we decided to go to Aukana and the ancient city of Polonnaruwa. So we took off at 2.00 a.m. on 7th May from Kiribathgoda. We used a Maruti 800 as our transportation medium because of its fuel economy.

Around 5.00 a.m. we took a left turn from Mirisgoni Oya junction and headed to our first place of interest.

This was taken at 5.30 a.m. before Kakirawa	Again this was taken at 5.52 a.m. before Kakirawa. We forgot to ask the name of this small tank because we were too busy enjoying the beauty of it.
Around 6.50 a.m. we reached Aukana. It was very beautiful site to see as it was early in the morning.

Then we started heading back to Polonnaruwa. Few kilometers after Aukana we met the rail track which leads to east.

We have to go under this railway bridge to Aukana. The station was very close to the road.

The rail track that leads to east

We had our breakfast by the side of the Kala wewa.

While examining the map when we are heading to Polonnaruwa we saw that Ritigala is close by. We made a sudden decision to pay a visit to Ritigala. The road was gravel one but in excellent condition until we took a left turn to go to Ritigala after 6 km. There after the road is bit bad but can use a car. But should drive with caution because in parts where road is bit washed away you could easily get your car stuck.

Ruins at Ritigala	Ruins at Ritigala
Ruins at Ritigala	Ruins at Ritigala
The wildlife officers told us not to go beyond this point because there could be bears and Leopards.	A big tree we saw at Ritigala

Then we straight headed to Polonnaruwa and went to our night parking place which is 2km from Polonnaruwa town. In the afternoon we went to the town and had a nice “hot water” bath from Parakrama samudraya. The water closer to the edges was considerably hot as if it was heated using a big heater.

Then we went to see the statue of King Parakramabhahu which is still not confirmed and the Pothgul verhera.

A view of Parakrama samudraya

Statue of King Parakramabhahu

After that we went to the embankment of the Parakarama samudraya in the evening to see the sunset.

sunset at Parakarama samudraya

Nest days we started early to visit the ruins of ancient city of Polonnaruwa

Royal place of king Parakramabhahu	Audience hall of king Parakramabhahu
Stone carvings of the Audience hall	Kumara pokuna where king used to bathe
Hatadage - This was built by King Nishshankamalla to keep the sacred tooth relic of Buddha	Watadage - The centerpiece of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, the Dalada Maluwa
Thuparama Image House	"Sathmahal Prasada" or Seven storied Palace
Rankoth Vehera	Lankathilaka Image House
Wall paintings of Thivanka Image House	"Nelum Pokuna" or Lotus Pond

After seeing all this we started to go to Somawathi at 2.00 p.m. from Pollonaruwa. After travelling 22km out of 42 km we got stuck in a traffic jam. Then we took few shortcuts and by passed 7km of traffic using some gravel roads which locals pointed us. The 13km away from Somawathi we got stuck in the traffic and it was not moving. After talking to Army officers there we came to know that they have run out of parking space and using a bulldozer to get more barking space from the marsh lands which would be dangerous if there is a rain. After a short discussion among our members we decided to abandon the idea of going to Somawathi and headed straight to Madirigiriya.

We headed to Palliyagodalla on this gravel road.	There are signs of heavy rains now.
Now it’s raining.	Even in the rain we were able to reach Madirigiriya. It was around 6.00 p.m.

After that we had nothing to do. We were supposed to stay at Somawathi in the night but we are at Madirigiriya now. Then again there was a suggestion to go to Trincimalee. With all the discussions we reached Habarana via Higurakgoda. From Habarana we took a right turn and we were heading to Trinco. The road from Habarana to few kilometers away from Kanthale was superb. There after the road is still under construction and it’s a grate pain to drive on such a road.

One of the members took care of the accommodation. We reached Trinco around 10.00 p.m. Only police and Army officers were on the road and they were very helpful finding the directions.

Next day around 4.30 a.m. we left the place we stayed the night and headed to Nilaweli beach to see the sun rise. Around 5.15 a.m. we reach Nilaweli.

We enjoyed the sun rise at Nilaweli

Beautiful sun rise at Nilaweli Beach

We enjoyed the sun rise so much and one person in the beach offered us a ride to the Parevi dupath. The cost was 1800/=. The boats trip took 15 minutes to reach the island. It was a very nice place to spend some time. And also has very nice beach for bathing.

Pigeon Island 360 Degree View

Pigeon Island has very nice beach for bathing

On the day we visit there were lots of small fish very closer to the beach

After reaching the main land we hand a nice chat with the chap who arranged the ride. His name was “Siwam”. Every one calls him “Siwam ayya”. He said that for the cost of the ride we could even stay whole day on the island. He is a very nice chap.

After that we had a nice bath and headed to Koneswaram kovil.

Lover's Leap at Koneswaram kovil

Scene from "Konershvaram Kovila". The big building is Prema Cooperation

After the visit to the Koneswaram kovil we started our long journey back to home. We reached Kiribathgoda around 4.30 p.m. At the end of the journey only we noticed that we have travelled 900 km altogether.