![]() |
Copyright Notice: Please obtain permission from the author before duplicating, re-publishing or adapting content of a trip report |
![]() |
Be a responsible traveler! Watch this video before you hit the road! Download Video: MP4|3gp |
![]() |
Do you like to contribute a Trip Report? learn how to or download template and start straight away! |
| Year and Month | September, 2010 |
| Number of Days | Four Day Trip |
| Crew | 4 (all are 22) |
| Accommodation | Camping |
| Transport | Public transport from Colombo to Halpe…..Then the rest by foot |
| Activities | Camping, Photography, Examining Geological wonders |
| Weather | Excellent (Sunny) |
| Route | Colombo -> Ratnapura -> Balangoda -> Halpe -> Colombo |
| Tips, Notes and Special remarks |
|
| Author | ujrox |
| Related Resource | 1. Attraction: Bambarakanda – Waterfalls, Mountains, adventure and scenic beauty
2. Related Trip Reports: Ashan’s Trip Report – Scenic Hike to Wangedigala |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
It was 4.30 in the morning. And a bit rainy in Colombo. Moe like a drizzle. We were waiting for a 99 (Colombo – Badulla) bus. But then a Ratnapura bus stopped. and the conductor said we could get a direct bus from Ratnapura to Haputale.
And on the way near Ratnapura our bus had a punch in a tire. So we had to wait in the bus for more than a half and hour. We were like 2km away from the Bus stand of Ratnapura. But it was almost impossible to walk in a town with such big bags. We searched for a bus to Haputale. But there were no direct buses from Ratnapura to Haputale. So we took a bus to Balangoda.
After we came to Balangoda we bought some goods which were needed for cooking. And we searched for a bus to Haputale. Because Halpe is on the way to Haputale. But there were none. But fortunately we got the bus from Colombo to Welimada.
It was almost burning with the scorching heat of the sun. It was not a good time to start a hike.
We bought some lunch packets from a nearby restaurant. And we started the hike. We were expecting at least a little rain as almost everywhere else in the country was experiencing some rain. But it had not rained for months it seemed.
We walked about 200m up the road to the entrance of the tea estate. We were already tired when we reach the gate.
We entered the road which goes to the tea estate. And the sun was directly over our heads, spreading its burning rays all over the area. It was really hard to find a shelter to have a rest in the beginning of the hike.
We had a little problem to chose which way to go after coming to a junction. So we used our map to find the way. Of course Ashan’s Wangedigala trip report helped us as well.
So we turned to the gravel road and start walking again. It was even hard to imaging how difficult it was to go up a hill with a heavy weight.
We walked along the gravel road. And we had to stop and have a rest for every few 100s of meters. It was really exhausting!!
It was shady along the gravel road. But not for long. As soon as we came to the western side of the mountain burning heat almost killed us.
We walked more along the carriage way. Then we met an old person who was walking down our way. We asked him to make sure whether this was the correct way. It seemed we’ve taken the correct path. So we continued our hike which felt like never ends.
We were so exhausted and hungry when we reached a bend of the road with a good shady spot. And there was a man was having a little rest . We couldn’t capture any moment of our lunch because every one was really busy, having lunch. And while we were eating we talked with that person. He said he was Krishnamurthi. A labor who works at the tea estate. He said he was also going up the mountain to his home. So he became our guide. But he suggested to see a waterfall in the nearby jungle, first.
In the jungle there was a little water stream. After the lunch we had a little cooling under the jungle canopy and with the help of the water stream. But searching for the water fall was a painful idea. almost every plant in that forest was thorny. So we gave up and head back to the road because we had to go a 5 more hours of hike according to Krishnamurthi.
Krishnamurthi showed us a short cut to the up hill, through the tea plantations. It was a difficult way to go. But still it was really a short cut. But dangerous. One slip, we would stop after falling a 100 meters.
After climbing couple of hundred meters, we joined the carriage way again. It was 3.26 p.m. More to go….
After walking few more hundreds of meters we stopped and had a rest. There was a little stream of water and was a god sent gift for the thirst!!
After the break we started our never ending journey again. But as we go up the mountain, it started to feel like our tiring hike was not gonna be worthless at all.
At 3.49 p.m. we were at Krishnamurthi’s house. We had some water to drink and started our hike again. But we were on our own as Krishnamurthi stopped at his place
Krishnamurthi told us about another short cut before we left his place, to up the mountain. So we turned to another stairway through the tea plantations. It was a steep climb. So we had to stop several times.
And another problem was added to our quest. The sun was about to set. We were running out of time. To set our camp and get our selves refreshed, we had to reach the camping site before the sun goes down behind the mountain. It was a race against the time.
It was about 5.30 p.m. when we reached the end of the tea line. Again we joined the carriage way runs on the top of the tea line separating tea plantations from the turpentine trees.
I reached the camping site which was used by Ashan according to his trip report. Others were having a break on the way. So I set up my tripod and started photographing the surroundings .
As I was photo shooting, my friends finally reached the camping site. So we started setting up camp. We had few more minutes before it gets totally dark.
After setting up the camp we got refreshed by a water stream nearby. The wind was getting cold. And the water was chilling. So we prepared the things to have a camp fire.
After refreshing our selves, we prepared dinner. We had brought bread. So it was easy to make only a curry.
After the dinner we went out side the tent and gathered around the warmth of the camp fire.
It was burning with the heat in the mid day. But the night was really cold. But of course we had some beer to warm our selves up, besides the fire. It was a really tiring day. So we had to sleep in order to gather some strength to make the hike to the top of the mountain on the following day.
I woke up earlier in the morning. So I could take some good snap shots.
As the temperature started to rise I went under the turpentine trees by the carriage way. It was still kind of dark among the trees.
After half an hour we had breakfast. and our kerosene cook was set on fire accidentally. It was really difficult to kill the fire.
While we were preparing lunch and planning our next step, Two men came to us by a jeep. And they asked what was our purpose there?? We explained that we were only here to camp. And he said it was a private property and we could not stay without the permission from the owners of the tea estate. And they asked us to leave on that day. But of course they did not threaten us.
We planned our next step while we were having lunch. None of us wanted to stop camping and go home. Of course it was a long awaited trip. So we decided to go up the mountain through the turpentine trees, after the lunch.
After packing up everything, we started our hike to the mountain top. And it was 12.30 p.m. Obviously not a good time for a hike. But we were not defeated by the sun.
The sun was ok. It was the most painful walk I’ve ever experienced. No clear path to go to the top. There was an old carriage way through the turpentine trees. But it was completely out run by bushes. Not normal but thorny bushes. One of us had to take the lead and clear the way to the others. It was no easy with our huge bags.
Sometimes we had to crawl under thorny bushes. We had cuts all over our hands and legs. And some bags we torn while we were crawling. And it was sweating like hell. We had only 3 bottles of water. At 1 p.m., this kind of hike can be called “a hike to hell”.
We stopped many times, because it was one hell of a hike. But thorny bushes couldn’t stop us. We walked further more. Slowly….!! Step by step…!!!
Finally we came to some kind of a clearing. Now only “Mana” bushes were on the way. So we could walk faster and easier.
Eventually we got out of the carriage way and climbed directly up the mountain. So we could find a good shade under a pine tree. It was 2.40 p.m. and we walked up hill carrying heavy weights, two days in a row. We did need a rest.
After the break, we started photographing the marvelous landscape.
We were hypnotized by the surrounding view. So we were walking along the plateau and photographing everything which can be caught by our cameras. I’ve put here only few of them
We had to stop being photographers, as we had to set up camp before the sun goes down. And we had to collect more and more fire-wood for the camp fire. And We knew it was gonna be cooler than the previous night because we were few more hundreds of meters higher.
Camp was set. Then we searched for water. We found a water spring about 100 meters down from the tent. fortunately we had few large bottles to fill water.
On the top of the mountain there was a windy condition. So we had to make some support lines with ropes. But luckily. it was not too windy!
I always wanted to start a camp fire by using a flint. So our camp fire was lit. And we gathered more fire-wood. And of course we cleaned our selves up with the help of that water spring.
Everything for a chilling night was ready. So we started experiencing the mysterious beauty of the eve in the mountain top. The sky was blood red. Wow.. even now.. I wish I were there.!!
We were enjoying the evening beauty of the mountain until it was almost totally dark. So we gathered around the camp fire and prepared dinner. We made 4 chairs around the camp fire by using rocks. Trust me…they really were comfortable.
After having dinner we did not wanna go to sleep. So we grabbed the lantern and walked a few hundreds of meters away from the tent. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Starts all over the sky. There was not even a single cloud. we couldn’t see the surrounding mountains. but the electric light from them were seen. So they were seen like some little stars. So it was like we were on the top of the world and around us there were only the star filled sky. nothing else…!!! We tried to catch the view with our cameras. But it was hard to take a good picture of stars with ordinary digital cameras. After couple of hours we went to sleep… in a tent which was set near heaven.
Next day I woke up early and photographed the rising sun. And inhaling morning fresh air really made me feel like I got a brand new set of lungs.
We had breakfast and started enjoying the surroundings. And we were never fed up of it.
It was misty and cloudy day. Sun’s burning rays hardly reached us through theavy blanket of clouds above us. And of course it was so beautiful. It really made us feel like we were in a mystic world.
As It was covered by the mist, we walked away from the tent to experience this moment. We couldn’t see any surrounding mountains or landscape below us. All were covered by white clouds. So it was like we were on an alien world. We walked along the mountain till it was about 2 p.m. then hunger stopped our exploration .
We were so hungry and the thin air in higher altitudes made us so tired of walking. So we headed back to the tent to have our lunch.
After the lunch we enjoyed the scenery as we were sitting near the tent. We had some tea in the eve as well. And we prepared for the night. because it was the last night of our trip. So we cooked a grand dinner with so many dishes. WOW..that was a good dinner!!
After having dinner we came out of our tent. And we realized that we were covered by a thick cloud of mist. We didn’t go much further in the misty night because it would have been difficult to find the way back to the tent. So after about a half an hour we went to sleep.
Next day morning we got up and started getting ready to head back home. We really didn’t wanna leave that place. But we could only be visitors, there.
After we got ready for coming back wanted to leave something of ours. So we left one of our flags there. We put it on a tree next to the place we camped.
We started walking downhill at about 11.30 a.m. Of course under the hot sun. But going downhill was way easier than climbing up.
It only took about 40 minutes to reach where we camped on the 1st day. But under the suns intense heat it was not easy at all.
We were climbing down the hill on stairs which were made of loose rocks. So it really was dangerous. But it was faster. And of course we did not forget to have a little break and enjoy the view!!
It was 2.30 when we reached the place we had lunch on the day 1. It took only 3 hours even we had long breaks. We had a little rest there as well and after few minutes we started walking again.
After reaching the main road we needed to find a place to have a good bath. We were covered with sweat and dust. So we hadn’t to go anywhere else as a water fall was just 300m away. So we were headed to Surathalee Ella.
As soon as we turned to the path which was led to the water fall, a mess was seen. It was completely polluted by human garbage. Plastic, Polythene, Glass and many more…. A disappointment at the end of the trip. Man is the only animal who kills the environment!!
But near the waterfall was not polluted that much. We had a good bath in clear cold water. It was really refreshing.
After having a bath our hunger rose up. So we headed back to the main road and had the lunch from a restaurant near by. After a good meal we were lucky to have a 99 Badulla – Colombo bus. So we came to Nugegoda at about 9.30 p.m.







































































































































