We started our journey on a December weekend morning. 3 of our party could not leave on the morning duty to some work and said they will come directly to Kahandamodara in the evening. So the rest of us decided to do a waterfall hunt on the way and left towards Rathnapura in a jeep.

We reached Pelmadulla around 8 in the morning and turned towards Kuttapitiya road (right in front of the Cargills Food City). Then we continued until we reached the stairway to see the Kirindi Ella falls.

Since it was early nobody else was there.

Scenery on the way to Kirindi Ella

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otv6M-LB-TA

Mighty Kirindi Ella

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Our next stop was at Kalthota Doowili Falls. The Balangoda – Kalthota road was a very scenic ride with no bumps and pot holes. But it was raining when we travelled on that stretch and the road was a bit slippery.

Duwili Falls was in full flow due to heavy rains during past few weeks

.	Beautiful Doowili Ella

The direct view

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We spent a bit long time at the Kalthota doowili falls and it was almost past noon when we left. There were no place to have lunch on the way and we drove towards Kapugala leisurely enjoying the breathtaking views.

Then we reached the V-cut on the Rajawaka – Kapugala road with a stunning view towards Udawalawe reservoir. There was a sign board telling that it is prohibited to stop and take photographs until 3km from that point. We spent some time there took some photos and then continued. It was a rapid descend from that point onward till Kapugala with a couple of hairpin bends and offered a spectacular view towards the southern plains. But we decided not to stop for photographs obeying the rule.

The stunning view at the V-Cut

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Breathtaking

Udawalawa reservoir zoomed

Scenery Passing Kapugala

We drove towards Weligepola passing Kapugala village where the Samanala Wewa power house is situated. It was around 2.30 when we reached Pallebadda and still we did not find a place to have lunch.

Without bothering much about the lunch we turned right towards the Kumburugamuwa road (just before Pallebadad town) and went in search for Udagama Doowili Falls. The road is under construction. SO it was a very difficult ride. It will be a wide carpeted road once the road works finish, but for now, a small vehicle will find it very difficult to go on that road.

On the way we asked for directions from a few villagers. Their answers were complicated and we almost got lost on the road. It seems like there were more than one foot path to the falls and one of them very long and one very difficult and a bit risky. Many villagers also had no good idea about the path. After being misdirected a couple of times, finally we found the turn off from the main road after about 45 minutes.

There is small gravel road to your right (when you travel from Pallebadda) with a name board of a temple and a Sunday school (“Sri wanarathana dahama pasala” as I can remember). This is a very narrow and difficult road and a car will not be able to tackle the road.

We reached the starting point of the foot path but were told by the villagers it will be difficult to find the path alone. Luckily we found a guy to show us the path who. They were right. The path is very rarely used and at some points the trail almost did not exist.

On the gravel road

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Starting point of the trail

Our guide

Into the jungle

We found a small hydro power house on the way (active) and the walk was not easy through the jungle. Then we crossed the stream and found another power house which is abandoned.

Crossing the stream

Inside the abandoned mini hydro power plant

Now history…

It wasn’t an easy trek…

On the way

The path through the jungle

After about 20 minutes we heard the loud noise of the waterfall. Then suddenly the path disappeared towards the stream and the Udagama fall was visible.

The first glimpse…

Getting closer…

Oh you beauty…

WOW, She is pretty… The front view of Udagama Doowili Falls

The feeling was sensational. I had never heard of this waterfall until a couple of weeks ago Tony (on this forum) mentioned it. Within a short time I had the chance to visit it and at one point we almost abandoned our search because we could not find the right path. Then we got lucky with a guide and finally found this enchanting beauty hidden inside the dense forest.

The whole surrounding was filled with the misty spray…

Plunging down…

Another stream was flowing from the right side and there was another waterfall further upstream. But our guide said he’s getting late and wanted to go back. Then we said good bye to him and thought of a way to reach the other waterfall. We could not find a clear path so I decided to go upstream.

The other stream

The waterfall was just about 200-300 meters from the duwili falls but it was really difficult to get there. The rocks were slippery and consisted of some huge boulders making it difficult to move from one to another. So halfway I had to take a detour around a huge tree and look for an alternative route. But I failed to find a way through the thorny creepers and dense forest and joined the stream once again and reached up as close as possible.

OMG this one is huge…

But unfortunately I could not get much closer and could not have a direct view of the Udagama Handapan Ella falls. It flowed down an angled rock surface and was totally covered by a tall rock wall from one side (the side I was facing). My guess is it should be 40-50m in height. But I could not find any details of this falls on the Internet. On the internet it describes a waterfall with the same name but on a totally different location. But the image looks like this.

The first glimpse…

Udagama Handapan Ella Falls. This is the best shot I could get hold on to. It is difficult to see in this picture due to the tree cover, but the starting point was right near the top left corner of this picture.

Could not get any closer. It was difficult than it seems in these photos…

It was almost 4.30 pm and we were hungry too. It was getting darker and we had to find our way back on our own. So we I to abandon the Handapan ella and get back. It was not easy to find our way back on our own and we lost our way twice

One last look at her…

It was around 5.30 when we came out of the jungle and continued to join the Embilipitiya main road. We were hungry and were late to have lunch. So we had some hot hot hoppers from Pallebadda town and continued towards Kahandamodara.

It was around 7 pm when we reached our lodge Back of Beyond Kahandamodara. It was yet another unique back of beyond creation with open style bungalow, fine touches of creativity and very relaxing calm environment. Nelson, the bungalow keeper’s delicious food was exceptional.

It rained during the night and the next day morning was very gloomy fading my hopes of seeing a beautiful sunrise at the Kahandamodara lagoon. So we spent the morning at the bungalow leisurely and then took the kayak and went to the lagoon. We had a quality time there at the beautiful lagoon swimming and kayaking.

The lagoon was a place to be…

Scenery at the Kahandamodara lagoon

More scenery

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My favorite shot…

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After the delicious lunch we said good bye to Back of beyond and took the road toward Udawalawa national park. We reached the park entrance around 3.30 and did a safari.

On the Udawalawe dam

Diyawini falls from the udawalawa dam

The park was lively after the rains and we saw number of elephant and peacocks there. Actually we saw too many elephants that we thought now it is enough elephants and we should drive towards the reservoir to see the sunset. There were a lot of birds but they were out of reach of my poor lens…

They were everywhere

And they too

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An Indian Roller

Sunset is closer

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We left the park around 6.