blue=junction, red=summit and purple =the edge of the drop where we initially wanted to climb from, orange dotted line = the drop (Click Image to Enlarge)

Let me start with a small introduction, The great King Ravana’s body was kept after his death upon this rock called Yahangala( bedrock), for his countrymen to pay their last respects to their dear departed king. Geographically this rock is visible from miles away on its 3 sides. This rock is not a place to mock around and it’s not an easy hike at all, it’s also believed to be a holy place protected by the local god (ගලේ බණ්ඩාර දෙවියන්ගේ ගබඩාව). There have been many incidents where the god have punished travellers & locals who was wondering about with a bad intent (stung by wasp, elephant attacks, lost in the jungle, etc)

We started from Mahiyanganaya (as all 4 of us met at mahiyangana) early morning and after having breakfast we took a bus towards Hettipola via Hasalaka. The scenery along the road was spectacular the road was kissing the Minipe canal all the way until we got down at Uduwela where we took a trishaw towards Palle Galdebokka village. The mountain range including the bedrock was seen at the backdrop of the paddy fields. We were prompted to stop the trishaw and take some spectacular scenery… after reaching Palle Galdebokka it was all by foot thereafter.

Yahangala seen over the Minipe canal

Minipe canal

First view of the bedrock

Challenging us

changing its view

zoomed

Plenty of paddy

wow!

Dawn	he has found his bed

Ununugala or Kuwenigala

the hut

The path towards Uda Galdebokka was very interesting the path ran through the forest and without our knowledge we were climbing uphill, thanks for the forest cover we didn’t feel the heat much and also we came across few water streams where we didn’t forget to rest and snap around.. We reached Uda Galdebokka rural village at around 10.30am. Let me say few words about this isolated ancient looking village, the most unique thing was the rock walls and the small gate like opening trough the walls towards their property. These architectural creations made me feel like; I am in the Stone Age…one thing was common among these people who are trying to win the battle called LIFE, is their hospitality and friendly nature. The village had two main developed structures which were the school & and temple but the main eye catching aspect was the paddy fields encircled by the mountain range of Kehepothdoruwa and Telambugala. Kuwenigala. And Yahangala could be seen clearly from the village too.

Ambalama

frequently seen everywhere

resting

one of the streams we met

The Path towards Uda galdebokka

a break for Colomans

One of the elders who advised us

a present from a local

Creepers

entering the village

the first house

first view of thelambugala & Kehelpothdoruwa

the wise man

the school

the view

well managed cultivations

where we need to head to

tropical look

more paddy

After passing the paddy fields we reached the last house at Uda Galdebokka which is occupied by Bandara Mama and his wife. Now he was the person we really needed to meet. He first started by offering us plain tea. After that he started to give us directions towards Yahangala which were very crucial. We hanged around 30 minutes and commenced on our journey after thanking Bandara Mama. The path was trough a cool and calm forest (total=3to4Km) which seemed like will never end. We lost our way at mid-point and took a wrong turn which led us towards the “Ambalama” which is situated in Yahangala watte(old fruit forest). At this point we met Mr Heen Banda who lives at Kalugala who re directed us towards the correct path. The rest of the journey towards the Devalaya was strictly uphill. At last we came across the Devalaya which is the main junction of foot paths towards Yahangala(left),Medakele trough the Pathana(middle) & towards Kalugala(right). Travelling few steps forwards after making offerings and getting permission from “Gale Bandara deviyo” we entered the edge of the forest where we enjoyed the spectacular view of kalugala valley. Next it was the final task of the day, it was to conquer the stone pillars and camp on top of Yahangala. Climbing trough the stony pillars was bit difficult and at mid-way we had to give up due to many reasons like bad light, mist coming down on us, no clear path to climb. Suddenly we were in trouble with out a plan “B” we had no other option other than camping on top of Velangala where we were in a high risk zone of being attacked by elephants, fortunately since 2 days there weren’t any elephant activity in the area and one of our team members new “Ali Manthara” where he called upon “Nalagiri Atha” to guard us. Thanks to our tent we didn’t feel the cold much despite been covered by mist.

last house

having a chat

cuddling her kitten

guiding us

ancient

resting for a picture

patterns

did it shed or…..

the path continues

Puffed up

life

Ambalama

first view of kalugala valley

Velangala

Velangala & Kalugala

we tried to climb from the pillars seen on the left

Velangala Pathana kanda

Last rays of the day blessing the paddy fields

zoomed

one of the lakes of Minipe and Mahaweli river

Next day early morning we were happy to be a live without being attacked by elephants. We went back to the newspaper article and we noticed that they have not climbed Yahangala so we were thinking of alternatives.. When going back through the photographs taken on the previous day we noted that there is a “mana” patch where we can start to climb in a zig zag pattern and that was our plan for the day. At around 5.30 we started a small camp fire and made some tea for us, also we enjoyed the spectacular scenery at dawn at knuckes range which cannot be explained by any means. We commenced our journey through the planes in search of water, there were some streams of water but there have been heavy activity of wild buffalos around those streams but we had no options other than filling water from those streams.

first shot of the day with 15sec shutter speed

camp fire

success

the product

first glimpse

Fantastic

Kehelpothdoruwa kissed by the mist

Kehelpothdoruwa range

us

a Panorama of Kehelpothdoruwa

Panorama of kalugala

Knuckles zoomed

Deenstone side

Dothalugala region

Try again pal

Summit of Velangala

Kalugala, uda iluke region

if i could fly

changing its shape with every step we take

The plane

trekking

the other hikers

buzzz

Velangala & Yahangala

Morning wash

After gathering water we were trekking around the rock searching for a suitable point to climb it as we saw in our photograph. from this point until we reached the top of the rock (3hours) there are no photographs taken simply because it was a hazardous journey through the 2meter tall “mana” bushes and thorny undercover, somehow before we reached the planned starting point we saw a sort of an accessible route though the stony pillars. We climbed though the rocks and reached a “mana” patch on the rock from here onwards it was climb through the “mana” and tackling the rocks until the summit. On the way we saw many false summits which discouraged us a lot and most of all we were severely dehydrated and already deprived of water, the hot sun was not a blessing for us 🙁 we were so thirsty that we had to lick off water pouring down the rock surface to keep our selves hydrated. After a battling exhausting journey we reached the summit around 12noon and I just fell down on my feet and sipped the last bit of water I had.

The summit is a flat plane as we expected, you can run around on this plane enjoying the 360 degree view. The Kehelpothdoruwa & thelambugala range and Lakegala (seen far away over the range for the first time), Uda Galdebokka paddyfields, Kuwenigala/Ununugala, the minipe canal and its lakes, Mahaweli river, Ulhitiya & Rathkinda reservoirs far away, Sora Bora & Hasalaka Reservoirs, Medekele region, Velangala, Velangala Pothana, Kalugala region, Denston & Dothalugala far-away and Knuckles range was clearly seen from the plane on top of the Bed Rock. There were two fascinating things that interested me which were the awkward wooden statue/symbol on top of the rock and the contour (elevation) lines that could be appreciated as looking at a map(when looking downwards).

at the top of Yahangala

clicking

Minipe canal, Mahaweli river and Sora bora lake

longest river of sri lanka

wow! the plain on top of the rock

can you see the imaginary contour lines

spot the colour change, thats the drop point in the map

Velangala Pathana kanda

In tribute

The edge

where we camped(velangala)

the drop

stone pillars(the failed path)

the summit

Kehelpothdoruwa range

Uda galdebokka

Lakegala first and last glimpse

In search of water

wondering

the drop

The mist started to appear earlier than the previous day and we had to get down quickly in search of a water source. As we reached the mana area again we had 3 more objectives to achieve out them first one was finding a water source which was easy to find but had the same problem as mentioned earlier but our thirst made us forget all the cons about it. After galloping galloons, two of us had to go in search of the tent to retrieve it from where we kept it. After tackling with the thorny bushes for the 3rd time we reached the area where we left the tent but we couldn’t locate precisely where we kept it and we had to make our minds and leave it in the wild. Losing my tent was a very disheartening moment for me but sacrifices need to be made sometimes. Luckily when we started to descend towards Kalugala we met a local from Kalugala who had come to feed his cattle in the planes, he guided us all the way towards Kalugala. Where we had a nice Bath from a “watura Peella”, which washed away the tiredness of our journey. From here we took a trishaw towards Uda dumbara(14Km). There is a saying in my life “no trip is complete without seeing a waterfall” 🙂 , so there it was a waterfall somewhere between Uda dumbara & Kalugala(6Km? from Uda dumbara), a very tall waterfall called “Hulang Ella” which you cannot miss because its tall and situated at the backdrop of a paddyfield. We reached the Mahiyangana main road at around 5.45pm where 4 of us had a fantastic Kottu diet and left towards our destinations. Eventually I had to put a sick leave to have a long sleep to get rid of the tiredness. It has been almost 2 weeks since we completed this hike but guess what I’m still itching myself, thanks to the thorny bushes.

Hope you enjoyed reading my long story..

a snap taken while climbing down

looking back up

Rathkinda & Ulhitiya reservoirs seen far away

drop of velangala pothana towards kalugala

shaking macro

Hulang ella

it says it all