The map(we took the opposite route shown by the arrows) – click to enlarge

Previously I did hike from Kalupahana to Ohiya on foot and I wanted to do this on my jeep but I never planned to attempt this in 2015. All started when my friend Dharshana called me and said “machan must go somewhere because I haven’t been anywhere in 8 months”. He had been stuck with his PG degree so was desperate and this was the main reason why we did this plus Amila also joined us on the last moment. We planned to descend because that would be easy for everyone to return back to their desired destinations. The whole ride took 3 ½ hours and we also had a dip on top of Lanka ella to refresh ourselves. The lunch was prepared at Bambarakanda Holiday resort. This would be a picture report so enjoy it and drive safe..

Winding roads at ohiya

Elephant foot

starting point

violet beauty

Udaweria factory to be restored

misty hill country

old direction board

view towards A4 from the factory

A4 zoomed

to be renovated

white beauty

that lovely bunch

African lily

more

captured by amila

icy cold

tall trees

better than the rest of the road

seen on a light post

rough map

ascending devils stair way

crossing the gap

ah they got some chocolates

mountain forest

it was misty

antique

view towards Udawalawe

unique

kichi kichi delica

hard life

faces

i love these

ah a clear view

towards kuragala

wow

scenic

a silent day

siblings

gommolliya covered

my beast

glimpse of lanka ella

lovely

this was a dream

Thanks Amila de Silva for the pic

Yahalatenna was lovely

V cut

ah the road was well paved from here onwards

kalthota plains

extremely dry August

trail to lanka ella

heaven

scenic

where we had a bath

standing tall

looking back and saying good bye

The map – click to enlarge

It was totally random but we wanted to visit Kala wewa since it was named and opened to the public very recently. When we got there it was already drizzling and the lake was filled up to the brim. After getting in contact with the DWC officers and experienced “Ali Ananda” we went to get a ticket. We were surprised because we got to know that we were the first to visit the park since its opening. Feeling honoured we took the road towards Kala wewa reservoir. It was a muddy virgin road which was very slippery. This adventure was all about mud baths. When we reached the lake we noted that we had to abandon the idea of riding around the lake because the 20km path was covered with water. After a brief stay we came back to the entrance and took the road towards the fishing port and took a short boat ride before exiting this muddy park. Though we didn’t see any elephants it really didn’t matter because we enjoyed the muddy ride. We were told that there are 14 Tuskers and 12 young Elephants with tusk. Kala wewa is the only place in SL with such a high density of tuskers. So it’s a timely decision to announce this as a national park.

entrance at galkiriyagama

a beauty

awaiting to be opened

first ticket issued to public – click to enlarge

honoured customer

awaiting at the entrance

virgin roads

muddy

the lake was full

a bone

some mushrooms

end of the road

ah play time

kala wewa

note the bund

young photographers

ah got stuck

he dug his way out

halted

lonely as usual

no sun at all

they loved the water

he decided to jump

and it ended like this

playing cricket with the paddle

a boat ride

landing on a mini island

living

evidence of a rock quarry

at an ancient rock quarry close to the entrance

interesting markings

paradise

petals with drops

floating solo

tag team

full group

After visiting Kala wewa we wanted to visit few archeological sites in the vicinity so we returned back to Andiyagala junction and took few by roads and reached Bulnewa – Saliyagama road and from there we went towards Res wehera. It is located in Kahallapallekele sanctuary and the road was a muddy one through the wilderness. The visit was totally worth and we really appreciated that visit. We also climbed uphill to have a good panoramic view towards the land of the kings. The image house and its paintings were well preserved and lovely.

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This is a colossal statue of Buddha lying close the famous Awkana statue, but not as popular. This statue is called Ras Vehera as well as Sasuruwa (or Sas-seruwa). The height of this statue is recorded as 39 feet 3 inches but according to the chief priest there its height is 42 feet 4 inches. The statue depicts the Abhaya Mudra ( freedom from fear). Like the Awkana the robe of the Buddha is clinging to the body but the final finishes doesn’t seems to have been done.

The pedestal on which the Buddha is carved is not decorated and it is only a square block of stone. One ear is also unfinished. All this indicate that this statue was never fished for a unknown reason.

According to chronicles The King Mahasen (276-303 AD) who ruled from Anuradhapura has built a statue called “Rahera” statue at the base of the “Rahera” cliff. It is thought that Ras Vehera is this statue and after his death the work on the site has also halted.

This statue also lacks the “Siraspatha” at the top of the head which is seen in the Awkana statue. But it is said that there has been a wooden “siraspatha” in early days. There also has been a housing structure around the statue for protection as the rock in which the statue is carved is fairly soft. All this has been destroyed during the North Indian Tamil invasion (of Kalinga Maga).

The Bo Tree in the site is a sapling of the very first 32 saplings (dethis Omaha bo Ankara) of the Sri Maha Bodhi in the Anuradhapura and is thought to be planted by the king Devampiyathissa (250 – 210 BC). It is said that on the day the tree was planted the area was lit by colourful rays of light (ras). Thus the name ‘Ras Vehera’ was attached to this site. The tree is protected by a 10 feet tall 4 layers of tightly packed stones. This is too is a unique feature of the unique feature comparable to bodigara seen in other temples.

This place is also called Sesuruwa (or Sas-seruwa) which could be interpreted as the “similar statue”. This could be due the proximity of the Awkana Statue and the similarities. Folklore also tells that the Ras Vehera statue was done by the same person and this was a trial before starting off the famous Awkana Statue.

There are 2 image houses in addition to the main Buddha image cut in to the stone. One is on the same path you climb to the rock statue but before the Bo tree. This image house inside a cave is called “Raja Maha Viharaya” and the stupa is said to be built by King Walagamba (89-77 BC). As you enter is a beautiful Makara Thorana and underneath is a beautiful seating Buddha statue.

The other cave image house contains a massive reclining Buddha statue. You can see several places in this statue where treasure hunters have broken in to and freshly repaired.

According to the priest of the temple this is 39 feet long and has some unique features not found in other shrine caves. It is possible to walk around this statue. Another feature is the robe on the statue has been hand woven and pasted. Then a hand woven cotton thread has been pasted all over to represent the waves of the robe. Then this has been plastered and painted. According to the chief priest this thread has been woven by single poor woman as a offering to the Buddha. The original thread and the robe is now visible in certain places, specially on the rear side of the statue.

In this cave there is finely woven bed donated by a wood craftsman during the King Rajasinghe (1797 – 1814) era. According the chief priest there is a very interesting story behind this offering. During these times only privileged people were allowed to sleep on beds. But the wife of this said wood craftsmen was nagging him to make her a bed.

Finally the craftsman gave in and made a bed for his wife. And of course there was no fun sleeping on a bed when nobody knows that there is a bed in your house. So the wife had to tell about her secret bed to their neighbors and news spread from house to house and finally to the king. So finally the the poor craftsman decided to offer the bed to the temple to avoid punishment by the king.

In this cave is a small burrow where a large Cobra lives. It is commonly believed that this cobra is a protector of the cave shrine.

Both these shrine rooms are generally kept locked to keep away thiefs. But the priests there will be happy to open them for anybody who wants to go in.

In addition to above there are 99 caves where the Buddhist monks lived in the pre christian era.

entering Kahallapallekele sanctuary

traversing the wilderness

Ras vehera statue

lovely

climbing uphill

a beetle

top of ras wehera

the lake of ras wehera

ritigala as seen from the top

lovely window

Dethis maha bodhiya

a moonstone

an image house

makara thorana

inside the cave

paintings

lovely paintings

the statue

more paintings

main image house

seated statue

lovely paintings

reclining statue

inscription

path towards a cave

Bhatiyatiss lena

From Ras Vehera we took off towards Awukana and paid this masterpiece a quick visit.

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Our ancient sculptures in stone in the form of Buddha statues, sluices, guard stones , pillars and other such artifacts are over 2000 years old. Among the largest such standing Buddha statues is this famed Aukana Buddha statue lying amidst Raja Rata – the cradle of our ancient civilization. It is carved out of a rock boulder and lies close to the serene Kala Weva tank built by King Dhatusena of the 5th century AD.

The Aukana Buddha colossus in stone is also easily accessible through the Mahaweli System H, at Galnewa. This Aukana Buddha statue is 46-feet high, resting on a fine lotus stone pedestal. The symbolic gesture carved on the statue, called Mudra is in the form of Ashiva Mudra which signifies giving or blessing.

A few miles away from Galnewa via Magalweva in Mahaweli System H, lies a similar standing Buddha statue enclaved amidst a vast conclave of rock cave shelters and giant boulders in the folds of the jungle fastness. This Buddha statue is known by two names one is Ras Vehera and the other Sesuruwa.

Ras Vehera has its derivation that the patriarch Bo tree standing there had originated from a sapling that was brought from the Sri Maha Bodhiya in Anuradhapura. As when the Bo sapling was planted there, the rays (halo) of Lord Buddha illuminated around the place.

Awukana

lovely

inscription at awukana

a kema

urinal stone

guard stone

From Awukana we took off towards Vijithapura to pay a visit to the historical Vijithapura Raja Maha Viharaya. After visiting the temple we returned back to our homes with some wonderful memories of this rainy day.

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In the 2nd century BC the great warrior king Dutugemunu (161-131 BC) began his crusade to defeat the Indian Tamil King Elara in Anuradhapura and bring the country under one Sri Lankan king from Tissamaharama. On his way he destroyed many strongholds of Elara. The great chronical mahavansa describes the victories.

And finally he reached the Fortress of Vijithapura, the final and the mightiest of the strongholds of Elara before the Capital City of Anuradhapura. The victory of Vijithapura takes a special place in the Mahavansa.

This city is of Vijithanagara is today believed to be the Vijithapura off Kala weva although some historians believe that the Vijithanagara should lie close to Polonnaruwa. Legend say that king Dutugemunu built a temple embodying winning post which used to inform the victory and this temple is believed to be the Vijithapura Rajamaha Viharaya. Although there is no much historic evidence, the temple is littered with old ruins which are believed to be belonging to the Anuradhapura Era.

The most interesting out of these is the “Kadu ge Gala” the stone which believed to be used by the King Dutugemunu and his army to shapen the swards. This stone certainly shows very heavy use.

Vijitha pura temple

lovely kotha

a guard stone

and another

urinal stones

and more

image house

where the king sharpened his sword

The route we took – click to enlarge

This was going to be my last journey while I was at Monaragala. Our main target was a hot spring in Maduru Oya Park but unfortunately we had to turn towards plan B. We took off towards Henanigala entrance and to reach it we took the road bordering Ulhitiya – Rathkinda reservoirs starting from Mahiyangana – Maha oya road. The monsoons had started early this year so we were bit worried about the road conditions but fortunately it was not a big issue.

At around 9.30am we entered the park through Henanigala entrance. We took the overgrown route through the “mana” savanna to reach a 3 way junction from where we took the right turn and headed towards the “Kudawila” School which was abandoned in 1983. Kudawila School was located at a 3 way junction. And the two roads which diverge from this point ends at the two ends of a 5km long canal which was dwelled through rock to connect Rathkinda and Maduru oya reservoirs. This is indeed an irrigation wonder where one reservoir feeds the other (Maduru oya) through a 5Km long underground canal. We opted out visiting the Inlet and reached the outlet where the water meets the Maduru oya reservoir.

Unakiri gala of Ulhitiya

Henanigala entrance of Maduru oya park

tamed

Henanigala tank

time for a snack

here we go

abandoned school

last functioned in 1983

Exit point of the tunnel diverting water from Rathkinda reservoir

end of the 5km long tunnel

supplying maduru oya reservoir

Green bee eater

From the canal we took off towards the main entrance of the park which is on Aralaganvila side. On the way we decided to take the route along the border of the reservoir. Once we got in to the grassy plains of the reservoir we were welcomed with some stunning scenery. The gloomy skies on one side and sunny sky on the other side produced some exquisite landscape scenery. We drove along the plains tackling mini streams and mud holes and having frequent stops to capture bird life plus Packs of deer. Some deer packs were more than 200 and I haven’t seen larger packs anywhere else. We reached the Wild life bungalow and headed towards the entrance where the museum could be found.

ඉලුක් පතන

අලි පනාව

close up

paradise

gloomy skies make wonders

more scenery

a pano

better than any tar mac

plenty of pelicans

close up

wow

team pic

dung mushrooms

endless

couldnt stop clicking

ටොපාගල

what a drive

heaven on earth

kokagala seen far away

crested hawk eagle

ready to fly away

huge pack

wondering

note the pattern

greenery

they were not happy seen us

mothers love

more to go

the two mountains which was used fro the dam

the bund

huge herds

not used seen vehicles

We did not forget to stop a bit at the museum to go through the skeletons of the elephants and other animals. It was sad to see that many of these giants were shot to dead rather than demised from natural causes. From here we drove towards the dam and returned back to the bungalow to have a lunch.

at the museum

cause of death

a croc

dead pythons

these could be seen everywhere

mini hydro project

fishing time

lonely jumbo

the spill

and it flows

the dam

ancient sluice gate

the dam

view from the dam

on a stump

this one could be seen near the bungalow

Up to now we had only seen a hand full of elephants and we were bit disappointed, so we again took the road along the plains of the reservoir and this was a very long drive because we had to follow the shape of the reservoir plus tackle the muddy pits. There were plenty of deer but no sight of elephants but suddenly we noted about 5 – 6 elephants far away and decided to have a closer look. We headed further tackling some difficult streams and reached the pack of elephants where we halted at a safe distance. They were not very happy about our presence so they gathered together and they started marching towards us with the guidance of an Alpha male who emerged out of nowhere. My blood started to boil and I decided to retreat while others were enjoying the moment. They slowly marched into the forest and we proceeded further passing the point where the pack went into the forest because there was no turning back for us. Few minutes of driving after that encounter bought us to a point where there was an abandoned road which connected to the main but it was all overgrown. I had to drive over tall “mana” bushes on a muddy path until we reached the main track which was a huge relief. From here it was a 30 minute ride to the exit at Henanigala. We really enjoyed this unplanned adventure and this was bit of a scary ride for me but yet I would cherish with these memories because this was my last trip while I was at Monaragala.

posing

grey headed fish eagle

there were more than 200 in this herd

and they ran

there were fights too

like ducks but not ducks

poser

he was protecting his pack

lonely elephant

closed in

ah a small one too

not so friendly

they did charge us

we decided to retreat

heading away

note the alpha

went in to the forest

lonely runner

wondering where to go

fisherman at henanigala tank at the exit

Almost one year back I did reach Nagrak to visit Galagama falls and while we were at Nagrak I did note a peak protruding out parallel to Gommolli range and Havagala range. This seemed to be an ideal place to leisurely hang around and this December while we were itching without doing any hikes we thought of giving it a try to stretch out our muscles. As usual early as possible we left and reached Belihul oya at around 7am. After having breakfast at River garden hotel we started ascending along Non perial road. The view was as always mesmerizing but unfortunately we didn’t have many pit stops because we were on a race with the mist. Locals mentioned that the mist settles at mid-day so we had to get there quickly to capture the surroundings without been interrupted by the mist.

The map – click to enlarge

as seen from Havagala

Nagrak range seen from Gommolli kanda

as seen from Havagala

early morning this was seen close to belihul oya

After tackling 31 bends we reached the landmark with the elevation post. This is where the Ihala galagama trail (via Nas-danda estate) meets the Nagrak road. We halted our vehicle and started hiking southwards along the foot path. From here onwards we had to hike along the mountain ridge which provided superb scenery on either side. After reaching the summit we hiked further until we got down to a cleft with a forest patch before re-ascending to the plateau like edge. This would be a lovely camp site to experience the sun rise on a clear morning. Wide scope of landmarks from Koslanda to Balangoda could be seen clearly but the mist did intervene to obscure our view.

starting point at nagrak

on the way scenery

the path

lovely beauty

worlds end abyss

the two reservoirs

Udawalawe

mau ara

ha ha they were clicking

samanala wewa

layers of mist

Pambahinna junction

Balathoduwa and gommolli peaks

towards nasdanda estate

for the first time i saw adams peak from this region

looking back

Adara kanda getting covered in mist

the path on the ridge

pambahinna junction

towards dethanagala

more to go

Pettigala covered

a place to spend the evening

lovely

ashoka

nice place to camp

kalthota – weli oya paddyfields

mist seen in belihul oya valley

resident at the edge

dam of samanala wewa

path we took

shaa

finally the great drop towards the south

one of those beauties

are we in heaven

through the mist

Balangoda town

wallpaper

ah one of these guys

micro life

if one wishes this is another path to walk

new life

that greenery

tip of the pines

extension of HP

lovely

paradise

where we were

lonely tree

lovely

Non perial tea factory

misty

nagrak bungalow

non perial

the roads we took

lunugamwehera

Weheragala

Dethanagala

Pettigala peak

After hanging around a bit we headed back and started returning along the winding roads. On the way we didn’t forget to stop at those waterfalls which we skipped while ascending up. After a satisfying mini hike we returned back to our homes to end successful journey.

3 man team

shape of sri lanka

banana falls

Non perial falls

I was searching for a place to do some trekking as some of my best buddies with whom I have enjoyed some memorable hikes, were available for some fun…. After going through some of the places I thought of paying a visit to Knuckles. This time my place of choice was Thangappuwa as I was not able to hike from Thangappuwa for which I was not happy at all. So days were fixed and weather forecast though not 100% perfect was fine.

We left from Colombo around 9pm on Friday and stayed in Minuwangoda until 3 am. This was done for only one reason….,the most difficult one… To get everybody ready on time. We reached Kurunegala around 5am where we all jumped into our luxury vehicle which turned out to be a Dimo batta.

So with some stops on the way we reached Teldeniya around 8.30 in the morning, already with more than hours delay. We met Rajah at Teldeniya and as prearranged, he has bought tickets for two days at Knuckles from digana office.

After buying some goods from Rangala town we set off to Thangappuwa, and the effects of Batta was already showing even without one step on foot due to road condition. And we reached Thangappuwa around 10 am in the morning… Already late for the first days plan of Knuckles peaks hike. With another 30 minutes spent on getting ready for the hike we finally set off t 10.30 in the morning. As most of you are well aware of the Knuckles peaks hike I’ll let the pictures do the talking from here onwards.

Terrible road conditions after 2-3kms from Rangala town… last 2kms were absolute terrible!

Path to heaven…

Rajah guided us through tea patches to shorten the duration to the trail head…..

The famous “Mara tree” where the footpath ascends through the tea estate….

The famous mountain on the other side of Thangappuwa which in Sinhala means Elephant rock…

The target… knuckles peaks…

Feels like in heaven…..

As we were late all ready, with some dark clouds looming, we were able to reach the 1^st peak around 3pm and reached the second peak half an hour later. We met four Mora guys who were planning to spend the night on the 2^nd peak. We had a small chat and refreshed ourselves and as there was no time to explore the rest of the peaks we returned to Thangapuwa around 6pm. But our group of six broke into two groups of threes midway and we spent some time until they find their way through the estate to head towards Pilapitiya campsite.

Sphinx rock which I would like to climb one day…..

Towards Hunnasgiriya……

Alugallena mountain…….

Mist was setting in…….

Rajah knowing or unknowing made a mistake by telling me that there is hot water and I was foolish enough to tell my friends that there was hot water. For information it seems that Dixon camp site lies very close to the village center at Thangappuwa. But our Pilapitiya camp site lies more towards Rangala and along the proper road, it is more than 1km from the school at Thangappuwa and you have to just walk as road was terrible that only 4Wd vehicle can tackle that road.

But it was close to 8pm as all of our six members were finally gathered close to the school and we took a short cut by taking a footpath along the tea estate and that was really energy sapping for some of my collegues with just one torch to guide us in the darkness. But place was warm and corsy and they have set up a tent for six where we slept. They had a separate dining hall as well as BBQ facilities.There was a toilet for your other needs as well.

The cook and the caretaker informed us that there is a natural pool created by a spring of washing purposes. We cleaned ourselves at the pool in ice cold water, and some of my colleagues had dip even…. But to our greatest dismay, they forgot to tell us that that was the water source some of the people downstream use to drinking purposes. I think that very irresponsible from their side as we really thought it as a good natural pool to have a dip in.

Six man tent…….

Team enjoying view from camp site…….

With the exhaustion of Knuckles peaks hike none of my friends were willing to accompany me for Kota ganga falls hike next day morning… So I set of with Rajah around 8 in the morning after a heavy breakfast.

One will not miss the branching off of Kota ganga falls footpath from Knuckles peak footpath at the 1^st T junction of the knuckles peak path. The junction is approximately 1km from the point where the climb through the tea estate finishes at the beginning of the Knuckles peak footpath from Thangappuwa side.

The open area before the descend…..

Knuckles peaks in the back ground….

First this path will leads to an open rock area where the knuckles peaks and Alugallena Mountain are clearly visible. Soon this open rock area will turn to open marshy area with little streams. One actually tested the survival skills of Dr Ashan following heavy rain during their visit. Due to the heavy rain Dr Ashan and co was only able to visit the 1st and 3^rd falls of the Kota ganga falls. But I was lucky as clear sky was in front of me as a blessing to complete all upper falls except 2^nd fall which I missed. Soon the footpath was going downhill. We passed the paths branching off to 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd to pursue 4^th and 5^th falls. The path after 3^rd fall becomes non-existence at some places. After the branching off of 4^th fall path the descend became sometimes almost vertical in some places where we had to descend on the side of old path that was lost due to a land slide and it was still fresh.

After a hectic climbing down with me wondering the effort needed to go up again we finally reach the 5^th fall and this time there was no branching off and the main path actually lead to the 5^th fall. But I could hear the sound of radio from the line houses of Geradiya estate. Thus it is my belief and of Dr. Ashan’s that we can climb down to the tea estate covering up all 7 falls though Rajah the guide aggressively denies the possibility.

The 5th fall… most beautiful and highest of all…….

Beautiful 5th fall…

Myself @ 5th fall……

After the 5^th fall on by one I covered all the falls but I somehow missed the 2^nd fall which according to Ashan ayya was branching off from the footpath that leads to 1st fall.

Top of 5th fall……..

4th fall…… with Rajah….

4th fall……

Top part of 4th fall…..!

Top of the 4th fall…….

Top of the 4th fall…….

The 3rd fall…….

The 3rd fall… Top half….

The 1st fall… Beauty….

Top part of 1st fall….

I was really exhausted after climbing up and returned to Pilapitiya camp site around 1pm while my friends were relaxing enjoying a good BBQ. Total time for the expedition was 5 hours.

Thank you for reading!

Final pic- The valley below the Kota ganga falls complex…..

This is a quick report with few tips to unseasoned travellers to Wilpattu National Park

15^th Friday was a holiday and some of our friends gathered as usual in the afternoon and the chat turned in to a trip planning session and was thinking of going to Wilpattu early next morning with the intention of being at the entrance by 6 AM. One of the guys wanted to leave on the same day and the discussion turned in to leaving in the evening on the same day.

So we called out home fronts and 5 of us got the green light from the chairpersons to go on Friday itself. We reconvened with cloths and other necessities two hours later and were off around 4 PM, 2 hours after decision. We had no specific plan or a place to stay the night. In the worst case we would spend the night at Tabbowa Wewa in the vehicle.

We were in Puttalam at around 8.30 PM and figured out it might be too late to find any accommodation around Wilpattu Junction and went to Puttalam Rest House to check availability of rooms. There we stuck gold, a five bed room for 2,750/-.

Initially we wanted to go in to Wilpattu from the Eluwankulama Entrance but we were told that his entrance is now closed by the manager of the rest house.

So we decided to leave by 5 AM and at 4.45 AM another friend who couldn’t make it the previous day appeared at the rest house. So the team was now 6

We left around 5.15 and decided to have a quick breakfast at Wilpattu Junction. We passed 3-4 breakfast places and reached Wilpattu Junction to find there are no places to eat at that time. So we turned back drove about 5 km back to have the breakfast and to buy some food to be taken in.

So this is tip number 1 : There is no place to have quick breakfast at the Wilpattu Junction before 6 AM. Have your breakfast on the way at any of the night shops which are open on the Puttalam – Anuradhapura Road.

Finally we went in to Wilpattu around 7, which was still good. At this time Wilpattu was filled water and roads are muddy and some under water.

Tip Number 2 : If you go to Wilpattu during rainy season or just after,  hire a 4 wheel drive vehicle unless you have a good 4×4 and aren’t scared of mud and water.

At the Hunuwilagama entrance to Wilpattu NP – This statue has been discovered at Paluvilandawa Tank Weeransole Ruins inside Wilpattu NP

I love these roads through Wilpattu

at the Percybendi Wewa

at the Percybendi Wewa

Thalagoya

Tufted gray langur – හැලි වදුරා

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Resting Point at Kumbuk Vila

Near Kokare Vila

Animals were spread rather thin probably due to the rains. After driving almost  100 kilometres within the park, we didn’t see any of the big 3 for the whole day. But to compensate this there were a large number of birds, local and migratory throughout the park.

There has been a sighting of a leopard crossing one of the roads and we and some other Jeeps spent well over an hour trying to track its path to no avail.

Tip Number 3 : Chances of seeing larger animals in Wilpattu is rarer than in Yala. So don’t be too disappointed if you doesn’t see any big animals (Elephant, Bear and Leopard) specially when there is lot of water.

Not seeing any big animals didn’t bother me too much since Wilpattu offers an ecosystem so unique and beautiful just driving through these jungles and the Villu’s will take your breath away.

Also the 4 wheel drive over the muddy roads, 1-2 feet deep water lodged roads and sandy roads itself gave everybody a unique thrill.

Especially Roads through Pannikka Villu and Kokare Villu were 1 ½ to 2 feet under water. ( Panikka Villu Crossing Video )

Tip Number 4 : When crossing water, always make sure you know the depth. If you don’t know, get down walk across and get a feeling of the maximum depth.

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Crossing the flooded Kokare Villu.

Some of us got down and checked the depth of the water before crossing this part. So we managed to get some snaps too.

Stalking the leopard

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.	Green Bee Eaters

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On our way back we reached the water hole called Humbas Wala to find a new Hyundai Tucson stuck in mud on the main road itself. Trying to avoid the center hump on the road, it has slid towards the waterhole.

We pulled the vehicle back towards the road using the winch and asked him to take wheels on the already existing track. Well, you could imagine the state of its front and rear bumpers after crossing that part. (video )

So we come to tip number 5:

Although SUVs come with 4WD or AWD, they are generally not meant for off-roading. So if you love your SUV, leave it at the entrance.

Tip number 6 : According to the guides of both vehicles, the local hiring jeeps will generally not help any outside vehicle in distress inside the park true to Sri Lankan style since they do not want these vehicles in the park which hurt their business.

The guide explained that if they had not found us or rather if we had not found them, the only option might be to hike a ride to the entrance, find a tractor, bring it in to the park and pull the vehicle out. The tractor was said cost anything from Rs 5000 upwards.

So finally we came out of the park around 5 PM looked around for a place to stay but couldn’t find any place suitable for our liking. Then we called Puttalam Rest house and booked the same room again.

On Sunday we decided to have a bath at Kala Oya at the Wilpattu Eluwankulama Entrance before coming back home. So we left the rest house at about 8 AM, had a rice breakfast at small shop at Wanathawilluwa and reached Eluwankulama Army Camp at about 9.30 am.

Here we found 2 things, one is Eluwankulama Entrance was open and had been temporally closed due to high water levels on the Kala Oya earlier. Two, bathing at the Sapattu Palama across Kala Oya was now restricted.

Some people informed that we could take a dip at a place about 1km before the entrance and we went in search of this place and ended up near an entrance of an electric fence to fend off wild elephants. So finally we gave up on the bath and proceeded towards Colombo.

Breakfast

Kala Oya Sapattu Palama crossing

Kala Oya from the Sapattu Palama

In search of the illusive bathing place and ending up at the elephant fence.

Where were looking to bath

A cashew outlet at Eluwankulama

ගල්පොත්තැන්න ග්‍රාම නිලධාරී වසමට අයත් නන්පේරියල් ප්‍රදේශයට ආසන්නතම නගරය බෙලිහුල් ඔය වේලනන්පේරියල් වතු යායේ කොටස් හතරක ගම්මාන හතරක ජනයා ජීවත්වන අතර ඔවුන්ගෙන් කොටස් 3ක් පමණ සිටින්නේ හතරවටින් කඳු වලින් වටවූ මහා පාතාලයකය. ඊට අමතරව පිහිටි නැග්රැක් ගම්මානය ඇත්තේ එම ගම්මානවලටත් වඩා අඩි දහස්ගණනකින් උසැති ලෝකාන්ත බෑවුමේ ඉහළ කෙළවරකය. ස්වභාවිකවම කොළ වර්ණයේ විවිධ ප්‍රභේද වලින් ඔප් නැංවුනු කඳු වැටි රාශියක් තිබෙන අතර ඉන් ඉතාමත් දිගින් පිහිටි උසම කඳු වැටිය නම් හෝර්ටන් තැන්න පිහිටි උස් බිමයි. මහා ලෝකාන්තයෙන් පහළ බලන සැමට පෙනෙන්නේ සුන්දර වූ උග්ගල්දූව වතු නිවාස වන අතර අප අද දිනයේ සැබවින්ම අප දකින සුන්දරත්වයේ ප්‍රායෝගික වූ අසුන්දර බව දැක විඳ ගත්තෙමු.
ඉංග්‍රීසි ආණ්ඩු කාලයේ ලංකාවේ සීඝ්‍රයෙන් ව්‍යාප්ත වූ තේ වගාව නිසා ලංකාවට ඉන්දියානු දමිළ වැසියන් බොහෝමයක් සංක්‍රමණය වුණි. තේ දල්ල හා බැඳි දමිළ ජන ජිවිත අද වනවිටත් පාරම්පරිකව එසේම ගලාගෙන යයි. 21 වැනි ශතවර්ෂයත් පසු වුවද ඔවුන් තවමත් පොදු පහසුකම්, නාගරීකරණ සැප සම්පත් නුදුටු ජන කොට්ඨාසයක් බව ඔබ නොදන්නවා ඇත. බෙලිහුල්ඔය නගරය සමනල වැව හා හිරිකටු ඔය මගින් ජල අවශ්‍යතාවය සපුරණ අතර එම ජල මුලාශ්‍ර ගලාගෙන එන්නේ නන්පේරියල් ඉහළ කොටස් හා හෝර්ටන් තැන්නේ නොඉඳුල් දිය උල්පත් වලිනි. නන්පේරියල් වතුයායේ සියලුම වැසියන් පානීය හා දෛනික ජල අවශ්‍යතා සපුරා ගන්නේ මෙම ජල මුලාශ්‍ර වලිනි. නන්පේරියල් මාර්ගයේ සිට හාගල කඳු පන්තිය හා තවත් දැවැන්ත කඳු වැටි පසුකරමින් කි.මි. 10 ක් පමණ ආපසු ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් අතුරු මාර්ග බෙදීම පටන් ගනියි. කර්මාන්තශාලා කොටසින් ඉහළට ගිය පසු උග්ගල්දූව, ඉහළ කොටස හා නන්පේරියල් කොටස්වලට මාර්ගය තැනින් තැන බෙදේ.
හරිත පැහැයේ විවිධ වර්ණ අවස්ථා වලින් සමන්විත සුමට පා වියන් සේ දිදුලන කඳු වැටි කිහිපයක් මාර්ගයේ වම් අත තිබෙන අතර චිරි චිරියේ ගලායන කිරිකැටි ඔයට ඉහළින් පිහිටි අති දැවැන්ත කඳු පන්තිය කිලෝමීටර ගණනක් ඈතට දිවයයි. අඟල් 3 ක් 4 ක් පමණ උසැති වළවල් මතින් බයිසිකලයේ රෝද හැපි හැපී ගල් බොරළු පිරි ලිස්සන මාර්ගයේ ඉහළට ඇදෙන විට දිය ඇලි සහ දිය අගල් රාශියක් මුණ ගැසුණි. අහිංසක හිනාවකින් මුව සරසාගෙන, අප යන විට මග දෙපසට වී අප සමඟ නෙතගින් කථා කරන ඔවුන්ගේ දෙපා කොතරම් කටුක ගමන් වලට මුහුණ දී ඇත්දැයි අපට සිතුණි. මෙම මාර්ගයේ නැග්රැක් කොටසකට යනතුරු වැලමිට වංගු 32 ක් පමණ හමුවේ. සංචාරක ජීප් රථ, ලොරි, ත්‍රීරෝද රථ හැරුණු කොට වෙනත් වාහන වලට මෙම මගේ ගමන් ගැනීම දුෂ්කර හා අනතුරුදායකය.

බේකර්ස් වංගුව පසුකර තවත් ඉදිරියෙන් ඇති කඳු පන්තිය මුදුනට මාර්ගය ඇති බව අප දුටුවේ උදැහැනැක්කෙම වැඩ පල සඳහා මිනිසුන් ගෙන යන ටිපර් රථය මගිනි. කඳු වැටිය ඉහත්තාවේ මීදුම් රොද කැරකෙමින් පවතියි. කොයි මොහොතේ හෝ සුදු පුළුන් වළාකුළු සමස්ත කඳුයායම වසාගන්නා බව අපට දකින්නට ලැබෙන බව දැන සිටියෙමු.
කෙසේ හෝ නැග්රැක් ගම්මානයට පිවිසුම පිහිටි වංගුවේ ගලින් ලියූ නාමපුවරුවක් ඇත. එහි එතැන උස අඩි 6990ක් බව සඳහන්ය. එම ස්ථානයට පිටුපසින් පිහිටියේ දැවැන්ත හෙලක් සහිත විවෘත වපසරියකි. එනම් බලංගොඩ දක්වා පිහිටි ප්‍රදේශයයි. එලෙසම ඉදිරියෙන්ද අප ආ මාර්ගයේ දැවැන්ත හෙල විය. මෙම ස්ථානය කන්දේ මුදුනතත් වන අතර එක්තරා ආකාරයක කපොල්ලක් බඳුය. මෙතැන සිට තවත් ඉහළට අප යා යුතු අතර එහි අවසානය නැගරැක් නිවාඩු නිකේතනයයි. මාර්ගය බොහෝ අබලන් වන අතර දිය අගලක් වම් පසින් දිවෙයි. ගල් බොරළු පිරි මග ලිස්සන සුළු වන අතර එවැනි ලිස්සීමක් මාරාන්තික හෙලකට වැටීමක් වන අතර මරණය පවා සිදු විය හැක.

කෙසේ හෝ අපට පෙරියසාමි සුබ්‍රමනියම් නම් එහි වෙසෙන කෙනෙකු මුණ ගැසුණු අතර ඔහු සමගත් ඉන්පසු මග දිගට අප හා දොඩමලුවුනු වතු වැසියන් සමග අප ඔවුන්ගේ දුෂ්කරතා හා ජීවන සැරිය ගැන තොරතුරු දැන ගත්තෙමු. පාරම්පරිකවම මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ ජීවත්වන ඔවුන්ට එදා පටන් උරුම වූ ජීවනෝපාය නම් තේ දළු නෙලීමේ කර්මාන්තයයි. නමුත් සමස්ත කතිකාවන් තුළ අප ඔවුන්ගේ හදවත තුළ එක් ප්‍රාර්ථනාවක් දුටුවෙමු. එනම් අද ඔවුන්ගේ දරුවන්ට ඉගෙනීම අතින් ඉහළට යැවීමයි. එනම් ඔවුන්ගේ දරුවන්ට මෙම දුෂ්කර කටුක රැකියාව උරුම නොකර දී සමාජයේ හොඳ තලයකට ගෙන ඒමයි. ඒ දරු දැරියන්ගේ සුන්දර සිනා මුහුණු සේම අතවැනීම තුළින් අප දුටුවේ ඔවුන්ගේ හිත් තුළ තිබෙන දුෂ්කර හා දුක්ඛ බවයි.

මීට වසර කීහිපයකට පෙර අරඹන ලද පාසල පිහිටියේ කන්ද නැගීම පටන් ගන්නා ඉසව්වටත් පෙරය. වත්තේ සියලුම දරු දැරියන් එම පාසලට යන අතර නැග්රැක් දරුවන්ට කි.මී. 12 ක් අතිශය දුෂ්කර කඳු නැගීමක් හා බැසීමක් මගින් පාසලට යා යුතුය. එම නිසාම එම දරුවන්ව පාසලේ නේවාසිකව නවතා ඇත්තේ දෙමාපියන්ට ගමනාගමන පහසුකම් හෝ පොදු ප්‍රවාහන පහසුකම් එම ස්ථානයට නොමැති නිසාවෙනි. පඹහින්න සිට නන්පේරියල් දක්වා එන ලංගම බස් රථය කඳු ගැටය නගින්නේ නැත. එමනිසාම නැග්රැක් ජනතාවට උදේ හවා තම දෛනික වුවමනා සඳහා අවම වශයෙන් කිලෝමීටර් 8ක් පමණ දැවැන්ත කඳුතරණයක්, බැසීමක් කළ යුතුමය. මාර්ගයේ සමහර ස්ථානවල කොන්ක්‍රීට් අතුරා තිබුණත් බොහෝ ස්ථාන දැඩි ලෙස අබලන්ය. ගල් පතුරු ගැලවී බොරුළු පිරි කටුක මාර්ගයකි. සමහර වැඩිහිටි උදවිය නිරුවත් දෙපයින්ම මෙම මාර්ගයේ ගමන් කරන අතර ඔවුන්ගේ ගතද හිතද ඒ දුෂ්කර බවට හොඳින් පදම් වී හමාරය.
තවද මෙම වත්තට තැපැල් හලක් නොමැති අතර සිල්ලර වෙළඳ සැල්ද අතලොස්සක් පමණක් දක්නට ලැබේ. ප්‍රදේශයේ තිබෙන එකම රෝහලත් ඇත්තේ කන්ද නැගීම ආසන්නයේ වන නිසා හදිසි රෝගියෙකුට  වුව පෙර කී අබලන් මගේ ගමන් කළ යුතුමයි. මේ වන විට නිහ්චිත වෛද්‍යවරයෙකු ස්ථිර ලෙස එම රෝහලේ නොමැති අතර බොහෝ මහලු උදවියට හා ගැබිණි මවුවරුන්ට මුහුණ දිය යුතු රෝගී තත්ත්වයන්වලදී එම ජනතාව බොහෝ ලෙස පීඩා විඳිති. ප්‍රදේශයට ජලයෙන් අඩුවක් නොමැති අතර ඔවුන් එය ඉතා ක්‍රමවත් ලෙස ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගනු ලබයි. වැසි සමයට කූඩැල්ලන්ගෙන් පීඩා විදීම ඔවුනට අරුමයක් නොවූවත් ඉහළ කොටසේ සමහර ස්ථානවල ගැවසුනු බල්ලන්ව හෝර්ටන් තැන්නේ වෙසෙන දිවියන් දඩයම් කිරීම විටෙක ඔවුන්ට තර්ජනයක් වී ඇත. බොහෝවිට දිවියා මිනිසාට පහරදීමට නොපෙළඹුනත් ගවයන්, බල්ලන් වැනි ගෘහස්ථ සතුන් දඩයම් කරගෙන නැවතත් කැලයට පලා යයි.
මාර්ග දුෂ්කරතාවයත් ප්‍රවාහනය හා සෞඛ්‍යය යන මුලික වුවමනා කිහිපය නිසා නැග්රැක් වැසියන් පීඩාවට පත්වන අතර ඔවුන්ගේ ජීවන තත්ත්වය උසස් කිරීමට රජයේ අවධානය ඔවුනට ලැබෙතැයි ඔවුන් අපේක්‍ෂා කරයි. මන්ද සදාකාලයටම තේ දළු අතර සැඟවී ඔවුන්ට ජීවත්විය නොහැක. පරිසරය අතිශය සුන්දර වූවත් ඔවුනට එහි කිසිඳු වගක් නැත්තේ ඔවුන්ගේ දිවි පෙවත එලෙස සුන්දර නැති නිසාවෙනි.
එම අසුන්දර බවේ තවත් පැතිකඩක් නම් නිවාස ප්‍රශ්නයයි. තවමත් අඩි 10 ං 10 ලැයිම් කාමරවල හිරවුණු ඔවුන්ට විදුලිය පිළිබඳ සිහිනයක් ඇස් ඉදිරියටම පැමිණ නැවතී සිටින්නේ දැනට වසරක පමණ කාලයක සිටය. පෙට්‍රල් මැෂිම, කුප්පිලාම්පුව මගින් රැය එළිය කර ගන්නා මොවුන්ට තවමත් විදුලිය ලැබී නැත. පහළ සමහර කොටස්වලට විදුලිය ලැබී ඇති අතර නැග්රැක් ජනතාවගේ නිවාස අසලටම විදුලි කණු ඇද තිබේ. පසුගිය රජය සමයේ එලෙස සිදුවු අතර තවමත් ඔවුන්ට විදුලිය ලබාදී නැත. වසර පහකින් පමණ නැවත ගෙවිය හැකි ලෙස සමෘද්ධි ණය මත අවශ්‍ය මුලික පදනම දමා ගත් මොවුන් විදුලි කණු දෙස බලා සිටින්නේ දුක් මුසුවෙනි.

විදුලිය ලබා ගැනීමට පවා මෙම ජනතාව ඉතා දැඩිලෙස කැපවී කණු, වයර් ඉහළට ගෙන ගොස් ඇති අතර වයර් හා කණු නිසිලෙස සිටුවාද තිබේ. නමුත් කෑලි කපන අඳුරත් මීදුමත් එළිය කිරීමට විදුලිය නොමැති වීම මොවුන්ට බලවත් ගැටළුවක් වී ඇත. රාත්‍රී කාලයේ පවතින අධික සීතලට එකට ගුලිවී පුංචි ඉඩෙහි නිදාගන්නා කම්කරු පවුල්වල නිවාස ඇතුළත පවා බොහෝ වෙනස්ය. මුළුතැන් ගෙය, නිදන කාමරය සියල්ලම එකම ප්‍රදේශයකි. වැඩිහිටියන්ගේ ගතේ සවියත් හිතේ ධෛර්යයත් නිසා මොවුන් මෙලෙස අඩි 7000 ක් උඩක සිට තම පවුල් ජීවිතය සාමකාමීව කරගෙන යයි.
අප යනෙන විට කුඩා ළමුන් බොහෝමයක් අප සිටි ස්ථානවලට පැමිණි අතර ඒ අහිංසක මුහුණ මත නැගුනු සිනාවට වඩා ඒ දෙනෙත් තුළ කියැවෙන ලොකු කථාවක් අප දුටුවෙමු. ඕනෑම විටක ඕනෑම කෙනෙකුට නොපැකිලිව උදව් කරන ඔවුන් හරකා බාන ඇතිකරමින් තම පාළුව කාන්සිය මකා දමයි. නැග්රැක් කොටසේ මාර්ගය පවා බොහෝ විට මීදුමෙන් වැසී පවතියි. මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ ජනතාවට අනෙක් වැසියන්ට සේ පොදු පහසුකම් හිමිව නැති අතර මොවුන් එසේ යැයි කියා තම ජන්ම භූමිය අතහැර යාමට සුදානම් නැත. රටේ කොතැන හෝ ජීවත් වන පුරවැසියන්සේ මොවුන්ද මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ සිටින්නේ ලංකාවේ විදේශ විනිමය උපයන තේ සඳහා දායක වෙමිනි.
මොවුන්ගේ තහඩු සෙවිලි කළ නිවස බොහෝ අබලන්ය. එක පොදියට පවුල් ගණනක් යාවුණු ලැයිම් කාමර පෙළේ වෙසෙන කොයි කවුරුත් එකිනෙකා සමග සුහදව කල් ගෙවයි. තාක්‍ෂණික නොහොඳින් වෙලී නොමැති මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ පිරිස කෝවිල හා සබැඳි වත් පිළිවෙත් තුළින් යහපත් දිවි පෙවෙතක් ගත කරති. තවද තම ප්‍රදේශය ලස්සනට හා පිරිසිදුව තබා ගැනීමටත් මොවුන් නොපිරිහෙලා කටයුතු කරන බව අපට දක්නට ලැබුණි.
මේ කථාබහ අතරතුර අප ඉහළ කොටසේද සංචාරයක යෙදුනෙමු. සැබැවින්ම මොවුන්ගේ දිවි පෙවෙතේ කටුක බව විඳීමට නම් නගරයේ සැප කාමර වල සිටින උදවියට නොහැකි බව අප දුටුවෙමු. පරණ ලැයිම් කාමර පේළියේ සැමටම පොදු එළිමහනේ සැමටම නොහැකි බව අප දුටුවෙමු. පරණ ලැයිම් කාමර පේළියේ සැමටම පොදු එළිමහනේ සැමටම පොදු නාන පීල්ලයට දුෂ්කරව කල් ගෙවන මොවුන් එම දුක අප සමග බෙදාගත්තේ දැඩි අපේක්‍ෂාවකිනි. එනම් ඔවුන්ගේ ජීවිත වල යහපැවැත්ම උදෙසාත් ඔවුන්ගේ දරුවන්ට සුරක්‍ෂිත හෙට දවසක් උදා කරනු වස් උදෙසාත්ය.
මහා ලෝකාන්තයෙන් එබී බලන විට හරි අපූරුවට උග්ගල්දූව කොටස පෙනුනද ඔවුන්ගේ සැබෑ දුක දැනගැනීමට නම් නන්පේරියල් ආ යුතුමය.  ලෝකාන්ත ප්‍රපාතයට යෑමට බොහෝ කාලයක් ගතවන අතර එහි තිබෙන අනතුරුදායක බවද වැඩිය.
කෙසේ හෝ අඩි 7000 ත් උඩ දිවි ගෙවන නැග්රැක් ගම්මානය අලංකාර වනුයේ නැග්රැක් බංගලාව නිසාවෙනි. නමුත් නිරන්තරයෙන් සොබාදහම සමග හරි හරියට හැප්පෙන ඔවුන්ට අව්ව වැස්ස හොඳහැටි පුරුදුය. අවසාන වශයෙන් අපටද සිතුනේ මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ තිබෙන මාර්ග කොන්ක්‍රීට් කරදීමෙන් හා අතරමග නැවතුන විදුලිය ලබාදීමේ වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාවට නැංවූවහොත් නැග්රැක් මිනිසුන්ගේ මුවගටත් සිනහවක් එන බවය.
උදේ හවා ප්‍රධාන මං මාවත්වල රථ වාහන දකින ඔබ අපට රිසිසේ ආහාර පාන ගෘහස්ථ ද්‍රව්‍ය ලබා ගත හැකි වෙළඳසැල්  බොහෝමයක් තිබෙන ඔබ අපට වඩා දවසේ පැය 24ම කඳු, දියඇළි හා සුදු මීදුම පමණක් දකින මිනිසුන්ගේ හා දරුවන්ගේ ජීවිතය කෙසේ විය හැකිද? නැග්රැක් බංගලාවට යන පිටස්තර පුද්ගලයන් හා ඔවුන්ගේ වාහන දකින විට ඔවුන්ටද සතුටු ය. මන්ද ඒවා කලාතුරකින් දකින නිසාවෙනි. ඔබ අපට සේම බෙලිහුල් ඔය වැසියන්ටද පොදු පහසුකම්, කාපට් ඇතිරූ සුපිරි මං මාවත් තිබෙන නමුත් අඩි 7000 ක් උසට කන්දක් නගින ජනතාවගේ සිතේ කෙතරම් ආශා තිබිය හැකිද? නිරුවත් දෙපයින් ඇවිදින විට කකුළේ හටගන්නා කරගැට තැලුම් රිදුම් පාසා ගෙවීයන ඔවුන්ගේ දුෂ්කර බව තුළ ඔවුන්ව සැමදා තැබිය යුතුද?
එසේනම් නැග්රැක් ජනතාවටත් ඔබ අප මෙන් සරල සාමාන්‍ය සමාජ රටාවක්, සමාජ වටපිටාවක් උරුම කර දිය යුතුය. මධ්‍යහ්න 12ටත් පොදියට කඳු වළල්ල වසාගෙන සිටින මීදුම මැද අප නිවෙස් බලා එන්නට පිටත් වීමු. ලිස්සන සුළු මාර්ගයේ නැවත පැමිණෙන විට අනතුරුදායක බව අධික වන අතර තිරිංග පද්ධතියේ ශක්තිමත් බව මෙහිදී ඔබටද වැටහෙනු ඇත.
තවත් දිනයක හිරිකටුඔය දිගේ නන්පේරියල් අඳුරු නිම්නය තුළින් තවමත් මිනිස් පය නොතැබූ ඉසව්වක් කරා යෑමේ අදිටනින් යුතුව අපේ ගමන නිමාවට පත් කළෙමු.

we near a bend

people in that area

Difficult path

Difficult path

Difficult path

Difficult path

Difficult path

Difficult path

junction

Ada thibena widulu kanu

bakers bend via plantation area

Ada thibena widulu kanu

Beautiful Nature

Beautiful Nature

Beautiful Nature

Beautiful Nature

Very Old houses

Very Old houses

Very Old houses

People in this area

Nagrak Nameboard

we at bakers bend

The School

The School

only bus and route

us

Schedule is same. Early morning we started our walking & we visited places until 12.00 noon. After that we went to water cannel & having bath. We took lunch & went to room for little rest. Around 3.00 p.m we started our walking until 6.30 – 7.00 p.m. We stayed 4 days in Polonnaruwa & 3rd day we visited Dimbulagala Temple. We visited all important places in Polonnaruwa Now we completed 8 days in our journey & still we are in Polonnaruwa.

DAY 6 – 9 (04.08.15 – 07.08.15 ) {Refer Day 6 – 7}

27.Ritigala

28.Unagala Vehera

29.Perkum Prathimawa

30.Pothgul Vehera

31.Prakramabahu Palace

32.Kumara Pokuna

33.Bujanga Mandapaya

34.Shiva Kovil 1 & 2

35.Pabalu Vehera

36.Menik Vehera

37.Rankoth Vehera

38.Lankathilakaya

39.Badda Prasadaya

40.Gal Viharaya

41.Sath Mahal Prasadaya

42.Thuparamaya

43.Watadageya

44.Nissanka Latha Mandapaya

45.Hetadageya

46.Galpotha

47.Kiri Vehera

48.Nelum Pokuna

49.Thiwanka Pilima Geya

50.Deepa Uyana

51.Parakrama Samudraya

52.Nai Pena Vehera

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.	Carving of Lion

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toilet

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.	Pabalu Wehera

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.	Kovil No 2

.	Galviharaya – in the evening

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Thiwanka Pilima Geya

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.	Nelum Pokuna

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Demala Maha Seya

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,	Little Dageba in the top of Demalamahaseya

View from the top of Demalamahaseya

View from the top of Demalamahaseya

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Near the Sinhasanaya

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We visited all important places in Polonnaruwa. After visiting all places in Polonnaruwa we went to Dimbulagala.  First we visit Dimbulagala Temple & after that we went to Ahas Maligawa in Dimbulagala Mountain. From there we went to Mara Veediya. It was tuff journey. Specialy with little one. Some times we missed the path & we have took time to find it. Finaly we came to Mara Veediya & it is beautiful place. We went to Oushada Pokuna & have a wash from there. After drink water from the pond we got the new energy for return trip.Now we completed 9 days in our journey . We stay 4 days in Polonnaruwa & we went to Sigiriya. On the way we went to Minneriya National Park. Pls read next report for details about day 10 onwards.

DAY 6 – 9 (04.08.15 – 07.08.15 )

53.Dimbulagala Viharya

54.Mara Veediya / Oushada Pokuna

55.Minneriya National Park

Dimbulagala Viharaya

View from the Entrance

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.	Vihara Geya

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Sakman Maluwa

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Ahas Maligawa

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Giant Gantaraya

View from Ahas Maligawa

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On the way to Mara Veediya / Oushada Pokuna

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.	Directions

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Mara Veediya

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View from Mara Veediya

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View from Mara Veediya

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.	Oushada Pokuna in Mara Veediya

Minneriya Wewa

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Elephants in Minneriya Park

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Observation Tower In the Park

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Non pariel estate is having 6 divisions. Uggalduwa is the bottom of the world’s end and all the dead bodies can be collect from there. But it is a rough and full day jouney from Uggalduwa to that place. Otherwise continue your journey to Nagrak bunglow, which is located at the top of this mountain range. And there you will find the boarder of Horton Plains and Non Pariel.

Since Horton Plains is a world heritage, please do not attempt to go there without having any valid approval. Accessing to World’s end without any valid ticket is always prohibited. As per my thought if you are coming by bike or by foot you have to spend at least 3-4 hours for these 21 kms. Because there are lot see, sometimes we were looking at the giant mountains and the world’s end mountain range for few minutes. It is really amazing, can’t believe this wonderful creations.

Non parial is a beautiful estate with low public facilities. These people are facing to many challenges. While you are traveling to the bunglow via baker’s end, please note that the forest path to the Galagama fall will start from the Baker’s end. Ask the directions from a villager or else you couldn’t be finding it.

We don’t see any leeches since the weather is in a good mood. But as per the villagers, there are many leeches around the bottom area of the estate in rainy days.

FB: Travel in Sri Lanka-Sobasiri

The name board at Badulla road

Entrance to Nonparial Road

click to enlarge

Hotel at here – click to enlarge

hotel at here – click to enlarge

another one – click to enlarge

First waterfall we met

Stone cutted point

Via the stone cutted point

amazing beauty

Towards to Haagala area

Hirikatu oya entrance

.	Breath taking views at the road

Berath taking views on the way

This is so beautiful

Huge ston can be seen throught the forest

Another tallest waterfall

This fall is at the road

Here we are climbing the worst road

We still can see this rock

Seasonal falls but this is higher than the Bambarakanda

Nice to camping

Another waterfall at the road

Non parial office

Main turning point to the divisons

Use the upper road

These falls are seasonal, but higher than 300m

Another waterfall

Breath taking mountains

Fantastic Baker’s Bend

She is always looking this amazing area

The mist is coming from Belihuloya side

What a color differentiate of Green

The way we came

The path to the top

Mist will cover the path

The path to the heaven

Love to touch this mist

But so Beautiful

Last bend to the Nagrak nameboard

The giants

Entance Prohibited !

In front of the Bunglow

View from the Bunglow

Road to the World’s End

The Bungalow in Mist

Misty roads

Baker’s Bend in White background

Amazing nature paintings

DAY  1

We were planning to use a car and a van for the trip, but when I contacted Ashan, he discouraged the car. So we exchanged the car to a cab.

The van was from a cab service and naturally came late. The cab went early and reached Fishing Hut  by mid day enabling my sons and grandsons to have a dip in Battulu Oya before lunch.

The rest were not that lucky. 2 Km before the destination our van hit a protruding rock and we had to abandon it. A three wheeler came by and took 5 of us to fishing hut for Rs.450/=. We were able to send the cab to collect the rest of the crew and baggage.

The full group got together by 4.00 pm. Inevitably, the clear water attracted all and they forgot hunger. Kids were in the early group so they were already in water. We joined them.

It was soooooooo cold.

After that we had lunch and a nap in Hut 1,2 and 3.

Night came. We grouped to Hut 1 for barbecue and singing which went till mid night or more.

SEVEN VIRGINS

LONG SHOT OF Adams peak falls IN MIST

MAUSSAKELE RESERVOIR – DRIED

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POOR NAME BOARD

ENTRANCE TO A PARADISE

NEVER MET THE FRIEND

LONG WALK AFTER VAN REFUSED TO GO FURTHER

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.	FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE PARADISE

END OF THE LONG WALK

MOTH EATEN

EARLY BATCH ENJOYING A DIP

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HEAVEN FOR KIDS

HUT ONE IN RECLUSE

HUT ONE – BED ROOM

HUT ONE – MAIN HALL

SCIENCE TEACHER EXPLAINS HOW A PATROMAX WORKS

CAMP FIRE AGAINST CHILLING COLD

.	AROUND THE CAMP FIRE

DAY  2

Early morning all got up to enjoy the scenery. Adams Peak is at touching distance.

We spent the early part of the day roaming around and dipping in Battulu Oya.

The climax of the trip was the arrival of blue magpies.

We were talking about how rare the sighting of this beautiful bird and suddenly one appeared from the other side of the stream and perched on a branch. We cautioned all not to make a noise to enjoy this rare sight. Then another one joined. Another one and another one. Altogether 4 of this wonderful gift of nature just in front of us.

We did not have a powerful camera to take good shots but we enjoyed the sighting immensely.

Then one of the birds decided to make us mad and boldly flew into the hut. God! It was a real treat. It perched on the outer wooden partition and waited some minutes gracefully before flying back to the jungle with other companions.

Our day was completed by their arrival. So we had our lunch and came back.

Fishing Hut is sort of in a neglected state  now. Road condition is terrible. Hut No2 and 3 are in a bad shape. Although we paid for Hut No.3, we did not use it but managed with other Huts. The caretaker and his supporters are trying their level best to give a good service. However glaring shortcomings are beyond their control.

According to the caretaker, there is a plan to demolish Hut 1 and 2 to construct luxury cottages similar to nearby Blue Magpie Cottages. Then it will be the end of another hideout loved by nature lovers.

We left the place with a heavy heart.

.	EARLY MORNING – SRI PADA

NATURE IS WAKING UP

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TRAP IS SET

UPSTREAM

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MONKEYS

BREAKFAST TIME

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SUN BATHING – HUT ONE

INVITATION TO AN EARLY BATH

ALL IN WATER

ARRIVAL OF MAGPIES (sorry for picture quality)

BOLD ENOUGH TO COME INSIDE

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COMING BACK

UNFORGETTABLE WINDING ROADS

WE ARE OFF – BYE FISHING HUT

End of a trip – Hope you enjoyed the report

The map – click to enlarge

Google map – click to enlarge

The Dell as seen from great western

as seen from sripada

view of dell range from base of kotagala

After tackling Bopaththalawa in the morning we decided to head towards the elusive Dell Mountain. I saw this mountain for the first time when I was hiking Great western 6 years back and ever since that I have been staring at it on my successful attempts to Adams peak. The difficult task was on deciding the route and after going through Google maps for many hours we decided to take the route via Lindula. From Lindula junction we took off along a road which ran parallel to Agra oya. The road which we took was in good condition up to Bambarakelley tea factory where the 4Wd journey began. From here onwards we went through winding tea estate roads and reached the base of the mountain where a small tea measuring hut and a by road which ends up at the last line house colony could be found. We took the left road which was getting narrow and at some places covered with bushes. Since it started to rain the road was like a river and the difficult terrain made things much more challenging. The last stretch was one heck of a climb and I needed to activate 4wd mode. I had to carefully navigate this section because the road was eroded at many places.

landmarks (Bambarakelley factory)

on the way through tea estates

difficult 4wd path

tower no 1

We stopped at the second tower and walked towards the main tower which is the telecom tower. The tower keepers said we need prior permission to get in but we weren’t planning to get in because the view was already obscured by mist. When we were planning to return back the mist cleared off on one side providing a grand view of Great western which was covered with an icing coat of clouds. We also noted many tea factories at Lindula, Thalawakele regions. Towards the east of the mountain we found a lovely plain where Agarapathana and Bopaththalawa side could be seen. Bogawanthalawa was hidden by Elabeddakele range and Adams peak side was completely covered by mist. We also witnessed thundering at Horton plains just over Kirigalpoththa and we decided it’s time to head back.

misty day

tea estate on top of the mountain

restricted zone

looking back towards tower 2

ghostly ride

misty

tower no 2

main tower of Telecom

lanka bell tower

mist clearing out

tea estates

lindula

bambarakelley

lonely tree

mist covering a gigantic great western

great western peeping through clouds

a factory

landscape

7th highest

ambewela wind mills

kirigalpoththa seen through the mist

heavenly

probably Lindula town

one out of many

another view point

lovely

mist engulfing mountains

burnt

Towards Agarapathana

elabedda range

Kirigalpoththa and HP

looking down

wow

spooky

valley

Siri padaya hidden by the clouds

Elabeddakele range

new houses

scenery

heavenly

vertical view

isolated

landscaped

dynamic

Dell range

returning back

nice place to set camp

saying good bye

The return journey was also not an easy one and Chamara had to get down at some places to aid me in navigation. Though it was misty we were not too disappointed with the outcome and we were just happy that we did visit this mysterious flat mountain at last. We came back to Chilaw via Pundalu oya and it was a long drive through one of the most winding routes of hill country.

awaiting to tackle the tough terrain

getting back

white petals

more to go

landscape

tea and more tea

lovely

Tealand

important message

magical

December 11, 12 and 13^th were the days and it was a long weekend which was not to be wasted. Our decision was to go on camping in Udawalawe or in Wilpaththu but ultimately a decision was taken to go for Udawalawe. Waruna had high hopes about Wilpaththu but ……… bad luck.

Campsite was booked well in advance and all geared up for the trip. On 11^th morning we left Colombo. Had to stop at a few places to buy some stuff and food we needed and at around 1 we reached the park entrance. There was a little delay at the park office since there was a difficulty in finding a proper tracker to go to the campsite. We had plenty of time to get to the campsite hence we decided to go on a safari and get to the place around 5 o’clock.

Probably it should be the end of the dry season for Udawalawe according to the park officials as there was some considerable amount of rain in the last few days. But most of the areas in the park were dry and dusty. At the very start of the journey we saw two jumbos drinking water right ahead of us. One of them was standing on the road so we had to stop until they are done with drinking. After 10-15 minutes they slowly walked into the jungle and we continued our drive.

Jumbos enjoying some cold water

Driving on a dry lake

We spent 3-4 hours with the safari and the most common sights were elephants, Peacocks, buffalos, deer and crocodiles. Have to say that if you are a bird lover you will have plenty of opportunities to spot various numbers of birdies in the park including the fast and mischievous guy green bee-eater.

Such a poser

“Dude, we are hungry”

“What are you looking at human?”

Spot the croc!

As planned we reached our campsite around 4.30 pm. Away from civilization! Away from the concrete jungle! Campsite was so spacious and every moment spent here was like injecting stress relief medicine into you.

Pansadara campsite

We quickly set up the tent and went for a quick bath in the nearby Walawe River. According to our tracker, nearby area of the river is a normal bathing spot but not the area upstream or downstream. Even when you bath near the campsite river bank, you need to be in full alert.

Bathing in walawe river (Mahesh in action)

Lighted up the lanterns around the campsite and then prepared diner. Maggie noodles and sausages did the job more than enough. Hail chef. Laksri for the delicious first meal!

On the second day, we woke up early, had tea and left the camp for the safari part 2. While we were driving we suddenly saw someone or something crossing the road very quickly way ahead of us. From distance, to me, it looked like an elephant but once again it was so quick and lightning fast as it crossed the road. Our tracker also had noticed the scene and according to him those were two hunters who ran across the road into the thick greenery hearing the jeep sound! We had to go to the rangers’ office to report the incident.

We drove through the jungle without much luck and decided to go near Udawalawe reservoir where we spotted two jumbos, actually a little tusker and an elephant.

“Jeeps could roam in the reservoir area tracks freely now as the water level is very low but in the rainy season the complete area gets flooded and covered, there won’t be any tracks or safaris along these routes”- Mr. tracker

Udawalawe reservoir

These tracks are not available in the rainy season in Uda walawe reservoir

We had our breakfast near the Gonawiddagala bungalow, where visitors are allowed to get off their vehicles. Top part and the roof of the Gonawiddagala bungalow and part of the reservoir was visible from this place. Afterwards we drove back to the camp without any animal sightings.

Gonawiddagala bungalow from distance

Prepared our lunch which consisted of salmon, meat balls, rice and dhal. Hail Chef. Laksri once again! for the delicious meal. We spent a relaxing evening at the campsite that day. In addition to that, were able to spot a couple of huge crocs on the sandy river banks.

That night we lighted up a campfire in addition to the lanterns and had a chat until midnight. And on the next day we packed up to leave Pansadara.

Campfire

Camping Crew before departure

Cheers!

As per my experience, Devil’s Staircase road is the most hardest, dangerous and beautiful road in Sri Lanka. I knew about this on 2012 and I was lucky to visit there at the beginning of 2013. I got little information about this route conditions from Viraj Rathnapitiya and Dinesh Dekker in that time. Then we four got ready to face the challenges about our Motor bicycle tyres.

On that day we came from Visari Ella, Diyaluma, Beragala road and entered to the Bambarakanda road by 10am. However we started our journey from Kalupahana junction and proceed up to Bambarakanda fall, we spend little time there as one of our guys didn’t see this fall before. After that we started the Devil’s ride. On that time the whole route was gravel, uncomfortable and ugly road. Sometimes we had to ride over the 6-8inch highest stones. There is an area where named as a dangerous area since there might be patches on the tyres. We were slowly passed that area and entered to the V-cut. We had a small rest and took some photographs.

After that we again started the journey and successfully crossed the Bambarakanda water stream. That was a lovely experience since I still remember that our new guy how faced to that. Again we ride over mountains, gravel roads and came near to a small village. There we saw a beautiful waterfall at the dead end and took some photos and had another rest.

Again we started our journey and reached to Udaweriya by passing the Devil’s part and talked with a villager about the facilities in this area. That time the Udaweriya hospital was working like a dead man. Finally now we know that hospital was close down forever. There are 2-3 schools and around 250 children with 1400 population for the entire 16km area. There are no common facilities and their main occupation is tea plucking.

This road is having beautiful environment and sceneries as this was situated over too many of mountains and near to the HP boarder. Leopards Sambars, Wild boars are common animal lives in this area. There are no any specific camping place on this road and people can choose their own camping place but with own risk. Most suitable vehicles are motor bikes, 4×4 vehicles and Lorries; hence the duration for the entire route will be around 4-5 hours. If you want to walk along the road it will take about 7-9hours. If someone looking for a real hike, this might be the ideal solution for that.

Starting the journey

Side view of Bambarakanda

Wangedigala and Gommoli mountains

The best medium to the trips

Through the hard points

V-cut

Entrance to the Bambarakanda fall

Roadside beauty

Crossing the stream which carrying water to the Bambarakanda

Crossing it

Another person ready to cross it

Crossing the stream

Searching for the difficult points

We crossed it

Towards Giniseelin estate

Near to Nagadowa fall

Capturing beauties

Gommoliya can see

Endless road

Along the journies

Mountains over the mist

Village part of the Estate

A Junction

Roadside waterfalls

Through Devils Staircase

Towards southern side

Towards Idalgshinna side

Roadside waterfalls

Roadside beauties

Path

Along the way

Difficult points

Beautifull places

To the Udaweriya Estate

Rural lives

At the mist

The Church at the Udaweiya

Namboard

Udaweriya Tea Factory ruins

Udaweriya Tea Factory ruins

Udaweriya Tea Factory

My machine

Mother Mary Statue at a bend

Protection at this Rural villages

A kovil

Tea + Mountains + Mist

Towrds the Factory

More to go

Tea Estates

Nature

Beautiful mountains

The path we came

Close to the Worlds end junction

Gravel road is over

Where we came across

Over the mountains

Udaweriya village

The old nameboard

team without me in 2013

This is a less known forest reserve within less than 2km from the Kandy City and is the only forest reserve in Sri Lanka maintained by a Municipal Council (MC of Kandy).

This was quite an unexpected trip and hence less pictures, sorry about that!

This is a hardly known forest reserve within minutes reach from the city of Kandy and the significance of this reserve being that it is the only forest reserve maintained outside the Forest Department, it being maintained by the Kandy Municipal Council and special permission is required to get it.

Not much information about this place was found on the internet hence I thought of sharing a quick insight into this lovely place.

The name Dunumandalawa means place where Bows were made, in ancient Kandy; a special technique was used to harden the Bow using mud therefore the name. It is an extremely beautiful location south of the city with a Reservoir in it too. More info about its fauna could be found here:

When we were there the guide said that there are about 4 leopards identified within the reserve.

Entering the reserve we drove up to the reservoir which had a lovely log cabin. From there the guide gave us Alum to apply on our feet as protection from the leeches. From there he lead us through a footpath to the highest point in the reserve. The hike was lovely with the tall trees of the Kandyan wilderness towering above us and the dried leaves on the ground added a lovely flavor to the hike. Unfortunately we did not come across any notable wildlife. On the small summit was a beautiful tree house which when climbed gave us a wonderful view of Kandy. The guide said that with proper approval even camping at the tree house is allowed. Spending some time there and having fun with an Air Rifle we came down via another path down to the reservoir. It would indeed be lovely to camp there.

As I said, it was a totally unplanned hike while we were on a one day road trip in Kandy and I was totally unprepared. We were able to go there because we were travelling with a VIP ;P

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

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THE END

Initially there were 5 members (3 of my old school mates, me and my better half) for the trip. We wanted to be little adventures and the destination chosen was Yala Nationala Park.

Day 1

The first stop was at Udawalawa Elephant transit home. As per our findings on the web, the feeding times are scheduled as follows

• 9 am
• 12 pm and
• 3 pm

We were too early for the 12pm time slot.  There is a museum of elephants and elephant skeleton in the front, where you can pass time. So we decided to go in.

Udawalawa National Park – CLICK TO ENLARGE

Skeleton of an elephant

You have to buy a ticket in order to see baby elephants feeding. I cannot recall the ticketing fee though. The observation point was at a distant from the location where elephants were fed. This may be to minimize the disturbance from the crowd.

Waiting in the queue till the gates are opened

Here comes the first to feed.

Yum Yum

Play time in muddy water

After the session, we were heading to our next interest of the day “Katharagama”. We took the left turn at Lunugamwehera and found the road is under construction. However, the road condition is OK to travel by a car.

Katharagama Devalaya

By the time we reach “Katharagama Devala” premises there was a Perahera, which added lot more colors to the sight.

.	Media coverage for Perahera

Katharagama Kiri Wehera

That’s all we have planned for the Day 1 visiting.  We were on our way to lodging at Thissamaharamaya.

What all of us waited was the next day Safari at Yala. After arriving at the place we met the trekker and the driver of tomorrow’s safari. They offered us safari + one-day camping at Yala together with some other group. Although this would extend our trip by one more day, without a second thought, we all agreed.

Day 2

After completing the official procedures at Block 1 entrance, we were permitted to enter. The combined group (about 15) could not fit into the jeep and van, as we had to carry all the tools and equipment for camping. So we had to join in one of the cars too.

Here we come

They were everywhere

We were much interested on seeing a leopard. The trekker said that it would be entirely depends on the luck though. We were hanging around here and there looking for them. Then we spotted him while taking a short nap on a tree.

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Lot of vehicles behind and in front of us, were waiting impatiently to see him. He didn’t bother about the shooting taken place in his territory. It seems he was taking a much needed sleep after an exhausted day. Everybody wanted a well posed photo of him. Suddenly he raised his head, slowly climbed down and disappeared in the jungle. I haven’t had a DSLR at the moment and this is the best I could do with the camera I had.

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