The map – Click to enlarge

It was long ago I did a rail hike that was in February. So with the upcoming long weekend and been clueless, I decided to do a 3 day rail hike which I had to fast track to two days because Kasun invited me for another trip. Doing 65 Km’s for two days is more like a rail run but guess what I didn’t miss a thing. Walking speed was around 4.2Km’s/hour and I have never walked on a road even that fast. As most of you’ll know this stretch is not known for any special locations or scenery but I found out that there was lot to offer. My main focus was on flowers, may be wild or grown at stations as garden flowers, so please forgive me for adding many images of these beauties.

Day 1 the hike was commenced from Nanu oya and it was around 8.30am. I had to hurry up from the beginning because I started very late. From the start onwards flowers were smiling at me and I was in business. Just passing nanu oya I crossed three streams and the first was Nanu oya, second forming Nanu oya falls at a lower level and the 3^rd was lower reaches of Glassaug falls. I was lucky enough to see Adams peak that day which always brought up a grin on my face. Just before Passing Radella I came across tunnel no 17 and in few minutes Great western was in sight. The 6st highest mountain range was clear of mist inviting hikers to climb it if they dare too. From great western to Watagoda it was a walk along picturesque tea estates and after passing tunnel number 16 Devon falls was seen plunging far away. Next stop was Thalawakele and just before the station St clairs mini, Upper Kotmale reservoir came across my visual path. Walking across a reservoir gave me an awkward feeling that I have never felt before. Tunnel no 15 was just after Thalawakele and a “dakkuwa” filled with passenger passed whistling by me while I was in the tunnel. Plenty of kids were following me thinking I was a foreigner and was attempting to get some money out of my pockets which they failed to do so. St clairs was my next attraction and seen it lacking its beauty which she once had made me almost tear. Kotagala stretch provided me with some misty scenery before entering the dark and spooky tunnel of Singimale. The walk through this 500m odd tunnel was really scary but meeting locals who were traveling up and down regularly was a relief for me. When I reached Hatton I was dead tired and an early dinner and an icy bath completed my day.

starting point

halted at nanu oya

reddish beauty

just like a sun flower

had to bend my back to get this one

a lovely orange

this is a rapid flowing stream at nanu oya

upper nanu oya falls

pink standing tall between the logs

tiny yellow beauties

finally a pure white one

greesed

this was seen commonly

oh the boogy man

smaller bowitiya version

what they play with

glassaugh falls

lower cascade

wild but colourful

they play with sharp blades

this one was a bit shy

life between logs

Elebedda??

towards hatton side

a panorama of lidula

gave me a nasty look

give me some room

a Ashy prinia

Adams peak

while on duty

watchful

tunnel no 17

bye bye

they make sure that we live another day

a cascade at radella

another cascade

off they go

first landmark

on the way scenery towards lidula

hooded partial cave

horton plains

mighty great western

on the edge of a mountain

a lilly?

Again i had to crawl to capture this beauty

white again

mixed together

some wood for my home

yellow tinged

my ever loving gandapana

towards the shade

next station is close by

a white daisy

the colours i love

lovely yellow border of the petal

orangish yellow

searching for the last drop of honey

wish it had a drop of water on a petal

The Great western

two rails is helpful

the blue ceauty

touch of white

dark red it is

oh she smiled

minature flowers

Pied Bushchat

white on black background

lovely isnt it

they were joyed to see me

missing school to earn few bucks

beautiful landscape at great western

scenic track

hard life

the traditional basket

the path they walk on

crossing over

please forgive me, I mean no harm

Watagoda reached

balcony view

art on a glass

friends i met

a short one

tunnel 16

Devon falls seen from watagoda

near by cascades

crossing over

st clairs mini falls

upper kotmale

ah a beauty

the face says his story

they walk on the rail road coz they have no option

roses

once this was a river

high contrasting colours

thalawakele

came across a dakkuwa while in tunnel 15

after a tiring day

the dam

upper kotmale project scheme

st clairs the current state

evolved version of a monkey

I love these

light pink it is

landscape

derryclair station

last power set train i met

kotagala cascade

lovely flow

kotagala peak as seen from the station

wondering where her kids are when needed

all in one

find the odd one

portrait

oh a surprise one

mist setting down

lovely isnt it

a cuckoo

galkandawatta wonder if they stop here even

gods on the side of the railways protecting the travelers

longest railway tunnel in sri lanka (singimale)

atlast the end

reached hatton

Day two the hike was initiated at 5.45am from Hatton station and it was another day of lonely walking through tea estates. Sun was denied its rights by the mighty clouds but it produced some magical scenery which I relished. Wild orchids which I came across after Rozella were the highlight of that stretch and also the stunning scenery as always pleased my hunger. While walking towards Watawala I came across a crew repairing the rail track and it was very interesting to listen to what they were saying while pulling a log. They used a unique language just like when the fishermen pull their nets! For ex: “Hoi wamata adin” Hoi Kelin adin”.  Watawala to Galaboda was the longest stretch I have come across up to now, the 9.2Km track seemed to be never ending and it was through a lonely pines forest where I only met two linesman. Thanks to the dog who accompanied me I didn’t feel lonely that much. Seen Galboda at last was a great relief and a 5 minute break was required to regenerate the lost energy. After Galboda I came across two tunnels in succession where a bridge intervened. From Galboda to Iguru oya I was blessed with heavy showers and it was a relief that it lasted only one hour or so. Just before Hynford station I took a by road and reached Upper Hynford falls where I washed myself and had a quick change before getting back to the railroad to rush towards Nawalapitiya to catch the 3pm express train to Colombo. When I got to Nawalapitiya it was 2.45pm and I hurried towards a pastry shop to fulfill my hunger and returned in time to catch the express power set train which provided a comfortable 4hour ride to Colombo to my tired soul. I was more than satisfied with what I achieved and the stunning images do justify my rail run in search of petals!

starting point day 2

wow an eye opener

i saw the pink on the previous day

slow shutter

blending colours

sun is battling its way

more cascades

trees were like tall guards

on fire

its history now

on a Que

Drunk driving?

blessed to see these scenery

red coloured tea factory

im in a hurry

tuhina

sllepykumba

like grains

this was at Rozella and beautiful unfortunately not possible to take a clear snap

back to the flowers

Rozella

blend together

roses and roses

yellow petals

lonely path

wow what a place

an orchid

the commonest orchid i came across

cascade at rozella

on a straight line

beauty of the railway

routine work

ihala watawala sealed off

hoi wamata adin…

purple

hydrangea

reached watawala

100 more miles

the one who followed me for the next 7Km’s

pleasure to the eyes

common but beautiful

the lonely 9Km stretch

the silent killer

toddy

bark mushrooms loving the silpara

yummy

kabaragala covered

flame flower

at dekida rail platform

at galboda

i really love this

clustered together

tunnel(13), bridge and tunnel(12) again

down stream of galaboda falls

iguru oya

they never stop surprising me

penrose

finally a mammal

it was pouring heavily when i met this beast

what they have to face day to day

iguru oya station

he was walking faster than me even with those bags

i had a long chat with this guy

a blue mormon

peella

towards hynford

lovely scenery

top of hynford

upper hynford falls

lower part

half dead cobra

few more km’s

getting tougher

their routine

jobless guys

the end destination

waiting till the train arrives

on the way bathalegala seen from kadugannawa

on the way uthuwankanda also seen at ihala kotte

Hope you enjoyed reading, thank you!

The idea of seeking knuckles like a beautiful dream of a seeker is born in my heart before long time ago. The end of my interest is run out of this journey with beautiful memories.

I give my special thank to “Lakdasun” because of the help for materialize my dream.

We start our journey from Kurunegala to Kandy bus at about 4.00am and we reached Katugasthota about 5.15am. From there we went to Mathale at 6.30am by Anuradhapura bus. We took breakfast from Mathale & buy some other goods which we need to our journey from Mathale.

There is an only one bus from Mathale to Pitawala and also it is run twice a day. So if you use public transport, you must pay your attention well. The first turn of this bus is to be at 7.30am (You can confirm whether the bus is available or not. CTB Depot Mathale 066222228)

Our gang at Mathale bus stand

But the bus was late from one hour on that day. So we were left from Mathale at 8.30am. After 2 hours we get down from Pitawala junction at about 10.30am.
Mr wasantha who found as our guide was send a 3wheel to pitawala for us to his home Atanwala. Our guide Mr. Basnayaka gathered us from Atanwala and it was about 11.00am when we start our journey.

At the pitawala junction

Just click

We met “Wedda peni Ella” after 500m ahead and we stayed there a moment & then start our hike again by crossing “Thelgamu oya”.

Manigala mountain with a prosperous faddy field

Beauty of the “Wedda peni Ella”

After another 500m along we met a very prosperous paddy field of beautiful “Atanwala” village boundary. We were not forgetting to visit a villager’s house of Atanwala. We were very lucky to get their treats & hospitality also. One old woman in this village talked with us loyally. It was touched our heart toughly, which she said “ගල් ගෙඩි උඩ පන අරින්නේ නැතුව පරිස්සමෙන් ගිහින් වාරෙන් මයේ පුතාල…”
It was a great pleasure which talk with like that much unfeigned people and we said them to good bye & started our way again.

Prosperous paddy field in “Atanwala”

Another side of beautiful village

Feel with their hospitality

Authenticity

Loyal chat with innocent villagers

Our next target is the Walpolamulla village which we entered to the jungle from right side of the Manigala range. Though the Walpolamulla is considered as a village, there was no any sign of human being. It was about 4km from Atanwala to Walpolamulla and that way also very hard. After passed on another few kilometers we could see the faces of elephants on the path. In here we weren’t forget to put some crackers to informed elephants which our arrival. Specially our guide said that “මහත්තයලා පය ඉක්මන් කලොත් හොදයි…”

A visitor who met in transit

Get the blessing of god…

A moment of catching the beauty

A moment of catching the beauty

Another angle of “Manigala mountain’

We reached to Walpolamulla after 1.5 hour tired journey. There was a one dilapidated house & others seem to be as ruins. There was a paddy field beyond that. At very first time the travel head of “Kalupahana Kanda” was seen here and also there was a very beautiful surrounding. We could see the “Thunhisgala” mountain range & other mountain ranges were in back side to the “Kalupahana range”.

Finding various angles

Walk along the paradise…

The first scene of the destination

Decayed cottage in “Walpolamulla”

“Thunhisgala” mountain standing as a hulk.

While small shooting…

We spend some time there and started our journey again with a new inspiration and power. The way of this time was across a dip. The main problem was the path was very slippery due to the dry leaves. After 1 hour of hard journey we managed to finish our mountain dip.

Then we met a stream and we decided to have our lunch there. We rest for some time and started to walk again around 3.00pm. Our root was across a mountain range with a narrow ascending by that. We could reach to “Nugathalawa” at about 4.pm. It was a narrow dip from “Nugathalawa” to “Weddahena”. We faced an unexpected heavy rain and it destroyed all our plans. When reach to “Weddahena” we were tired and it was about 7.00pm.

Some members of our gang prepared dinner and others went to find some fire wood for bonfire. We faced some other problem as we had limited water for all uses at that time. After that the dinner was swallowed by us very eagerly and that was a very long and acrimonious night for us. Before the sleep we had to dry our wring wet clothes by using bonfire. Then we got asleep. All the members were affected by the cruel chigoes attacks by that morning.

Start withdrawing from “Wlpolamulla”

“Nugathalawa” (This a better place for camping)

First day night bonfire… (That was a long and acrimonious night with a chigoes attack and effluvium of bats)

With the intention of seeking beautiful dreams…

Second day

We started our second day hike at about 6.00am by adding sweet memories of earlier night to memory book. But we had to face an unexpected leaching force early morning because of their inspiration with the last night rain. We could reach to “Puswelketiya oya” after quarter an hour journey and first of all we got a long bath as our wish. We returned that place at 7.30am after having the breakfast also. We walked along nearly for two hours with the new inspiration and the road was across a valley.

Amazing beauty…

Feeling the cool of nature…

One of precious gift by mother nature…

What a great beauty…

The great morning in Knuckles

The hidden beauty of nature

Another angle…

Kingdom of bumble-bees

When we entered to “Kalu ganga” and the time was 9.30am by that. We met the first two waterfalls away from few kilometers. It’s a very beautiful waterfall with a tiny pool. We stayed there at a moment and feel its beauty as our wish and again started our journey.

The beauty of the first mermaid which we met

Woww..!!!

Another angle of first water fall

The second mermaid (Though the height is less, it’s spread in wide area)

The tastiest water drop I had ever drunk…

Along the dream…

The path of the journey was away from the river by that and we had to climb the mountain across a narrow ascent. We had to go out from our way in order to watch the water fall, so we kept aside our baggage and get relax to feel that beauty of the water fall. 3,4,5 water falls were very close to each other.

Amazing third mermaid (This falls to a deep brae, so it’s very dangerous to reach there.)

Zoom view of in third mermaid

Fourth mermaid (This situated in over the third fall and also there is a deep pool)

Can you persecute to mother nature furthermore..?

Sign of danger!!!

Again we entered to our way and came to “Kalu ganga” across a tough dip. We fed up too much by that, so we had got the lunch there and get a rest. Again we started to walk at about 12.30pm and then we entered to “Kalu pahana kanda”. It is also very difficult track and crossing this track also hard. It was risky because of the slipperiness of the path. We were affected cruel attacks of leaches because of the wet surrounding. This was much of snakes and but we could safe because of wearing safety boot.

Climbing the “Kalupahana mountain”. It’s a very fed up moment

Too…difficult (The road was tough & slippery)

Bleeder is not give up his effort yet

Though the size is small, the beauty is a lot…

We reached to “Duwili Ella plain” after 2.5 hours difficult journey. All of us got a good rest there. According to our guide reached our destination by that. After another half hour it was full filled our beautiful dream. We celebrated our victory with showering from the water fall.

The moment after materialized the dream…

Overflow the joy & happiness

Result of successful team effort

Beautiful “Knuckles Queen” with the angle of cave

We collected fire woods before getting dusk with the experience of early day. We spend second day night at “Duvili Ella cave” and it was an unforgettable night in our lives. The rain which started evening was continued till mid night. The water amount of the water fall is increased by that and it was a fresh experience also.

The beauty of Knuckles Queen

Another angle…

Don’t jealousy, feel the beauty and try reach it sooner or later …

Another angle from the cave

How do you feel..?

Yes I know it’s an amazing…

Extremely feel…preserve for next generation

As a victorious gang from the trail head.

Simple way…

Having a long bath as our wish…

So cool…

Beautiful night in “Knuckles” with moon bath

Third Day
We ready to go back before sun rising to the Knuckles. It seems to be very unlike from our gang because of the departure of Knuckles. However we had reached to “Rambukoluwa” before the dusk. So we left there with sad moods.

Is she the mermaid whom we seek?

Zoomed click of “Riveston peak”

Another beautiful morning of “Knuckles”

Beauty of nature

Just click…

Zoom view on “Karagahathenna transmission station”

Deep in “Knuckles” range

“Duvili Ella” with the cave (We spend second day night in this cave)

Finally we seek our “Queen mermaid”

Actually It’s amazing…

The cave is beyond the water fall (The cave which we spend second day night)

The cave is beyond the water fall (The cave which we spend second day night)

Dedication for one intention…

We hurried to “Pusselketiya” with watching other missed water falls in second day at it was at 12.00pm by that. Then we had our lunch & started our walk again and it was 1.00pm. We selected “Rambukoluwa” way for our return. Because that way was easier than “Atanwala”.

Another beautiful mermaid (Our gang named this one as “Padipela Ella” because of the position)

What a great beauty like a sari…

It fall down to deep pool

Foaming water like milk

Sixth mermaid…

Creating fifth water fall…

It has a great bio diversity

Fantasy of mother nature…

While preparing lunch in middle of the “Puswel ketiya oya”

We are also good chefs…

Mmm… Lunch is ready…

The way was parallel to the “Kalu ganga” & it was across a valley. This was a great consolation for our fed up gang.

We could see other beautiful fall which “Deganthuduwa Ella” after a 1km along the way. At very first time, the “Aswedduma paddy field in “Rambukoluwa” village had seen after another 2km. It was little rain by that & it was quickening our walk.

Beautiful “Deganthuduwa fall”

Our gang entered to “Rmbukoluwa” way…

Another little water fall (You can see this along the “Rambukoluwa” way)

It was seems to be signs of human settlement so far ahead. There was a little bit narrow path & the evidence to people walking. We reached to the boundary of “Rambukoluwa” village at about 4.00pm & we were completely wringing wet by that.

Amazing view of “Kalu gaga” (This join with “Mahaweli” river which starting from “knuckles” range with feeding “Ambangaga”)

View of “Aswedduma” paddy field in “Rambukoluwa” (The first sign of human settlement after 3 days)

Quick steps towards “Rambukoluwa”

“Rambukoluwa” is another beautiful isolated village in Knuckles range like “Atanwela”. The people who living there is very poor by physical properties but they have high level of human qualities than us. We stayed a moment in their house & came back with finish of successful & adventuresome journey in whole 3 days nearly 30km walking.

But very special thing is by that also our gang was in high mental & physical health even with many challenges.

Dilapidated house in “Rambukoluwa”

Our 3 day adventure journey finished like this…

We came from “Rambukoluwa” to “Pallegama” by hired taxi & we could catch the “Dambulla” bus at about 6.30pm. We could reach to “Dambulla” at 8.30pm. When we reached our home the midnight was passed also.

If I had not a gang shoulder to shoulder with me like that & also our guide Mr basnayake, I never get experience as much as beautiful like this.

Map around ella – click to enlarge

Map around koslanda – Click to enlarge

So the Monsoons seem to be arriving after almost two years and the first few showers were enough to give life to many waterfalls around Badulla district. My main focus was to reach some undocumented waterfalls close to Ella and enjoy all the seasonal beauties along Ella – Wellawaya road, Beragala – Wellawaya road & Haputale – Beragala road. Please do relish this fiesta but keep in mind when you are venturing around these areas to avoid heavy showers because these areas are known for landslides. By the way just after I visited these beauties a heartbreaking land slide occurred close to Meeriabedda of Koslanda killing 50 odd people.

Early morning I did arrive at Ella and had my breakfast before venturing along the road. My first attraction was Ravana falls so to appreciate its beauty I had to walk along the railway track towards Kithal ella for 1 Kilometer. Next it was a waterfall below the bridge where the turn off towards Ravana temple and cave begins. To get to the base of it one needs to get down along the left bank of the river but I did the opposite by getting down from the right bank and suffered for weeks thanks to the Itchy Mana. The troubled I went through was really worth since it was a dazzling beauty. I named it Lower Ravana falls because the stream forms Ravana falls at an upper level.

Ravana proper falls

ravana lower falls

its base

plunging

I then marched 3Km’s along the road towards Wellawaya enjoying all the seasonal beauties. My next main attraction was a cascade below the bridge crossing Bambaragama falls. Though everyone that morning was enjoying Bambaragama falls none of them were aware about this beauty which plunges down below the bridge. To have a good look at her one needs to pass the bridge found after Bambaragama fall (when you are coming from wellawaya) and reach a double line stretch on the road. If you have a peak from the edge of the road you could easily appreciate the full length of lower Bambaragama cascade. After snapping this hidden beauty I reached the famous Bambaragama fall (also called Ravana fall). It was in full flow and pure white which was a pleasure to the eyes. From here I walked towards Ella Wild life office which was few hundred meters towards Wellawaya. From here I appreciated a long cascade interrupted at 3 places and it was really a lovely one.

ella rock

ella gap

searching for firewood

little adams peak

King Ravanas farther at Ella (close to 24km post)

road side cascade ella wellawaya rd 1

road side cascade ella wellawaya rd 2

road side cascade ella wellawaya rd 3

upper part

road side cascade ella wellawaya rd 4

upper part

road side cascade ella wellawaya rd 5

Bambaraghama falls with its lower cascade

what a beauty (can be viewed close to 22/7 bridge)

lower bambaragama fall

lower part

upper part

misty

road side cascade ella wellawaya rd 6

bambaragama fall

base of bambaragama falls

read

clear view

unknown cascade upper part

unknown cascade middle part

unknown cascade lower part

From Ella I took a bus to Bandarawela and from there to Haputale. When I reached Haputale it has started to rain and I was pleased that it started raining as I expected. Though I took a bus to Beragala I did get down at the first sight of a road side cascade and from there took a trishaw towards Beragala because I wanted to visit all of those road side beauties. I came across about 6 beautiful cascades along this stretch. At Beragala junction (close to a boutique) covered with mana and encircled with a barbwire fence one could find the Fundamental benchmark point where the precise measurement of the altitude has been measured by surveyor’s long time back.

Road side cascade on haputale rd 1

Road side cascade on haputale rd 2

Road side cascade on haputale rd 3

Road side cascade on haputale rd 4

top part of it

base

Road side cascade on haputale rd 5

Road side cascade on haputale rd 6

Road side cascade on haputale rd 7

Fundamental benchmark beragala

there were many boards like this

Next was a 21 Km trishaw ride and it was totally worth it. Along the Wellawaya road I came across 5 unknown cascades and close to Nikapotha at a place called Galkanda I came across two gorgeous beauties called Galkanda upper and lower falls. These road side waterfalls were milky cream in colour and in full flow. I just couldn’t resist leaving them behind that day. After saying good bye to Galkanda cascades I reached lady Diyaluma which was pouring down like a “Saree Pota” and I did enjoy her lovely Saree like cascade for more than one hour until a Wellawaya bus arrived and interrupted it. Just before leaving wellawaya bus stand to end this fiesta I did manage to snap Alakolagala falls too. So I invite you guys to come and enjoy this fiesta which would last for couple of months.

Road side cascade on beragala – koslanda rd 1

Road side cascade on beragala – koslanda rd 2

Road side cascade on beragala – koslanda rd 3

Road side cascade on beragala – koslanda rd 4

Road side cascade on beragala – koslanda rd 5

branched

Galkanda ella upper

full flow

upper part of it

near by cascade of galkanda fall

top of lower galkanda falls

lower galkanda falls

over the edge

plunging

Lemasthota oya

3rd highest

bit of blue sky

alakolagala falls

“Sri, that Kirigalpoththa trail you did” Ana opens up the conversation in his own style. “Yeah Ana”, I prompt him. “Is it too difficult?”, he doesn’t waste much time but gets to the bottom-line straight away. “Ayyo, it’s not so tough, even old Tony managed it with no problem. Only problem is it’s frequented by the leopard”. “We aren’t that lucky”, he replies through suppressed laughter.

That was only the beginning of a lengthy chat about the mighty Kirigalpoththa. Ana wanted to do it and I didn’t mind joining once again as Horton Plains is one place that is very dear to my heart. The prospect of walking through that heavenly place made me dream of our previous encounter. It was after the Rail Hike from Talawakele to Rosella that brought Ana into my, as many put it, the Old Gang. It was a 20+km journey that tested our stamina beyond limits.

Recently during our Journey to Kohonawala for the Wheelchair Donation, the Kirigalpoththa talk was revisited and we decided not to prolong it any further. So we set the dates for October and got busy with the preparations. Making the wildlife bungalows available for online reservation was a very good thing and it made the procedures so much easier. Even though I have visited HP well over a dozen times during the last 15 years, I had never been lucky enough to spend a night there. It was a big gap in my travel log and this was a god send. “I was seriously gonna spend not one but two nights in one of the most beautiful places on earth” I kept telling myself.

However Ana had booked the Ginihiriya Bungalow aka Anderson Lodge by mistake as we were originally planning to stay at Maha Eliya Bungalow. Looking back, I feel that mistake too was a god send as Ginihiriya is located in a very secluded place along Ohiya Road, about 5km before the Farr Inn. I’m sure you know that more than 80% of the tourists use the Pattipola Entrance when visiting the HP. Only a very few people use the Ohiya Entrance. As a result, Ginihiriya is not disturbed by the continuous stream of travelers and vehicles. Ginihiriya is built in such a place where it is not even visible from the road giving you all the privacy you want. A perfect place for a bungalow.

Tour Highlights:

1. Kande Ela Reservoir & Ambewela Farm
2. Dayagama Trail
3. Agra Falls

We left for HP in the wee hours on 6th Oct and arrived at the viewing platform of Devon Ella. The light was still not so good but she had covered herself with a thick white blanket, leaving no room for us to take a look at this gorgeous girlie. The roar of the water falling 200+ft straight onto the rocks below was deafening making me want to stay till I the mist lifted. We savored our sandwiches here, breathing the invigorating mountain air that was coming from the 6th highest mountain off Kotagala, the Great Western. She was the one who started this hiking frenzy when Hari and I went to climb her nearly two years ago. That was a very nice looking bungalow to the left of the tea center in front of Devon platform and I was naturally curious. It had the hallmarks of colonial era and while munching on a sandwich I walked up to the gate and talked to the security and the gardener. They said it’s managed by the Richard Pieris Group, (the very same that manages the Fishing Hut). This too is a very good location for some quiet time.

Leaving after the breakfast we were soon getting closer to my beloved St. Claire and my heart soared with hopes as it always does, they were multiplied by the heavy rains that had fallen in the last couple of days. But, I was once again disappointed as she looked the typical abysmal self. The sorrow was so much I couldn’t even bear to stop and look at her. Recently the rafting industry in Kitulgala got a shock as well when the stupid powers-that-be came up with a smart plan to block the Kelani River around Kalugala building a similar failure like Upper Kotmale. When the people involved in rafting and tourism industry in and around Kitulgala protested against this, one senior fellow of the project had said that they would release water at certain times so that they can do the rafting then. What fools we have running things like these projects. Remember, they promised the same for St. Claire, but nobody knows how long they did that. All big fat lies, nothing else. The returns from the rafting and tourism around Kitulgala are so much greater than another failure like Upper Kotmale. If we’re to believe a word of them, they can kiss goodbye to rafting in Kitulgala very soon making thousands of people redundant.

The bungalow I told you about

Closer look

The tea centre in front of Devon Viewing Platform, isolated

Ready for the journey

Kande Ela & Ambewele Farm

The road was built up to Raddella short cut with carpet but beyond that is still under construction till the Ambewela turn off at the Nanu Oya Bridge. In this stretch occurred the recent earth slips blocking the road few times recently. In fact it has happened either side of our traveling dates. So avoid using this in the night and a low clearance vehicle will have some trouble passing this stretch, hopefully it will soon be finished, at least by the season in December. From the Ambewela turn off till some distance passing Pattipola is now well carpeted but the road is narrow so you need to be cautious about the speeding tuk-tuks, motor bikes and worst of all, milk lorries of the farm.

The windmills were very still as there was no wind. After a quick cuppa coffee we reached the Kande Ela Reservoir. It was like a wall mirror; the water was so still, there was not even a slight ripple in the water. We saw perfect reflections on the surface of water and it is a sight many dream about. There were, unfortunately, more structures built along the edge of the reservoir running towards the hills and trees destroying the beauty of the surrounding. You might be aware that there are two bungalows situated here. To the left is the old Irrigation Department Bungalow and beyond the water to your right is the newly built Forest Department Bungalow. The Kande Ela Park where you can walk along a 2-3km trail is also close by and it’s ideal for students. I did this trail some time ago all alone in the wee hours and the experience was a mixture of anxiety, soothing and relaxing. Check it out Here.

Never seen it so clear, better than a mirror

Perfect reflection

Towards the sluice gates

Up close

The full package

These weren’t there before

Leaving this was so hard

Going for the morning session

Towards the Windmills, another hallmark of Ambewela Farm

Closer look

Kande Ela Hill

Perfect morning

Not a hint of rain

Dayagama Trail

We got back on the road after another brief stay and enjoyed the lush greenery on either side. This road is something that you can’t get enough of no matter how many times you’ve traveled in it. Passing the fast urbanizing Pattipola we entered the isolated journey through the virgin forest. We were early so no traffic was there helping us enjoy the ride all the way to the ticket counter. We showed them our online receipts and were asked to get a vehicle permit that cost us Rs. 280/-. The officials were emphatic that we were not to get to the bungalow till 12 noon. They drilled it into us so much and we were wondering if there was something going there. We then reached the Farr Inn and went into a poorly lit office and showed our permit. “You can’t go there till 12″, they said it for the umpteenth time and we solemnly nodded our agreement. “You can visit the World’s End till then” they added as an afterthought. We were relieved to get out of that dim hole and reached our vehicle to get ready for the first adventure of the journey, the scenic Dayagama Trail.

It’d been raining recently and there was a hint of more in the air. So we got ready with raincoats and umbrellas and were on our way. The thought of having to do such a beautiful trail with raincoats sickening and I was constantly asking the Mother Nature for clear weather at least till we were back. As soon as we started we came across a homeless Sambar Deer couple who were begging for anything from the passing vehicles. Already the traffic had increased tremendously and crossing the road was like Galle Road on a Monday morning. The Sambar couple kept nibbling at the grass but every time a vehicle was near wondered towards begging for something better than the grass. I hope people don’t feed them coz little did that Sambar couple knew they were gonna die of food poisoning or polythene consumption.

We soon passed the park warden’s bungalow and reached the head of the Dayagama trail. It’s easy to identify with a closed gate across the jeep track. The gate is in place to fend off the trespassing vehicles. We all posed for a group picture using a nearby tree trunk for a tripod. As soon as we entered the path, to our left was the 8th mile post. This confirmed the distance to Dayagama, 13km. However the downhill path was just over 5km till it ended at the tea estate and the Kovil. First 500-600m were badly damaged and you would need a very good 4WD with plenty of clearance to tackle this. After that, it was just a typical jeep track and the path was in better condition compared to the beginning.

For me, this was a longtime dream come true as I had wanted numerous times to do this trail over the years but found no way to achieve it. The whole journey was like walking through a hidden paradise. The number of people who attempt the Dayagama trail is negligible; I don’t think it will surpass the number of people who do the Kirigalpoththa trail let alone Thotupola. Most they do the circular trail and get enough of Horton Plains for the time being and return home. I’d say that the Dayagama trail is far easier and rewarding as well. About a km into the journey, we came across a Giant Squirrel colony. There were around 4-6 fellows, probably having a morning game of hide and seek. Surprisingly their black was more prominent compared to the ones found elsewhere, especially in dry zone. Even the white border looked cleaner than the others. However none of them was in the mood to pose for a picture and our waiting with pointed cameras only managed to bring the leaves and branches.

We were in very high spirits and made solid progress. The elevation was not so great and you won’t feel it that much. After a while we passed the 7th mile post and did the math mentally, just over 3km to go. You might have heard about the Agra Falls located near the perimeter of HP with the tea estate, however there weren’t many pictures or details about her and I badly wanted to go see this mysterious girl. The charcoal grey clouds kept threatening and looking menacingly at us but Mother Nature wouldn’t have any of it. She kept pushing them away from us but left a nice layer of clouds protecting us from the piercing sun. We kept chatting about until out of nowhere we came across the 6th mile post. Just a touch over a mile to go and we were elated. The stream we crossed around half way was now to our right and flowing down with a meditative sound which Ana wanted to record.

Some more walking gave us a distant view of the Dayagama tea factory through the trees and we were close to our target. Out of nowhere came the tall turpentine trees signaling the end of the trail. There is a Kovil just as we came out of the HP into the civilization. To our surprise, the tea pluckers were coming after their morning run and we heard the gong of the factory as well. As I was taking some pics of the tea pluckers there was a whole bunch of them coming and asking to be photographed. I was in a dilemma but had to satisfy their needs and took a few pics of them posing here and there. Then came the million dollar question, “Where’s the Agra Falls?”, we kept asking everyone but almost all didn’t realize what the devil we were referring to. However we managed to act and get the message across. They then just pointed downhill path and rapid fired a few hundred sentences in Tamil and we pretended we understood every mono syllable.

Ana, waiting patiently for the computer to spit out the vehicle permit

Isolated

The pond at the entrance

Here I am, the loving HP

Already overflowing with vehicles

A common sight

Felt ashamed at his greediness

The wife was also keeping an eye on the passing vehicles

Finally resorted to known grass

They had a huge lead on me

Near the trail head

The closed gate

Perfect combination in the group

Maha Eliya in the distance

Ana and Prasa, leading from the front, you can see the decay in the road

Very few of them

Plenty of these though

Misty Agra Bopath

Millions of these

Very nice

The path is good after the first 500-600m

The dream team

Some clear skies

Artistic tree

They were very tiny

Easy to manage in a jeep

Water stream crossing the path

Very wide

Not edible

Nobody home

Dayagama tea factory in the distance

Lusty

They are all over

Beautiful colors

Lonely path

Some flowers too

We’re here

The boundary

They were the photogenic ones

Some dark clouds loom in the distance

Away they go for the work

Busy at work

Worth reading again and again

Agra Falls

We followed the estate road downhill till we reached a note saying that Sambar and Leopard can be seen 500m up the road which means as soon as you enter the HP. We tried to ask the directions from the workers but none of them understood what we wanted to see. However, they kept pointing down the road and finally we hit the jackpot when we spoke to a couple of tea pluckers who were busily packing their stuff. She asked “Ungalukku Tamil Theriyama?” for that I said “Illai” and thankfully she asked “English Theriyuma” and I happily conceded “Kongngam Theriyum”.

She smiled and then gave the directions in fluent English, even showed us a short cut to go through the estate. By this Ana and Prasa had had enough walking and Atha and I decided to do the final push. We climbed down along the tailor-made footpath through the tea bushes. It was further 500-600m downhill when we got a look at the top of the falls through the tress some way to the right. From then, it was just finding the straightest path possible along the tea patch and we soon reached a good viewing place and spent about half hour enjoying the beauty of this hidden girlie.

The water levels were not fully up but what we saw was enough to embed her picture in our minds forever. The rain was imminent and we hurried back to avoid getting trapped amid the tea bushes. As we came out onto a clear path it started drizzling and I had the umbrella and Atha the raincoat. We reached Ana and Prasa who were waiting in a shed. It was time to walk back the way we had come, more than 6km.

The view towards the mountains, the range probably is just before the New Zealand Farm

They were leading the way

Was getting gloomy

The typical estate road

State Workers’ houses

Feels scary

The shortcut

Plenty of them

First glimpse

Getting closer

Not much water

Upper part

Wider view of the top

Middle

Parting shot

“Gosh, who’s that?”

The Yeti?

Full of colors

Time to head back

Back to HP

We reached the Kovil to find out that they’ve cooked a Pongal Rice and there were many people savoring the dish and plenty of dogs waiting in anticipation. They got worked up as we walked up the path thinking we were there to rob them of their share of this delicious meal. The Poosari and the others offered us Pongal Rice and even blessed us painting the Pottu on our foreheads. An altogether completely difference experience.

We then started walking back and the rain gods smiled at us and pushed the rain towards Dayagama and Thalawakelle. Return journey was also great and we made good time to reach the vehicle but just as others were ahead of me, I saw a group of Sri Lankan Black Monkeys (Purple-Faced Langurs) and stopped to get a few pics of them as well. Then after a rubbery roti meal that nearly broke my jaw from the HP canteen we headed along the Ohiya Road towards our destination. Hurraaaaaaaah!!!, I’m gonna spend a night at HP after many years of pondering over.

The Pongal Rice distribution

Looking at hungrily

First portion to the god

For us

The Kovil

Look at their foreheads

Water drops

Color combination

Bunched together

Clear jeep track

Ana was running uphill

“Paarata Bara Athu”

Patterns

Some clear blue skies too

Life on the dead

Artistic

Close to the end, look at the state of the road

So beautiful

Colors

Ana at the end of the trail, note the 8th mile post

Please follow this

Good bye Dayagama!

Park Warden’s Bungalow

“Hey man!”

Playing hide and seek with me

Looking for something to eat

Ginihiriya Bungalow

We arrived at the Ginihiriya Bungalow which is located at a very secluded place. This is completely isolated and not visible to the main HP-Ohiya Road. There’s hot water and electricity but both solar-powered so don’t expect to charge your phones or other electronic equipment. It’s better to carry your own power banks. It has 4 rooms (2 triple and 2 double) with very good single beds. The caretaker Abeysinghe was a very good person and can cook well. There was another with him called Piyadasa who’s been there at Farr Inn for ages. The garden is full of Maha Bovitiya Plants that has a beautiful purple flower.

We settled at the bungalow while Ana giving the instructions to the caretakers as to how we need the meals for our stay. Gosh, I was really gonna spend a night at HP after all. I was very excited and didn’t even realize how cold it can get. The temperature dropped to 14 degrees by 6.00pm, (must’ve touched 10 towards the dawn) and I felt a chill run down my spine. We decided to take a walk towards the ticket counter while the preparation was being made. However, it felt so cold and the constant drizzling made it so difficult too and we decided to get back to the warmth of the bungalow. Ana had been in this in late 80s and few other times and was sad to see the current state of the bungalow compared to the good old days.

The dinner was being prepared but we had a nice, hot and nutritious vegetable soup. We were good to go for bed after a hearty meal and went into the cozy beds after a cold bath (no sunlight for a few days and no hot water as a result) around 8pm to the dismay of the bungalow keepers as it’s not a common thing for them to have visitors going to bed that early. However they were in for greater shocks as the stay went on and more about it later. This really was a dream come true and I was living it for real.

The turn off

The path to the bungalow

The front view

Entering in

The dining and living area

Another view

One of the bedrooms

Another

The bungalow keeper’s part

The overgrown garden

Beautiful colors

Maha Bovitiya

The color was amazing

Just look at that

Some more

The nests of the crow

The chilly travelers

Well folks, I’ll leave you for the time being and will see you with the rest of the journey later. The idea of continuing with the same report fell into pieces when I realized how long the report is gonna be. So I’ll cut down the reading time and will come with the second phase later.

By the morning, I’ll probably have forgotten that I was in HP. Let’s see what happens by then.

Take care and keep travelling. This Sri signing off for now.

Sayōnara!!!

I was soo into climbing Kiribathgala that I could not wait till the optimum weather to try to do it….

The best season to climb Kiribathgala is in the month of February… Usually villagers reserve February 4th to climb this mountain… And one can get the added advantage of proper footpath during February,(but still needed a local person) But I could not wait and decided to do it in month of October and waited till the morning showers were over. We were hoping to climb down before the evening showers….

Previous day was shiny and rain free which made me believe it will be an easy task to climb it…. But with the faces of the villagers at the start of the hike we knew that this would be a hell of a day….It needed at least 1-2 weeks of sun shine to dry up the mountain due to forest cover…

To get back to the main topic…there are 3 paths to climb Kiribathgala

1. From Palamadulla(Lellopititya), Pathakada passing Pulun Falls- Distance is great but difficulty level is less
2. From Gamekanda via Uda-erabadda, Dela from Thiriwanaketiya Agalawatta road- Distance and difficulty level-moderate
3. From Wanniyawatta via Watapotha-Nivithigala or from Pelmadulla-distance is very less and difficulty level-extreme (bit exaggerated…)

We choose the 3rd route which has the least distance but has the Greatest of difficulty out of three paths….

Initial path lies through small tea plantation. But after 100metres of tea we entered the forest. From there onwards, its steep climb until we met the massive rock of Kiribathgala. It took us more than 1 and half hours to reach there…

Kiribathgala range as seen from Colombo-Badhulla highway close to Lellopitya covered in mist

Kiribathgala range as seen from Wanniyawatta @ start of the hike… The great rock is the one I mentioned earlier…

Kiribathgala range as seen from Doloswala kanda in Nivithigala

The Tea patch at the initial stage…

Tough climbing till the great rock….

Seasonal fall we met along the way. if it was proper fall would have stand @ 50m in height with three sections…

Our team consisted of 3 ladies and 2 gents with me and our fellow villager. But as the hike proceeded we all understood that this is not a hike for ladies sparing in the month of February. But all the ladies climbed up to the great rock not wanting to give up. But then came the “Tarzan” part. We realized that to get to the top we had to use the “wal” as ropes and climb up at a degree more than 70-80.On top of that the floor was still slippery. We had to leave the ladies with one of my colleague in a small cave we met on the way and I started to climb up with the villager. It was extremely challenging.

More than 70 degree angle…

Had to use the roots along the edge of the rock….pure nightmare….

Within 45 minutes we were able to reach the top of Kiribathgala. First we were met with bamboo forest. Due to very few of visitors except Wallapatta hunters there was no footpath at all.

Along Bamboo forest

No footpath at all…

There are plenty of observation points at top of Kiribathgala…. Actually if one walk from one end to the other end it would measure at 2 kms which is mostly flat surface.

There is cave on top of the mountain if one is planning to spend the night or can put up a tent. Sorry as I don’t have snaps of the cave. There is a stream with bathing spots on the top. So no worries even in dry February as These streams feed Pulun Falls of Pathakada and Hal Falls in Haldola throughout the year.

Can you appreciate the Sheer drop….

What a view….

Towards Ratnapura….

Towards Kalawana…Doloswalakanda range with Walankanda mountain range at distance

Lonely tree….Towards Kahawatta……

Mist is setting in….

Aftermath of the hike…..

We climbed down n slight drizzle and finished the hike in 6 hours….

Thank you for reading…..

Tour Highlights:

1. Kirigalpoththa Trail
2. Thotupola Trail

I woke up and lowered the blanket covering me and a rain of needles hit my exposed skin. Oh dear, I’m in HP, it suddenly dawned on me. There was a light moving out of the room and it made me feel jittery. Getting out of the bed and landing my feet on the ground sent another dose of needles up my body. It was so cold (probably around 10-degrees) and I followed the light out of the room to find Ana already up and getting ready to make some coffee. The time had just gone 4.30am and I was shivering when I entered the kitchen. There wasn’t any sign of the bungalow keepers (they can’t have ever had their guests waking up at 4.30am) and I waited with my feet up for a steaming cup of coffee.

Atha and Prasa were still sound asleep and I went back to wake them up. It was very cold and we sipped at our scalding coffee hugging ourselves so tight. The caretakers got a shock when they appeared around 5.30am to see us up and about. I guess this was a great shock for them and they got very busy making our breakfast while we washed in the freezing water and got ready to leave while the sun was beginning his painting class towards the east.

After a hot hot Roti and many curries breakfast, we set off towards the Farr Inn with some more packed boiled eggs and sandwiches. About 2km into the drive, we saw a herd of Sambar Deer to our left and stopped to take their pics. The tip of KGP could be seen in the distance while mysterious Agra Bopath kept herself covered with mist. Thotupola was showing her twin peaks to our right with a bright sun glowing the grass towards her.

We reached the Farr Inn and saw the first wave of vehicles coming from Pattipola Entrance and all the tourists were heading towards Gonagala Falls and World’s End. We showed our permit and was given the green light to carry on our trail. Thankfully, there was no one else to do the KGP trail and we started our journey merrily.

Good morning!

We’re ready to go

Hern the Hunter?

Not really

Whole family of them

Ok, no more pics after this…

Gorgeous colors

Agra-Bopath

Comms tower at Farr Inn

The Farr Inn covered by trees

Took forever to take this as there were people milling about all the time

Gigantic Ferns

KGP Trail – Uphill

We started the isolated trail while the sky was royal blue and had patterns of pristine white clouds like cotton wool on a painted canvas. There was a herd of Sambar to our right but ran away at the first sight of us. They were not so forward like the begging few in and around the Farr Inn and Bungalows. The invading Ulex plants were scattered about just like the last time we visited which was a very sad thing to see. There are a lot of dangers to the HP such as Polythene, Invasive Plants and fish species such as Rainbow Trout. To our surprise, we saw quite a number of crows (2 were permanently stationed at Ginihiriya Bungalow) and according to the officials, they are a huge threat to endemic reptiles, such as Rhino Horn Lizard (An Katussa), Smooth Lanka Skink, Common Rough-Sided Snake (Le/Dalawa Madilla), etc. as they feed on them and their eggs. We were told the number of Rhino Horn Lizards is decreasing every day due to the existence of the crows.

We urgently have to do something to eliminate these crows before they completely wipe out these endemic species from HP. Ana kept going at a steady pace and I was suddenly scared he’d outrun us to the summit. We reached the stream that crosses the path and spent a few minutes resting. It was a very welcome break and if you take the left path parallel to the water stream, it should lead you to the Slab Rock Falls but we didn’t attempt it as our priority was KGP. We decided to give it a go supposing we had some time to kill on our return journey and always the weather permitting.

The path there after was in and out of forest patches and bordering the Bamboo plants. We came across gorgeous looking Binara Flowers (We came across them on top of Lakegala too) and stopped at every opportunity to take snaps and breaks. This is when while I was following the rest of the group Atha suddenly stopped me and pointed at the grass to the side of our path. I saw nothing at first but he slowly pointed at it and whispered in my ear “An Katussek”. Despite my numerous visits to the HP, I’d only once seen a Rhino Horn Lizard before but well before I knew about things called cameras. This was a great opportunity as the fella was among the grass blades. The camera had a tough time focusing through the grass blades (wish our point-n-shoots had manual focusing) and after it felt like ages, managed to take a few decent shots.

We left the fella and continued our journey before entering the muddy patches. We saw the paw-prints of the leopard at many places along the path and were hopeful to get a peek at the fellow. Even though Tony was so lucky to get a look at one of them at our last journey, he was way too scared to stop and take a picture. He nearly ran all the way to the summit and fell over the edge. The muddy areas were not so difficult to cross and we entered the forest. The path that was full of Nelu Flowers last time was devoid of any flowers and most of the Nelu Trees were at their last stages. We heard after the flowery season, the trees wither and die.

There were a few still with purple and light green flowers but not a lot. However, we came across some beautiful orchids and white and blue flower that grows on the roots almost along the ground. It was a very beautiful one and bloomed in clusters. We then saw some bones of a Sambar that had probably been hunted by the leopard but couldn’t have been recently. The climb in the middle was a bit challenging and we had to stop frequently to take our breaths. The depleting oxygen levels made the work laborious.

We reached the base of the KGP having crossed the last stream. This is where you have to replenish your water canteens as there’s no stream to have water. We had our brunch too, the half boiled eggs had broken and been oozing the yellow out. We managed to dig in our sandwiches in the yellow gravy and have it. The Jeewani kept us going all the time and we made some more for the final assault. After a long and tedious hike, we arrived at the observation point, short distance below the summit panting like a pack of hunting wolves. As usual the view was unobstructed and panoramic. The tinge of purple was missing from the trees below due to the end of Nelu Season. The slope reminded me of Lakegala but she was far steeper than this.

Arriving at this point was a major milestone and we savoured the moment to the fullest. We then took the path through the trees towards the summit. There’s a very dangerous path along the rock near the edge. Please don’t take this as it can lead to disasters should you lose the footing. Further, there’s a short stretch that you need to climb up along a rocky surface. Be very careful there too and try to avoid windy periods. It took us close to 5 hours marking it probably the slowest of all and Ana may have set another record being the oldest to reach the KGP summit.

We celebrated with stream water and Jeewani with what’s left of our sandwiches. We had the whole KGP for ourselves and felt like we were lost in a world devoid of any humans. The view was great and we could see the Ambewela Windmills, Dayagama Tea Factory and many more. However there were some thick clouds coming towards us and we decided to start the downhill journey as we didn’t want to get wet and be on that rocky slope when the rain came with winds. You can watch the video of us just off the summit and Ana hilariously saying that we’d reached the Kirigalpolla. This was what Tony used when we first reached and did a short video, he was dead scared and forgot the word Kirigalpoththa and instead said Kirigalpolla.

Video of KGP

Ready to go… that 7km is not correct. It’s about 5.5km to the summit… (7km could’ve been using the old path)

We had the path to ourselves while World’s End path was busier than Pettah

Here comes the heavy guns

KGP and Agra Bopath closer to each other

Cotton wool sprinkled royal blue canvas

Ana among the thorny Ulex Plants… (note the GoPro Camera he’s wearing)

Agra Bopath – The unsolved mystery

The dead and the alive together

Endless plain

Not sure if it’s edible

The stream that we had to cross

Despite the rains, there was very little water

Through the bamboo

Kirigotte Balal Adi? – Nope, it’s Kalu Paswala Divi Adi

Two sexy girls

That color is simply uncopiable

Can you see the fella?

Here a close up. Can see the Horn clearly

One with no grass blocking the view

The path through the bamboo

Close up of the paw mark

Taking the paw mark on his lenses

Sitha Pera

To our right was this open terrain and beyond that is Agra Bopath

Few Nelu flowers remaining

Orchid

Close up

The sky through the tree cover

Not Bandura, but something similar

Very beautiful but no idea what they are

Hope you can remember this from my previous trip report. It was very fresh then but now it’s like limestone

The bones I told you about

Some more

Life on the dead

Dead Nelu trees making an arch for us

Beautiful sky all the way

Close up of the bunch of flowers

The summit of KGP is over there

A dead bird?

Just before the final assault

The view on the way up

Commonly seen orchid type

Very common

Finally at the viewing point

The expressions say it all

Clear view

Steep slope

The tricky bit I told you about

He was merrily shooting away

The rocky bit that might be slippery and can be challenging to cross in heavy winds

The trees closer to the summit

Typical summit point

Yeah, we did it finally… with two records probably

KGP Trail – Downhill

The downhill journey was more or less uneventful save for the threat of looming clouds. Fortunately, it didn’t rain until we were back inside the vehicle heading towards the bungalow. Mother Nature had been keeping an eye out for the happy wonderers. However, we were let into a secret by Ana (don’t tell anyone what I’m gonna tell you). He’s planning on competing for the triple jump in Rio in 2016 and was training for it. We noticed he kept jumping over obstacles every now and then and then realized his ulterior motive.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story from here onwards. We came across a snake (my first at HP) called Le Madilla, I guess the same one called Dalawa Madilla as well. I might be wrong but looks like both are the same. The downhill journey took only half the uphill time and we beat the rain and got into our vehicles heading off to the Bungalow for some well-deserved rest. On our way, we met another begging Sambar who was very desperate for something to eat but we flatly refused any. He then asked for at least some money so that he could go grab something such as those jaw breaking Roti from the canteen. We refused that too fearing the bugger might wolf down the note without going to the canteen.

We skipped lunch altogether and waited till evening for a hearty dinner and as usual went to bed just before 8pm coz this was our second but sadly the last night at Ginihiriya. We had Thotupola Trail planned up for the morning.

The steep slope

One of the fellows in disguise

Mind your head

Le Madilla, not poisonous at all – Not Sure? Touch it and see

The triple jump champion ready to cross

Simply beautiful

The muddy path

Prasa explaining the size of a leopard to Ana

Wading through the muddy path

Another orchid?

Wild berries

The SL team leader for Rio 2016

Entering back into the open

Furry

Crossing the stream back

Plenty of them

Very old Leopard Poo

Nearly finished our journey

Prasa complaining about the distance

Good bye Agra Bopath

Reminds me of the first journey too

Farr Inn in full

The modern Thomas Farr…

Click image to enlarge

Sri Lankan White-Eye

Another

Upside down

He was constantly coming out of the hiding to feed on the garbage left by the tourists

Prowling along the drains

The one on our way, coming towards us looking for something to eat

“Anything to eat?” – asked he

Begging look

Backing out knowing we wouldn’t give anything. “At least give me 50 bucks, I’ll go get a roti from the canteen”

View through the windscreen

Maha Bovitiya

Up close

Closer to our bungalow, the darkness made the pic not so good

Another one looking at us

Trying to get up the tree

Whole lot of them

Thotupola Trail

I got up after a deep sleep to find Ana had as usual beaten me to it. He was up and about when I got up and walked into the kitchen. The water was already boiling and he was ready to serve coffee for which I was very grateful. The scalding liquid warmed my body and bungalow keepers were not yet accustomed to our early routine. Prasa, who’s a very late riser, managed to stir up slowly and opened his eyes bit by bit as if they were glued shut. We had to get ready real fast as the time was running out.

Finally Prasa managed to defeat the overwhelming force of sleep and get up. The breakfast was in full swing as Abeysinghe brought a wave after wave of fried eggs to go with coconut sambol and sliced bread. We kept eating and Abeysinghe kept running back and forth with fully laden trays. After our bellies reached their bursting point, we decided to pack the things and be ready to leave. The sun was still fighting the clouds and the mist kept coming in covering the whole surrounding with her thick veil and I was worried if we would get a good view from Thotupola.

Having thanked our caretakers we left for Thotupola in the thick mist. The path was fully covered in mist but Ohiya Road being less crowded compared to Pattipola didn’t make it that hard on driving along. Passing the Farr Inn we saw to our right a herd of Sambar out for a morning stroll. The mist was too thick for our cameras to make out them clearly (I keep saying those cameras are not as even half as good as our eyes). All of a sudden, two males started fighting with each other with their horns and I managed to do a small video.

Video of Sambar Fighting

Passing them around the head of Dayagama Trail, we met a jungle fowl who was on the hunt looking for some breakfast despite the mist. The cold was that much we could feel it going right across the bones to the core. Having reached the trail head in the end, we stopped to get ready for the chilly hike. The mist was still so thick and we saw the dying Nelu Trees after the blooming season. The legend goes on as follows:

“Long ago in India, Prince Rama lived in exile in the jungle with his beautiful wife, Sitha. When the sister of the powerful king of Sri Lanka, Ravana, once visited the jungle of Rama, she was mistreated. Returning home, she complained to her brother, Ravana who swore revenge. Taking his mythical plane, he flew to India and kidnapped Sitha and came to Sri Lanka. The aircraft first landed on the peaks of Thotupola Kanda, meaning the “Landing Site” in Sinhala.”

Well, I’ll let the pictures do the talking from now on. However, Ana was in top gear and we had to restrain him from running to the top. It took us very little time compared to the long and arduous journey of KGP. The mist kept clearing from time to time giving us that panoramic view of the surrounding mountains. However, Sri Pada decided not to show herself for some unknown reason. We were treated for a super-duper view when we visited Thotupola Kanda last time to see the Nelus in full bloom.

The team and Abeysinghe at the left

Here they are

Watching the others getting ready to fight

Here they go

In the open

Closer look but not in good quality

On the prowl

The legend (Click image to enlarge)

The path in the morning

Some clearing

Plenty of flowers

Macro

Some more

With the dew collected off mist

The Dhal Tree

Closer to the summit

Here’s the team

Ravana Rawul

The view was not so great due to the mist

Maha Rathmal in the distance

Zoomed in

With my shadow

Ana kept going ahead of everyone

Some of the remaining Nelu

Some bones off the path

The mist had enough of us

Life on the dead

Will have to do something about these, they were along the Thotupola trail too

Towards Ambewela

The cluster of windmills

Giant Ferns

Beautiful center

We left HP, rather sadly, and got on the way back towards Nanu Oya. We met a large group of Black Monkeys closer to Pattipola that gave a good opportunity to Ana and Atha to capture them. Closer to Ambewela Farm, we stopped for some fresh milk where two doggies were waiting hungrily. They too received a full cup of fresh milk for their good behavior. We made good time but the stretch between Nanu Oya and Radella Short Cut was not yet completed as I mentioned in the last report.

I was eagerly waiting for another encounter with St. Claire hoping against the hope she’d have a full quota of water but I was disappointed for the umpteenth time. She was falling in her sorrow state and we didn’t stop by. Nevertheless, we stopped at Devon Viewing Platform for a cuppa tea. Unlike our going on the 04 Oct morning, when Devon was fully obscured by the mist, she was in full view and we once again enjoyed this falling beauty. The artist at the platform kept working away at his canvas with different strokes.

After a freshly fried potato patties and tea from the tea center, we left for Colombo. I kept wishing there was more time to spend at HP but every good thing has to come to an end sometime. This really was a dream come true as I finally managed to spend a night at HP after so many visits over last 15 years. It was great having Ana, Atha and Prasa, we really had a ball.

Hopefully, there’ll be more journeys like this in future. Until such time, this is Sri signing off for the time being.

Take care and keep travelling!

Sayonara…

Sri.

Look at the beard

Another

Colombo-bound train at Pattipola

And then at Ambewela too

Where we stopped for a cup of milk

Lusty greenery and blue

Waiting patiently for some milk

They were working

No matter how many times you see her, you’d always see her in a different perspective

Full flow

The artistic point

Busy at work

Towards Watagoda

Colors

Bidding farewell

A rough map

map around Kapurella – click to enlarge

Hot water springs are a fascinating creation of Mother Nature. There are few theories how these form and they are

• Radiation from radioactive substances like Uranium, Thorium etc may heat up the surrounding rocks which in turn heats up the deep seated water sources.
• Warmed up minerals and rocks in the earth emits heat and this can heat up water springs (most likely)
• Heat from cooling magma could be the cause of heating deep seated water sources which spurs out of earths cracked points

This is a special report on hot water springs of Sri lanka. This was a very tempting topic which made it so irresistible that I ended up visiting almost all of these remarkable sites in a short period. The hot lakdasun forum post was indeed my greatest guide on this venture. I would be adding few details on some hot water springs I visited during the past few years for the sake of completeness. Here are the documented hot water springs in Sri lanka.

Rankihiriya – Gomarankadawala

Kanniya – Trincomalee

Nelumwewa / Gal wewa – Welikanda

Muthugalwela – Gurukumbura / Maduru oya

Kapurella – Tempitiya / Maha oya

Mahaoya (Maha siyambala gas kandiya) – Maha oya

Marangala / Wahawa – Padiyathalawa

Embilinna – Inginiyagala reservoir

Kivulegama – Jayanthi Wewa / Wadinagala

Mahapelessa – Sooriyawewa

Gal wewa / Nelum wewa hot water springs – Welikanda (63⁰c)

We were off to Passikudah for a relaxing weekend and on the way we suddenly decided to visit Nelum wewa hot water springs. One will find the turn off close to Welikanda (after Manampitiya) towards Nelum wewa. After traveling 9km’s we reached the lake which was dried out. If it was full we would have had to hire a boat but since the lake was dried out we did walk towards the springs which were at an elevated island in the center of the lake. This was known as the warmest spring (63⁰c) in Sri Lanka but was pushed back to second place recently by Kapurella. After visiting Nelum wewa we went towards Passikudah and rested the whole day as it was our main purpose of this visit.

Dimbulagala

dried out Nelum wewa

nelum wewa / gal wewa

the drought

hot water wells in the center of the lake

bubbling

Gal wewa / Nelum wewa

what lovely beach at Passikuda

shells

slow shutter at its best

dusk at Passikuda

Next day we departed towards Monaragala along the coast line and on the way we visited the Batticaloa Portuguese (later Dutch & English) fort which was built in 1628 which is now the district secretariat office. They do allow visitors to walk around the fort but it’s limited for obvious reasons. On two sides it’s surrounded by the lagoon and the other two by a canal. The view from this fabulous location is unforgettable. After hanging around we decided to get back to Monaragala via Pottuvil to end that day.

good morning

eastern sun

Eravur lagoon

Batticaloa fort

towards the lagoon

VOC

guard post

bell tower

Kallady bridge as seen from the fort

still in place

makers name

a jelly fish in the lagoon

Golden fields of Akkareipattu

Kapurella hot water springs – Tempitiya (64.5⁰c)

Next was the big one and most anticipated Kapurella hot spring sparsely known and located within the jungle close to Omanugala forest reserve. This was a must visit place in my long list so I decided to give it a go. I had been to Tempitiya temple once and the chief monk was kind enough to introduce me to a guide also I had to get permission from the Maha oya police post to make this expedition a reality. So on a Saturday we gathered at Tempitiya temple where two police officers and our guide Bandu joined us. The distance to the hot springs was around 3Km’s from the village. First 1.5km was through the chena land until Mundeni aru (Maha oya). Crossing Mundeni aru we were in to elephant country. Plenty of elephants roam around this land and there were hundreds of foot paths to justify it. We initially went through a dry zone forest patch and then entered a shrub forest which led us towards Nilgala type forest patch. At last we arrived at a vast open area where a wetland with mangroves could be seen in the center of it. This Thermal wetland is the only one remaining and the Conservationist are trying their best to name this area as a protected site. Walking around this wet land is like walking on sponge and the floor tends to swing with every step we take. The roots go horizontally creating a maze which we could walk on over the mud but one should be careful because if you step on a wrong place you would be stuck in mud. We were told that every year during the drought one or two elephants and few other animals die by drowning in this muddy warm wetland. After tackling the mangrove we reached a pond like area where we could note bubbling and steaming. The heat in the air around this lake was unbearable and we started to sweat in seconds. One foot away from the edge (the roots we were standing on) the water was extremely hot and it was not like any other hot water spring I have ever been to. Definitely this should be hotter than what they have documented (64.5⁰c) unfortunately we didn’t have a thermometer to measure it. Look at the satellite image to get a good idea about this location. The water which springs out forms a stream which leaves this mini lake and ends in a nearby major stream which in turn ends at Mundeni aru. After hanging around we came back along the same route and we did spot few elephants on the way too. There was an archeology site close to the springs where a seven hooded cobra carving could be found but we opted not to visit because of the time factor. After returning to the temple we did note that there was a seven headed cobra carving there too which was found in the nearby Tempitiya lake. After thanking each and every one we took off towards Karadiyanaru and took a detour towards beautiful Unnichchai lake and the detour was worth the effort. We then headed towards Trincomalee after a satisfied morning session.

Google map image – click to enlarge

Tempitiya lake

omanugala seen to tempitiya lake

Kohila ela / ravana ela at tempitiya

a “kon” tree

Neelimalai

maha oya / Mundeni aru

dried out

through the forest patch

pus wel

elephant foot marks

open land

easy to navigate around

it ran away

note the marshy land where the hot water springs could be found

entering the marshy land

more to go

two dogs also followed us

pleasing colours

Kaprulla hotest hot water spring in sri lanka 64.5 c

bubbling and steaming

Kapurella hot water spring

bubbling

extending further

note the mangroves

elephants do die here when they get stuck in muddy hot water

note the marshy land

the water from the spring meeting a main stream

fresh stuff

edible

plenty of foot marks

tempitiya getting ready for the “Katina poojawa”

korawak gal

note the 7 headed cobra

more ruins

half a statue

thoppigala seen over rugam lake

Rukam / Rugam lake

remnants of war

mountains of narakamulla

at Unichchai

Unnichchai tank

the spill

halted

nuwaragala seen to Unnichchai

friars hood

life	pumping drinking water

Like a painting

Kanniya hot water spring – Trincomalee (42⁰c)

After passing Trincomalee we took the Anuradhapura road and reached Kanniya hot water springs (42⁰c) and archaeology site where there were plenty of visitors hampering my attempts to get a clear shot of the site. We obviously didn’t hang around much and decided to leave the place.

Kanniya archaeology site

runis at kanniya

42 c Kanniya hot water wells

one of those wells

Rankihiriya hot water spring – Gomarankadawala (38⁰c)

From here we took off towards Anuradhapura and after passing Mora wewa we took the Gomarankadawala road. Just before reaching Gomarankadawala(4km’s from main road) there was a name board directing towards Rngiri ulpotha temple(4Km’s). This road ran through elephant country and finally ended at a temple. The temple was in good condition and we were amazed to see such a beautiful temple in the middle of the forest. There is well with walls been used by temple residents for bathing purposes and this was the hot water spring(38⁰c) we were searching for. For me this is the best well to have a peaceful hot water bath out of all others. There is an archeology site close to the well where a beautiful pagoda could be found. It’s fascinating to find ancient temples close to many of these hot water springs. This nature of the water is known to cure some skin diseases & etc according to ancient literature and that might be the reason why archeology sites could be found around these springs. From here we took off towards Anuradhapura along the new tar mac which has been completed and which was a pleasure to ride on. On our way we did have few pit stops and one was to enjoy few elephants at Maha divul wewa. We reached Chilaw at around 8pm to end a long and satisfying day.

Rangiri ulpotha arche site gomarankadawala

ruins

38c Rangiri ulpotha hot water spring at gomarankadawala

the perfect place for a hot water bath

steps to the new sthupa

new sthupa

the view

Maha divul wewa

tusker at maha divul wewa

Here are the other hot water springs I managed to visit.

Maha oya / Siyambala gas kandiya hot water springs – Maha oya (54⁰c)

It is located 2Km’s away from Maha oya town along Aralaganvila road. There are 7 wells here.

Please refer the link to see more.

Maha oya hot water wells

bubbling

Wahawa / Marangala hot water springs – Padiyathalawa (48⁰c)

To reach this one should take the road from Padiyathalawa to Uraula and take a turn to the left from Dorakumbura junction and travel 2km’s. One could also reach this site from Ekiriyankumbura. There are about 17 springs but only half of those have been tanked and used for cultivation. The main attraction is the tall pipe well. Please see this link for further information.

the high pressure hot water geyser of wahawa

continous supply

a hot water well

bubbling

Muthugalwela / Gurukumbura – Maduru oya

Absolutely nothing is known about this place and it’s located in the Maduru oya forest reserve. One Maha oya resident said once he came across an army troop who came across this place. This seems a mystery that needs to be resolved.

Kivulegama / Jayanthi wewa hot spring – Wadinagala (34⁰c)

This spring was shifted from the original locations by pipe line because Jayanthi lake was build where it was located 40 years ago. Now it’s in a privately owned land. To reach it one needs to travel along Wadinagala – Iginiyagala and reach Kivulegama where you would come across an old iron bridge. From there take the left side road towards the bund. Please refer the link for further information

Hot water spring of Kivulegama

warm luke water

Embilinna hot water spring – Inginiyagala reservoir

Currently hidden in the largest reservoir of sri lanka. Must try visiting this site during extreme droughts (if I’m lucky enough)

Mahapelessa / Madunagala hot water springs – Sooriyawewa (44⁰c)

The Famous one out of all and more towards down south not like its other cousins who are restricted to eastern province. Take the road towards Sooriya wewa from Nonagama – Embilipitiya road and take another right turn towards Mahapelessa to reach this famous place. Please refer the link for further information.

modified madunagala springs

same as others bubbling

Temperature order: - Kapurella > Nelum wewa > Maha oya > Wahawa > Mahapelessa > Kanniya > Gomarankadawala > Kivulegama

Chemical composition: - Kapurella > Kivulegama > Wahawa > Mahapelessa > Maha oya > Kanniya

Now you see how fascinating this subject is, it just deviated me away from all mountain climbing, waterfall hunting and etc. Something I found common was the nearby villages named because of the springs itself for example: – Ulpotha at Gomarankadawala, Unuwatura bubula at Maha oya & Kivulegama at Wadinagala. Also there were archaeology sites at most of these places for example: – Gomarankadawala, Kanniya, Nelum wewa, Tempitiya, Maha oya, Wahawa & Mahapelessa. Hope you enjoyed this report, So until I find something new it’s time to say adios.

I got to know that there was a waterfall in Dumbara area of Kiriella, Ratnapura. But could not find anyone with proper directions. Than an old trip report in Nadegura gave me the directions to explore this beauty.

It is situated just 3kms off Ratnapura-Panadura road though one has to walk upstream for last 500ms which would really test one depending on weather.

We turned left from the junction just before Paththini Devalaya and Bo tree on Panadura road coming from Ratnapura close to 38km post. We then crossed the wooden bridge over the Kalu River leading to Dumbara estate. Dumbara estate lies along the border between Ratnapura and Kalutara.

The wooden bridge over the Kalu River…..

View from the wooden bridge over the Kalu River…..probably the narrowest point of Kalu River….

After crossing the Kalu River road devides to two. We took the road on the right hand side leading to Dumbara estate office and rural hospital of Dumbara.

Take the road to the right……

Then after travelling 1 km the road divided to two. We took the road to left going uphill. After travelling another 1-2km we met the “Palam deke Bokkuwa”.

We parked the car and started to walk uphill along the stream. If travelling by car one has to be careful as there are one or two tricky places to cross. Van, no problem at all.

“Palam deke Bokkuwa” and my parked car on left corner…..

Going uphill bit tricky on two points… this is one of them…..

Going uphill not straight forward…..

After half an hour challenging climb uphill we reached the base of the beautiful Dumbara Falls….

More than 20 meters in height…. Falls in 3 sections…..

Upper and middle sections……

Full view of the fall sparing the left lower section…..

Left lower section….. it has less water than main fall….

Thanks for reading.

As part of my work as Medical officer of health of Nivithigala I am bound to conduct medical inspection in every school in my area. Most intriguing out schools is Panahatagala primary school in Panahatagala area & Liyanekakanda School in Liyanekakanda.

Unfortunately Liyanekakanda School was shut down due to lack of students. Though Panahatagala area belongs to Nivithigala DS division it is not connect by any means of transport to Nivithigala. To get there we have to travel to Kalawana and from there to Wathurawa and rest by foot. There was a bridge connected to Wathurawa which was destroyed by floods 3 years beck. Since then politicians failed to build the bridge due to the debate for whether it belongs to Kalawana or Nivithigala. Furthermore it has voting population of only 300 to make matters worse for this poor villagers. There is a separate road connected from Kalawana town to Panahatagala but it can be done by only a very very experienced driver with 4wd vehicle with good ground clearance. At present only very few 4wd Lorries with extra ground clearance comes on that way to collect tea leaves.

Otherwise one have to walk 3 kms to reach the main area of the village. Recently villages have constructed a road leading to Panahatagala from Wathurawa but without the bridge only motorbikes can cross the river.

Now villagers have built a small wooden bridge to across main river from Waturawa..

This was the status one month back…….

There are few streams to cross on the way….

Crossing another stream…

Crossing another stream…

Following pics show the beautiful surrounding and an unnamed waterfall (3-4 meters of height)

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Thanks for reading…..

It was one of those weekends when you have nothing to do but out of nowhere you get a chance to visit some place that is out of bounds for many thanks to one of your close friends. That’s exactly what happened when I was without a thing to do on the 18-19 Oct weekend when Ana called out of blue moon asking if I’d like to join him for a relaxing holiday at Rozella. I jumped with both the feet and we left for Rozella on the 18th morning around 4.15am.

Day 01

After about an hour we stopped at Weerasiri Café and bought some Vegetable Rotties and one of their signature food items, Garlic Buns that are very tasty. They kept us going and we reached Rozella after some detour around 9.15am. We went for a walk in and around Carolina Tea Estate and it looked gloomy but the sun was shining down on us.

The hike walk was superb and we got some good pictures on the way. Afterwards, we got back home and had a hearty lunch. The mist appeared out of nowhere and pounced on us mercilessly covering the whole area. Unlike the last two times, we couldn’t even get a glimpse of Sri Pada that can usually be seen rising majestically into the sky. (You can take a look at my Previous Reports Here and Here). You can see the wonderful view point where we saw the Sri Pada, both during day time and at night)

The mist made sure that we wouldn’t have any more exploring and we sat down for an early and a hearty dinner with Ana’s version of Kohonawala Special Lunu Miris. It wasn’t the same but so much closer. It brought back the sweet memories of the isolated Kohonawala. Ana kept referring to the Lunu Miris as Dynamite which was quite fitting considering the taste of it. We went to bed early hoping for something exciting to happen the following day.

The view around Watawala

Closer

Icing on the cake

Plenty of food for the birds and squirrels

Cotton-wool sky

Ana’s Nest

Around the garden

Beans growing high

Busy at work

Plenty of them and I couldn’t eat one hundredth of them

Gorgeous colors

Peeping inside

Plenty more

Mummified Gas Gemba

Nature-made ponds

We took to the path for a hike and there’s our home in the distance

Most of the time it’s gloomy

On another day, Sri Pada would be seen over the tree canopy

Shannon Tea Factory in the far

Not missing these tiny details

Ready to plant

Looks as if done with a foot ruler

The mountains covered in the mist

Tea is the main player

Having a bath

These tanks are used for breeding fish

One of the buses that runs through the estates

Green in different shades against a gloomy background

Very tempting to have a bath

Closer

Not missing anything

Cascades in the middle of the estate

Sumptuous lunch

Here comes the mist

Covered the whole area in no time

One of the houses being built closer

Ideal for relaxing and having a nap

Mulligan Soup, full of all the nutrition

The dinner of Thosai, Ana’s attempt at Kohonawala Special seen too

Day 02

The next day early morning we went for another walk through the dew-covered plantation but still the clouds and the mist kept the Sri Pada hidden from us. However, for a fraction of the time, the holy peak revealed herself yet only partially. The whole surrounding was being bathed in the morning glow and it was like walking through a watercolor painting. Different shades of green mixed with sky blue and pristine white clouds added to the picture. Shadows of the mountains fell on the other mountains that gave a wonderful contrast in the whole picture.

Just walking slowly taking these wonderful sceneries in, breathing fresh mountain air was all a human being needed to unwind and with a hearty meal at the end to make it complete. You can feel the whole body is beginning to relax and all the pressure inside you is being released slowly, your thoughts become clearer, muscles start to loosen, and you feel like floating inside a bubble. After our morning stroll, we had yet another wonderful breakfast as you must when you go for relaxing. The food plays a key role when you want to unwind and enjoy some quiet time.

Here comes the morning

Dew on the leaves

Can see the Sri Pada in the distance, let’s try and get closer

There she is, but only partially visible

Great colors

Like blue berry but not sure if edible

Very tiny ones

Picturesque

Not missing much

Wow

Great scenery

An airliner passed overhead with the typical smoke trail

Unbelievable sights, however, nothing comes closer than seeing it with one’s own eyes

The shadow of the mountain covering the half of the pic

Look at the patterns of the sky

Silhouette

More of the paintings

Some more

Another pond in the marsh

We headed straight ahead

Close up of a very common flower, unfortunately, don’t know the name

Endless view

Here we are back again

Deep red

Breakfast of, Kurakkan mixed Rotti, Ana’s Special, Kollu Curry

Templestowe Estate

This is when, after breakfast, we got the chance to visit one of the most picturesque estate bungalows I’ve ever seen. It’s called Templestowe, rather unusual name but a breathtakingly beautiful place. So Ana I drove to the estate which is located about 4km from the Rozella Station. The drive was so pleasurable as we passed well maintained estate road bordered by plenty of plants and onto our left was a marshland which used to be a lake according to the Managing Director.

We reached the bungalow and while Ana was talking to the MD, I was so busy taking pictures of this wonderful place. As my report name suggests, this really was a little heaven on earth. There was a large lawn cut and maintained beautifully. The whole garden was full of various fruit trees and endless collection of flowers even though most of them were not yet blossomed as it wasn’t the season. I wished it was April coz all the flowers would’ve been in full bloom.

There were dozens of Sitha Pera (one of the guava specie) trees which were full of ripened guavas that tasted both sweet and sour. Dozens of parrots were roaming around taking bites at leisurely and when a dozen or so birds munch on these fruits, it makes a very loud noise and you’d wonder what on earth that is.

You can see the videos I took of those parrots below.

Video 01

Video 02

They were very colorful, bright green with red necklace-type strip around the neck on males and some red feathers on all of them. Well, I’ll let the pictures tell the story here after.

Here we are

The lawn in front

The mighty bungalow with more than half a dozen bedrooms

Towards Watawala

Maha Bovitiya with her lusty purple

One of the rare blooms