| Year and Month | October, 2015 |
| Number of Days | 2 |
| Crew | 6 (between 30-32 years of age) on day 1- Knuckles peaks hike
Only myself & Rajah on day 2- Kota Ganga falls complex |
| Accommodation | Pilapitiya Camp site |
| Transport | Dimo Batta |
| Activities | Hiking, Waterfall hunting, Photography |
| Weather | Excellent in the morning, overcast and drizzling in the evening |
| Route | Colombo -> Kandy -> Teldeniya -> Rangala -> Thangappuwa and return on the same route. |
| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
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| Related resources | Trip report : Kota ganga (කොට ගඟ) falls expedition |
| Author | malithkum |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
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 1st 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 2nd 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 1st 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 3rd 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 2nd fall which I missed. Soon the footpath was going downhill. We passed the paths branching off to 1st, 2nd and 3rd to pursue 4th and 5th falls. The path after 3rd fall becomes non-existence at some places. After the branching off of 4th 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 5th fall and this time there was no branching off and the main path actually lead to the 5th 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 5th fall on by one I covered all the falls but I somehow missed the 2nd 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…..