After our (Tony and Me) first run through the Siyane Korale, which was a grand tour, we decided to continue from where we stopped covering the remaining archaeologically important places in Gampaha District. 14 January looked like a perfect choice coz we both were free, unfortunately we missed Hari’s hike to the Sacred Sri Pada via scenic Maray Watta and Sandagala Thenna route as we both had to work the following day despite it being a Poya Day. This made Hari as mad as a lone Elephant in Maduru Oya.

We called it a day at Maligathenna the other day after a marathon run of exploration of Siyane Korale, Tony vowed to come back to do the rest of it and that’s exactly what we did at the end.

Tour Highlights:

1. Koskandawala Temple, Koskandawala (Yakkala-Radawana Road)
2. Warana Cave Temple, Warana Temple Road off Nelligahamulla
3. Pettagankanda, Galboda off Dikkanada Junction
4. Alawala Pre-Historic Cave, Alawala, Attanagalla off Attanagalla-Galapitamada Road
5. Uduwaka Falls, Algama off Haggalla-Algama Road

Koskandawala Temple

Take the Yakkala-Radawana Road and after about 2km you’ll see the temple onto your right facing the road itself.

The entrance is just by the road

The cave image house and the solid rock on the background

Entering into the image house

The newly built structure replacing the ancient mud walls have destroyed part of the paintings on the rocky ceiling

The rocky flower stand and an apparently a water container located above it to get water

Locked?

Gigantic brass key

Got in after all

The rocky ceiling full of colorful paintings and art

The archaeology dept. has done their bit of cleaning the place getting it to former glory

Thousands of years old yet still in mint condition

The creative base of the stupa is different from one another

Peeling off at times but a chemical has been used to stop further erosion

The blackish square represent the state the whole paintings were before the cleaning

More paintings of Stupa

Done very smoothly

A plane has just gone by

The stupa and around it we got to the back looking if we could climb that rock

Seen places like these at Alu Viharaya, Matale

No clue what these are

Soaring high

They’ve found shelter in one of the caves

Resting place

There had been a forest of many trees but now completely cut them off and making it like a desert

Warana Cave Temple

Go further along towards Radawana take the left Warana Temple Road at Nelligahamulla Junction.

Just around the corner of Warana Temple

Zoomed in

Don’t get fooled by the distance. It’s 0.3km (300m) but the dot in the middle is no longer visible or not put there at all

At the entrance

Not ripe yet

More than 2000 years old?

The legend (Click image to enlarge)

Huge rock with drip edges. Who would’ve carved them so high?

Main complex

The history of it

Going to the Second Stage

The rock pillars still standing

The stupa

Resting after a heavy climb

Curtained to protect the statue

Still in mint condition after so many years

Endless paintings in the cave

Huge inside

Many statues too

After the cleaning

More paintings

Reminds me of Sigiriya

All of them were 100% identical in size.

Faded paintings revealing colorful plaster underneath

Wondering what we are up to

Imagine the size of the rock

Goint to the 3rd Level

The path goes uphill

More to climb

Similar one was at Pilikuththuwa

Another stupa up there

Another image house but it was locked maybe due to restoration by the archaeological department

Lovely shades

Closed but managed to get a pic

More paintings on rocky ceiling, like Dambulla

Serene looking Buddha

The ceiling is made of wood with more paintings

Cracking at places

Towards the back

Idiotic travelers are doing this everywhere

Through the branches of Bo Tree

They are getting ready to fix a stall for the next day Poya

Look at the greenery to the horizon

Very small monk going towards the image house

Another look at the giant rock and the structure underneath

These paintings are obscured by the building you saw in the above pic

This roof covers a lot of painting on the rock

Going towards the rocky inscription

There it is

Very few letters

Fish tale bird

Look at the paddy in the middle with its strange layout of paths in between

Pettagankanda

Get back to Nelligamulla and go further towards Radawana till you come to Dikkanda Junction and turn left towards Galboda. Ask the directions from the villagers.

Note: The rock where they called the Pettagankanda has been a victim for quarry workers. They had broken the face of it nearly in half endangering the Temple and the Meditating Monks who live there. The constant noise must’ve been a great burden for those monks. They simply ask us to put it so that someone will take notice the damage done to this place. When we visited, there was a lorry and someone was breaking the stones. The ground was a big hole full of rain water and the surrounding area must surely be full of mosquitoes as a result. It’s really surprise the PHIs or the Police don’t take any action against these people who are doing this damaged with the greedy politicians’ blessing in the area. I hope someone will take notice and take some action.

Dikkanda Walawwa:

 I’ve posted a pic of this seen from Maligathenna and apparently this is a huge bungalow with 80 rooms according to the folklore. The villagers claim that the owner of this place was to marry an ex-president but it didn’t happen. This bungalow was built in the hope of living here after the marriage. The area belonging to this place is said to be roughly 3000 acres. The bungalow itself is located on top of a hill giving it a panoramic view of the surrounding areas. The owner is supposedly remaining single to date.

Saw one of these along Pilikuththuwa road but missed picturing it. Very rare sighting

Near the entrance

Do read this and behave accordingly

The Quarry below

10X zoomed

20X zoomed. They keep digging at it

The path is nearly at the edge to the temple

The whole area is damaged severely

Here’s the Pettagan Gala

Closer

The surrounding, just to the left of the golden stupa is Warana and beyond that Koskandawala

The Maligathenna in the middle and to the left is Dikkanda Bungalow and under that the farm

Maligathenna zoomed. Sweet memories

Along the shady path

Got nearer

The stupa

This is what it’s called

Maligathenna to the right

There’s a similar gold painted rock in Thailand

Just barely touching the rock underneath

See the small surface area of the two rocks attached with no firm support visible

They kept going here and there

Extreme left is Koskandawla, middle Warana and to the right is some rock with a quarry

Towards the cave in the middle of the rock and the path is going dangerously close to the edge of the quarry

They were sitting in the middle and zoomed in to the max.

Down we go

Old man on this back sliding down

Not an easy task for the old bones

Tony picturing inside the cave

They’ve left statues

The interior is too low for comfort

Managed to squeeze in and take the pic. Maligathenna and Dikkanda clearly visible

The pagoda from the cave

Sitting close to each other

Alawala Pre-Historic Cave

From Galboda take the same road towards Urapola. Take left of Veyangoda-Ruwanwella Road until you reach Attanagalla. From Attanagalla, take the right Pasyala-Attanagalla Road and just about 100m along there’s a turn to the right with a sign board for Alawala Cave. Follow it for 8km along Galapitamada Road and you’ll see another similar sign onto your left after Alawala Junction. Along that road about 500-600m away is a temple and ask the directions from there. There are very helpful young boys playing around and they’ll happily show you the way.

Just at the turning in Attanagalla

After 8km turn left from here

This huge notice board is hard to miss

Tooth of a Shark and a bone of the extinct SL tiger also found

Many more stones and bones

The story (Click image to enlarge)

Have to climb up to the rocky ledge

Our friend Sanju who met us at the temple leading the way

Many of these available

Just at the mouth of the cave

Sanju in the middle and the dugout seen

Signs of work done

The cavity where they found all those things

The cave is very lengthy

Signs of excavation

Tony and Sanju with Tony’s sweaty hat

Goes a long way

From the cave

When you come along the road, you have to park your vehicles near the hut at the bottom and walk up

He was merrily drinking

Can’t leave these sweet hearts

Another cave temple but now it’s turned into a Devalaya where they use all these Mantra to curse people

The Suniyam Devalaya

Don’t understand the logic doing all those bad ghtings for people hiding behind Lord Buddha, even Sanju being a kid wouldn’t come to this place coz he said these people are bad

Uduwaka Falls

Back to Attanagalla and continue towards Pasyala till you come to Haggalla Junction. (Don’t get confused with the Nuwara Eliya Haggala). Take the right along Algama Road till you get to Algama where the famous bathing place of Algama Falls is located. Unfortunately when we visited it was swarming with drunks in different stages of getting drunk. The waterfall is not so high and the water levels were too low so we decided not to push upwards along the stream zig-zaging the drunkards. We went further along towards Uduwaka Falls. It was no better as a huge pile of garbage was near the waterfall and again full of drunkards. However we managed to shoot a few pics and do check the reckless behavior of those stupid travelers here. Wails of Uduwaka Falls

Almost dried out Uduwaka Falls

To the right

And the left

The middle

Purple beauty saying good bye

Check the Panos here:

Pano 1 – Tony outside picturing the surrounding

Pano 2 – Full width of the Pettagankanda Cave

The Pano of the whole sorrouning area. From Left: Dikkanda Bungalow, Maligathenna, Koskandawala and Warana

Tony and Sanju at Alawala Cave

04 February, the National Day of Sri Lanka and an island-wide holiday for us all. While the entire nation prepared for the 66th Independence Ceremony, Sheham and I left for Wilpattu during the wee hours of February 04. This all happened in a hurry when Sheham said that he’d be heading to Palpatha, an Eco-Lodge near Saliyawewa Army Camp, for an official visit and asked if I was willing to join him. Jumping at the opportunity and the idea of doing a quick recce of Wilpattu (I’d never been there before) made it a very tempting offer.

I jumped with both feet and decided to leave during wee hours of the National Day. We left earlier that anticipated coz Sheham was suffering from insomnia and reached Puttalam around 3.45am. Turning towards the Anuradhapura road we continued passing Elephant roaming areas of Thabbowa and Karuwalagaswewa hoping for a glimpse of a jumbo. But to our disappointment, none of them bothered to come out for a glance.

Tour Highlights:

• Quick glance through Wilpattu
• Bird Watching at Palpatha
• Sunset @ Mundalama Lagoon

We reached Palpatha around 4.30am and decided to take a nap till the caretaker got up. Finally at 5.00am having left the equipment needed for the work there, we headed towards Wilpattu Junction where Bobby, our driver, waited. We left the car and got into his brother’s Bolero 4-wheel drive jeep (most commonly available kind of jeep at Wilpattu) coz both his modern Mitsubishi L200 jeeps were on hire. It was freezing cold in Wilpattu and I’d never imagined it could get that cold there. It was like Nuwara Eliya and the temperature must’ve been around 20 degrees or even less. Sheham and I were shivering in the open jeep but the luxuriously done cushion sheets provided a comfy sitting position. The whole area was covered in a moderate layer of mist too.

Having reached the entrance at 5.45am, we waited anxiously with many others who’d come from different parts of the country to visit this gigantic wildlife-rich beauty. However, the officials didn’t see it that way and didn’t appear till 6.20am to issue tickets (20 precious minutes wasted). As usual the ticket prices didn’t cease to amaze us. They even charged us Rs. 300/- for a tracker even though none was available.

Bobby had seen two young leopards the day before so we were very excited for a leopard sighting coz I’d not seen one properly. We passed many other animals especially a wild boar family of two parents and 20+ tiny ones running in a straight line one after the other. It was such a superb sight unfortunately couldn’t take a pic as we were so engrossed in watching them. We reached where Bobby had seen the leopards and there was a rotting flesh smell which nearly made me throw up. It had been the hunt the leopards had done before but there was no sign of them. We waited fruitlessly and decided to roam around with no success. On the way back out of the park, we got a similar smell but not a sign of a leopard.

Just at the gate we saw a flock of Hornbills feasting on some fruits noisily. There might’ve been about 2 dozen of them and it was a very welcome sight. So my first-ever Wilpattu Safari, which lasted a bit under 4hrs, ended without much of a drama.

Look at all the places and how far they are

First visit

Bobby opening the gate

The misty lake

The path ahead

I can’t remember the name, is this a Grey Heron?

One of my favourites

On the hunt

Having a chat?

Very observant and alert

Fearsome thug

See the contrast in color

I don’t understand why this is called “Barking Deer”

Crossing the road but no yellow stripes

Sandy paths can be difficult to maneuoure

Closer to the stinking flesh

The one and only toilets are located here.

Where we had breakfast

A big one

Oh dear!

Very busy to notice us

Here they are

Mighty hungry

Gorgeous

We went to Bobby’s house back for our car and he treated us with fresh guava, pomegranate and tea. He has a very cute son who kept showing us around their house. Sheham is helping them with Solar Electricity coz the mains line is too far and very expensive to obtain. So it’s yet another helping hand from Sheham.

Guess what? This is Kurakkan

Being dried in the sun

Bobby’s son had trouble posing

Very serious look

Never seen her before

Bitter friend

Such an artistic flower

Know the name?

Beautiful colors

Ready to harvest

Drying in the sun

Reminds me of Nasrudin’s Story

Juicy

We reached Palpatha around 12.30pm and while overseeing the ongoing work, set to have a delicious lunch. The manager, Anura, at Palpatha was a very hospitable gentleman. We decided to relax in the evening and I saw plenty of birds near one of their chalets called “Kohomba”. All the chalets are named after trees growing around them such as “Siyambala”, “Kumbuk” and “Andara”. This is a very good place for bird watching and I saw many different kinds of them in the vicinity but my knowledge on birds is as good as my Greek.

I was surprised to see the enthusiasm of people both local and foreigners to live in typical village life styles. It proves how effective and peaceful our ancestors’ lives were. You wouldn’t believe the money they pay for a simple village meal and to sleep on a mud house with a thatched roof. The world is in fact, going backwards.

Thanks to the chef Bandu, I learnt 5 names of the birds I saw:

1. Golden Fronted Leafbird

2. Clamorous Reed Warbler

3. Ceylon Paradise Flycatcher – Sivuru Hora in laymen’s terms

4. Indian Paradise Flycatcher – Sudu Redi Hora

5. Black Headed Oriole – Kaha Kurulla

Around 5.00pm we left for Colombo but wanted to stop somewhere to witness the sunset. I’m a big fan of the rising and setting Sun. Fortunately we reached Mundalama Lagoon just as Sun was gliding down and took some amazing pics. The place along the lagoon looked so beautiful and ideal for camping.

Well, it turned out to be a very good Pic Journey in the end thanks to all those birds. It looks like the number of Pic Journeys are getting more and more and I’m glad about the response so far from the readers. It’s certainly a different approach by me and seems to be working.

Check out the 2 Videos of the Golden Fronted Leafbirds below:

Video 1

Video 2

Thanks a lot folks for reading and hope you enjoyed it.

Take care

Entrance

Waiting patiently

Lilly pond

Beautiful

Tiny waterway flows nearby and joins the Kala Oya, which is the southern border of Wilpattu

Goes through the shady ravine

Mmmm, the taste is super

Thatched roof

“Tamarind” Tent

Like camping

Bird watching paths

Before switching to Solar, they’d used these kerosene lamps making it not so eco by emitting a lot of CO and CO2

A makeshift wooden bridge is the path to the Chalet

Village house looking

Look at those beds and frames especially… They are solid Burutha with Thekka panels along the sides

Old lanterns

They seem to grow their own food

Coconut leaves are being used

Reminds me of the childhood house

Black headed oriole, rather Kaha Kurulla to me

Indian Paradise flycatcher

Ceylon Paradise flycatcher faraway

Up close

Familiar birds too

Clamorous reed warbler

Silhouette of a bird

Birds are in abundance around here

Here’s the star of the day

Golden fronted leafbird

These 3 kept going in and out of the hollow

Shaking the feathers; guess the hollow is full of water

Gorgeous creature

Another Kaha Kurulla

They are coming in numbers

Flower of a corn

Strawberry colored blonde

Unknown one to me

Tiny pond

Getting ready to sleep

Through the trees

Either side

Wow

The lagoon to the left

And to the right

Faraway boat right under the sun

Gone…

Endless railway line towards Chilaw

Enjoy the Panos to accompany this episode. I only managed 3 of them this time and will bring more next time.

P.S. I’m a stranger when it comes to birds’ names. So correct me if I’ve got those names wrong and try to name the ones without a name too please.

Pano 1

Pano 2

Pano 3

It was on 21 Dec when we did the Stage 04 of my rail hikes with my friends. It was coupled with a trip to the 2nd highest mountain in SL, the Kirigalpoththa. We enjoyed it to no end with unprecedented amount of mist enveloping the whole area. Many stretches of the upcountry railway line were completed by us and I was itching to do yet another bit from where we stopped last time, Talawakele. The typical old crew of mine, Sheham, Tony and Atha agreed to join and another member of the same age group, Ana, also decided to hone his hiking skills. However, like Tony used to do, he said that he’d walk for a short distance to see how he feels and warned that he might have to call it off after about 7km. However, deep down, I knew the old boy was gonna make it the whole distance but kept it to myself.

We planned to do the hike on the first day and do a short walk around Rosella on the following day while the emphasis was on relaxing. Unfortunately Tony managed to get his big toe crushed and split making it impossible for him to walk while Atha too played his part getting stranded in Mahiyangana. It was such a pity to have lost those two but Sheham and I decided to go ahead as Ana was going to join us at Rosella. Sheham picked me in the wee hours on 25th Sat and as soon as we left my place there was a big Porcupine at the side of the road showing his coat of spines to us. This was a first for me as I’d never seen anything other than a mongoose in our area which has no forest patches. Unfortunately the fella didn’t keen on waiting for a pic.

Feeling thrilled we headed towards Avissawella. The roads were free of vehicles and we ate the distance pretty quickly. Closing in on Watawala, Sheham suddenly stopped the car to see the left rear tire had given up on us. Not being sure if it was a puncture or something else, we pumped some air and were back on road. After about 1km the problem started again and we had to change the tire and get the spare one. Sheham, surprisingly, hadn’t changed a tire in the last 10-12 years, but he hadn’t forgotten how it was done. Having lost about 20 mins for flat tires we were finally off but the jitters kept haunting us both.

Ana was already waiting at Rosella station so we had to hurry. In our hurry, we’d missed the Rosella station turn off and gone about 6km or so towards Hatton by the time Sheham realized. “Can’t anything go right for us this morning?” I kept wondering as we turned around and came back until, mercifully, saw the turning point. Finally after a lot of hullabaloo we reached Ana at Rosella around 6.30am. Our initial plan was to start the hike from Rozella and go uphill towards Talawakele thus Ana’s plan to curtail the journey after 7km at Hatton.

Tour Highlights:

 1. 20km of Railway Hiking

2. The Longest Tunnel in SL, the Singhamale

3. Allegedly, the Biggest Tea Plant in SL (Highly debatable)

Day 01

There was a train leaving for Badulla at 6.50am from Rozella and I suggested we take it and go to Talawakele and start the journey from there coz the downhill journey is less difficult than going uphill. What I didn’t say out loud was that Ana will at least have to come with us up to Hatton around 13km if we wanted to stop halfway through. While waiting for the train at Rosella, we got talking to the SM and the gate keeper who were very friendly and invited us into his office to show how the operation is done. I’d already got a peek inside an office at Kital Ella when we walked from B’wela to Uduwara. The SM kindly showed us how the signals given and received from the adjoining stations about the oncoming trains. Then the mystery of tablets was solved by him.

The story of the Tablet:

“I’d been very curious as to what the engine drivers and the station masters exchange whenever a train comes to a station. The circular object that looks like a wheel with a thick small circle at one end had always mystified me. Fortunately, while waiting for the train at Rosella, the cheerful SM solved it for me. The thick tiny circle like thing is a leather pouch containing a solid copper tablet (thus the name for it). The copper tablet has the initials of the adjoining stations stenciled onto it. For example, Rosella has two kinds of tablets with them. One we saw had the initials HTN and RZL carved in it meaning Hatton and Rozella repectively. The other tablet must contain the initials of Watawala (WLA) and Rozella. HTN and RZL is the one that gets exchanged between Hatton and Rozella while the RZL and WLA between Rozella and Watawala.

 What happens is when the train reaches Rozella from Watawala they bring the WLA-RZL tablet with them and hand it to the Rozella SM. He then checks if it’s the correct tablet and releases train from Rozella with the train carrying RZL-HTN tablet. Until that train reaches Hatton and gives the tablet to the Hatton SM, they won’t release any train from Hatton towards Rozella. This makes sure there’s virtually no head-on collision between two trains. So far it has worked so well avoiding many catastrophic incidents and saving millions of human lives.”

They even have a redundant solar panel which had not been properly taken care of. The main source of power generation comes from a nearby mini hydro plant. They’ve blocked a tiny waterfall close to the station and diverted the water into the mini power plant generating enough power for the nearby temple and the station. Having thanked the SM and others who were very good for us, we got on board the 5-minutes late train which was an ageing M-6 with a bunch of tankers and a couple of classless (According to the Rozella SM) rotting wagons. The morning chill made us shiver inside and by the time we reached Hatton we all were feeling mighty hungry. Thankfully Ana had brought some buns with him and we decided to munch without waiting any longer. Those garlic buns were very tasty with carrots and capsicum with chunks of tomato and onions too. The surplus buns were a blessing as we were mighty hungry. There were some fish buns as well which disappeared pretty soon.

Soon we entered a tunnel and it seemed to take forever to get to the other side. It was the world famous Singhamale Tunnel. There were a plenty of workers who got off at a tiny station called Galkanda Watta between Hatton and Kotagala just passing the Singhamale Tunnel, the longest in SL. The view afterwards was simply amazing and it made Ana and me get out of our seats and come to the door pointing our cameras at the surrounding. The early morning rays of the sun kept peering through trees and mountains making patters on the dewy leaves. The mist hung in midair as if hung with an invisible thread. We felt like going through heaven.

I couldn’t wait to come back along the track to go through this wonderful creation. Passing Kotagala, Ana and I got to the door as we kept looking for St. Claire and just on cue she appeared out of nowhere just after the Derry Claire station which is another minor one. She was still in a very sad-looking state due to the damn dam of Upper Kotmale. We passed yet another long tunnel very close to Talawakele. Finally, around 8.15am, we reached Talawakele station where we stopped last time and it was a treat to be there in the morning sun shining through hilltops. The Upper Kotmale reservoir which has no shape but runs through Talawakele town snaking here and there was reflecting the images of nearby houses and mountains. Filling our water bottles and getting our cameras out, we were ready to rock ‘n’ roll.

The track had concrete, metal and wooden sleepers so going was pretty tough. On top of that the gaps between the sleepers weren’t equal. However the two old boys kept going while I constantly stopped to take pics of the breathtaking sceneries. We soon reached the tunnel numbe 15 and walked through it with no difficulty even though we had to switch our torches on to see the path clearly. In the middle of the tunnel one of the pipelines had ruptured sending a shower right across the path. We practically had to run across not to get soaked but in the dark and slippery track it wasn’t possible. So we had to get wet in that cold shower which made our bones rattle in their cages.

Having crossed to the other end we saw the mouth of the sluice gates of the Upper Kotmale dam. It was duly closed but on a right hand side water was gushing through a larger pipe but it wasn’t gonna do anything about bringing back the St. Clair back to her former glory. Passing the St. Claire tea factory we all of a sudden got to the view point of abysmal looking St. Claire falls. Walking further we also saw the cluster of cabanas nestling on the slope below the N’Eliya-Hatton highway. The road was still under construction at places, hopefully should be completed soon.

We met some playful kids and one of them wanted to pose like Ben10. We reached the tiny station of Derry Claire. It’s nothing but a small platform with the name. The people who get onto the trains here will have to buy tickets from the guard himself and only 4 trains stop at this station and all of them are goods carrying ones. The path became more scenic afterwards while we took the fresh mountain air deep into our lungs which reinvigorated our battered bodies and minds. We stopped at a tiny waterfall next to the rail track for a quick breather and as if on cue S-12 passed us. I managed to get a short video of her with the waterfall on the right hand side.

From there, Kotagala was a very short distance and we made it with no problems. We ate some freshly fried Dhal Wade from a nearby shop and continued towards Hatton. Ana, who said that he’d stop after 7km, kept pushing us to walk faster. We met another linesman nearby and he told us about the biggest tea plant in SL is close to the Singhamale Tunnel. We were very excited and hurried towards the tunnel. On the way we caught yet another Chinese lady going towards Badulla. Singhamale rock loomed in the distance and we figured why it was called that name. The rock in a way resembles a lion and in Tamil “Malai” means “Hill” (remember the “Kudira Malai” in Mannar?) and the name stuck Singhamale. (In Tamil, Singham means Lion).

Having reached the tunnel mouth, we inquired about the tea plant and had to take a left close to the tunnel through a tea estate for about 500m to reach that. Ana, who’s already on his spare wheel, decided to rest his bones while Sheham and I went looking for that. One of the villagers informed us that the tree got burnt due to a bush fire recently. The trunk looks bigger than an ordinary tea plant but the height is not so much. So this might not be the biggest after all.

We got back to the mouth of the tunnel and Ana was itching to get through. There was a train due in about half hour so we debated whether to wait or go but the villagers who walked through the tunnel solved the matter for us. The railway line through the tunnel is the only way for the villagers living in the area to go towards Hatton as either side is the gigantic Singhamale Rock. You will find plenty of people walking through this more than half a kilometer tunnel in the dark carrying torches, made fires and some people, to my surprise, walked without anything at all.

However, if you’re planning this, make sure you have working torches and keep an eye out for the train time table. Still better to check with the villagers too as there might be some delayed trains coming without you knowing.

Singhamale Tunnel

Tunnel number is 14 and on the side wall is painted the number and the distances between either side. The notice is already peeling away so you have to look very closely. (You’ll find it in all the tunnels) The distances given are still in Miles, Chains and Links. When we inquired about the distance to the tea plant, one villager said about 3 chains. So they still use those measurements. I’ve given the conversions for these in my first-ever rail hike. You can read the Rail Hike Stage 01 here.

The numbers given on the wall are as follows:

109M 20C 69L (109 miles, 20 chains and 69 links)

108M 72C 88L

So if we do the math, the length comes to 27C and 81L (1 mile = 80 chains). After applying for the conversions, the distance comes as follows:

27X66 feet + 81X0.66 feet = 1782+53.46 = 1835.46 feet

1m = 3.28 feet

So, the distance is 1835.46/3.28 = 559.59m

Going through the tunnel was like being under dungeons. It was pitch black and we were grateful for our torches. Especially, you’ll trip over if you don’t look closely at the track and it’s muddy at places making it very slippery too. However, the natives kept walking as if those are no concerns for them. We crossed over to the other end when a group of girls and aunts tried to cross the tunnel, even without a light. There was a train coming from Kotagala and we warned them not to take a chance.

The train was slightly late and I called Morgan, the GW guide, to check the timing. After 9 months of hustle bustle finally the cafes inside trains are now operating and I knew Morgan was working in them. He said the train reaching Kotagala and should be with us in about 10 mins. So we waited and waited until we saw a flicker of a light inside the tunnel until it grew bigger and bigger. The train emerged through the longest tunnel in SL and kept coming at us. What an experience it turned out to be.

We enjoyed the scene a lot and kept pushing towards Hatton and met yet another S-12 just before Hatton. I was expecting Ana to call it off at Hatton coz we had done nearly 13km altogether and it was nearly double the distance he predicted before he would do. Having reached Hatton, we stopped for about 5mins and suddenly Ana got up and told me “Sri, let’s go. If we hurry, we can get there by 4”. Those are the words of a transformed man, mind you. So we continued further towards Rozella.

I was feeling very hungry coz after the breakfast; we ate only those few Wades at Kotagala. Sheham’s breakfast was still with us so we decided to stop somewhere and eat as soon as we could. Having reached a place where a few rail carts had derailed, we stopped for our lunch which was intended for breakfast. We had a hearty lunch of Boiled Eggs, Seeni Sambol and Sliced Bread and got back on the track in no time. The going was now a bit difficult and we kept taking breaks at every 500m.

Having met yet another linesman about 3.5km away from Rozella, we got him to show us what he carried inside his mortar-shaped tube. Two flags (Red and Green) and a tailor made cracker to warn in case of mist or night were in his collection. Leaving him, we decided to hurry up and reach Rozella but not before 4.30pm, about half hour behind our estimated time. All in all, we had walked 20+km and what an achievement for a person who thought he could only do about 7km. Ana was overjoyed and kept boasting to his family and friends. The old boy is seriously back to rock ‘n’ roll.

Our vehicles were still waiting for us at the Rozella station and we got into them and headed for our home, Ana’s Nest about 3.5km away on a very difficult road. Sheham wasn’t to be intimidated as he tackled the road which could’ve given a heart attack to any other driver. It was actually jumping from one rock to the other on the car. Ana and Sheham managed to safely drive up the distance. When we reached home, Ana realized that he’d left his precious monopod behind somewhere along the railway track. It almost spoiled a perfect day for us but we decided to take a walk in the morning along the railway line and see if we can spot it. I even called the Rozella station inquiring if any linesman had returned it but no such luck. However the SM promised to inform all the linesman and keep it ready should he come across it.

We were knackered but Ana was over the moon, he looked as if 10feet tall. He’s yet another example of “If you have a will, there’s a way to do it”. I can remember Tony, Sheham and Athula being like this before but they all realized the potential they had after a few serious hikes. Welcome to the club Ana! We had some ginger plain tea while reflecting on the day’s events. The Sri Pada was smiling with us from the distance while a thin layer of mist was enveloping the surrounding coming over the mountains from Kotmale.

Soon it got dark and we relaxed having a nice little wee chat listening to some soft music. Both Ana and Sheham were great story tellers so I managed to learn quite a lot from them. The dinner was soon ready, Tempered Dried Fish, Dhal, Salad and Papadam made a delicious combination followed by a mammoth Cashew Nut choco. After a hearty meal we were sound asleep even before our heads hit the pillow.

Videos of the Day 01:

 1. Train and the Waterfall

2. S-12 Making S Turns

3. Train coming out of Singhamale

Old couple leading the way

1130m elevation

Nearby mountains lit by the morning sun

The station, redundant solar panels visible on the top

Morning creeping in

One of the two machines that communicate with the nearby stations

Very ancient

Good old machines

SM communicates with Watawala Station

The tickets, saw this at Kital Ella too

When a train is released this rings couple of times

The tablet, WLA – Watawala

The pouch and the copper tablet visible inside

The team and the railway officers

Here comes our train

Seeking warmth

Hung in mid air

Morning rays

Got here eventually

These kinda patterns are there at many upcountry stations

Towards Watagoda over Upper Kotmale

Tunnel 15, closer to Talawakele

The ruptured pipeline is nearby

Came out and the dam is clearly visible

Closer

Zoomed all the way in. That tiny water way is all St. Claire got

That’s a nice falls

They were doing a marathon

Lovely contrast of colors

St. Claire tea factory

There she is

What a sad story?

Nothing larger than a few pipelines

The cabanas we saw from GW during stage 4

Getting close to Derry Claire

Tea plantations bordering the track

It’s the mountainous country

Love the color

The SL Ben10

Leafless tree

Crescent and the dead tree

Endless

Just 4 stops a day

More and more

Must be using this quarry to supply for the road construction

Tiny fall met on the way

Up close

Colors

First leg of the marathon

Reddish commando style

1 upon Nelson

Busy at work

Walking along and looking at about 50ft below was a bit shocking

Improvising

Portrait of the bridge

Singhamale is close by

Singhamale is on the left

Here comes the S-12

Roasted snake, might’ve caught to the train

Another tiny station

Time to have some energy drinks

Oh dear!

Cutting leeks plants with a scissor

Looking for the biggest tea plant

We were told 3 chains the distance but well over that

He helped us out

Have to maneuver around the grassland

Most of it burnt due to a bush fire

Considerably thicker trunk but doubtful if this is the biggest though

Getting back to the track

Singhamale is nearby

It’s being peeled away

Oh dear,

Looking back with the flash on

Ghost tunnel without flash

No torch or a light

Same with this couple too

The famous Wehi Lihiniyo in a nest

They’ve got a fire going

These used to be called “Hulu Athu”

Finally out of it

Can’t figure out what it really says, looks like 1955

The trio

Mouth of the tunnel

Either side is bordered by rocks

There it comes

Out of the tunnel

Heading towards us

Hurrahhhhh…. It’s Hatton

Doesn’t it get any less complicated?

Looks like an utter mess

Time to relax

“Let’s make a move Sri”, Ana is relentless

Getting hungry now

“Shall we stop here?”

Determined old boys, ready to do more

No problems so far

Derailed carriages

Gigantic steel wheels

Mercifully some shade

Coming down after a hard day’s work

Here she comes

Looks empty

Can’t sit on the rock as it’s so hot

Smiling through the utter exhaustion

Almost stepped on this fellow

Towards Colombo

Leaning towards the outside

Millions of these were there

Super Macro

Close to Rozella

Unstoppable

Dancing to the wind

Got to the station and ready to go uphill

He was waiting for us to get home

Good night!

Day 02

I can’t remember sleeping so well for a long time. Woke up around 5am while the sun was peeping through the mountains and had a steaming cup of coffee while the breakfast was being readied. It was a special menu of Boiled Grams mixed with Egg Omelets, Chilies, Garlic and Onions. That was very delicious. We decided to drive down to the station and check with the SM about our monopod and take a short walk as well. The views were simply amazing and kept us mesmerized all the way down. We went and had a chat with the SM but no sign of the monopod so decided to take a walk.

Walking about 1-1.5km still didn’t bring us any sign of the monopod and we had to call it off and head back home. Climbing through tea estates we reached the road and took loads of pics of the distant Sri Pada and other mountains of the Samanala Mountain Range. The tea pluckers were busy at work and after a few hours we were back with no-so-good news for anxiously waiting Ana. While waiting for lunch, we picked some juicy grapefruit from a nearby tree and had it with salt and pepper.

The lunch was soon ready and it was a sumptuous meal of Fried Dried Fish, Elabatu, Salad, Sambol and Pumpkin. As usual Cashew Choco was in the menu next. What a cracking and relaxing journey it turned out to be and we enjoyed every bit of it. Having left the place around 1.30pm, we reached Watawala around 2.15pm and stopped to get our punctured tire fixed.

Note: There’s a nice tire shop near the Watawala Police which would be a great relief for any motorists. The place is called Priyanath Tyre Service (051-2237172) and has everything up-to-date. The owner is a very friendly and knowledgeable person.

Well, folks, that’s about it. Here ends my Rail Hike Stage 5, there will be a few more coming up in the foreseeable future. Hope you enjoyed this fairy tale.

Take care!

Good morning!

Special menu

It’s a waste to use such a powerful engine to carry just two wagons. Why not use Rail Buses instead?

Morning is so fresh

Tea factory on top

Close to her

Partial red

Miniature

Miniature falls

Vivid colors

Going uphill with a heavy heart coz no sign of the monopod

Sri Pada is looking amazing

Closer

This is where the tea is being weighed and collected

Breathtaking

Is she frowning?

Glad to be there

Many of them were there too

Ideal place to have a holiday

Furry looking

Red and Blue and Green

Ana, no sign of the monopod

Looks familiar

Ana chopping a bamboo to make a stick to pluck grapefruit

X’mas well gone by

Mouth watering

Macro red

Hunting for food

The baldies under the Pacha Gaha

Enjoying a sumptuous meal

I’m hungry

The falls near the station

Up close

Ready to exchange the tablet

Twins

Japanese Stunts

Going towards Watawala

What to do with these?

The map around Rozella of the railway line

Can’t make head nor tail of this

Now it’s time to look at my Panos:

Pano 1

Pano 2

Pano 3

Pano 4

Pano 5

Pano 6

Pano 7

Pano 8

Pano 9

Pano 10

Pano 11

Pano 12

Pano 13

Pano 14

Pano 15

Pano 16

Pano 17

Pano 18

Pano 19

Pano 20

You may notice a unique shape mountain at Katugasthota town over it’s bridge and it is the highest mountain of that side. This is more visible from Waththegama town and got our attention in our waterfall hunting along Bambaralla road. After inquiring Waththegama town, got to know it as the Hunnasgiriya Mountain which is situated at Campbell’s Lane forest reserve.

There are two routes to approach Hunnasgiriya Mountain.

1. From Hunnasgiriya Estate side-What we did.
2. From Panwila side-Pathway is much clear.

There are two places called Hunnasgiriya in Kandy District. Other one will come across in Kandy-Mahiyangana road-A18.

Map-Note Hunnasgiriya mountain range and Campbell’s Lane forest reserve. Black star shows the peak and black arrow shows our approach from Hunnasgiriya estate side. Red arrow shows the pathway from Panwila side.
This is the boundary between Kandy and Mathale district.

View of Hunnasgiriya peak from Waththegama town. Pic by Ashan

We started walking along Hunnasgiriya road in early morning. As this is the road towards famous Hunnas Falls hotel, it is well maintained. We came across Hunnas Falls on your way up but it was too early to visit there. After passing the Hotel we hired a three wheeler to Senga Sadu lime house. Estate people call this peak as “Kodi Kati Male” (කොඩි කටි මලේ)

Be careful of wild animals

Morning rays

Abounded tea factory at Hunnasgiriya Estate

Abounded tea factory at Hunnasgiriya Estate

The road

The mountain which is situated behind the Hotel. This is climbed by foreigners

Important junction. Black arrow to Hunnasgiriya Radio and TV transmission towers, Red Arrow towards Hunnas Falls hotel

Famous Hunnas Falls Hotel

This is a common triad you will come across. Black arrow-Atipola Rock, Red Arrow-Brandy Rock and Yellow arrow- Wilshire Mountain

One estate worker with a little boy voluntarily came to show us the pathway. We started the foot pathway from Lime houses. This foot pathway goes over a rock plate and then we passed a small tea patch to enter the forest. Thereafter it was a continuous ascend till about 1km and foot pathway could be easily misled in this area. Because there are number of pathways using by firewood cutters. Then undergrowth in this area is also high.

After about one kilometer we came to an area where undergrowth is less. Then we said good bye to our guide and started the climbing alone. He said foot pathway is clear after this and take the right turn at the junction where foot pathway branches.

But there are number of junctions where foot pathway gets branches. You have to walk without getting right side pathway. At one stage this will goes on left side of a water stream parallel to it. After walking about 1km we came to the junction where right pathway goes to the peak and left one goes to Panwila. (This is the pathway from Panwila (පන්විල); a small Kovil would come across in this pathway). After about another 500m walk we came to an observation point where you can have a nice 1800 view towards Panwila side with Victoria reservoir. Peak was visible from here.

Then we climbed about another 500m and came to the highest point of Hunnasgiriya mountain range of Campbell’s lane forest reservoir.

Total distance we measured on our way back was 2km from peak to lime houses.

“Senga Sadu” lime houses

Walking over the rock plate

Breathe taking view

Entering to the tea patch

Thick undergrowth was a real challenge in early part. This small friend came to show us the way with bear foot

Good exercise for Ashan

Where we started the journey alone

Now undergrowth is less. But foot pathway is not clear

This is the junction where foot pathways get branched. Black arrow shows Panwila side. Red arrow shows the peak. This area is good for camping. Locals do camping here

Having a sip of water

Cut marks may help you

Nice to have a chance to walk here

Isolated beauty

First glimpse of the peak

At the summit point you can have a nice panoramic view including Kandy town with Hanthana range, Waththegama town, Mathale town with Atipola, Wilshire and Brandy rocks, Knuckles peaks covering with mist, Panwila side and tea estates and Victoria reservoir.

The drop

Katugasthota town and lake. Kandy town is visible far away

Panwila side

Victoria reservoir

Knuckles peaks covering with mist

Mathale town at base of Atipola mountain, Brandy rock and Wilshire Mountain

Hunnasgiriya Transmission towers

Extended Mathale town

Indian Fritillary

Where we were. Note the peak of Hunnasgiriya mountain range and transmission towers. This was taken on our way to Elkaduwa

After spending our time on the summit point we went down along the same route (alternatively you can descend to Panwila side). Return journey only took 45minutes compared to 2hour climbing.

Following waterfalls were visited on our way back to Mathale.

• Ihala Hunnas Falls (ඉහල හුන්නස් ඇල්ල)
• Hunnas Falls (හුන්නස් ඇල්ල)
• Ashburnham Estate Waterfall
• Edanwala Ella (ඇදන්වල ඇල්ල)
• Halkandura Ella (හල්කදුරා ඇල්ල)

Please note:

Locals don’t use names of Ashburnham Estate Waterfall and Edanwala Ella. They just call them as waterfalls. Edanwala Ella is mentioned in the waterfall book. I used the name Ashburnham Estate Waterfall as it is situated in that estate.

Sketch to show where these waterfalls are situated

Ihala Hunnas Falls.

This waterfall can be observed on your way back to Hunnasgiriya junction, few meters beyond Hunnas Falls hotel. There is a pathway through Hunnasgiriya line houses towards this 50m? tall waterfall (Although literature says it is 50m tall no such height is seen). There is a separate pathway from the hotel as well.

From the top of Ihala Hunnas Falls. It is often visited by visitors of the hotel for photography

Two parts of Ihala Hunnas Falls. Right and left parts. Right part is not clearly visible here

Left part has high water level compared to other one

Right part. Minimal water level

This water flows to the reservoir at Hunnas Falls Hotel

Hunnas Falls

The water stream after flowing from Ihala Hunnas Falls makes a reservoir at Hunnas Falls Hotel premises. They will release water from this reservoir as 48m tall Hunnas Falls. This is the border of Kandy and Mathale districts. Hunnas Falls is a man made waterfall. It is situated about 2km from Hunnasgiriya junction towards Hunnas Falls Hotel.

A ticket would be issued to enter the waterfall premises. It opens only after 8.30am.

Hunnas Falls. They have built few huts for observation purpose

Hunnas Falls

Another view

Ashburnham Estate Waterfall

Ashburnham Estate is situated about 2-3km from Elkaduwa (ඇල්කඩුව) town towards Hunugala (හුණුගල). You may come across the road towards famous Sembuwaththa (සෙම්බුවත්ත) Lake in this journey.

This beautiful hidden waterfall is situated within the estate premises.

You have to walk on the side of the Estate bungalow and then descend through the tea estate to reach this waterfall. It is about 30m height waterfall. British Estate rulers have made a nice cement steps towards the base of the waterfall. (Initially we missed it and creped through tea bushes and then Mana bushes.)

Ashburnham Estate

Reaching the base through Mana bushes. Note nice steps to the base

Hidden beauty. This waterfall can be seen only in one side

The base pool is fairly deep

Edanwala Ella (7°25’16.75″N, 80°40’19.62″E)

This 12m high waterfall is situated Lali Ambe (ලෑලි අඹේ) area. It can be seen on right hand side before Lali Ambe junction if you are going from Elkaduwa to Mathale. To reach this waterfall you have to walk about 1km through tea bushes and a Mana Patch. (Better ask from villagers about direction towards the waterfall).

Getting down through the tea bushes and Mana patch. The foot pathway is unclear due to growth of bushes

Edanwala Fall-Base pool is fairly shallow. But locals said they are not bathing here

Edanwala Ella

Evening scenery

Halkandura Ella (7°26’20.64″N, 80°39’52.74″E)

This 10m tall waterfall is situated at Pallehapuwida (පල්ලේහපුවිද) village. You have to drive towards Pallehapuwida from Lali Ambe junction about 2km to reach this waterfall. It is situated on right hand side of the road. Pallehapuwida village is a traditional village famous for lacquer ware (Laaksha/ලාක්ෂා).

Halkandura Ella-Low water level

Halkandura Ella-Full view

Thanks for reading

We have been planning for a long weekend by taking Monday 3rd Feb, off – day before National day – but were not sure of our destination. Going through the options we decided on a scenic drive to Deniyaya via Buluthota Pass since we have never taken that route. We also added Lankagama waterfalls and Kanneliya forest to our list, as all these attractions were new to us.

So, on the 2nd we left Colombo around 6am and took A01 up to Gelaniyama to reach Ratnapura via Kiriella and quite enjoyed the journey along the misty winding road. From Pelmadulla we turned towards A18 and the road was good up to Madampe. Madampe – Rakwana Road was under construction and traffic was halted a number of times as trees were being cut down for road widening. We had to pass some very bad muddy patches too. Though the road was bad we enjoyed the changing scenery.
Soon we passed the 8 hair-pin bends and stopped on a number of occasions to enjoy the landscape. We could see the Rakwana mountains and the view was breathtaking.

Changing landscape of Rakwana

Numbered Hairpin Bends…

.	Enjoying a road-side waterfall…

Passing the bends it was time for a break and we came across a road-side paella where we washed the mud off (from Rakwana road) our vehicle and also enjoyed some hot-hot poll rotti from the nearby kade.

Peella with car wash facilities

After a refreshing break we passed Sooriyakanda and took the left turn from Kandamuduna to reach the peak to view the towers. But soon we had to abandon our effort as the road turned from bad to worse. The villagers assured that the bad patch will be only for about half-a-kilometer, but we did not want to take the risk – sometimes can’t rely on these “just a half kilometer” stories!

Passing Sooriyakanda

The mountain range

Road condition deteriorating

Abandoning that task we decided to visit Maduwanwala Walawwa by turning towards Kollonne from Sooriyakanda town. The road was narrow but quite all right and has not still being touched by “road development”. We reached the old Walawa by noon and spent quite some time walking from room to room in the gloomy old mansion. The restoration work has been completed and it looked quite grand from outside.

Entrance to Walawwa

Walawwa as seen from the entrance..

A page from history… – Click Image to Enlarge

Front view of main building

Adjoining building – ancient court house

Mosaic design at the entrance

One of the many courtyards

The outer wall

Complicated roof

Having spent almost 1-2 hours at Maduwanwala Walawwa it was time for lunch and we inquired about a safe bathing place and ended up at Makuluwathota River by the main road. It was almost dried up therefore safe for bathing and the kids enjoyed their river bath before lunch.

After lunch we headed towards Deniyaya via Kelle without going back to Suriyakanda. It is a shortcut and we joined A17 at Hayes. The view of the surrounding tea estates was quite breathtaking making us wonder whether we were in Nuwara Eliya.

Hayes landscape

We reached Deniyaya around 4pm and proceeded towards Kotapola, just 5 kms away, where we stayed the night at a relative’s place. The house was in the midst of a tea estate boarding a dola. The kids had a great time with their cousins splashing water in the dola till sun went down.

Next morning we were to leave after breakfast as we wanted to visit Lankagama waterfalls and planned to be there for lunch. But our relatives insisted that we visit Getabaru Devalaya which is an ancient temple on top of a nearby hill. The previous night we saw the lights of the Devalaya o n top of the hill and to me it looked liked the lit up udamaluwa of Sri Pada. A vehicle can go all the way to the top (nearly 2km) then you have to climb fleets of stone steps to reach the Bodhiya, Dageba and Getabaru Devalaya. You get an aerial view of Deniyaya from the top.

The cousins at Getabaru Devalaya

Sri Pathula in the shrine room

Fleet of steps to Udamaluwa

View from top

After observing religious rituals we returned home and it was time for a final dip in the cool and refreshing Dola before we leave.

Cool and refreshing Dola

A basin full of rambutan on the way from the Dola

Finally it was almost 2pm when we bid good bye to our relatives after lunch and we realized that we had to put off Lankagama tour to another day, but the kids did not mind at all as they had a grand time running about tea bushes and plucking juicy ramburan from the garden.

We proceeded to Morawaka and then to Neluwa via Lellawala. This stretch was undergoing widening and we had to move at a slow pace. From Neluwa we proceeded about 1km towards Pelwatta and took the right turn towards Lankagama. We drove about 7km along this road to reach Kosmulla Duvili Ella. The sign board there announced another 10.15kms to Lankagama.

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We bought tickets from the counter and climbed the concrete steps to view the falls. There was a crowd bathing in the man-made pool constructed at the entrance. The climb was easy but the fall was not in its full glamour may be due to lack of rain.

Poor looking Kosmulla Duvili Ella

Poor looking Kosmulla Duvili Ella

It was almost 4.30 when we came back to the ticket counter and had a cup of plain tea with hot hot pol rotti from the nearby kade. The nearby sign board showed 10.5 more kms to Lankagama and we realized it was pointless proceeding along the badly damaged road as it would be dark soon.

We came back to Neluwa and proceed towards Udugama via Thawalama to our night’s rest, Kanneliya Forest Rest. Just 3-4 kms before Udugama we turned left along an uphill road leading to Kanneliya Forest Reserve. The narrow, winding road has been recently carpeted and we reached the Forest Rest within minutes. It being a Monday the place was calm and quiet and we loved the shady environment. The sun was going down but we managed to get a cool deep in the crystal clear stream adjoining the resort. Our Room was just by the stream and it was spacious with two double beds and a clean large bathroom.

Our friends from Matara joined us with their kids at night and we all enjoyed a delicious dinner. The roof of the dining area has been done with Beru leaves and the caretaker said that they did it almost ten years ago and it is still in very good shape. (Of course it is covered with sheets)

The roof done with Beru leaves

Next morning after a filling breakfast we proceeded to the forest. We were there by 8am and we were the first group to arrive. We chose the easiest trail covering Anagi Mala Ella, the cave and giant pus wella – covering just 2.5km.

The trails

We were assigned with a guide and we started our journey enjoying the cool breeze in the morning day light. Our guide was Mr.Gunadasa and he was a wealth of knowledge and was very keen on explaining things in detail. We were fortunate to have him as our guide and it was an educational walk in the forest for the kids.

Mr. Gunadasa howing something to the kids

My little Tarzen

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Wallapatta plant

…..and a grown tree

The trail went through a cave. We all had almost to crawl through it and come out at the other end to continue the trail.

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An observation platform

Note the use of Beru leaves for the roof

The next attraction was the giant pus creeper. For that we had to go off the road and climb uphill through the forest.

giant pus creeper

Anagi Mala Ella was the last attraction of our chosen trail. We had to walk into the forest for more than 300 metres to see this beautiful waterfall.

Anagi Mala Ella

Anagi Mala Ella

Anagi Mala Ella

On our way back Mr. Gunadasa showed us a very rare sighting. It was the Sri Lankan Kangaroo Lizard – a tiny lizard about 5 inches in length – hiding amongst the dried leaves. On our own we would have never spotted the tiny creature.

Sri Lankan Kangaroo Lizard

When we were coming out of the forest we met many groups walking in. There were not enough guides to assist the crowds and even the officer who issued tickets in the morning was leading a group. As we were almost close to the gate Mr.Gunadasa bid us farewell and joined a group. It looked like many have chosen Kanneliya for a day outing as it is only one hour’s drive from the Baddegame exit of the Expressway.

The dormitory at park entrance

We left the park around noon and went back to the Rest looking forward towards a cool dip in the stream before lunch. The rest was crowded with day visitors but many were heading towards the forest and we had the stream to ourselves. We all had a great time in the crystal clear water.

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After almost two hours in the water we headed for lunch and had very delicious rice and curry to our hearts’ content. We went back to our rooms and had a short nap before we left Kanneliya Forest Rest around 5pm. We drove via Udagama, Kurapanawa, Nagoda to Baddegama. The road was along the Gin River and the drive was very enjoyable in the fading sun. We reached Baddegama entrance and went our separate ways – they towards Matara and we towards Colmbo – with our hearts filled with pleasant memories.

FRIENDS

Thanks for reading.

“What on earth are you hammering the keyboard so much for?” – One of my colleagues doesn’t approve my constant tapping.

“Just writing a report, you silly” – I retort.

“How many reports have you written so far?” – He’s trying to take the mickey out of me.

“Well, I don’t know. Why do you ask?” – I’m beginning to lose my cool.

“You don’t know? You’re constantly tapping on the darn keyboard but don’t even know how many reports have you done? What a funny thing?” – The bugger is relentless.

I quickly checked and found to my own amazement that there are 46 reports published under my name. Oh dear, have I seriously written that many? I asked myself.

“46” – I casually replied wanting this stupid conversation to be over.

“All of them on-line? You’re counting the ones you’ve not even written right?” – Dear God, I seriously wanna hammer this fella.

“No you snob, it’s 46 online and I’ve some unpublished ones as well” – I quickly checked and found there are 2 more to be published and 1 to be written.

“Seriously? Let’s have a look.” – God save me and my soul. I had to get this over with so decided to just let him have a peek at my desktop.

After looking through them he asks “What are you gonna do about your Half Century?”

“What half-century?” – Since when this bugger started talking in Greek?

“Your 50th report buster, what else?” – Holy Moly Guacamole!!! That one. “I ain’t decided anything yet. But now that I know, gotta do something special”.

“Oh yeah, you gotta do something very special. I’ll be waiting for that report” – What about the other reports, I felt like asking but decided to get on with my work and with that finally the end of conversation.

Wow, 50 trip reports in just over 18 months is something I’d never dreamed of. That night at home while glancing through the news I heard a magical word. Baththalangunduwa!!!

Just managed to switch it over to the proper channel and got the news. There were people and reverends protesting against taking over Baththalangunduwa fishing island from the native villagers so that our power-greedy corruptive politicians can make money by selling it to some foreigner. B’Gunduwa has been a fishing village for generations and the people who stay there have migrated from the western coastal areas such as Negombo, Chilaw, Puttalam, Mannar, etc. They feel it’s their birthright to do fishing from this island located roughly 16 nautical miles from the mainland Kalpitiya.

B’Gunduwa was not a stranger to me thanks to the Beach Traveler Program which is one of my all-time-favorites. In his tour around SL along the coast, the beach traveler (Nishantha Kahawita), travels to B’Gunduwa and spend a night there. Since then, I always wanted to go there. His program had helped me in the recent past to find places to visit and I marked it under top-priority list. However, over time, other trips made it push further back in my list.

So when I heard this on TV, everything fell into place like a long lost jigsaw puzzle. Couldn’t think of a better time to go there like the present due to two reasons.

1. Need something special for the 50th episode.

2. If the powers-that-be decided to take over this island, then no amount of protest will save it. (Having a quick look of the recent past proves this point).

So I immediately called one of my long-standing travel partner Sheham and submitted the proposal. Sheham, being Sheham, jumped in the idea and said yes without even consulting his business calendar. Next in line was the Uncle Tony but he was having a difficult time with his job and said he might not be available. Hariya had also shown a keenness to visit the island but had to give up at the last minute co he had to do the watcher man at home. The other old fella, Athua agreed to come and I just called Kasun as well. I’m thankful I called him coz he saved the day by bringing one of his friends, Asitha as Athula had to pull back due to a personal problem at home. (Second time you missed out Atha).

Day 01

So on the 8th morning, around 2.00am Sheham picked me and we drove to Wennappuwa to pick Kasun and Asitha. E3 made it really quick and when I called Kasun somewhere in the middle of E3, he was still fast asleep. Our reaching soon his friend’s place put things in motion but we politely declined an offer of cuppa coffee from Asitha’s mother as reaching Kalpitiya ASAP was top priority. I’m now a bit worried about having to waste time for flat tires and other unpredictable problems after our delay in my Rail Hike Stage 5. The going was pretty good as the roads were isolated, no poisonous gases emitting from decades old engines. Our conversation was running wild with all the topics from Area 51 to Spies of Russia to the origin of Amazon River. It was so interesting as 4 different people talking in turns about various things. The night simply wore on and we found all of a sudden that we’d reached the Kalpitiya turn off.

It was 40km from there and the road is very wide nicely done passing the Puttalam Salt Factory and staff quarters of doomed Norochcholai power plant. At certain parts the road is still being constructed, especially the bridge about 1-2km off the turn off. We made good time and closer to Kalpitiya saw a statue of a donkey on the roadside. Gosh, not an actual statue but a very still donkey in the dark. Surprisingly those donkeys at Kalpitiya area seem to be too lazy even to move a hair on their body. Wonder how on earth they manage to stay like that.

We found ourselves at the Fishery Harbor of Kalpitiya. Our entering into the premises woke the security officer and he came running to see if a boat is coming along the road instead water. I’m sure he must’ve relieved to find it’s just a car. We told him that we were planning to go spend the weekend at Baththalangunduwa (refereed as BG hereafter) camping. He was very fascinated and gave us a lot of information about the island and Kalpitiya. It was lucky that we talked to him because we prevented a near catastrophic end to our magnificent journey.

We were planning to camp in BG and return on the afternoon ferry the following day, Sunday. However, we weren’t aware of the fact that the ferry is not functioning on Sun. Even when I called the Mark Boat and told them our plans, we weren’t told about this. I guess it was a miscommunication on both parties coz we emphasized on the dates 8 and 9 instead of Sat and Sun. Thanks to the security guy we got to know this before the journey and had to resort to abort the camping and spending the night somewhere else. I felt so down but thankfully Sheham came up with the idea of camping somewhere close by and doing the Puttalam-Mannar stretch on the following day.

None of us had done it before so it was a very welcome idea and we all embraced it with both hands. You know there’s a saying that “Everything happens for good” and we too thought as much and at the end of the journey figured it really happened for good as we managed to cover a whole lot of things in that 48 hours instead of only camping at BG. We had our breakfast of Tempered onions mixed with chilies, tomatoes and boiled eggs with sliced bread. The morning sun was creeping over the horizon and lit up the jetty full of different sized boats arrived in the night after a long stretch of fishing. Suddenly Kasun shouted and looking back I saw this glowing lava ball like Sun appearing at the edge of the horizon. What a sight it was!

I simply forgot the breakfast and Kasun ruined his hanky trying to wipe the curry-stained hands to get at the camera. We savored it to the max while the crows were coming in numbers sensing a free meal. There were a few dogs too and they had a rough time chasing the greedy crows. We shared the last bit of our bread with them coz the sunrise filled our heats and lifted our spirits. Finally we were ready to rock ‘n’ roll.

Tour Highlights:

1. 6-Hour ferry ride in total

2. Baththalangunduwa, a world of its own

3. Documentary on the Fight for Water in BG

4. Dutch Fort, Kalpitiya

5. Camping at Thalawila

6. Drive through the Wilpattu along Old Mannar Road

7. Doric House

8. Dutch Fort, Arippu

9. Portuguese & Dutch Fort, Mannar

10. Biggest Baobab Tree, Pallimunai

11. Pics of My Sister

12. Collection of Panos

We decided to visit the Kalpitiya Dutch Fort before the departure of ferry at 8.30am. When went to the entrance about 200m away from the jetty the navy officials informed us the visiting hours are from 09.00am till 5.00pm. Then we told them about our failed attempt at camping on BG and won’t be able to make it on time to see the fort. Then they said even till 5.30pm it would be ok so we left for the jetty yet again.

Longest Ferry Ride to date

I called Sujith and told him that we were at the jetty and he too was very confused about our miscommunication but could do nothing at the time. However he promised to inform the manager of the Ferry about us and give us a bit of breathing space in case we were a bit late on the return journey. Paul came and talked to us and the two helpers on the ferry were very cheerful and pointed us to sit on the shady side and took care of our 2 5-litre water bottles.

There were a lot of people waiting to get on board and many sacks of different kinds of goods were also being loaded into the cargo bay underneath. This ferry is the only connection between the island and the mainland. You could even say it’s the lifeline of those people. There are a plenty of small fishing craft that can run between the two but for those fishermen doing it between the island and the mainland is very costly, about Rs. 3500/- – Rs. 4000/- worth fuel which is way too much for their liking.

So the ferry is the only viable method of transporting people and goods in between. However we felt that there’s too much dependent on this single ferry giving a kind of monopoly to the owners. Just wondering what it would be like if the ferry stopped operating due to a malfunction for a few days. I hope they have replacement in place but didn’t see any sign of it. We boarded and sat along the shady edge. The layout is kinda funny coz the boat is three-tiered. The bottom (under the waterline) is the crew quarters, washroom and cargo bay. The mid-section above the water line is the passenger hold. Passengers sit on a wooden platform that provides little or no comfort (Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess) especially when the sea is rough. Thankfully it was nice and calm when we were on board. Above it is the roof-cum cargo-passenger hold without a shelter. I guess it’s a good viewing spot especially in the morning run but you’re bound to get sun burned due to direct exposure.

We were relieved to be on the shady side as the boat finally laden with so many essential items and about 50 people left the safety of the jetty into the Dutch Bay. It’s actually the extension of Puttalm lagoon along the arm of Kalpitiya Peninsula on the left and Eluwankulama and Wilpattu Jungle on the right. If you wanna look for BG on the map, just look right across the Kudiramale Point to the left about 5-6 nautical miles off. The navy boys look less busy now the terrorists are wiped off the face of our country. However, they have to stay vigilant as the stinking Indians continuously breaching our sea areas and the biggest threat for our youth, the illegal drug smuggling too seems to be happening across Negombo via Jaffna along the North Western coast.

About half hour into the journey somebody yelled “Dolphins” and we were so excited and forgot for a moment that we were sitting at the edge of the boat. There were about 5-6 dolphins jumping but we couldn’t take clear shots of them as the front of the ferry had a row of people sitting. I managed to get a quick pic of a dolphin but not prominent enough. Unfortunately our ferry wasn’t in the mood to hover about and see them and sadly we passed them behind. It was my first encounter with dolphins and what a sight it was.

There were a number of tiny islets full of Kadolana trees scattered along the arm of the peninsula and the mainland too. They looked green against a blue-grey-emerald green lagoon. I found the team talking to someone and found he’s a fisherman from Negombo located at BG returning to the island. His name was Nissanka and provided us with valuable information. There was plenty of time to kill and we kept chatting with him while shooting the odd picture. All of a sudden we saw a group of Pelicans flying towards us, they were not so big and we had difficulty identifying them at first. After that there was a single Pelican so skinny flying overhead that I named the Somali Pelican.

Video 01 – Just a short video of the ferry journey.

There were an endless number of sea gulls crashing like a stone and catching fish and at times floating on the water with the waves like ducks. We got fooled at first they were real ducks. The average speed of the ferry was about 8-10km an hour. It recorded a highest speed of around 20km according to Sheham’s GPS. Time wore on and all of a sudden Nissanka showed us a distant communications tower which was at BG Navy Camp. Without even knowing we had moved from Dutch Bay to Portugal Bay but for me it was the same lagoon or rather the sea. However the water looks more clean and clear than it was close to the mainland. We could clearly see the ocean floor and the depth can’t have been more than 10ft. The water looked a gorgeous emerald green too.

There was thing that happened on the ferry I found so hilarious that I couldn’t resist laughing out loud. There was a group of travelers going to BG for a reason they didn’t know. Most of them were middle age fellas with pot bellies and a few kids with their mothers too. They were staring at us as if we’d descended that very moon from the mighty Jupiter. While we were talking among ourselves and with Nissanka, they looked at us open-mouthed as if we spoke Greek. The ladies (as usual) were very curious about what’s going on around and kept asking odd question from whoever was close to them. However, one lady found it too irresistible to wait any longer with her question and asked one of the ferrymen. I couldn’t help overhearing the most hilarious conversation in 2014.

The lady: “Meke Saththuth Innawada” – “Are there animals on the island?”

The ferry worker: “Apo Innawa” – “Of course, there are”

The lady: “Mokkuda Inne” – “What kind of animals?”

The ferry worker: “Ballo, Harak” – “Dogs and Cow”

I can assure you the real conversation in Sinhalese was far better than my sloppy translation. The lady was very serious about the question and the worker very sincerely replied to her. I couldn’t help laughing nonstop and soon had to divulge it to my team mates who couldn’t control their hysterical laughs.

The lagoon was too shallow so we kept going in an arc to reach the island coz the heavily laden ferry couldn’t risk of running aground. We kept sipping the lime and mint drink brought by Sheham and it was a godsend as we felt the heat taking its toll. There are two islands joined by a narrow sand strip which are Palliya Watta and BG. At times they get separated when the sandy bank is submerged in the tide. There’d been another island named Karathivu but now it rests peacefully under water. When the tide is out the sand banks might appear but the rising sea levels have taken care of it.

We saw just off BG some divers with face masks on as if they were snorkeling. Looking at the sea didn’t reveal anything to go snorkeling for and one of the fishermen on board solved that mystery to us. He said that those were fishermen doing a part-time job of collecting “Sangu”. It’s the Tamil name for “Hakgediya” or “Conch Shell” in English. Apparently those are a sign of good luck and sell like hot cakes among superstitious rich folks.

The sun is appearing in the horizon

Navy boat returning to the camp after a night patrol

Busy at work early in the morning

Just appearing

Wow	Fiery looking lava ball

Parked along the jetty

Very important notice

This craft (Sudu Duwa) was freed by the Indian Authorities after the agreement

1 million fine? Oh dear

Cubes of ice is being taken to the waiting fishing craft

Captured Indian vessels illegally fishing in our waters

Done a good job of building this

The Ferry

Another boat that carries tourists around

Team ready to rock ‘n’ roll

Peering at the Navy camp

Paul, the manager is overseeing things

Being loaded onto the ferry

Crowded

Leaving the jetty

Another Navy craft returning to the jetty, they moved dangerously close to us

The lush greenery islands

Another large fishing craft

Cheerful worker on the bow

Nissanka on the left

Trying to reach to the roof

First-ever Dolphin sighting

The sea gulls like sitting ducks

Cargo hold is providing shelters for workers and their close friends

Getting their catch to the boat

The mother ship with the Conch Shell collectors

Got you

Portugal bay water is more clean and emerald green

The comms tower in sight

Got there

Climbing down the ladder

The Uniquely Placed Fishing Island – Baththalangunduwa

After it felt like an eternity, we reached the BG but there was no jetty. Instead they had improvised a ladder along which you have climb down and jump to the sandy beach. I had to jump a bit further to avoid getting my shoes wet. The strong smell of fish hit us in waves but not so bad. I guess those fishermen might not be able to take that off them for a long time, might even be lasting a lifetime. There was a row of fishing huts where the 15hp-engined craft were parked under the shade of woven coconut leaves. The whole island looked less busy coz the fishing is done for the day and most of the folks were dozing after a hard run at sea from the early morning.

There were people inside those huts sorting out fish (mainly small one such as Hurulla, Salaya, Karalla, Keeramin and a new kind called Kohombaya which sounded funny), cutting them and adding salt to prepare for dried fish. To be honest I don’t think they welcome the outsiders but stay quiet. So should you ever go there, be sure to stay out of their way as much as possible. However we found some of the keen ones inviting us to take pics of their catch. The people at BG speak mainly Tamil and Sinhalese, however there’s some strange dialect unique to them but no name. It’s a mixture of Sinhalese and Tamil. The Sinhalese and Tamil speakers of the mainland find it difficult to understand this.

E.g. They’d say “Enge Yanne?” – Enge is a Tamil word meaning “Where” and Yanne is a Sinhalese word meaning “Going”. So they are asking “Where are you going?” in a mixture of Tamil and Sinhalese. Uncle Tony knows this a lot better, so should you ever come across him, do ask. He has some very interesting things to say.

So many interesting things and we enjoyed this unprecedented journey even though the sun was up and running full blast sending scorching rays mercilessly as if to fend us off. Walking along the fishing huts didn’t provide us with many landscape shots and we decided to go to the other side. We saw the makeshift wells made by digging holes in the sand burying plastic cans about 3-4 feet deep. No doubt the water is salty but they’re using that water to do cleaning pots and other utensils. The water off the beach is not so good due to garbage and rotting fish. I even saw a couple of toilets too. Wonder how they manage to dig holes without them collapsing on their own in the sand.

Crossing all this we reached the other side of the island which is about half a kilo meter and devoid of any construction. It’s a crystal clear beach but about 50ft off the beach is their main toilet too. So watch your step folks. Funnily enough it also doubles as their waterhole where they dig holes in the sand about 2ft deep looking for less brackish water. They use it to drink and bathe. The beach was however clear of the garbage save for a group of travelers who came with us in the ferry started drinking. Can you imagine the length people go just to get drunk? I was aghast.

Avoiding the drinking party we kept exploring the beach and saw a navy water jet hovering about 3-4 nautical miles off. All of a sudden we came across a Star fish but a dead one. Never seen one before except on TV so this was a very nice encounter. There were plenty of them along the beach so we took pics of them both sides. Sea shells were very common and there were very artistic ones too which didn’t escape our exploring eyes and lens. Sheham kept reminding us about the time so we decided to walk about half a kilo meter further and take a sharp turn back to where we got off.

All of a sudden one guy materialized out of nowhere and was heading towards the beach. About half way back he squatted down and we knew what he was up to. After a few minutes he got up and left; no water or tissue. That’s the way they’re living with no hygienic facilities yet making a living and sending hundreds of tons of fish to feed us Sri Lankans. Then there were 3 guys coming towards us and we saw dug holes in the sand marking their waterhole. They were very cheerful guys and chatted with us while one of them dug the sand looking for water.

Digging water out of those sandy areas is such a cumbersome thing in a way yet very simple in another aspect. They just choose a spot clear of garbage or anything else and dig a hole in a circular way about 2 feet deep and another 2 feet in diameter. You have to do it very systematically so as not to have the walls collapsing on you. The water will slowly come up as if from a spring. Then using a small plastic cup they’d fill a larger container. According to those guys you can fill about 2-3 fairly large containers with a volume of roughly 10-20 liters.

Video 02 – The struggle to dig water at Baththalangunduwa.

They told us how difficult their lives were due to the lack of water and do switch on your headphones and listen to their story. However on the ferry Nissanka claimed that it’s so surprising that they even have this kind of drinkable water in BG coz it’s practically very small and nowhere to get fresh water. They gave us a clear cup of water to taste which Asitha sampled. He claimed it was not so bad. So it shows that miracles do happen. It’s very costly to bring water from Kalpitiya costing about Rs. 500/- for a gallon of water including all the transport costs. Just imagine how lucky we really are. Therefore please by all means save water and electricity. We offered them some of the mineral water carried with us and they very hungrily took it and gulped it down. Wish we had more water with us. They’re supposed to close the waterhole after as dogs and crows will feed on it dirtying it.

After witnessing this we decided to call it a day and head back to where we got off. It was so hot and sun was very much unforgiving. Nonetheless we were very much content deep down coz this was a life-time experience. There were many solar panels in their houses along with a few TV antennas as well. We then saw a generator near one house and the secret behind the TVs was solved finally. There were plenty of kids too playing around and can’t imagine their lives being stuck in a tiny island with nothing more than sea and fish. There were plenty of cows and dogs as well. I’d never seen such bored dogs coz they simply stared at fish and dried fish as if they didn’t give a toss. The dried fish was drying in the open as none of the dogs would bother stealing them.

Cats were no different. They too look fed up of fish and dried fish. I just imagine taking a few hundred dogs and cats from mainland and dropping them there for a few hours. They’d have a field day and need to be hospitalized for over eating. There was one shop selling the day to day items but we didn’t have time to venture into it. Having reached back where we were well before the ferry departure time gave us time to recollect our thoughts. The ferry wasn’t there which gave us a jolt but around 1.30pm it was coming towards us having toured around couple of other places dropping and taking cargo and people. The stop we got off is called Sinna Gunduwa (small Gunduwa).

It was time to go and we bid our farewell to this unique place and got on board the less crowded ferry. Once again we were lucky to get the seating on the shady side facing Wilpattu and Eluwankulama. Funny thing was there were quite a few small fishing boats catching up with the ferry bringing more passengers and cargo, mainly fish or dried fish packed tightly in cardboard or rigifoam boxes. It was so fun to listen to the exchange between boats and their dialect was completely off my limits. The going was more or less easier compared to the morning one as the waves were rolling along with us instead of towards us. I could figure out the beloved Gange Wadiya in the distance with the Navy RABS (Rapid Action Boat Squadron) camp clearly visible. You can read our Gange Wadiya Adventure over here if interested.

The Kala Oya and the Kumburawa River where the Elephant Tree (allegedly the second largest Baobab tree in SL) located were easy to distinguish. Aruwakkalu Limestone Quarry was also there and the destruction is clearly visible from the ferry. There’s a stretch about 4km all looking reddish at places among replanted trees. This is where they’ve dug deep and extracted the limestone for producing cement. This area is a frequent living place for the Camalian but this kinda destruction doesn’t help their well-being. It won’t be long before they’ll be extinct from this are. This exploration keeps on going at a more devastatingly speed. Repercussions of privatization are clear for all to see.

We got a big fright when I saw one of the workers unloading bucket after bucket of oily water from the below deck and went to inspect. To my horror water was leaking inside and the worker was working furiously to get them out of the boat as quickly as possible. The mainland was looming closer so we felt somewhat subdued. It was a back-breaking task but he kept at it.

Video 03 – Back breaking task of unloading water of the BG ferry on return journey.

We got back at the jetty around 4.30pm and said our thanks to Paul and his assistants. Got back to the car and had a long pull on the lemon and mint drink and headed towards the Kalpitiya Dutch Fort.

The fishing huts are all along the beach

Yet another fishing raft

That day’s cache

It’s the season of small fish such as Salaya, Hurulla, Karalla and Keeramin

Temporary shelters for the boats and people sorting out the fish

Few big ones too

Getting the dried fish ready

Imagine the taste of fried Karalla

Dogs and cats are nowhere near. They’re bored to death of the sight of these

Here’s the Kohombaya

Temporary well for washing the crockery

They are playing

Not many trees like these

Long stretch with plenty of coconut leaf roofed houses

Water buffalo? Up close it’s actually a dog in the water coz it’s too hot even for them

During the high tide all these areas get flooded with sea water

Very beautiful

Never thought she’d look this nice when I took it

One of the waterholes

Yet another waterhole but I initially thought it’s croc

The team

One of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen

Sea shell X’mas tree, made by Sri

Colorful shells all around

Eroded by the continues lapping of sea water

Black Pearl?

Here’s the star of the day – Starfish

Belly of it

Looked nice through the lens

Some life on the unforgiving soil

If they were in dark fatigues, you’d mistake them for a group of soldiers

Just beginning the ordeal of water digging

Eurekhaaaaaaaaa!!!

Managed to fill two containers, one of which is a rigifoam box

This one is poisonous I think. Name is Puffer fish if I’m not mistaken

Pack of sea gulls disturbed by our presence

Stunning colors

They must be leading a pretty difficult life with barely any grass and drinking water

Taken some measures to make sure they’re not exposed to dogs and cats

Getting ready to pack and send to the mainland

Plenty of these all around

Sigh of relief, here she comes to pick us up

They kept coming in boats like this and catching up with the ferry

After the cargo and passengers are on board back to work

How on earth can they sleep here?

Not for long coz he had to get busy with water leaking

Back breaking task

Bored

The pilot maneuvering the craft with his left foot. Look closely

Looking at the back

Navy on constant patrols

Navy jetty

Here we are and the carts are already waiting for goods unloading

Waiting to jump out

Time to go

Kalpitiya Dutch Fort and Camping at Thalawila

There are no pics to show you of the Kalpitiya Fort which is so much irritating. We went to the gate and Navy people took about 15 mins making up their minds and getting someone to escort us inside. “No Cameras or Phones” was their motto and we felt so frustrated having gone there all the way not being able to take a pic of this piece of wonderful creation. The soldier who took us gave a running commentary as if replaying a recorded cassette. I’m sure he’s done it hundreds of times and now it’s more like listening to a computer operated robot. However he was very friendly and answered our questions as best as he could. Inside it was a disaster as Navy had added numerous structures and using the interior open area as their playground.

However on a previous visit Sheham and his team had been given the permission to take pics by their escort but they’d left all their camera equipment in the cars. So it looks different messages are being conveyed at different times. There were two tunnels inside but now blocked by the earth and one was barricaded by a brick wall due to terror attacks. That soldier had tried to venture into them without success. Apparently this tunnel leads to a nearby church and the home of the commander of that time. The church is still there about 500m away from the fort complex.

It was a pity to see the current status of the fort due to the negligence by the archaeological department and additions by the navy. True they (Navy) did an outstanding job of protecting our coastal line but I think it’s time they moved out of this place and let the visitors enjoy it and take pics without all this hustle and bustle. We didn’t even have this much hassle at the top of Piduruthalagala where they have the most sensitive radar installations.

Out of sheer frustration, I asked when the Navy was planning to move and the soldier said that the archaeological department had inspected the place and will soon take over. Finally some good news but it means another trip to Kalpitiya too. After that we decided to camp around Kalpitiya and do the Mannar tour on the following morning. Having talked to numerous people about an ideal camping slot and came up with two options. 1. Kandakuli, 2. Thalawila. We, after a lot of thinking, decided on the latter. It turned out to be a wise decision and we hurried on hoping to catch the sunset. Passing “Ali Rani Palace” notice put up by the archaeological department made me wanna go there too but Kasun said that there’s hardly anything to look, just a bare unexplored area so abandoned that notion.

First- Ever Camping on the Beach, Thalawila

We reached Thalawila church around 5.40pm, well in time for the sunset and found a grassy patch just off the beach devoid of any thick bushes for camping. Doomed Norochcholai was looming in the distance and for a change working. It was belching a streak of black fumes towards the Indian Ocean signaling that it was doing something worthwhile for the money spent. From what I’ve heard, it’s been out of commission more than 50% of the time it’s been installed here. Some record.

There were wind mills too about 2km away from us. Thalawila is a very popular church among Catholics who come in large numbers during the festival season. However this being a quiet time, not many were there. Rows of houses roused my curiosity and found out they’re available for rent and get full very quickly during the festival. “For 2014 festival, already all the houses are booked”, one of the caretakers told us. We set about putting up the tent which was the biggest I’ve ever slept in. It was a massive 7-man tent but we managed to set it up in a record 20 mins. The sun was setting and we managed to shoot on and off while setting up the tent. The sandy ground made it difficult to hold the tent with 8-inch guy pins. (Those are the ones buried into the ground to hold the tent together, funny name nevertheless).

We had to use a few stones too to keep it in place. In the meantime Kassa and Asitha had gone and sweet talked one of the caretakers and arranged a washroom in one of the houses for us to have a wash. It was a very welcome thing as we badly needed to have a shower and was wondering where to go. After the camp setup we took the gas cooker and started boiling instant noodles packets and heating the pre-cooked canned chicken meat balls. The dark enveloped us quickly but a half moon lit the whole open area beautifully. Moon rays were reflecting on the still ocean surface and it was a night good for a poet.

We gobbled up the hot noodles mixed with steaming chicken meatballs, left over tempered onions and boiled eggs from breakfast. To top things off, there was a loaf of bread too. What a feast! We badly needed this kinda meal coz we were without lunch. After a sumptuous meal, we decided to turn in for the night. The tent was more spacious and we had ample room to sleep. We settled in for the night, listening for the rustle the wind made by disturbing the flaps of our tent. The waves kissed the beach in small waves making very little noise as if not to disturb us. I fell asleep and slept like a log till 5.00am.

Moored at sea off Thalawila

No light house but the statue of St. Anne’s on top of that tower

Hiya	One of the dumbest projects, Norochcholai finally belching black smoke

Ready to set

Getting redder

Almost sunk

The biggest tent I’ve slept to date

Chicken meat balls and eggs are ready

6 packs of noodles to go with it

The tent in the torch light and the blue light is coming from the tower

Day 02

Getting up, after a very good night’s sleep was a blessing and we boiled water and had Nescafe 3 in 1. It revived our bodies and we went back for our borrowed washroom to wash and get ready. By 7am, we were ready to go and bid our farewell to the friendly caretaker and were on our way merrily.

Good Morning! everyone

Busily folding the tent

Here he comes

Look at the halo

Sweet

Still there where it was

Busy at work in the morning

Laying the nets

Another ready to get going

Puttalam lagoon, one of the biggest in SL

These are a familiar sight for me

Going towards Eluwankulam

Old Mannar Road via Wilpattu, Doric House and Arippu Fort

We left Thalawila and headed towards Kalpitiya turn off. Reaching Puttalam starving wasn’t an easy thing to do. So we stopped to buy some buns and headed back towards Eluwankulama. The road is under construction but done quite a lot since our last visit to Gange Wadiya in Oct 2013. Passing Eluwankulama junction where the turn off for Gange Wadiya we headed further up towards the Navy camp where the Kala Oya borders the southernmost boundary of legendary Wilpattu. There was a barrier across the road with a navy soldier on guard. You don’t need any permission to go on this road but they’re checking the vehicles for any smuggling goods or taking animals too.

I hope they’re doing the same thing for the vehicles coming out of the park too coz the chances are very high for people to smuggle animals or plants out. He explicitly asked us not to photograph around their camp. Ban the photographers is the theme for them. We reached the Sapaththu Palama and Kala Oya was gushing not over but underneath, almost touching the top. It was a super duper place for camping as there’s plenty of fresh water and scores of Kumbuk Trees are providing cool shade throughout. No chance of getting permission I guess.

Video 04 – The Southernmost boundary of Wilpattu, Kala Oya

There was park office near the Kala Oya to enter the Wilpattu but looked isolated. The gravel path is uneven making it very hard for low clearance vehicles to maneuver. There’s very little traffic mainly the people either side (Silavathura and Eluwankulama) of the jungle moving from one area to the other. We saw motorbikes, small Lorries and even passenger buses going in this road. Puttalam-Mannar buses use this road. It must be noted that the bus drivers are very reckless in this road. They travel at high speeds putting both passengers and animals lives in danger.

There was one CTB bus of Mannar Depot (WP NA – 7032) travelling as if this was the Expressway about 60-70kmph. It was crazy driving totally unacceptable. There were a couple of Navy checkpoints inside the jungle taking down the vehicle numbers. I wonder why they don’t do something about these maniac drivers. There were quite a few tanks we passed along the way. Periya Villu, Periya Naga Villu, Malai Villu, Mailanganmotte and Karanchiuttan are a few of them. After a very scenic drive on a slippery gravel road, we reached the northernmost boundary of Wilpattu which is the Modara River (Modara Gan Maruwa). There was a checkpoint at Marichchukkadi the first village after the jungle. There too and those soldiers were fascinated to hear what we were doing and gonna do.

From there the road was in good condition but still under construction at most parts. Passing Mullikulam and Silavathura where the SL Army’s first offensive into the northern terror-held areas was bringing back the memories of valiant sacrifices made by our soldiers. Our first stop was Doric House which just by the road. There’s a tall white pyramid shaped monument close by. 2 Navy officers were on guard duty and talked to us were very friendly.

Doric House is nearly crumpling to the beach below. If I’m not mistaken the entire top floor is fallen off and the majority of the ground floor too is in pieces on the beach below. It was clear that nobody had taken any effort to restore this place other than putting up some sign postings. The walls are crumbling down and our Archeological Department gotta do something real soon to avoid this being fallen completely to the beach. There was color poster showing how it looked in 1804 and in 2012. The difference is heart breaking. Apparently this is where the first British Governor of Ceylon, Fredrick North resided while overseeing the pearls fishery in the North West Coast. The Arippu fort was built to safeguard the collected pearls with a garrison placed.

From Doric House, it was a short drive to the Arippu Fort. Not so difficult to find with well-placed signage. It too was crumbling down and nearby farmer had tied a calf inside showing that authorities don’t get there often enough. It was only the mere Archeological Notice going rusty that tried to fend these trespassers off. The funniest part was the name of the Pradeshiya Sabha in this area. It’s called “Musali Pradeshiya Sabha” and you all know what it means in Sinhala.

Just before the barrier entering the jungle road

The Sapaththu Palama through the shady Kumbuk Trees

What a nice place for a bath

Lovely

Imagine what it’d be like when the water levels are too high

Towards the Navy camp. Wonder what those summer huts are for?

Here’s the isolated Entrance office

(Click image to enlarge)

Managed to get only him out of plenty of birds

Reaching to the infinity

Oh dear, so far to go

This is the culprit bus who was driving like a bullet out of the gun

Doric Bungalow is just by the road

The monument like tower about 50m away from the house

Dilapidated house

Only the bare bones

Those skinny pillars won’t stand long.

More than 50% of the bungalow is down at the beach due to negligence and 3 decades of war

What it was like 2 centuries ago

In 2009 but now it’s worse

Sheham on the steps to the first floor but nothing to see

Only the skeletal structures of the ground floor to see

Just like a tank, no waves. Very still

Trying to get down to the beach

Very sad looking state

Gotta do something very soon

On the left are the two navy personnel

From the beach below

Huge chunks had fallen to the beach

Artistic sea plants on the beach

Making sand houses

Don’t get many like these in the dry zone

200m to the left from the main road

The story behind

Protected by a fence but no guard

Being used to keep cattle I suppose

Nothing has been done to restore it

The front is like a church. This is a tactic used by all of them Portuguese, Dutch and the English to fool the SL kings

Not much left standing

Plenty of these white flowers

Leaving

Well, no words to explain the hilariousness of the name

Pooh…

The long causeway joining the Mannar Island to the mainland

Mannar Fort and the Biggest Baobab Tree in SL

Then we crossed the famous Malwathu Oya and entered Nananttan Area. From there it was pretty straight forward journey to Mannar through world famous bird sanctuary, Vankalai. However in Nananttan, the roads can be a bit confusing, so don’t forget to ask for directions. The road joins the Mannar-Medawachchiya main road just before the causeway. Along the causeway we saw two white lines in the distance lagoon. We were anyway looking for the gorgeous looking flamingoes and looking through Sheham’s 500mm lens proved they really were flamingoes. Such beautiful looking pinkish birds were my first encounter with them. Wish we had a small raft to get close to them and take a closer look.

Just passing the bridge that connects the causeway to the Mannar Island we saw the Mannar fort to our right. It’s so close and we got the first right hand turn and travelled for about 400m towards it. This fort like Galle and Jaffna are in a better condition. The complex is huge with plenty of buildings bordering the perimeter. One special place inside is the Church inside with gravestones along the floor of it. I think the same thing can be witnessed at the Church inside the Galle Fort which is still functioning.

We walked along the perimeter wall and noticed the man-made moat like thing using the water from lagoon. Pretty smart move huh! After a thorough inspection we went searching for the Baobab tree and got directions from the Army checkpoint. It’s about 600-800m away from the Fort along Pallimunai Road which is the second right from the bridge.

Reaching and looking at this mammoth tree was something wonderful. Its bark is so thick and charcoal grey in color, exactly like an elephant’s. It’s even got parts of the trunk popping out like an elephant’s foot with their big toes. What a gigantic piece of creation by the Mother Nature. Time was in short supply so we hurried up and got back on the road and reach a shop called “Rice Bowl” near the Giant’s Tank maintained by the Army. The food was tasty and very reasonable. We even got the info about one of their Holiday Bungalows called “Kamatha” in the area. I’ve put a pic of their poster on the report.

After a hearty lunch and directions to shorten our journey we reached Settikulam and took a turn towards Oyamaduwa via Thanthirimale. Ultimately this joins the Nochchiyagama Junction on Puttalam-A’Pura Road. We stopped for a quick cup of tea at Pelpatha (Remember My Short Report with lots of birds). There is a giant squirrel there called “Nangi” and she’s a darling I can tell you. She’d been injured and treated by the hotel’s staff and now nestles in the Tamarind Tree inside the hotel itself. If you call her “Nangi”, she’ll come running and even let me stroke her fur. Such an adorable darling! She got frightened when Kasun tried to come near her (don’t ask me why) and Asitha managed to give her a cheese cracker. She grabbed and ran up the tree and settled onto eat it dearly.

Video 05 – Nangi having a Cheese Cracker

I could’ve spent the whole evening with her bus others were adamant on leaving. So we left for Colombo but managed to stop for another breathtaking sunset along the Puttalam-Colombo road.

Video 06 – Sunset on Puttalam-Colombo Road

After a heartfelt journey of 700+km and 48 hours of joy and fun we got back home while dropping Asitha at Wennappuwa and for the second time declining an offer for dinner.

50 Trip Reports!!! Who would’ve thought of this when I first sent in my first one in July 2012? Even I can’t believe I’ve written so much during the past 18+ months. Lakdasun has provided a great platform not only for travelers, but for writers too like me to horn their writing skills. I’ve seen so much of this paradise island in the past 18 months but compared to what’s more to do, it’s nothing.

Thank you all my friends who’d been there encouraging me to travel more and write more and more. Hopefully there’ll be more from me.

Will see you in the next episode and this is Sri signing off for now.

Take care

P.S. Numerous attempts by me to find how the Baththalangunduwa name came by went without success. Therefore I came up with my own conclusion in the end.

Baththalangunduwa could mean “Bathalayekuta Dun Gunduwa” which means Cheating a Rotund Fella. Just trying to add my mockery into this. Don’t get it serious folks.

The lagoon along the causeway

Drinking milk from the mother

The last bridge joining the Mannar Island to the causeway

The fort is just there

Signs of the moat

The entrance is there

Still lagoon to the right. Wish we could take this boat and close in on the flamingoes

One of the buildings inside

Massive rooms

Archaeological signs going rusty. This could be a symbol or a gravestone

Huge courtyard too

One of the biggest forts in SL

Initial thought was a dungeon or a tunnel

But very abruptly ended here

Going to the top where the guards roamed along the wall

Bell tower

The entrance and part of the lagoon from the top

Old church inside the fort

Signs of moat

Guard rooms

Must’ve been like a small village inside

Caught her inside

Here’s that church we saw from the top

Gravestones

Must’ve been a helluva thing to carve these on solid rocks

Must be some sort of a symbol

Another grave

This was on a side wall

Coming out of the fort

The front wall of the fort with gaps for the riflemen

The biggest in SL

19.51m in circumference = 64 feet

We’re here

Like a huge elephant

Here’s the foot of the elephant

The bark is very similar to the skin of an elephant

She was exhausted and resting her old bones

Placid Giants’ Tank

Wonder if this is allowed.

Where we had lunch

You can check call the number given

The giant Nuga Tree at the restaurant

Something was wrong with this fella coz he won’t fly away. I took him to a leaf and kept by the Nuga tree

Here’s my sister and me patting her for being a good girl

She was very possessive of her biccie

She’s a darling

Close up of her

Sunset is about to happen

A flock of birds going home

Windmills looking gorgeous in the setting sun

Wow	He’s gone home and so we are

Enjoy the collection of Panos now.

Pano 1

Pano 2

Pano 3

Pano 4

Pano 5

Pano 6

Pano 7

Pano 8

Pano 9

Pano 10

Pano 11

Pano 12

Pano 13

Pano 14

Pano 15

Pano 16

Pano 17

This was the first trip of New Year. We reached Pattipola railway station around 4.30am and Ashan came to accompany us to Karunadasa guest house which is situated in walking distance from the railway station. Following our bed tea we started the journey to Hortain plains National Park by a three-wheeler. Weather was excellent and Piduruthalagala mountain range, Ambewela area, Namunukula, Hakgala mountain were visible one our way.

Welimada plateau seen from Karunadasa guest house.

On our way towards Hortain Plains National Park. B grade road from Nanuoya to Hortain Plains via Pattipola.

Namunukula mountain range

Piduruthalagala and Ambewela area.

Ambewela wind farm.

Ambewela area.

Hakgala Mountain.

At Pattipola ticket counter.

Unique peak of Sri Lanka-Sri Pada.

Agra Bopath mountain-Unofficial 4th highest peak of Sri Lanka.

Thotupola Mountain. 3rd highest peak.

Hortain Plains information center.

Heading to Kirigalpoththa Mountain.

Few points of Kirigalpoththa
• 2nd highest mountain of Sri Lanka. It’s height is 2388m (7835ft).
• Highest mountain peak of Sri Lanka whose summit is accessible to the general public.
• Situated in the west area of Hortain Plains.
• Location-06047’57”N 80046’00’’E
• Least tourist attraction site of Hortain plains.

Starting the trail. Although it is mentioned 7km, it is about 5.6km. We measured.

Pigmy trees.

Guys loitering in the plain.

Belihuloya flows.

Hidden beauty.

Ashan is having a sun bath.

Permanent residencies of the plain

Entering to an open area.

Agra Bopath mountain again.

Walking through Nelu trees.

Nelu spring is not over.

Yummy

Enjoying the beauty.

Clear foot pathway.

First glimpse of the peak.

Closer view.

Actual climbing towards Kirigalpoththa.

The drop.

View of the summit point.

Heading to the summit.

Supposed to be the 2nd highest point of Sri Lanka.

Misty Mountain.

Group photo.

Dayagama area is seen.

Bowitiya is a common flower of this area.

Forest covering just below the peak.

Getting back.

Finding of drinking water is not a problem.

Invasive.

Baker’s falls.

Note- Still weather was excellent.

We were there.

Thotupola Kanda
Few points of Thotupola Kanda
• Third highest peak of Sri Lanka. It’s height is 2357m (7733ft).
• Thotupola Kanda means a landing site of Rawana. After kidnapping Sita, Rawana first landed his plane here.
• Trail distance up to the peak is 2km.
• Location is 06049’59”N 80049’11’’E.

Information about Thotupola Kanda.

Starting the trail. Note- Still Nelu spring is there.

Nelu.

Towards Hortain Plains.

Ambewela wind farm.

Newly built housing scheme.

Team photo taken below the summit. Ashan is missing. This is the place you can have a good panoramic view from Thotupola Mountain.

Bowitiya.

Panorama from Thotupola Mountain.

At summit point. Summit point is not a good place to have a panoramic view. Forest department was establishing a new tower on that.

On our way back.

Towards Pattipola. Evening view.

End of the day.

Although we started to walk towards Pattipola station, we had a lift by a jeep. Following our dinner we got into the night mail train towards Colombo with chilling cold. Had a day!

Thanks for reading.

Hiya folks, hope you’ve been travelling like hell and got some breathing space to listen to another of my fairy tales. I promise I’ll try to make it as short a one as possible but don’t forget the first movie of Sri Lanka was called “Kadawunu Poronduwa” (The Broken Promise).

I’ve been on a rail hike rampage from the last September and done so far 5 stages totaling about 114km. I can’t even imagine doing that much along the rail tracks coz it’s really testing your stamina. Having done that much regardless, I wanted to finish off the remaining distances ASAP while the weather is holding nicely, even though a bit too drier for the farmers who’ve not received their quota of rains during Dec/Jan season this time. It’s so much amazing how someone’s misery turns out to be somebody else’s joy.

It’d been sometime since the two old boys Tony and Atha joined us for a journey. They even missed out on my 50th trip-report journey to Baththalangunduwa. Therefore I was adamant they join us this time no matter what they were doing. Our newest member (of course one of the senior ones at Lakdasun) Ana too was gonna join (He missed out at the last minute due to road construction) and the date was fixed for 15-16 Feb making it easy for all working folks.

However, to my horror, on Thursday we heard the locomotive drivers had gone on strike over some position being cancelled. It was the least we needed coz our plan relied heavily on trains. I was not ready to back out and decided to go ahead hoping against the hope the strike will be called off soon as Friday was a Poya and hundreds and thousands of passengers were stranded. However it was for no avail coz they adamantly refused to call it off and we among many others had to pay for it dearly.

Day 01

Ana had gone the day before hoping to finalize his work and join with us for the hike. We left around 1.45am on 15th and drove towards Nawalapitiya hoping to leave our vehicle there and take a train up to Galboda and then walk down. Having reached Nawalapitiya around 4.45am and waking the station people to see if the trains are running turned out to be useless. There were only two trains scheduled for the day, one coming around 9.45am and the other in the afternoon about 12.15pm. None of the retired locomotive drivers had reported to work as requested by the government.

There were so many people coming to the station in the wee hours just to get disappointed and turned around. It was so frustrating to see the suffering the average people have to go through due to the clashes between these so-called unions and the government. Nobody seems to care about the very people who pay their wages. They use innocent civilians as bait to gain their benefits. As it wasn’t gonna help our cause so we decided to go to Rozella instead and walk down towards Galboda and catching the second train from Galboda.

Tour Highlights:

 1. 26km of Rail Hiking in 2 Stages.

2. 6km of Estate Hiking through Galboda and Watawala Estates.

3. Sri Pada from Rozella.

4. Ambagamuwa Sel Lipiya (Stone Writings)

5. Galboda Falls.

We reached Rozella about 7.30am and met our friendly station master who felt sorry for us. We were familiar people for him and wish us good luck as there were no trains except those two. Not having trains was like the hotel without the dhal curry. We walked along the track towards Ihala Watawala which was about 3km away. To our amazement there was this dog that started following us very casually at the beginning. (He walked with us all the way to Galboda, all 14.9km and then vanished without a trace)

After about an hour of walking we decided to have our breakfast. The usual boiled eggs with tempered onions and potatoes and sliced bread. After that it was all walking along. We reached now closed Ihala Watawala station. Apparently it’s not being used anymore, it could even be temporary. We had no way of finding out. Watawala station wasn’t too far away but without any passengers. They all looked like ghostly to us.

However the stretch up to Watawala is running parallel with the Avissawella-Hatton main road, thus not very scenic. Also there’s very little Atha in the meantime came across a barking deer on the way as well. Then we reached a place with a Budu Medura and a small building where a few people were working. They thought we were reporters initially and showed us that it was the place where an M6 engine had been buried due to an earth slide long ago, if I’m not mistaken 1992. The Railway Department had had to remake the railway line about 50ft away from the previous one as a result. Thankfully no one had died of the incident and they’d removed the engine after about 4 months underground. To our surprise that engine is still running.

After that, we were more or less in the thick jungle either side bordered with 100-foot trees providing much needed shelter. Lime and Mint drink with plenty of water kept us sane and kicking. We noticed a few derailed goods carriages too. They were solid cast iron 13t ones just lying there without being recovered, rusting away. Little later we heard a faint but deep noise marking the first of the trains coming from Colombo (5.55am Podi Menike). Surprisingly she wasn’t full, mainly foreigners enjoying the breathtaking sceneries of the upcountry.

Just so you know, there are no tunnels from Rozella to Galboda (actually from Hatton) but there are two back to back tunnels (No. 12 and 13) just a km away from Galboda Station towards Nawalapitiya which we saw the next day. The next train, according to the stations and linesmen, was due at 2.15 from Galboda but we got it wrong as it passed us just as we were coming to Galboda around 1.20pm. Very costly miss considering the fact that we had to walk another 6+km to reach Watawala via Galboda and Watawala Plantations.

We reached Galboda about 1.45am, feeling hungry and disappointed of missing the train. There were station workers enjoying their lunch packets on the benches coz it was so isolated. They even offered us some of their lunch but we politely declined and then they pointed us to a shop at the end of the platform owned by Ananda, one of the workers at the Station itself. The shop served all kinds of food from rice & curry, string hoppers, hoppers, thosai to all the sweets such as kevum and bananas as well for a very nominal fee.

After a hearty meal, we checked the train times but nothing was definite so decided to take another walk along according to locals, a short cut that takes us to Watawala Station. It turned out to be about 6km in total (so much for a short cut) and by the time we reached Watawala it was about 5.00pm. Fortunately there was this mini cab and when inquired he (Sudheera) agreed to take us to Rozella Station for 800/-. He seemed a very nice guy and you can contact him in case you decide to go to Sri Pada from Watawala or Hatton.

 Note: I just wondered, having seen plenty of abandoned wagons at practically every station, why the railway authorities (at least the respective stations) don’t rent them out to travelers. They can park a couple of abandoned wagons and clean them and rent out to those who wanna crash in for a night cap. It’ll give them a substantial income right throughout the year while giving extra jobs as well. I’m pretty sure there’ll be a huge demand from the public for these especially at places like Nanu Oya, B’Wela, Haputale, Ohiya, Ambewela, Pattipola, etc…

Just reached our familiar destination

Still going strong

Here we go downhill

Timmy (we named him) joined us and walked all the way to Galboda (nearly 15km) and vanished in no time

A sea plane going towards N’Eliya

Rozella Station seen from about 600m away

Plenty of them along the way

Just running parallel to the Hatton-A’Wella Road

Never seen before

No trains but still at work

3 Farmers busy at work in front of Ihala Watawala station

Not used now

Replica of Tony?

Watawala Tea Factory

Reservoir downhill

Going about their business

Closer to Watawala

Main road is visible about 1-2km away

Here we come to Watawala

See the spelling of Galboda (Gallebodde), this is where we emerged having walked nearly 6km from Galboda. It’s not a mountain, but the name of the tea factory

Looks luxury wagon

I love the color

Here we are but heard that Watawala doesn’t any longer hold the record for the most amount of rain now

This is where an M6 had been buried due to an earthslip

Very tiny leaves due to strong winds

The derailed and abandoned carriages

Podi Menike (1 of the 2) coming towards Watawala

Don’t know the name, I guess it’s a Sala Lihiniya