A Long Way Back

(From Bambarella through Kalupahana along Kalu-ganga to Rambukoluwa and Pallegama) Continuing from  The Hike of My Life - 4 Days in the Knuckles Range:Day 2 Day 3 The morning was cold, way colder than the night. After having a little breakfast, some crackers with cheese and coffee, we set out around 8 a.m., heading for the place where the trail branched off to two just after passing the tree-trunk bridge. The previous day, we tried the trail to the right. Since it did not give us much hope, our only chance was to try the trail to the left. The set of waterfalls, including Doowili Falls, belongs to Kalu Ganga, the river flowing northeast, initiating from the middle of the Knuckles Range. So our decision was based on pure logic; just follow a stream that would eventually lead us to the river and that is exactly what we did. Although the trail got lost, we kept pushing forward, descending, following the sound of the streams and eventually found the starting point of a stream that gr

(From Bambarella through Kalupahana along Kalu-ganga to Rambukoluwa and Pallegama) Continuing from  The Hike of My Life - 4 Days in the Knuckles Range:Day 1 Day 2 Amidst the freezing cold and thick mist, we managed to pack our camping gear early in the morning and start the hike. Our plan was to climb down a little further and find a way to go around the mountain to avoid the cliff, so it took about one and a half hours when we were climbing another mountain, which seemed to be to the east where the huge cliff was, and could get to the top of it where there was another cloud forest beginning from the top, which we had no choice but to cross. You can see the mountain I mentioned below (first photo) and the forest on top (second photo). If you zoom in, you’ll notice the cardamom trees, which are about 6 feet tall. This is the sight that made us jump for joy, since this was the first clue that our first destination was closer.

(From Bambarella through Kalupahana along Kalu-ganga to Rambukoluwa and Pallegama) “The hike of my life” as the title says, was an experience of a lifetime for me and four of my friends, which pushed us to our limits for four days in the wilderness in the Knuckles Range. Day 1 On July 17th, 2013, it was 7.30 a.m. when the Wattegama-Bambarella bus reached its last stop-Bambarella, 38 km away from Kandy. After getting some misleading directions, we finally found the entrance to Lebanon Estate and along the estate vehicle track, we headed for Rathnagiriya Estate. Lebonon estate vehicle track Lebonon estate On the way, we met ‘Maniraj’, a farmer living in that area who used to work in a cardamom estate in Kalupahana 15 years ago. He showed us great hospitality by inviting us to his house and also put us in contact with another person named ‘Kob

Hiking Kirigalpoththa Mountain and the Bridle Trail This hike consisted of two trails: Kirigalpoththa, the famous nature trail, which is also the second highest mountain in Sri Lanka with an altitude of  2388m above mean sea level and the Bridle Trail, which is also famous among hikers and has a history dating back to the colonial era. (Special Permission from the Department of Wildlife is needed to do the bridle trail.) The crew consisted of me and three of my friends. We left Colombo on the night mail train to Badhulla, which leaves at 8 p.m. from Colombo Fort and arrived at Ohiya at 5 a.m. the next morning. From there, we hired a van to go to Horton Plains visitors' center. It was early in the morning, actually we were the ones who woke up the officer at Horton Plains entrance :D We knew that the earlier you go to Horton Plains, the more sambar deer you get to see and of course we did. After passing the entrance, we saw hundreds of sambar deer roaming the plains. Even though