Kings of the Night Mail II : The Great Western!

It's been 2 years since I last blogged. Two years dammit!!. So much has changed over these two years that it feels almost unnatural that I'm writing about a hike again. Prishan is now a 'kalu sudda' living and working in Sydney. I'm married with a daughter who's almost an year old. And Indika is still trying to figure out the meaning of life (That hasn't changed).

Prishan decided to take some time off from his fabulous Sydney life to come visit his folks here in Sri Lanka this month. He told me about this plan when I was in Australia last year and asked me to have a plan ready to do another hike. And I wasn't supposed to talk to Indika about it yet then because he wanted to surprise his folks and Indika is a blabber mouth. 

But of course, true to form, I had zero plans ready when he landed. So the next step obviously was to google 'highest mountains in Sri Lanka' and see what comes up that we haven't done so far. That's when Great Western popped out. Fabulous name, fantastic location - looked like the stuff of dreams.

Turns out that looks come with a price. There wasn't a lot of information online about trails to the Great Western - the 6th highest mountain in Sri Lanka. The few trip reports we found strongly suggested that this should not be attempted without a local guide. As we researched further it soon became apparent that this is unlike any hike we've ever done so far. It seemed more difficult than getting PR to Australia.

The planning
If you've followed our previous hikes, you would know that we've so far never hired a guide. We never claimed to be smart either :) So we decided to take the same approach this time around too. Thankfully, someone had uploaded a KMZ trail with waypoints online on a local expedition site (I think it's on Lakdasun). So Prishan downloaded this and loaded it onto his trusted GPS device. That device has saved our asses a number of times in the past and we were ready to trust it again.

There wasn't a heck of a lot of pre-planning involved except for the standard stuff. You don't need a permit to climb Great Western. So that was one less thing to worry about. But you do need to plan the travel pretty carefully.

Great Western is not a town. Its a small, sleepy, train station on the main line towards Badulla. The mountain is right behind this station. Its situated in the Nuwara Eliya district, but the closest major town - Talawakele, is also quite a drive. It must be said that the only way to get to the station is via train itself. The station overlooks a number of settlements below which had formed around the many tea plantations in the area. From a higher elevation you can see gravel roads leading to Talawakele, Kotagala and Radella. But there are no bus services. Its mostly used by estate vehicles getting from point A to B. So the lifeline for the locals is this one small train station situated above them them to get to other parts of the country.

This is where the first major planning milestone kicked in. Since the only way in and out is via train we had to look at all the options available for us to get to Great Western and also to get out of it (Unlike Prishan, Indika and I had to get to work on Monday). Its always a good idea to start a hike -especially one like this - as early as possible. The weather forecast was sunny. So we knew by experience that its best to get some miles behind us by the the time the sun hits boiling point. Given all this, we settled on taking the Night Mail leaving from Fort at 8pm. If our past hikes have taught us anything, its to never expect an easy ride on the night mail. We were leaving on Friday - just before Independence Day. Fridays are like D-Day on the night mail. There's a massive swarm of people getting in from Fort and it does not clear up at all until you get to at least Nawalapitiya. With a baggage of 15-20kg per person, we knew this was going to be hell from the get-go if we tried to get in from Fort.

So we tried something else. The night mail starts its journey from the Maradana station. However, the first passenger station is the next station - Colombo Fort. So its kind of illegal to board the train from Maradana. However, i'm not sure to what extent the rule of law is applied in this case because when we got to Maradana, there was still quite a number of people on the platform waiting to board the night mail. We did hear sporadic arguments between rail officials and passengers - presumably about the same issue. By some luck of foresight, we had spoken to a couple of authoritative figures in the railway department via personal contacts and had unofficial clearance to board from Maradana. Much thanks to Prishan's father for helping us with that. Thanks to this move, we were - for once - able to get seats for all 3 of us from the start of the journey itself. This time we traveled in the second class as well (yay!). Its hard to describe how massive an advantage this is given that we had a monstrous climb to do in a couple of hours. Once again, we don't endorse getting in from Maradana given questionable circumstances. But if you can pull it off that's fantastic.

As usual, Indika was coming to Maradana by train and missed it by a couple of minutes. So we had to hold the seat for him (again, not exactly legal) until he caught up and got in from Fort. The train was full within a matter of seconds once at Fort and we were getting slightly worried that we would have to give up Indika's seat. But before any escalations, he got in the train and we got ready for the 7 hour journey ahead.

The night mail on a Friday is filled with groups going on trips out of Colombo. The carriage we were in was also mostly occupied by one such group. They seemed to know have an extensive Sinhala playlist hardwired in their brains and kept us entertained with some excellent singing and playing for the better part of the journey

The Great Western!

We arrived at Great Western at about 2.45 am. The moment we arrived, we saw that we were not the only group doing the hike the next morning. There was another group of guys at the station - braving the cold and trying to find a place to settle down. In our pre-arrangements, our contact had spoken to the station master about our arrival. So he had a small bare room ready for us to settle in and have some shut eye. The first thing we did was put on some warm clothes. For most of us Colombo dwellers, the gust of air from the home freezer is enough to send some chills to the nether regions. This was not much different. We also unraveled our tent bag and got the tarpaulin out and spread it on the floor since it was far too cold to sleep on in only our warm clothes.

We couldn't sleep much. All three of us rolled around restlessly and barely settled in. Not because we were excited for the hike ahead. Because it was so damn cold! Its common knowledge that it is always coldest just before sunrise. But this was like a punch in the crown jewels. A good reminder about how cold its going to be on the summit when we camp tomorrow night. We did the best we could and was up by 6 am to start the journey

That's when we saw our first sunrise at Great Western. And it was just as we expected - A Salvador Dali-isque painting with the mountains giving depth and vibrancy to an already multi-hued sunrise. To our right we could Adam's Peaks and the trail of lights guiding pilgrims to the Sacred Footprint We snapped a couple of pictures and had some breakfast that we brought from Colombo and got ready for the hike. Mysteriously, there was no sign of the group that we saw last night when came to the station. We assumed they might've either waited for a train to head back home or had started the hike that night itself - which is dangerous since the area is known for a small leopard population. We were of course well prepared for leopards. Prishan had brought along a fruit knife. A damn fruit knife! (So glad we were doing the hike in broad daylight.)

The path to the top

To get to the trail head you have to walk just over a kilometer on the railroad itself towards Badulla. We mounted our heavy luggage on our shoulders, filled our water bottles to the brim and got on about our way at about 6.30 am. It was an uneventful but pleasing walk. At that time of the day, you hear absolutely no sound whatsoever, except for the occasional chirp of crickets and the mountain winds circling around the massive trees a at the bottom of Great Western. Below us we could see the small community settlements waking up and getting getting ready to start their day.

We've read all the trip reports we could possibly find online and kept an eye out for the notice board and the stairs for a hindu kovil. We found it just a little over a kilometer into the walk and just before a steel bridge that was built over a passing stream to allow the train to go through to Badulla. We weren't really tired as such at this point. So we took a couple of pictures and started to climb the stairs - the first steps into the mountain.

As i mentioned at the top of this post, its been two years since we did a hike. And we were harshly reminded of this no sooner than a couple of minutes into the stairs. The stairs were high and of uneven height. And our backpacks were extremely heavy. Our physical fitness was next to nothing thanks to the desk jobs we do. Pretty soon we were huffing and puffing to the top of stairs. Once we got to the kovil we immediately plonked our bags down and took a seat. Embarrassingly, this was like 5 minutes into the actual hike. But we knew there was no prize for getting there fast. We just had to get there eventually. So we took it as slowly as we needed to without rushing.

Before long we saw what the trip reports were talking about. Most of the climb up was 60 to 70 degrees at least. Its next to impossible to attempt this without any supporting rope or climbing gear. This is also when we found out that Indika had bought kohu lanu instead of actual rope along with him. Fat lot of good that's going to do in this terrain. So we had to improvise. And like proper mountain goats with luggage on our backs, we used the wild shrubbery on the sides to haul ourselves up. Needless to say this was as dangerous as it got. The soil underfoot was loose and shifty. It didn't seem as if this area had seen rain for a couple of weeks. And the wild shrubbery was..well.. shrubbery. You cannot always expect them to hold your weight and not come loose from the root itself. There were two places which were really tricky. The angle was easily 70 degrees. One wrong foot and its a one way ticket to the rail road below. The one positive we had going for us was that Prishan's GPS device was on point and we were on the correct path though it looked like we were competing on Survivor.

An hour or so into the hike we came across a small stream which we read about on the trip reports. Its so small that you could easily miss it or ignore it thinking it was a collection of rain water. The problem with this mountain for hikers is water. Especially if you plan to camp at the top. The summit was still quite a distance away and this was the last water source available. The three of us collectively had about 8-9 liters of water space available. Most of the weight when you hike is actually added by the water that you carry. But there was no avoiding it. So we stopped for a break, refreshed ourselves filled our water bottles to the brim.

The next 500 or so meters is quite standard hiking territory. Thick jungle on both sides, marked trees serving as waypoints etc. But after that you come across two more really sharp and high inclines. It looks very daunting from the bottom. Especially since you're already quite worn out and have so much weight on your shoulders. But again, it had to be done. Its not recommended to steer away from the path and go through the shrubbery and undergrowth. Yes, there may be better footing and gripping. But the mountains are notorious for all kinds of snakes. That's not something we were fully equipped or trained for and not something we wanted to deal with. So the incline was the only way up. Again, like the said mountain goats, one by one, we hauled ourselves up using the shrubbery on the sides. It would've been so much easier if we Indika had listened to instruction and bought proper ropes instead of kohu lanu which aren't strong enough to tie up a box of biscuits. I should've taken some pictures of the incline to share here. But trust me, that was the last thing on my mind at that time.

After a few more meters, the trail turns sharply to the left and the scenery changes dramatically. The overall trail is like a side V going up the mountain. This is because the terrain right behind the station is a proper rock face. So the hike  has to be attempted from the side of the mountain. Once the trail turns, you can feel the familiar surroundings of a mountain top coming into sight. A bit more and you come out of the thick jungle and towards the highest part of the mountain. The last bit is quite precarious since the trail goes on the very edge of the mountain. Given that we were carrying a lot of weight, our center of gravity changed constantly. So we had to be careful not to place a wrong foot or grab a wrong branch to avoid toppling over. One miss and you will end up at the train station at the very bottom. Add to that the strong winds blowing across the rock surface - it was a recipe for disaster. We took all the time we had to take and bit by bit navigated this stretch of the trail. A key milestone here is the makeshift Hindu kovil on the very edge of a rocky outcrop that's on the very edge of the footpath. Locals come up here pretty frequently to collect dry firewood.

At this point you can see the summit which is about 15 minutes away. The path is still on the edge of the mountain but its not as dangerous as what we just passed because this wound through a thick growth of bamboo and other sturdy trees which i cannot name. A rule of thumb when hiking in groups is to keep a couple of meters of distance between each hiker to avoid the branches hitting your face from the slapback of the hiker in front of you. We found it slightly difficult logistically here because the opening was not that wide and our backpacks and tent constantly got snagged on the growth around us.

We navigated the final 15 minutes of the hike, ignoring the muscle pains and cramps and reached the summit successfully.

At the summit

If not for anything, you should climb Great Western just for the view from the lookout point. Its simply awe-inspiring and unlike anything we've seen before - and we've done our share of mountains. To our good fortune, the atmosphere was completely clear with no hint of mist whatsoever. From this point you can very clearly see Adam's Peak, Piduruthalagala, Saptha Kanya range, Haputale range, Kikiliyamana and many more renowned summits of Sri Lanka. Right below us at a 90 degree angle, we could clearly see the Great Western Railway station. We could also see the rail track winding in and out of mountain range all the way up to Devon falls from one side and the Radella grounds on the other. In front of us, right bloew were the 4 or 5 settlements that live on the main income source of this region - tea. We could also see the gravel roads leading upto Talawakele and Kotagala from these settlements. Our view was open for almost 300 degrees or so since the lookout point was on a bit of an outcrop on the summit of the mountain. No words nor camera can describe how simply breath taking the views were that took in.

The one negative was the sun. It was scorching and beating down hard and we were starting sweat profusely. Dehydration was going to be a problem if we didn't setup camp soon and get some shade between us and the sun. It was critically important given the fact that we had to ration our water supply as well. The campsite is about 50 meters behind the lookout point and was placed between some pretty tall trees which provided a considerable amount of shade from the sun and the wind. The last few burning embers of a campfire done the night before, probably by another hiking group, was still visible. We setup tent as quickly as possible and pulled a makeshift clothesline from Indika's coir strings to hang our clothes. Once this was done, we settled into the camp and had some lunch before settling in for some much needed rest.

Great Western Mountain has since of late become a popular destination in the outdoors community. And as it turned out, today was no exception. While we were having our afternoon nap in our tent, a couple of gentleman donned out in full hiking gear made their way to the top and past our tent and walked directly to the lookout point. We peaked out and spoke briefly with the local guide that accompanied them. We just wanted to make sure that we were the only ones camping at the summit on that night.The two gentleman explored the area and left after about 15 minutes. Only Prishan and I were awake at this time. Indika was already passed out. About half an hour later, we heard another group coming up to the summit. It was like freaking Galle Road! This time we didn't bother to peek out and say hi. The group commented on the campsite and walked past us towards the lookout point.

However, it appeared that these guys were going to be up here for sometime. So Prishan and I got up from our partial slumber and went out to say hi. Turned out that these were the guys who were at the railway station the night we came. They had gone to Morgan's house and spent the night at his place to start the hike after breakfast.

Morgan is probably the most well known local guide in the area. If you google trip reports to Great Western, his name is the one name that comes up constantly. He's also regarded as the unofficial caretaker of the Great Western mountain by locals and authorities alike. There is no inch of the mountain that he isn't aware of. We got into conversation with him and learnt about the surrounding terrain and the history of expeditions to Great Western. Apparently there was no trail whatsoever about 7 years ago until the locals (Morgan included) cut through the forest and made it slightly hiker friendly. There were also more water sources a mile or so away from where we were camped. But nowadays they're all dried up and the little stream we passed was the only available source within hiking distance. Morgan has made a livelihood of leading hiking parties to the top of Great Western and to other hiking locations in the vicinity. He also doubles up as a vadey seller on the trains to and from Great Western with his heavenly vadeys. If you're not confident of doing this hike on your own - call Morgan.

We joined the group of guys who had gathered on the lookout point to see a spectacular sight that happens twice a day (sometimes once, sometimes none) at the Great Western railway station below. There is only one rail track in and out of the station. But there are two trains coming from Badulla and Colombo which have to cross each other at this station at 12.20 pm and 2.40 pm respectively.

From our vantage point, we could see both trains approaching from both sides on a seemingly collision course. The train going downhill reaches the station first and moves to the second track on the station. We could see that the train coming from Colombo was behind schedule. By the time the train from Badulla reached Great Western, the one from Colombo was barely making its way past Devon falls. It had to go through 2 or 3 more stations before it could reach Great Western. It was almost half an hour later that this train reached Great Western and switched on to the first track to make its way uphill towards Badulla. What's fascinating is that we could clearly see the entire journey that these two trains were taking from miles apart. Apparently there is only one other vantage point in Sri Lanka where you can witness this - albeit not as clearly as this. I think its Ihala Kotte. But i might be mistaken.

After bidding us farewell, Morgan took the guys back to the base of the summit where they were supposed to catch the train back to Colombo. Indika woke up by this time and we went on a quick tour across the summit to explore the area and take some pictures. Since it was quickly getting chilly again, we collected some firewood along the way as well to build up a camp fire.

Once back at the campsite, we accumulated the firewood on a side and started to build a fire as close as we possibly could to the tent without endangering the tent. We followed the traditional campfire method and lit up the smallest figs first and gradually loaded much thicker figs on top of each other. Before long we had a strong enough fire going. There were some big chunks of half burnt firewood leftover from last night's campfire. We added these carefully to get some longevity from our fire. Morgan advised us to keep the fire size to a bare minimum. Which is understandable given that we were surrounded by some dry forest all around. We had our dinner and some casual conversation around the campfire and decided to tuck in for the night at about 9.30 pm

Sleep is rarely comfortable on a mountain top and this time was no exception. I had a couple of layers of clothing on myself - hands and feet included and still couldn't stop the cold air cutting through. By 3 am, the cold was simply unbearable and none of us could sleep. At this point Indika decided enough is enough and braved the cold to go in search of more firewood with Prishan tagging along. I decided to blow on the receding embers and revive the fire with the leftover material until Prishan and Indika returned with more firewood. Pretty soon, we had a healthy fire going again. The next hour or so was spent warming ourselves as best as we can.

Our plan was to start the descent the next day by around 6.30 am. Once we were feeling comfortable again, we tucked in for a couple more hours of sleep.

The hike back to the station

On our way up, we were able to complete the hike in 4 and a half hours. So we knew we will take probably lesser time than that to go downhill - which will put us right on schedule to catch the 12.20 Podi Manike train to Colombo Fort.

We leisurely got ready, rolled and packed up the tent, collected our garbage and started the hike downhill at about 7.20 am. The journey downhill was not any easier given the steep slopes and the lack of guiding ropes. So again, mountain goat style, we had to grab the bushes on the sides and lower ourselves carefully down the mountain. This time it was even more scarier because you could see the drop that you would take in case you mistimed a grab or stepped on a loose rock.

If i remember correctly, by about 10.30 we took the last step out of the kovil where we started the journey from. Morgan had told us about a man made water fountain which the locals in the line houses use to shower and wash up. So instead of turning towards the station, we turned the other way from the rail track and walked over the steel bridge. Not even 100 meters more and there it was- an oasis of running water. We quickly stripped down and one by one got under the ice cold water. This was indeed a blessing. All the tiredness accumulated over last two days were quickly washed away. So much so that we were fresh enough to do the hike again (not!).

By about 11am we got ready, picked up our bags and started the final kilometer across the railroad towards the station. We successfully boarded the 12.20 train to Colombo and settled down for the 7 hour ride back to Colombo

And thus finished our hike to Great Western. I thought Namunukula was the hardest hike I've ever done. But that's child's play compared to Great Western. What an adventure! I've still got cuts and bruises across my arms to remind me of this episode. If you do get a chance, please attempt this hike as its a once in a lifetime experience. Hopefully it wont be two more years until i get a chance to put up a post as this again.

These are the trip reports that we found useful when planning the hike:
Report1, Report2, Report3

Useful numbers:
Morgan: 0770-791002
Great Western Station: 052 3528744

Do email me if you need further info. Until next time then, travel safe.

Miranga

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Thotupola Kanda to Namunukula - a hiker's dream.

The train ride to Pattipola

It’s been over 3 months since we did our bike ride around the country. We’ve had enough time to recover and think about another adventure. One thing was for sure. We’re not going to do that bike ride again for a really really long time to come.

So after much deliberation, we finally decided to climb Mount Namunukula – a mountain range with nine peaks towards Badulla in Sri Lanka. If you had read my posts earlier, you would recall that we were attacked by bees during our ascent to Mount Kirigalpotta and hence discouraged us from climbing Thotupola Kanda, which was just a stone’s throw away. Well, the bee season was over, so what better time to squeeze in the third highest mountain of LK other than now?

Itinerary made, we got back to waddling through the days leading up to the hike. Two days before the hike, the railway locomotive drivers decided to call a union action. This put us in a spot of bother as the train was a key component of our itinerary. We made it onto the Pettah railway station on the 13^th of February only to find that the whole o Colombo was waiting to get onto the Badulla night mail train. There were fewer trains running and a lot more people trying to get to their homes out of Colombo for the long weekend – a really bad equation for a hiker carrying a backpack weighing over 10kgs and a tent to boot.

We had no option. We HAD to get on this train. The train was about half an hour late and this added to the tension on the platform. Security was lax and there were fights breaking up in small pockets across the entire station. It resembled one of those D-Day movies where everyone was trying to get to safety at all costs. The train arrives. And the mad dash began. I remember using strength that I never knew I had to push and force my way into the compartment. There were swears and curses by angry commuters thanks to my 10kg backpack, but I had to ignore. The objective was to find two feet of space and an empty space in the overhead rack to push the tent in. With much difficulty, all three of us were successful – albeit in different corners of the compartment. We didn’t worry much about it – it’s a 6 hour train ride. Although we had no space, we had plenty of time.

After a couple of hours, the traffic subsided considerable and we were able to breathe freely again. We even managed to find a space to sit and we took turns giving our legs a much needed rest. The compartment that we were in was occupied by a group of cadets from Nalanda College going for a training camp in Diyathalawa. Those boys were fun. They kept the entire compartment entertained with their light hearted banter and merry singing – which I might add, was rarely on key J

Before we knew it, we were at Pattipola. This must be about the 4^th time that we’ve come to the highest station in Sri Lanka. We’ve always had good memories associated with it. And we were hoping that this would be no different.

The hike to Thotupola Kanda

Our first milestone was to reach Thotupola Kanda – the 3^rd highest mountain in Sri Lanka. We had plans to do this the last time we were in Horton Plains about 5 months back. But the timing was really bad since we went smack in the middle of the blooming season. You can read about that here. However, we were determined to do it this time – bee stories or not.

There were about 5 and a half kilometres from the station to the Horton Plains – Pattipola entrance gate. We were fresh enough and keen. So we were able to reach the gate by about 6am – just as the gate was opened for visitors. We purchased a ticket to the Plains and made the short hike to the entrance turnoff to Thotupola Kanda. This proved to be a pretty easy hike since we had to do just about 1.5 kilometres to reach the summit. We stopped for a break and a customary photo and then began climbing the mountain. On our way we could see the remains from the blooming season. The Nelu flowers were pretty much dead and there were no bees. It was like walking through a destroyed and forgotten city since we knew how thriving this area was not more than 5 months ago. Half an hour more and the scenery changed magically. We were confronted by the all too familiar greenery which can only be found on uninhabited mountain tops and the familiar smells of morning dew and fresh flowers. The sun was blazing down by this time and the lack of mist made it easier to see for miles and miles over the mountain range. This is what you’re missing by sitting in front of your laptop reading this J

Before long – there we were. On the top of Thotupola Kanda. There was a small radio tower, a shack and some solar panels on the summit. I don’t know whether this is currently in service or not. But the radio tower provided one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. We were so high up we could see mountain ranges covered in mist sprawling as far as the eye can see. It was like a scene from a fantasy movie. We clicked enough pictures and took in all our eyes could take in before reluctantly deciding to make our way back. It was about 7.15 am. We’ve made good time and the rest of the itinerary was open before us. Also, we couldn’t get a proper sleep on the train since there were no seats. So on our way down, we put our bags down on a flat piece of land surrounded by nothing on 3 sides to have power nap. There can never be anything better than chilling and having a bit of rest on top of the world with the entire countryside visible below you, can there?

Fresh and rested, we woke up at about 7.45 and picked up our bags and the tent to make our way down to the Horton Plains entrance gate again. Our next connection was a train to Demodara from Pattipola at 1.10 pm. So we had plenty of time. But to our mild amusement, we descended the mountain in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Milestone achieved, we started our hike back to Pattipola through the same route we came.

Spring Valley – the lost gem of Badulla

The railway strike was in full force. Upon reaching Pattipola, the station master told us the 10.15 am train was cancelled and that the 1.15 train will also be late about an hour. Our hiking was done for day one anyway. So we didn’t really mind as long as the train did come. Our plan was to make it towards Spring Valley (which was on the foot of the Namunukula mountain range) on the Demodara – Badulla road and then camp there somewhere overnight. Tomorrow morning we would make beeline from Spring Valley to the highest peak in the Namunukula range. Since we had lots of time to kill, we decided to take a small nap in the station and then left the station towards Pattipola town to have some good lunch.

Fish is a luxury when you’re this high up in the mountains. So the choices were limited when it came to rice and curry. However, we were hungry enough to devour half of Pattipola. So we helped ourselves to some salmon rice and plain tea and walked back to the station in expectation of the train. Again, we dozed off slightly till the train arrived. We were in luck. The train did come at about 2pm and we were able to get on without much of a hassle. The train wound its way through some utterly, stupendously beautiful countryside. If I could do this or a living I would jump at the chance. The waterfalls, the tea estates, the winding rail tracks, the mountains etc would be a sight for any Colombo dweller. We passed over the world famous Demodara Bridge within a couple of hours and I cursed myself for having the camera safely tucked away in the camera bag.

Within minutes we arrived at the Demodara station and caught a tuk tuk to take us to Spring Valley and the legendary Black Pool. It was a little further than we expected. We had to travel about 10 kilometres till we finally reached the pool. We had to walk through a precarious man made bridge and reach the Kovil in Spring Valley. The pool was right behind it. This was a welcome break. There was no one else in the pool and we had it all to ourselves. So we shed our clothes and took a dip on the shallow side. The deep side should be avoided at all costs – just so you know. After a refreshing dip, we got dressed again and made our way to the Kovil. The next step was to find a campsite.

Through numerous nights spent on mountain tops, we knew by experience that Spring Valley in itself was the ideal location to camp. It was surrounded by mountains, the breeze was pretty low and it wasn’t as cold. Also, a stream running parallel to the Kovil, which provided us with a water source to fuel up tomorrow early morning. And we saw the ideal spot too – right in the corner of the Kovil premises. We asked around from the estate workers about whom we should speak to in order to get permission.  We were directed to a house a little further away on the hill where the ‘leader’ of the estate resided. I can’t quite recall his name and he wasn’t home either. But another fellow in the household spoke to him on the phone and he gave us the green light.

Night was falling fast. Without wasting much time we unravelled our trusted tent and set up camp in the Kovil premises. This was smack in the middle of an estate, so the entire tea estate civilization along with its ‘line’ houses was around us. And the inhabitants were very accommodative. They popped into the kovil premises from time to time as they passed by to see if we were okay and if we needed anything. We assured them we were and by 7pm, we had had a bit of dinner and settled into sleep. We were extremely tired after that sleepless night mail train ride. And before long all three of us were snoring away.

The climb to Namunukula

We were up by 6am. We were enlightened about the many trails to the top of Namunukula the day before. But since we were not locals, we were told that the best way to the top is to take the bus to Nallamalai from Spring Valley and start our hike from there. There were only two buses on this road. And they weren’t very frequent. If we were lucky there was might be a bus at 6.30 am. But we weren’t. So we had to wait for the CTB bus that was supposed to come at 8am.

This is when our luck started to run out. That bus never came. The estate workers were confident that CTB fellows faked a breakdown since it was a Saturday (This is apparently known to happen in the CTB). We waited till about 9am with no luck and so we finally decided to hire a tuk tuk to Nallamalai. By 9.30 am we were in Nallamalai. The tuk tuk driver showed us the start of the trail. The start of the trail was through some civilization. And this is by far not the shortest route to the top. But since we were foreigners in this land, we had to stick to the known trail. The villagers at the bottom elevated our tension a bit when they said that there was no clear path to the top. The villagers had peeled a little bit of the bark off trees along the trail in order to make sure that they did not get lost. All we had to do was follow these marked trees through to the Turpentine tree forest and then through dense jungle to the top. Pretty easy right? I laugh now about our naivety.

Until we reached the mountain turn-off to Passara, there were a couple of locals on the trail. We were still at the bottom of the mountain so to speak. We had to ask directions till we reached this point. Thereafter we were on our own. The trail was pretty clear until reached a little stream. We freshened up and filled our bottles at this point and crossed the stream. This was when things got complicated. The first couple of trees had marks leading to two different trails. Indika and I kept our trees with Prishan and went along the two different paths to do some scouting. Indika’s trail had marks to a considerable distance while mine had none. So the rational decision was to follow the trail to the left.

We did so, and we were getting increasingly unsure about the route we were taking. There were no signs of a trail and it hardly looked used. But the good thing was, we were going up. So we had to end up somewhere. Prishan’s GPS tracker was on and it was tracking the path we were taking too. The incline was pretty steep. And we were getting tired and dehydrated faster. But finally, we saw the starting patch of the Turpentine forest. We gratefully stumbled into the forest and took a much needed break to account for our faculties.

Although the incline was steep, the path ahead was clear. When you’re this tired and hiking, that gives you a lot of confidence. We could even see the peaks from here. But there was some way to go before we reached the top. We navigated through the Turpentine trees and finally reached the end of its patch – to be confronted with a dense forest. The tree marks were still visible. But this was unlike any other hike, we’ve done before. We had hiked through forests before, but then again there was a trail. Here there was none. We just had the tree marks to guide us and the forest was getting thicker and harder to navigate with each step. We didn’t think it was safe to stop in one place for long because we had no idea what kind of animal was watching our every move. So, with the hot sun blaring down on us, we trudged through the mountainous forest with the little energy we had.

After an hour or so, the forest didn’t seem to get any clearer and we could not see the end of the tree line. It was past 1pm and our confidence was beginning to drop. I had doubts about the route we were taking. But Prishan convinced me that we were still going up, and we had the marks on the trees at reasonable intervals. So it had to mean we were on the right track. We turned and looked back at the path that we had come through. There was no sign of a trail at all and we wondered how we would’ve gotten back if it wasn’t for Prishan’s GPS tracker. Either way, we were smack in the middle of one of the thickest jungles we’ve been in.  

Half an hour more and even the tree marks disappeared. The area was now relatively thinly spread, so we had more visibility but still we couldn’t see the end of the tree line. Indika volunteered to go up a bit and scout for a trail. I remember him shouting from the top saying that he has encountered a large rock and that he couldn’t see anything beyond it. He came down to where we were and we sat down to have a break and decide upon the next course of action.

This is when we had a stroke of luck. We heard voices from the bottom. It appeared that we were not the only ones summiting Namunukula that day. We shouted and did the customary ‘Hoowa’ to get a response. But at that altitude, the voice carries farther than necessary and we weren’t really sure whether the voices were coming from above or below. But after a while, we heard a response ‘hoowa’ from the other party. We were silently overjoyed. The voice that responded was that of a little boy. We finally figured out that the voice was coming from above us. We shouted and asked for directions. And we followed the voices to the top. We avoided the rock and beat a path through a side and climbed with a reinvigorated spirit. A few more steps and the landscape changed completely. The tree line magically disappeared and we were now on what appeared to be a familiar landscape – that of a mountain top.

We waded through the chest high undergrowth with a new lease of life and saw the other party a little further away. And that was it. We were right on the top after the most difficult hike we’ve ever done. We almost gave up under the big rock thinking we were lost. Only to realise later that the summit was right above it. That was a life lesson learnt on the mountains.

The other party was a bunch of locals from Namunukula town who had come to the summit for a day out with some friends. Before long, other people also joined that party and now they were 20 strong. While they went about exploring the summit, we too did the rounds and saw the Hindu and Buddhist shrines at the top.

After spending some time snapping some pictures, we were finally ready to descend. But we weren’t really looking forward to going down that same route we came. The locals on top asked us to follow them to our relief. So we joined the back of the pack and walked down with them. However, the route was not less hard. The declines were steeper and our propensity to topple over was far greater. But we were less apprehensive because we were with experienced people who knew the route.

We walked and descended over a stream and finally reached the Turpentine tree forest. After a small break, the younger natives raced down the hill to the point from which we started the hike – The Passara turnoff. We took our own time since we were straddled with 10kgs each. Upon reaching the bottom, an elderly gentleman invited us to have lunch with them at a waterfall nearby and offered to drop us off at the bus to Passara. We tried to decline his offer politely because we did not want to burden them anymore. But they were insistent. At the waterfall on the road to Passara, we all stopped and he gave us a massive lunch packet which we gobbled down heartily after thanking him and his daughter profusely. After lunch, the group broke off into three sub groups. We followed the elderly man and he guided us onto the main road through a variety of shortcuts across the estates. We got to know that he was a native from Namunukula town and that he was a farmer. He even showed us his paddy fields from the point where we were at.

Evening was falling fast and we were making good ground through the estates at record speed thanks to ‘Uncle’s expert local knowledge. Luck was on our side because as soon as we reached the main road, the bus to Passara ambled on down from the mountain. He stopped the bus for us and the younger folk of his clan instructed the conductor to drop us off at the tenth milepost – from where we took a bus to Badulla town and subsequently, a bus to Colombo.

And thus finished one of the toughest hikes yet. We came back home thinking about the wonderful escape, the adrenaline rush and the absolutely amazing people we met on top of a mountain. Hopefully we can keep doing this in time to come.

You can find pictures of this hike on my Flickr profile right here. So until the next hike then - travel well, travel safe.

Miranga

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The Lankan Roadtrip - Around Sri Lanka on a Motorbike

(This is long. So if you need to pee or feed the dog, might as well do those and start :))

4 men, 2 bikes, 1600 kilometers around the edge of Sri Lanka in 4 days. We were called insane, mental and bat shit crazy from the moment we started planning it. It had been done before. There was an article on a popular local travel site about two guys who did the same thing on two bikes and this was the source of our inspiration. However, our goal was to touch the edge of Sri Lanka as much as possible without sticking to the main highways all the time, reach the four corners of the country and come back to Colombo in one piece.

And we did. This is how.

The Preparations

I can’t ride a bike to save my soul. Not something i’m very proud of. As it turned out, i’m not alone. Prishan couldn’t either. Which meant that from the 4 of us – Myself, Prishan, Indika and Rimaz – only Indika and Rimaz could ride a bike. But even they hadn’t ridden the proposed number of kilometres even in their dreams. Rimaz was all gung-ho from the word go. It took a bit more mental persuasion to convince Indika of the same. Either he convinced himself or felt sorry for us because he never refused to do it. So that was it. The mental game was all set.

Carrying a travel bag for all four of us was not a practical. We travelled very light. So we were able pack everything into two big backpacks. The plan was for the guys in the back to carry the backpacks. Easier said than done.

Next came the most important aspect of this roadtrip - the bikes. Rimaz owned a 150cc Yamaha FZ. So we needed to find another bike with enough horsepower and stability to withstand the abuse it was about to take over the next 4 days. We asked around from a number of people. Finally we hit the jackpot with one of our ex-colleagues who had a bike that he wasn’t using – another 150cc Yamaha FZ.

Then came accommodation. We had to find cheap accommodation for 3 nights. A colleague in office set us up with a place in Jaffna town for the first night and Rimaz was able to find a place in Kalkudah for the second night. We didn’t really worry about the 3^rd night since that was going to be in the south of Sri Lanka – we could ride and find a guest house. All that was left now was to get on the bike and ride!

Day one – Colombo to Jaffna

We met up in Nawala at our workplace at 4.30 am. Took a preliminary photo for good measure with all 6 of

us (The bikes were our friends) and got on the bikes. The itinerary was to ride to Jaffna on the route shown in the map.

We got on to Elakanda Road from Wattala and rode till we reached Negombo. It was still very early morning so there was absolutely no light. All we could see was the rippling waters of the Hamilton Canal as the last beams of streetlights fell on the slow moving ripples. The road was excellently done so we felt little or no vibrations on the pillion. Things were looking pretty good.

We reached Negombo at about 6am and turned the bikes into a mosque a little away from the heart of the town for Rimaz’ morning prayers. Talk about breakfast came about at this time and we unanimously agreed to cover as much ground as possible before the morning traffic built up. It was a Thursday. Other people had to go to work.

From Negombo we turned on into its most famous road – Beach Road. Travelling along this road leaves one in no doubt as to the biggest revenue stream of the city. Tourism in Negombo is always in season come rain or shine. The days we travelled were particularly cloudy with chances of rain. But still, the sheer number of white people trying to get a piece of the Negombo sun was amazing. The street was slowly waking up as we passed through it.

We took a turn to the left from the Poruthota mosque to join the Puttalam highway again. There was no road going straight through and all roads led back to the highway. So we thought why take a risk and took the biggest road to the highway. We continued on the highway for a couple kilometres more until we crossed the Gin Oya bridge. We made a brief detour to the Gin Oya damn since that used to be Rimaz’s old haunt in his telecommunication days. The fourth turn to the left from the Gin Oya bridge led us straight back to Beach Road.

Now this section of the Beach Road was unfamiliar to me. I’m sure i had been on this before at some point in my life, but definitely not in the recent past. The sleepy seaside town stretched right onto Marawila. The streets were laden with freshly caught fish and sea produce with fishermen shouting their wares to all and sundry. The street was bustling with activity as we carefully manoeuvred our way around the fishermen and the eager customers. This was not a town to piss anyone off - especially with the number of machetes lying around.

Past the endless shrimp and prawn hatcheries, we came across an old shipwreck right on the shoreline of the

Marawila beach. I’m assuming it’s more like a fishing trawler. Its rusted body and seawater spray was a sight for our sore eyes. This for me, was the indication that the adventure started. We stopped for a bit to click some pics and got on the bikes again to continue on our merry way.

The stretch from Marawila to Kudamaduwella runs across a man made causeway built right on the sea. This led us to the Chilaw Police Station. This also meant breakfast. We rode into the town and stopped at a small hotel to have some breakfast. String hoppers, bread, dhal and chicken curry with a dish of pol sambol was the order of the morning (Yes. I’m a sadist). Without wasting much time in Chilaw, we ate as quickly as possible and got back on our bikes.

We continued on the Puttalam highway for a few more kilometres until we reached the turnoff to Uduppidy. This was the first available road to get back to the edge of the country as soon as possible. There was a very slight drizzle at this point. We weren’t too concerned and as expected, it passed over in 5 to 10 minutes.

Uduppidy is a little remote town that defies explanation. It’s remote, yet bustling. Rural yet equipped. The little town had an air of authority of its own that I had never seen before. Barring the fact that I had never been here before, the town provided the perfect contrast to what we’ve grown to expect from normal civilization. It’s apparent that the town was a very close knit community and we seemed to provide the amusement for the day. Especially Indika who was at the front dressed like a Black Stig from Top Gear. We passed through the eerily beautiful yellow/golden kovil and continued on our way to Puttalam.

Google Maps is a wonderful thing. And one thing we must admire is the 3G and above reception right along the coast line of Sri Lanka. We were able to plot out a number of byroads between the sea and the main Puttalam highway to reach the Palavi-Kalpitiya road. We passed through some villages that I had never heard of before and some villages which probably hadn’t seen a motorbike in some time. However, closer to the Palavi-Kalpitiya main road the civilization became thicker and we came across a bike mechanic. Indika’s bike chain needed some break tightening and greasing. We attended to these before the mechanic pointed us in the right direction to the main highway. We were back on the highway before we knew it and on our way to touch the first corner of the country.

We rode along the Kalpitiya highway until we reached Kandakulli. From here we took a left turn to go visit the westernmost point of Sri Lanka on the main land. We couldn’t exactly reach the sea itself since there was an Army camp built right on the beach. But that was a trivial. We parked our bikes and took a picture to eternalize this occasion (I’m pretty dramatic). Kandakulli – The westernmost point of Sri Lanka, DONE!

We came back on the same highway and reached Puttalam. The time was past 1.30 pm and we had a pressing time concern now. The entrance gate to the Wilpattu – Mannar road closed at 3.30pm. So it was of paramount importance that we reach Puttalam as soon as possible. We decided to skip lunch and grab a bite once we’re out of Wilpattu. So we rode the 30 odd kilometres from Puttalam to the Wilpattu entrance gate without stopping.

This is where we hit our first snag. We were told by the military personnel at the gate that the road was closed temporarily. Apparently the road had taken some serious abuse in the recent rains and was extremely dangerous to tackle. The rain was slowly coming in even at that particular time. We explained to the military personnel of our objective. They finally agreed to let us though on a number of conditions which are beyond the scope of this blog post ;). I doubt they would’ve let us through if we had been on any other vehicle other than two bikes. And they were spot on about the road. It looked like an advanced version of the Katukurunda dirt bike track. The rain had left the dirt road covered in slippery mud from top to bottom and the bikes were finding it very very hard to stay upright. Indika’s bike slipped from right under his legs once and toppled onto the ground. Rimaz’s bike tilted dangerously close to

the ground and needed the strength of 3 guys to straighten up. Prishan and I got down from the bikes and walked certain stretches of road behind the bikes since the bikes weren’t able to handle the load on that kind of terrain. It was very slow going and was dangerous. In the end, we were extremely tired, hungry and the bikes had undergone a considerable bit of abuse. The weather was turning for the worse and the terrain was completely against us. Had we come in any other vehicle, we wouldn’t have been able to come out from the other side. But the point is, we did not deviate from the course. We made it to Mannar through the edge of Sri Lanka.

As soon as we were out of the wilderness, we had a very late lunch from the first available hotel and sped through (safely) to Mannar. At least we sped as much as possible given the condition of the road in most stretches. We stayed on the mainland and did not go into Mannar Island since we were way out of our schedule and still had close to a 200 kilometers to cover before we reached Jaffna.

This is when the going got very slow. Riding at night is difficult by default. And the condition of the road on many stretches weren’t helping either. Our rear ends were starting to hurt. This is no joyride on a 4 Wheel Drive. The two bikes and its riders were exposed completely to the elements and physical wear and tear was beginning to set in. In addition to shooting rain drops hitting our eyes, we had to deal with bugs on the road which were also hitting our face. We couldn’t put the visors of our helmets down because that would

decrease visibility. So the going was slow and tough. But common sense prevailed and we knew that getting to Jaffna in one piece should be the primary focus.

This is also when the rain gods decide to have a party. All this time we were riding under more than a slight drizzle. Past Pooneryn and on the way to Chavakachcheri, the rain came down in all its might. It was absolutely relentless. The drops were hitting us horizontally and fast, right in the eyes. We stopped sporadically for long periods of time collectively to shield ourselves from the rain. But there was no escape. So we decided to cover up our dry backpacks as much as we can and brave the rain. Finally, believe it or not, it was 4am when we reached our little guest house in Jaffna. 4am! That meant we’ve been riding for 24 hours at a stretch. Props to Rimaz and Indika for handling that so well. We walked into the guest house absolutely drenched, soaking right into our underwear and extremely tired. We had ridden just over 500 kilometers in one day. But we went to sleep with the content knowledge that the first leg our journey was successfully done. Tomorrow is a brand new day.

Day 2: Jaffna to Kalkudah

We started late. We had to. After turning in past 4am, we just couldn’t get ourselves to get up by 8am. So it was 9am by the time we all woke up and almost 10 when we left the guest house to start the second leg our journey.

But first things first. After the abuse that the two bikes took in Wilpaththu the day before, they needed to be pampered and taken care of. There was a guy down Old Park Road who knew his onions when it came to bikes. So we put the bikes in for a quick service. After that was complete, we rode to the iconic Nallur Kovil to take a commemorative picture and got back on the seats to continue our ride. We stuck to the mainland when going around the Northern Province and therefore had to give a miss to Kayts and the other connected islands. We rode on the Jaffna – Ponnalai – Point Pedro road. We went through Ponnalai, Naguleswaram Kovil, Keerimalai, Valvetithurai and onto the next big milestone on our itinerary. Prishan and I came to Point Pedro – the northernmost point in Sri Lanka once before last year. However, a round trip around Sri Lanka will not be complete without touching on the famous Kodi Gaha at Point Pedro. The weather had turned for the better that morning. We parked our bikes on the road, went to the Kodi Gaha and took some pictures for our albums. After spending about a half hour so there, we got back on the bikes and made our way towards Parantan through Varany.

By now, we were inclined to take more and more breaks since our backsides were giving us unimaginable discomfort. I must’ve devised a 100 new ways to travel on the pillion on this bike ride only. Once in Parantan, we took the left turn towards the Parantan-Mullativu highway. We rode through some absolutely breathtaking scenery and civilizations. One thing that’s really apparent is the value of the Tamil language when travelling in the North and East. The speaking language, the notices, the boards and pretty much everything is in Tamil. Thankfully Rimaz was fluent in it. But even he was saying that the dialect is somewhat incomprehensible.

By about 3.30 pm or 4.00, we made our way over the Mullativu bridge and onto the town. Rain seems to have something against us. When the rain decided to pour down again, we quickly scrambled into a vacant bus halt of sorts and planned out the rest of our day. It was past 3pm. Thanks to yesterday’s clock buster ride, we were getting hungry only now. So the first thing was to get some food in our bellies. We pulled into a nearby hotel which was blasting Sinhala bus songs in full volume (Surprise surprise!), filled ourselves with some hot paratas and a couple of plain teas and got ready for the next leg. Just as we had anticipated, the hotel owner confirmed that there was a by road cutting through Weli Oya which we can use to get on to the Pulmoddai road. Had we taken the highways it would’ve cost us 150 Kms and we would’ve had to go inland. This road, if we get our navigation right could save us almost a 100kms and keep us as close to the edge as geographically possible. When on two bikes under an overcast sky, a 100 kms is as good as 500. So we continued on the Mulativu – Kokkilai highway, cut across to Weli Oya and continued on – relying on Google Maps and the information we received. Sure enough, the shortcut was there. The area is frequented by military posts and military personnel and there was a rural bus going towards Pulmoddai as well. Darkness had fallen by now. We did pretty good time on some very bumpy roads and ended up on the Pulmoddai road. The only snag we faced was crossing a slightly inundated concrete bridge. Prishan and I waded through the ankle high water while the bikes carefully navigated through.

This left us with 61 kilometers to get to Trincomalee and 100 kilometers from there to our guest house in Kalkudah. Given the amount of fatigue we were under the day before, we were in pretty high spirits although we knew for sure that it would be past midnight by the time we get to Kalkudah. But the good news was the rain had almost completely ceased. So we capitalized on this window of dryness and made good time to Trincomalee. We took care of some more paratas and downed a plain tea at the busiest night kade in Trinco. One thing that kind of took me by surprise was the low temperature even in this dry zone. The burning hot plain teas went in like soft drinks with no difficulty.

Once refreshed, we got back on the saddles and rode through night time Eastern Sri Lanka though Mutur, Vakarai and finally reached Kalkudah. There were no clubs, no movie theatres, no hangout places, nothing. It makes you wonder what people in these areas do for leisure. I can’t remember the exact time, but we rode into Kalkudah, past 12 midnight. And as seems to be the routine now, we hung our wet socks to dry outside our room. The clothes had escaped the rain thankfully. So after freshening up, we settled in – content that Day 2 and 50% of our journey is now complete.

Day 3 – Kalkudah to Ambalanthota

Is there a profession somewhere for professional butt massaging? I mean the real deal. Not the kind you get

in porn. We definitely could have used one in Kalkudah had that been available. My rear end was practically sending me text messages asking what it had done to deserve another 15 hours on a bike. But then again, if it was easy, everyone will do it.

We checked out of our guest house and rode 5 minutes into Valachchennai town to get some bike servicing done. Indika, with his dirt bike armour was drawing a lot of attention. My Tamil is limited to words that cannot be spoken in public. But even i could sense that we’ve created a bit of a sensation. A few more paratas and some plain teas later, we rode into the service station amidst the watchful eye of local young ones who were obviously discussing our bikes (At least I hoped so). 

An oil change and a chain tightening later, we got on our bikes to head towards our next destination which was only 5 minutes or so away - the famous and iconic Passikudah beach. I had never been there before. So what I saw was pretty amazing. Under overcast conditions, the white beach looked as if it was a photograph from one of those travel magazines. The beach was very clean. I suppose most of the beach being private contributes to that. We didn't have a dip in the sea, but just walked around on the beach for about 15 to 20 minutes and got back on our bikes again. We will come here again on another day.

Our next key milestone was Batticaloa. The change in culture became immediately visible. Now we're riding through some pro Islam communities. Batticaloa, Kattankudy, Akkaraipattu are all predominantly inhabited by Muslim citizens. However, Tamil was still the primary spoken language.

There weren't really a lot of attractions on the way in the East of Sri Lanka. At least, not many that we could find along the road that we were travelling on. However, the highway between Batticaloa to Pottuvil is absolutely to die for. After the bumpy, muddy, gravel roads we went on during the first day, this highway came as a breath of fresh air. The A4 highway, starting from Batticaloa and ending in Colombo is Sri Lanka's longest highway and in my view the best one too. The road ran through some picturesque greenery and vegetation and was perfectly built. If we, riding on bikes, felt this comfortable I can imagine how comfortable it must be to drive on 4 wheels.

The next place to touch on was the Eastern most point in Sri Lanka - the beach at Sangaman Kanda. Sangaman Kanda is not a mountain as I initially thought. It is a town with by roads leading to little villages surviving on what appears to be harsh dry zone climate. Before we reached the Pottuvil town, we turned left towards the rural areas of Sangaman Kanda on the eastern beach to visit the eastern most point in Sri Lanka. We drove through some thin forestry which housed everything from pigs, roosters to majestic peacocks. The road came to an end before we reached the Sangaman point. So we parked our bikes on a nearby tree, hid our helmets behind some shrubbery and hiked the rest of the way across the sea sand to the beach. What a contrast! Never have I seen a beach so absolutely deserted. No people, no vendors, no fishermen, no buildings, no nothing. The beach is as clean as you can get. White-ish soft sand stretching for miles and miles on both sides with no signs of life. This is the easternmost point in Sri Lanka. We took our usual commemorative picture, made our way back to the bikes as quickly as possible (We weren't sure if the bikes would still be there) and started our journey back to Pottuvil. It was past 4pm when we got back on to the main highway.

We continued down the A4 highway although it didn’t exactly take us on a perfect round across Sri Lanka. We didn't attempt to go through Yala Block II because it’s nearly impossible to tackle with bikes. Plus, even if you obtain permits from the Department of Wildlife Conservation, you are required to tackle the track in a 4x4. Even then, there was no complete track from top to bottom even for a 4x4. So that part of the edge of Sri Lanka was not even in the plan from the outset. We stuck to our planned route and continued on the A4.

When we started this ride, we all wanted to take one picture that defined our entire ride.  We had the picture setup in our head and we unanimously decided that the location should be the little bit of highway running through the Lahugala Sanctuary. From our current location we still had to ride about 25 to 30 kilometers to get to Lahugala and the sun was setting fast. So our two trusted riders did the equivalent of 'pedal to the metal' to get ourselves into Lahugala on time. We had a brief stop at Pottuvil to grab a bite and a plain tea and continued on our journey.

The sun was just about to start setting when we reached the perfect picture point in Lahugala for our iconic

photo. We were lucky. There were very few vehicles on the road. We parked the two bikes blocking the road, used Prishan's helmet as a makeshift tripod, put the camera on self timer and took the picture. This is the picture you see on the home page on this blog. This is the picture which will carry a lot of stories to our grand kids.

Picture taken, we got ready for the next 180 kilometers that we now had to go through to get to our guest house in Ambalanthota. The traits of civilization changed obviously from Muslim households and populations to Sinhala. We passed Siyambalanduwa and made good time to Moneragala. The one thing that kept us at a discomfort was the shape of the road. There was a bend at almost every 50 meters for most of the route. Considering this, we still made pretty good time

In Moneragala we had a pre-dinner. Our body clocks must've been immensely confused. Given the times we ate at and slept at, they must've thought we were in Australia. We spoke to the hotel owner and he warned us to be a bit careful when travelling from Buttala to Kataragama. The route went through Lunugamwehera and Yala sanctuaries and that time of the night is notorious for Elephants on the main road. He assured us the animals are tame and are used to human circulation. We were also asked to travel with headlights on to spot the animals on the road and to calmly stop the bike and wait patiently till the Elephant (if any) crossed the path.

We pondered amongst ourselves if we should take this route in the first place. We had the option of the longer route through Wellawaya which was also more towards in land. We finally agreed on sticking to the route we planned and to take the B35 through Yala-Lunugamwehera. We rode to the edge of Yala and took a break. We had no chance to stop for a break for the next 23 Kms. Our next stop had to be in Kataragama for pure safety reasons.

We got on the bikes and started the engines to complete this next phase. Needless to say we were all more than a bit nervous. However, we found comfort in the knowledge that we were not alone. We saw a couple of vehicles coming back from the road we were about to take. It’s a main road after all. Maybe we were being a bit too paranoid.

I shall remember this stretch of the trip for the rest of my life. The time was around 8.30 pm. The first 6 or 7 kilometers had sprinkles of civilization. There were occasional houses with electricity and the occasional local man clad in a sarong going home after farming. I remember growing in confidence and letting my nerves rest gradually as the kilometers burned out between our wheels. Needless to say i was watching the odometer from the pillion all the time.

8 kilometers in and all signs of civilization disappeared. It was pitch black all around us with only the sound of our two bikes riding side by side for company. The only source of light came from our headlights. This is when our nerves began to build up again. Although we were on two bikes I could feel the tension engulfing all four of us. And then all of a sudden Rimaz's headlight caught a moving figure. It took a split second for us to grasp that this was indeed an elephant on the pitch black road. We slowed our pace down. But before we could even think of what to do next, the elephant dutifully walked away from the road and into the bordering bushes. 

Adrenaline rushing, all our senses came to full life. We were on full alert to spot any more elephants on the

road. This is when we spotted some small lights flickering in the distance. My immediate guess was a bunch of fireflies. We slowed down just in time to realize that was FAR from the case. A massive heard of water buffaloes had come onto the road and now they were right upon us. We almost came to a complete halt and maneuvered the bikes as skillfully as possible between the buffaloes, hoping we wouldn’t excite them too much. I once read somewhere that the most dangerous animal in Yala for a human is not the Elephant, but the buffalo. As the bikes practically walked through the buffaloes, our senses could feel the sheer life of the heard surrounding us. The smell, the glistening skin, the sound of their bated breath made seconds feel like an eternity. Finally we managed to ride through them and escape to open road. Rimaz was pretty agitated. Every kilometer he was asking me 'Thawa keeyada? Thawa keeyada?'. As soon as we were about to exit the forest, we met two more elephants. But we spotted them from a distance and they too exited into the forest before we came too close.

10 minutes later, we saw the first couple of houses at the edge of the forest. The sight of civilization after that ordeal just cannot be explained. We were relieved beyond measure and rode to Kataragama to take our first break in what seemed like an eternity. That was easily one of the most exhilarating half hours ever. A point to note is that this is not as dangerous as I make it out to be in normal circumstances. But the timing made all the difference. This wouldn't have been as half as exhilarating if we had done this at 10 am. But 9 pm made all the difference. The animals being black didn't help matters either.

After regaining our wits, we rode uneventfully to Ambalanthota. We rode through Sri Lanka's next capital city and its many forays into modernization. The Hambanthota highway map looks like a little piece of Dubai. So much so that we had to check our map several times to see if we were on our way to Ambalanthota.

We checked in past 12 (again) to our guest house. Day 3 is done. We've covered 75% of the original route. Final day is upon us. With happier thoughts, we laid our heads down to rest.

Day 4: Ambalanthota to Colombo

As seems to be the pattern now, we woke up at about 9 am. We were by instinct taking it easy since we knew that the distance we had to cover was relatively short (less than 250 kms). The good news was that the bikes were in very good shape. So with that time saved, we went to the Ambalanthota junction to have breakfast. The bad news is, my read end was about to go on strike. 

After a non-parata breakfast, we got on the bikes to visit the final corner to be reached - Dondra Head. I've never been to Dondra Head before although i've gone past it countless times. And neither had anyone else if I remember correctly.

The traffic was unbelievable terrible. I suppose with Matara being one of the busiest cities in the South, this was to be expected. I soon began to miss the joys of riding on vacant and open roads in the North and East. The buses and the tuk tuks seemed to follow their own rules as they do in Colombo. But this was part of the package. So we patiently navigated to Dikwella where we stopped to have some king coconut to refresh ourselves. By about 1.30 pm we were able to reach Dondra Head and the iconic lighthouse at the Southern most point of Sri Lanka. Unlike Sangaman Kanda, Dondra Head is a popular tourist destination especially with the locals. We snapped a couple of pictures for our albums dutifully, walked among the cool sea water for about 20 minutes and got back on the bikes for the home stretch.

We stopped only a couple of times afterwards till we reached Colombo. We were just excited to reach Colombo and complete the full circle. We passed through Matara, Weligama, Galle, Benthota, Kalutara, Panadura and finally reached Colombo. We reached our workplace in Nawala at about 8.30 pm. Needless to say we were ecstatic at what we had just achieved.

Around the edge of Sri Lanka in 4 days covering all 4 corners and 1600 kilometers. And on two motor bikes. That's something all four of us will be proud of till the day we die.

On a closing note, if you plan to do this trip, please don't take this blog post as the gospel truth. I cannot condone or recommend some methods that we used as appropriate. Riding for 24 hours at a stretch and riding so late into the night is far from the recommended practice. We might even agree with some folk who will say that we were fools to attempt the Yala stretch that late in the night. This is merely a collation of how our hours passed. Best to be objective and plan your own trip according to your strengths and weaknesses.

We must place on record our gratitude to Shamitha Peiris - an ex colleague for lending us his bike. And to everyone else who supported us by lending helmets, jackets etc.

And to everyone else who said we couldn’t do this on a motorbike – Thank you! You made it possible J

I can be contacted on ceylontripper@gmail.com. More pictures can be found on my Flickr profile right here.

Until the next time then,

Miranga

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