View from the Edge

This view was captured from top of Diyaluma after reaching the edge of bedrock.

Towards the Edge

This photo was taken, while we walking towards the edge of Diyaluma Waterfall.
A breathtaking view of Koslanda can be seen from the edge of the waterfall.

Diyaluma

Diyaluma is the second tallest waterfall in Sri Lanka. At over 700 feet, it is second only to Bambarakanda.

The road to Diyaluma, is as beautiful as the waterfall. The waterfall is formed by Poonagala Oya, a tributary of Kirindi Oya, which meets the sea at Bundala.

There are many hiking routes and camping locations beyond the waterfall and you can climb to the top of the waterfall as well. But you need to be careful, as this area belongs to the wild. There is a high chance of close encounters with a herd of wild elephants along these tracks.

Sunset in the Mountains

This picture was taken near Uda Diyaluma around 6pm.

We went pass Diyaluma falls on A4 and turned to a gravel road. Then climbed about 2 km along a footpath through the forest and reached here. We walked further and reached a point above Uda Diyaluma falls and camped there overnight.

Faraway, we can see Balathoduwa and Gonmollikanda.

This is one of the best area for hiking and camping in Sri Lanka.

For more sky views, visit - Skywatch Friday

Kirigalpoththa Next Step

Dear All,

There are more people into hiking. I made many like minded friends over the past few years through hiking.
So I thought of expanding Kirigalpoththa to the next level with the help of a few friends.

If anyone willing to come to Sri Lanka and experience a bit of adventure via hiking and camping, we are ready to help you. Just go through our Join Us page and ask for details.

Yes, we are a bit of a small community now.

Best,
K

Uda Diyaluma

Diyaluma is the second tallest waterfall in Sri Lanka after Bambarakanda. Remember I told you that, there are many hiking routes in an around this area.

You can discover many smaller waterfalls on top of Diyaluma formed by Poonagala Oya. This is one of the more beautiful ones situated just above Diyaluma. We call it Uda (Upper) Diyaluma Falls.

Enchanting Forest

This is another photo from the cloud forest of Sri Pada reserve. Isn't it magical to wander in these forests?

Lakegala

This is a super destination for hikers. Lakegala is situated in Knuckles Mountain Range close to a very remote village called Meemure. The above picture was taken from that village. As per the legend, Ravana, a mythical king of Sri Lanka used this mountain as a landing strip for his aircraft.

Once I tried this with a bunch of friends but failed just below 200 feet from the top. The last bit has an incline of around 70-80 degrees and climbing that stretch is really tricky.

You can read about that adventure through the blogs of Halik, Indi, Meg and Jerry.

Trail

This picture was captured somewhere close to Negombo. A few kilomtres from the main airport of Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, an epic Trail, which was started on the 1st of July has now completed two thirds of its journey. It is a walk right across Sri Lanka to collect US$ 2million to build a Paediatric Cancer Ward in Jaffna Hospital.

You can see more information here.

Tall Trees

This picture was taken somewhere close to Raththota, during my recent hike to Knuckles Range

More from Punchi Lokanthaya

Above picture was taken from Punchi Lokanthaya or Mini world’s End of Pitawalapathana, Knuckles Range.

You get to see a wide range of area from this point and it is one of the best points to view the beauty of Knuckles Range, Sri Lanka’s largest mountain range.

More photos are uploaded here.

127 Hours

Have you seen the film, 127 hours? I remembered it while jumping over this vertical crevice with the trapped boulder between the walls of rock.

The picture was taken at mini 'Worlds End' of Knuckles Range.

First Rays of Sunlight

This picture was taken from Lower Ohiya. I had an interesting stay there for few days and managed to find out one of the shortest path to Horton Plains from A4 road via Udaveriya Estate.

You can check out more pictures of this journey thro' Anjana’s Blog.

To see more scenic images, explore this wonderful site - Scenic Sunday.

Steps

This picture of paddy fields were captured from the top of Alagalla.

Click the picture to see terraced paddy fields.

More interesting photos, taken during the climb are stored here.

To see more scenic images, explore this wonderful site - Scenic Sunday.

The Mountain

This is how Adam's Peak looks from the trailhead of Nallathanni route. The total distance to the top is about 6km.

More from Sara

I am attaching complete set of photos from Sara Ella (Falls), here.

One of the most remarkable things about the falls is that you can go inside the rock (a cave) and stay underneath the falls. Have a look at this picture, and you can see the cave with people underneath the falls. The cave is quite spacious and about 20 people can be accommodated there.

Ira Sevaya

I climbed Adam's Peak on the New Year Day and was on top of the mountain on the 2nd morning.

Even tough I had climbed the mountain several times; I had never seen the phenomenon known as 'Ira Sevaya' - Service of the Sun. This time I was very lucky to see this dramatic display of the rising sun.

Ira Sevaya is the rise and fall of the sun just before the sun rise. People believe that the sun is worshipping the mountain. Actually this is a natural occurrence that could be seen from other places too. Due to the unique location of the mountain and the altitude of the mountain top, there is a better possibility of seeing this natural effect from Adam’s Peak than other places. This natural effect is explained very well in this article here.

It was a rainy day on the 1st and it was very misty through out the climb. We were at the top by 5am and the entire mountain was covered with thick clouds. So we had very little expectations of seeing the sunrise. But suddenly around 5.30, just before the sunrise, the clouds and the thick mist cleared out and we were very fortunate to see this fantastic display of sun rise.

Sera

This beauty was found in the northern part of Knuckles Range about 8km from Illukkumbura. The falls is known as Sera Ella and it is one of the many scenic places belongs to Thelgamu Oya.

There is a road that goes very close to this falls and you have to walk about 300m down a foot path to reach there. We did it in the hard way as we walked along Thelgamu Oya and on the way we found another waterfall (Upper Sera Ella / Small Sera Ella) and passed many attractive places down the stream.

All these butterflies were found during that jaunt.

To see more scenic images, explore this wonderful site - Scenic Sunday.

Mini World's End

‘World’s End’ in Sri Lanka usually means a high precipice. The one at Horton Plains is the more famous one. In addition there are many mini world’s ends in most parts of the Central Highlands.

Usually these places get misty very easily and sometimes you may not see anything other than the white clouds over the edge. To me the real feeling of world’s end is when it is full of mist. But many people like to see it on a clear day. So you can see the spectacular scenery below and over.

This picture was taken at the mini world’s end of Pitawalapathana. You can get to that rocky ledge and witness an incredible view of Knuckles Range and beyond.

To see more scenic images, explore this wonderful site - Scenic Sunday.

Pathana

This photo is from Knuckles Range. The place is famous as Pitawalapathana. Dikpathana (Pronounced as ðIkpʌƟənə) is another name to the same plain.

'Pathana' is a local name for grassy plain, usually seen in mountainous regions.

You can view Maningala as the backdrop here.