Dolosbage

Above photo was taken from Dolosbage mountain range. It is situated in the boundary of Central Province adjoining Kegalle District of Sabaragamuwa Province. You can reach here via Dedugala or Nawalapitiya.

The highest peak of this mountain range is known as Kabaragala which is over 4,500 feet high.

For more sky views, visit - Skywatch Friday

Tea Country

This picture was taken near Kotagala, between Ginigathhena and Thalawakele.

Towards Welimada

This picture was taken on the way to Welimada from Nuwara Eliya. (A5 road)

More from Thalawakele

This picture was taken somewhere close to Thalawakele. Note the little bungalow at the bottom left corner.

On the Way to the Falls

This scenery was captured on my way to Dunsinane Sheen Waterfall. Click the image for better resolution.

Devon

Devon is another famous waterfall in Sri Lanka.

It is situated close to St. Clair Waterfall of Thalawakele. In fact like St. Clair, you can view this picturesque sight from A7 road (Avissawella – Nuwara Eliya).

The fall is more than 300 feet high and it is formed of a tributary of River Mahaweli, known as Kothmale Oya.

Ginigathhena

There are many routes to enter Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. A7 road via Ginigathhena Pass is one of them. This particular picture was taken at Ginigathhena.

The Goddess of Knowledge

This is the upper part of Dunsinane Sheen Waterfall taken from the top of the bridge. There is a Hindu temple (Kovil) built just adjacent to the falls and the most interesting part is the statue of Goddess Sarasvathi, in front of the falls. The small but intricate statue brings a sacred value to this awesome scenery.

Anyone who is interested to know how this waterfall got its Scottish name, you may refer to this interesting article.

Dunsinane Sheen Waterfall

This lovely waterfall is situated close to a little town known as Punduluoya. To reach here, I traveled from Thalawakele to Thavalamthenne (New Kothmale Town) and turned towards Dunsinane Estate after Punduluoya.

For some reason I liked the long name of the waterfall and wanted to visit this place. Usually long names are customary in Sri Lanka. There is another estate known as Sheen Estate in the same area. So may be it was named after both estates.

The fall has two sections – above the road and below the road. The combination of two waterfalls creates one of the most spectacular sceneries in Sri Lanka.

The Little Hut

This picture was taken on the way to Alagalla. Hope you can see the little hut in the tea estate?

It’s a Long Way to Go

The hike just started... Hope I can see where it leads to? This picture was taken during one of my hikes in Bandarawela.

Three hundred and sixty five days ago I wrote this post and that was my first one!

Tea Factory

Sri Lanka is famous for tea. Most of the tea come from the hill country of Sri Lanka as the geography and climate is ideal to produce the best in quality tea leaves. The tea was introduced by the British in the 19th century and it is popularly known as Ceylon Tea even nowadays. You can read more about Ceylon Tea in this link.

Tea estates and tea factories are common sights in the hill country and most of the hiking routes run through these tea estates. If you are lucky you can always hitch a ride in a tea truck rather than walking. It is interesting to stay a couple of days in a tea estate and learn the entire process of preparing tea for exports starting from plucking leaves.

The above picture of a tea factory was captured in Watawala area.

You can read more about the life of a tea planter here (written by Cerno) and some interesting memoirs of a tea planter in this link (written by Sigma).

The Road to Lipton's Seat

This is a magnificent location close to Haputhale and Bandarawela. This is situated about ten kilometres from Haputhale in Dambethenna. The same location can be reached from Bandarawela as well via Nayabedda Estate. It is undoubtedly one of the best viewing points of Sri Lanka.

It is told that on a clear day, a visitor can see 5 provinces of Sri Lanka. The panaromic view is out of this world and truly pleasing. Even on an average day you can see endless territory towards South, East and South West of Sri Lanka from this point.

World's End to Belihul Oya via Nagrak Estate

This will be a memorable hike for any explorer. The reverse of the same also can be tried but will be quite difficult due to steep ascend. The entire hike is about 20km.

Right at the top of World's End (Which is in Horton Plains) there is a small path that leads further upwards. Soon this footpath will start to descend rapidly down the slope through thick undergrowth. Some places you may have to move on your knees. After about 4km of difficult track you will reach Nagrak (Nanperial) Estate.

From Nagrak there is a road down to Belihuloya but any hiker can select various short cuts through the tea estate. Nagrak to Belihuloya via the road is about 15km.

It took a full day for me for the entire descend and one of the most interesting was to see how the climate and vegetation change from Worlds End to Belihuloya.

Good to check the path with Department of Wild Life since the worlds end area is within the nature reserve and there are restrictions imposed recently for some of the routes.

Ohiya to Kalupahana via Devil's Staircase

This is an exciting hike route which takes an entire day but I would suggest readers to take more than one day for this route and try camping out for one night. This will give more time to enjoy the hike and to admire the breathtaking beauty all the way down.

The entire track is about 20km. There is a road (Actually 4WD or Jeep track) from Ohiya railway station to Kalupahana on the A4 road. This is the same road you travel from Ohiya to Horton Plains but there is a 'Y' junction after about 5km. The upper road goes to the plains and the lower road directs you to Kalupahana via Udaveriya Estate.

At Udaveriya you will come to the infamous 'Devils Staircase' (Yakage Padipela in Sinhala) which has a very steep descend. You can cut across tea estates and explore short cuts but you have to be careful not to lose your path. In the process you will come across number of small streams of water which are actually small tributaries of Belihuloya. You can camp either at Udaveriya or further down closer to Kalupahana. I once camped on top of Bambarakanda falls and that was an experience of its own!

The view throughout the hike is simply amazing and I particularly prefer the wonderful sight of Bambarakanda falls and the panaromic view of the hills with entire Southern Province in the background!

Lush Green Hills of Bandarawela

Sri lanka is famous for tea and the hill country is full of tea estates since colonial era. Lush green tea estates covering a mountain range is a glamorous sight.

Most of the hiking routes of the hill country go through these tea estates. The hike from Horton to Belihul Oya over the world's end and one from Ohiya to Bambarakanda falls are some examples. Most hikers will find shorter paths to their destination by cutting across a huge tea estate.