Paradise for a Hiker

This picture was taken close to Haldummulla on A4 road. The two pointed mountains on the left are known as Balathoduwa and Gonmolli Kanda. Both are over 2000 metres high. The plateau on your right is Horton Plains and the valley in between is where you find Bambarakanda waterfall.

Balathoduwa and Gonmolli Kanda are visible from World’s End, if it is a clear day without heavy mist. If you look closer in the picture, you may see a smaller mountain in front of Balathoduwa. It is known as Wangedigala belonging to the same mountain range. It was used as a watch tower in the ancient times.

I wanted to show this picture because, what lies in front of you is a paradise for a hiker!

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

Closer to the Clouds

This beautiful picture was taken at the World's End of Horton Plains. This place is about 7000 feet above mean sea level and the precipice here is more than 3000 feet.

The clouds and the blue sky add extra beauty to the scenery seen faraway below.

Horton Plains

This is a unique place for hiking in Sri Lanka. The cool climate will add spice to this picturesque venue. In Sinhala this is known as 'Maha-Eliya'.

There are many routes to this place and more famous ones are via Nuwara Eliya and Haputhale. This is situated aound 7000 feet above sea level, so easily it becomes the highest plain in Sri Lanka. You can reach here by train as well. It is only 7km to the plain from Pattipola Station.

There are three camp sites which can be reserved from the Department of Wild Life. All three sites are really good and I recommend you the one closer to Chimney Pool, which is one of the best camping sites I have ever been.

The total area of the plain (Nature Reserve) is more than 25 sq.km and most area is covered with rich coarse grass. Also there are good amount of forest patches everywhere. These are full of typical short trees with small leaves accustomed to windy and cold climates here. The undergrowth is very thick and walking in these forests is not easy. The same forests and grass land are home for many wild animals

There is no limit to beautiful places that you can visit here. Some of the prominent locations are listed below but there are many more.

1. World's End (a precipice with over 1000m drop)
2. Baker's Falls
3. Kirigalpoththa Mountain Trail
4. Thotupola Mountain Trail

In simple words, Horton Plains is a paradise for hikers!

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.