Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol… – Meemure & Narangamuwa

“Sampath, Sampath; get up, get up. You’re talking in your dream.” – My mother shakes me. I try to open my eyes and they are glued to the eye sockets.
“Who’s Lakegala?” – She keeps at it.
“What?” – I can’t make head nor tail of this.
“You were talking in your dream calling Lakegala. Who’s that?” – She is not about to give up on my dream talking.
I start giggling like a kid who got caught with Candy in his pajamas.
“What are you giggling at? Who’s Lakegala?” – She’s now highly suspicious.
“What’s going on” – My brother and grandma join the fun.
“Amma, Lakegala is not someone. It’s a rocky mountain in Meemure” – I can hardly get the words out.
“He’s crazy. Going around the country and now talking to them in his dreams not letting us get a decent night’s sleep.” – Typical grandma too wants big chunk of this pie.
“Amma, how can a girl be called Lakegala” – My brother wants to make a mockery out of this now. However little does he know that I always refer to Lakegala as her.
“Get back to sleep. Make sure you say Ithipiso Gatha before you do” – Mum warns and I duly oblige amid my hysterical laughs.

“Bambu Sema Thena Thena Gal Kanu Seduna
Sembu Sema E Matha Olugedi Thenuna
Thembu Diya Sema Anga Dahadiya Galana
Bambu Gala Medin Api Meemure Yanna”

“Epita Konata Kandupana Keleya
Mepita Konata Lakgala Meemureya
Desiya Dekak Usa Ethi Gomareya
Hondai Parakas Laka Meemureya”

Belu Belu Sathara Wata Us Kandu Getaya
Kandukara Idamwala Enasal Pala Baraya
Pasekin Yodayeku Men Ethi Lak Galaya
Me Hema Medin Aththe Meemuraya”

Nava mama’s voice was still echoing in my ear when I went back to my dream world. Gosh I miss Lakegala that much.

—I just typed up a recent conversation in my house late in the night with my family. Sampath is what my family and neighbors call me at home if you wonder who Sampath was.—

I left you in Kandy with my last report and hopefully you’ve read it by the time this comes online. I was furious with my friend Dimuthu when he got late to arrive in Fort and Tony and I had to leave him to find his own way to Kandy. Fortunately we managed to have a fruitful time in Kandy visiting Garrison Cemetery and National Museum, Kandy.

So Dimuthu came to Kandy around 10.30am and Tony and I joined him at the station. I’ve my bunnies (not mine actually) at the front garden of the station and I always make it a point to go see them possibly with some carrots too. Unfortunately this time I didn’t come across any vegetable vendors so had to visit them empty handed.

To my both disappointment and amazement, there were new bunnies. I was frantically searching for my old fellows without success. What happened to them? I had no idea and didn’t wanna check with those rude tickets issuing people at the station. Hope nothing bad had befallen on them. There were a bunch of new fellows very cute and I felt like cuddling them to me. Tony practically had to drag me out and we came to the bus stand looking for a Mahiyangana-bound bus. There was one filled to the brim and almost bursting at seams but we had no choice but to hop in squeezing in between sweating passengers.

I was still having that darn fever in me and found it very difficult to stand but there were no seats reserved for sick people no matter how much I tried to find one. The bus getting cramped like a lorry full of sand and conductor kept pushing and shouting to go back and forth. The fact that we’d not had any decent breakfast let alone lunch didn’t improve things. After a lot of huffing puffing we reached Hunnasgiriya as tired as racing horses panting nineteen to the dozen.

I called Nava mama but he was at the power plant overseeing the restored hydro power project with the help of Ana and Wije and his wife said Upali (one of their cousin son) is there waiting for us. So we went to Disage Kade (Disa’s Shop – this is where Meemure and Kaikawala vans stop) to have some lunch and met Upali too.

We ordered lunch and gobbled it down hungrily and I had a handful of tablets to go with it. Yuck yuck yucky… All of a sudden my phone started singing just before I put it flight mode. Dana was calling and I was wondering what it could be.

“Hey Dana, what’s up?” – That’s me.
“How are you feeling? Heard you suffering from fever” – Gosh how on earth he knows.
“I’m ok buddy, now in Hunnasgiriya getting ready to go to Meemure” – I couldn’t hide my surprise.
“Are you serious? Going to Meemure when you are down with fever? You’re nuts man” – Couldn’t agree with him more.
“I had to Dana, coz I can’t miss out on Meemure” – A darn fever wasn’t going to hold be back from visiting my beloved Meemure.
“Gosh, good luck then” – I knew I was gonna need so much of that.

Afterwards we bought some provisions for the journey (I was kicking later myself for not buying some biscuits) and got into the tuk-tuk with Upali putting my phone on Flight mode for the next 80 hours (you gotta believe me)

I had everything planned and our first stop was Knuckles Conservation Center (KCC) at Deanston for the Dothalugala trail. I had done Mini World’s End trail before and had no intention of doing that again. Tony kept saying that he’s going back to Meemure after more than two and a half decade (now you can guess his age coz it’s classified info) and was mesmerized by the roads.

Tour Highlights:

1. Dothalugala Nature Trail
2. Toddy Tapping
3. Nitro Caves Trail
4. Trekking along the Na Ela from Nitro Cave
5. Re-awakening Meemure – Re-stored Hydro Power Project
6. Meemure – Reassa Trail
7. Reassa – Narangamuwa Trail
8. Narangamuwa – Meemure Circular Trail
9. Alternative Energy – Dendro Power Plant

Day 01

Listening to Tony’s old stories we were soon at the KCC and got down to buy the tickets and leave our baggage coz we couldn’t risk leaving our bags inside the tuk-tuk. We bought tickets from the friendly officer there and left our baggage inside his office. Fortunately there were only a couple of hikers already on the Dothalugala trail so we were pretty much alone.

Dothalugala Trail

The trail head is about 500m away from the KCC towards Meemure and we decided to take the tuk-tuk and arrived at the gate. (Be warned: if the gate is locked just don’t panic or run back to the office. Just pull it hard and it’s bound to unlock itself. On our way back we had a funny experience with the gate).

There was the sign giving the distance to the camp site and cabin (2km and 1.8km respectively) and we managed to get the tuk-tuk onto this track as well. We found that he path right up to the Dothalugala cabin (1.8km) is easily accessible by a tuk-tuk and no problem with a Jeep or double cab. I really can’t tell you if it’s possible to do it with a van but I see why not.

The winds were coming from all the directions trying to push us away and we instantly felt so chilly as if we were in N’Eliya. Just remember when you were in World’s End amid strong winds and the experience is very similar there. We were hugging ourselves trying to retain what’s left of our body warmth. The scenery around, let me tell you, is absolutely a treat to the eyes. It will soothe your mind and body as if you were meditating or doing Yoga.

The mist was coming down from the top of Dothalugala Mountain enveloping us and then flying away towards the mountains afar. The sky was in two colors, slate grey towards the Dothalugala and bright blue away from it, what a contrast. We kept snapping away while Upali followed us in the tuk-tuk ever so slowly. Around halfway through, we decided to leave it behind as we wanted to feel the surrounding and take hundreds of pics not bothering with the vehicle.

To my surprise we found that our driver Upali, being a Meemure fellow, had never been to Dothalugala. Last time, Chanaka our then tuk-tuk driver said he did the Mini World’s End trail for the first time with us. It was so strange and maybe they don’t value things like that as much as we do since they are living in those areas.

The path was grass covered and a leech or two kept disturbing us (we didn’t know the reception party was waiting patiently at Dothalugala upper trail). Tony kept talking about Prince a.k.a. Kumaraya (by now you know him who’s suffering from leech phobia) and he’d have run all the way to Meemure had he come across a leech or two.

As given correctly on the sign board at the entrance, we were soon at a small stream which ran across the path and just beyond that we saw the camouflage structure painted in dark green which was the cabin. Fortunately nobody had booked it so it was all alone. We decided to have some water and fill our containers at the waterline there. The board giving GPS coordinates said the altitude is 1177m.

Cabin consists of two parts; the kitchen is separate from the sleeping areas where 12 people can stay. It was amid a tiny patch of forest so pretty much hidden inside. About another 50m away, you come to an opening where the trail is divided into three just like a “Thrishul”. The left and middle tracks join one another making a circular trail just like Mini World’s End. The left one is 2.3km in length up to the top and the middle one is 2.2km (making the total length 4.5km) to the top.

The right path takes you to the camp beds about 100m away and around midway folks into two making the left one taking you to the camp beds while the right one takes you to Bird Watching deck. This bird watching deck ends up at a waterfall (which I duly named Dothalugala Ella) with a natural pool for a cool dip.

We chose the middle path and went up through the forest patches and bushes on and off. The path was infested with leeches and Tony was initially protected by the denim jeans but later he found a few leeches underneath that. Somehow or the other, he had gotten the ability to separate leeches gender wise at the end of the journey. According to his findings, he was mostly bitten by female leeches for some reason or the other. Dimuthu was the most affected by leech attacks making his shoes a pool of blood but for some strange reason I was spared maybe I was leading the track all along.

We kept going higher and higher passing breath taking views of the mountains afar and tiny cascades flowing across the path. The path was marked every 100m making it easy to know how far you’ve come and how much more to go. After about an hour, we reached the top. It was nothing much but a small clearing covering all around with thick forest. They had put up GPS coordinates there. The altitude said 1407m. So it was a climb of 230m over 2.2km. Pretty steady one might think.

Then it was time to come down along the other path as there was nothing much we could do amid the forest and thickening mist. We were practically chilled to the marrow and didn’t wanna hang around anymore. When we were coming down, we passed heavy landslides which had taken huge rocks, trees and chunks of earth downhill.

Tony was pretty scared and wanted to cross that bit fairly quickly. We took about another 45mins to get back to the “Thrishul” junction and I was frantically searching for the waterfall. While Tony, Dimuthu and Upali were buys plucking leeches, I took the right path towards camping beds and it forked into two about 50m away and the right hand side said bird watching deck. Further along, there was a sign saying Natural Pool 500m and I could faintly hear the water hitting the rocks. My heart leaped and I rushed through to find this beautiful waterfall coming down creating a grand base pool ideal to have a cool dip on a hot summer day.

All the others missed this thanks to leeches. I was very happy to see this beauty and duly named her Dothalugala Falls. Then it was about another 1km to the tuk-tuk where we had left it. I wish we had taken it further up making the downhill journey easy. We noticed that the tuk-tuk had moved about 20ft and was wondering what had come over it. By the time we reached the gate, it was closed with a padlock.

I was beginning to worry coz it was starting to get dark and we were long overdue to arrive in Meemure as Nava mama was waiting for us. I ran to the KCC about 500m away to find the office is closed. Oh my gosh, how on earth we were gonna get the gate open and take the tuk-tuk out, what happened to our bags, I was near fainting. There were officers’ quarters across the road and they were empty. I ran here and there knocking on doors and windows but no one was there. I felt as if I’m acting in a ghost movie. I ran again to the back of the main building and there was a shower stall and to my amazement and annoyance, the fella who issued us tickets was brushing his teeth. He’d been in the toilet all that time and told me he had brought the bags to the bungalow and all we had to do was pull hard on the padlock and it would come off.

Feeling sheer frustrated, I ran back to the gate pulled hard on the padlock and away it came like a hot knife through butter. We came back to the KCC, collected our baggage and hit the road towards Meemure. It was going past 5.30pm we had to hurry coz we still had more than 25km to get there and the darkness can be pretty hazardous on that road.

Having travelled about 5km, Upali stopped the tuk-tuk all of a sudden to find that the left back tire had got a puncture. Fortunately, the spare wheel was there and another 15 mins time we were away finally leaving all the bad luck behind us.

At the KCC

What a wonderful song; never heard it though

The entrance…

Just getting started

Top of Dothalugala was covered with mist right throughout

Towards Loolwatte, beyond these mountains are the Kaikawala and Meemure villages

Little did we know that this was gonna be the hikes of our lives totaling 100+km in four days…

Unbelievable scenery all along

The sky towards the valley was very blue with artistic clouds

Tony shooting his next movie. (Flying wihtout Wings)

Unfortunately, the wood getting rotten

Through the dense forest

Please adhere to this wherever you go

Getting closer to the Cabin premises

The waterway just before the cabin

There it is… slightly above is the kitchen

Peeping through the window into the cabin

GPS at the cabin

This has some valuable info – Click Image to Enlarge

The kitchen door wide open so I decided to have a peek in search of something hot

Unique experience

The Opening after the cabin. See the “Thrishul” shaped tracks. The left and middle connect to create the circular trail and the right trail with stones takes you to camp beds and the Dothalugala falls

We chose the middle path; according to this the right one

Beginning of a 4.5km leech-infested trek

The forest welcome us with both hands

Tony, Dimuthu and Upali bringing the rear. This was his first-ever Dothalugala trek

There hadn’t been many visitors lately

The kingdom of mountains

Anyone there in the burrow?

Different shapes; different sizes

Just like a perimeter wall protecting the whole area

My favourite places to picture…. young paddy fields captured from almost top of Dothalugala

Tiring journey but Mist and fresh air kept us revived

Tony trying to squeeze the dust out of “Dum Gedi”

Tiny cascades were coming down all around

The Dothalugala sloping towards KCC

Trying to hide from us

The Dothalugala sloping towards KCC

Rising majestically and uncontested

The color contrast

It must be close now coz fever is getting at me big time

Grapes??? Not a chance but like that green

They’re panting

The last bit before the top

45 Finally at the top but all around is covered by the trees and hardly any gap

We reached slightly behind our schedule

Getting down in a hurry fighting leeches all the way

Land slides in side the forest

See the damage?

Our path was washed away and Tony trying his gymnastic skills to cross over

Climbing down were easier

Wow…

Mountains on the way down

Couldn’t get enough of this blue sky

Hi beauty

Leech attacks while Tony was deducing the gender balance among leeches

The right trail at the beginning

It forked into two and the right one leading pass bird watching deck to the waterfall

Good advice

Eurekaaaaa!!!!

Inviting pool

She’s a biggie

Not much water but enough to keep me interested

Pretty cold

Flowing downhill

Enough to have three tents

Bidding farewell

Icing on Dothalugala

Getting towards the locked gate and all the chaos

At the KCC, while searching for somebody frantically, I couldn’t help taking these

At the KCC

Ticket office

Golf balls on trees???

Time to go, getting dark by the second

We reached Meemure around 7.30pm and to my happiness Nava Mama’s house were illuminating with Electricity. Not Solar powered but by the re-stored hydro power plant. What can more I could’ve wished than lighting those people’s lives? I felt like jumping in the air and shouting from the top of Lakegala and say that we did it. Lakdasun forum helped bring this issue to Ana and Wije and as a result those innocent people got benefited. What a feat?

Nava mama telling his signature stories in the light now…. No more candles or dim-looking solar powered lights

Nava mama came and gave us a warm welcome and his wife had prepared our meals and got worried us being late. After a quick wash we started chatting with Nava mama and he was very grateful for Ana and Wije for helping them out at that crucial time. Tony got very well along with Nava mama and they started talking about good old times about three decades before how the village was and all.

The time flew listening to their stories coz they were so interesting and I was practically hooked. It was during this conversation Tony asked if I knew how the drummers at Perahera got their beats or rhythms for which I had no idea. Then he described in the past those drummers had no particular rhythm to play their instruments and went on to reveal how the Thammatam players and later drummers (the chubby one, probably Yak Beraya) and later Horane players learned their beats. If you meet Tony, don’t forget to ask about this and the story related to this. Hopefully he’ll feel obliged to confide in you.

I then called Lasantha, my friend who was due to arrive on the following day, giving him directions and Upali’s contact number. I asked Nava mama to send Upali around 11am to Hunnasgiriya to pick him.

Finally around 11.30pm, we decided to call it a day and hit the bed. We had planned a long day for the following day and wanted to get our heads down as soon as we can for as long as possible. I was so happy that we could use real electricity coz I can remember last time we had to use the washroom in the candle light. We had to sit in the dark in his Verandah listening to his grand stories but those were things in the past. I hope before sleeping that those things will remain in the past and not bother them ever.

 

Day 02

Toddy Tapping

Tony usually gets up very early and I too joined him and the morning sun was up and fresh air mixed with bright sunlight was leaking through the window and the door hinges. We could hear birds chirping and leaves rustling in the morning wind. Such a relief to be among the nature away from the concrete jungle. The mobile that usually keeps ringing was at peace finally sleeping next to me on flight mode. I’m sure he too would’ve enjoyed this quietness away from yelling via him all the time.

I got up and came out to see Nava mama busy at work. He’d found a pot and was busily tying a wire around it making sure to hold it in place. When I asked what it was for, he surprised me by saying that he’s gonna do some toddy tapping and I can take pics. I asked during my last visit if it was possible to see one of them and he’d remembered. How nice and I just go my camera and started snapping away. He got the razor sharp knife in a handmade sheath and put it on the small of the back tucking it firmly into his sarong.

The tree was just behind the house and Tony joined me in seeing this miracle. He went to the base of the tree and did the typical rituals and started climbing up along the pole (most of these are bamboos) tied to the trunk of the tree with creepers (not strings or ropes) and the toddy pot hanging in one arm. It was so scary and fascinating sight too and I couldn’t take my eyes off. For a second I forgot that I was supposed to take pics.

When he reached the top, he started clearing about chopping away the dead leaves and settled nicely on a branch of a tree. Then removed the previous morning bucket and started cutting away at the flower. It was like a half-cut cauliflower and looked very brown and polished due to continuous cutting. Then when he was satisfied with the work he’d performed on the flower, replaced the bucket under the flower which was there with the new one and covered it with a polythene sheet in order to stop flies getting into the pot and came down. Throughout the day the freshly cut flower will pour juice into the pot.

Meanwhile Tony was playing Miss Meemure with a long Kithula Mala placing it on his head like long haired African beauty. Then it was time for us to go and have our breakfast coz we had a long day ahead of us doing one of the very difficult hikes around Meemure.

Major incomes are generated by these

Garden fresh and we frequently had these…. Daiiiiiyaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Horn of a Wild Boar, very strong

Mouth watering

Early morning, busy at work

Getting ready

Way to go

Finally on top, had to run here and there to get a good clear shot

Clearing around

Cutting away at the flower

Bunch of ropes or a cauliflower cut in half???

Tying polythene cover around to protect from flies and bees

Everything ready

Everything done and dusted

The African beauty with her wavy hair…

Nitro Cave Trail

Having witnessed firsthand how to tap toddy trees, we started on our breakfast while Nava mama’s wife was busy getting something ready for our lunch. However, Nava mama protested saying it won’t be hot and fresh by the time we have it midday and instead asked for some flour dough to make Roti at the cave. This immediately appealed to all of us and Tony was a strong supporter of this and with all our votes, his wife had to give in but warned us not catching a stomachache by eating raw flour.

Nava mama wrapped it in a plastic sheet and plucked some fresh chilies you saw above along with tomatoes and onions to go with roti. A flat iron plate was also packed to cook roti and we were ready to go. We could’ve taken the tuk-tuk about a halfway through but decided walk instead along the road passing Kaikawala too.

Morning walk was so refreshing and we enjoyed every bit of it. Tony was getting friendly with all the dogs along the road and they chose to follow him at a safe distance with contempt. The concrete paved road right up to our breaking point passing Kaikawala (Barber shop) helped us immensely coz the strenuous bit was yet to come. Nava mama showed us the canal made by villagers that take water through the village to the hydro power plant. The side walls are fractured in places and need to be renovated sooner rather than later as precious water is leaking through the gaps.

We stopped by the sign saying the Meemure sub post office is nearby. Then walked passing Kaikawala School where they have till GCE OL. At the huge bridge of Kaikawala, we stopped by the “Kaikawala Falls” (named by us and many more waterfalls had to be named on our trek downhill along Heen Ganga) and Nava mama wanted to show off his rock sliding skills. To my horror, Tony’s camera fell on the rock and my heart skipped a beat. However, Dimuthu managed to fix the issue and got it back working to my relief. What’s point going there without a camera? Then Nava mama came down the rock surface of Kaikawala falls (about 20+ft) and swam away in the base pool.

This time I duly recorded the action and posted it on YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeLtBscfCbE&feature=em-upload_owner)

Afterwards, we stepped up our gear and walked and entered a cross road at the Kaikawala barber shop and went through the village passing paddy fields and people working in the scorching hot sun. Lakegala was watching us from afar and she looked happy to see me again. There were so many other mountains surrounding us and it all looked like protecting Meemure and Kaikawala from the wicked world outside.

The highest mountain in the Knuckles region Gombani could also be seen and just below her was the Belum Gala which Nava mama said that we could climb and now it’s in my never ending to-do-list. Either side of Gombani were Andirigala (at the bottom is Nava mama’s house), Kalawel Bokka, Appala Pathana, Hellena Gala (like a parrot head) and Lakegala standing tall like bodyguards of the Great King, Ravana. We reached Ma Oya and crossed over on to the other side which is Hunuketadegalaha Village (don’t twist your tongue trying to pronounce that) and found yet another waterfall about 100m upstream.

Such a great beauty flowing down and in the middle as if jumping up before falling down again. We couldn’t think of a better name than Hunuketadegalaha Falls… Sorry folks if it’s difficult to say. The terrain got so difficult afterwards and we kept pushing to the limits, especially the youngest fellow in our team didn’t show a bit tired. We then came to the Na Ela Junction where there four tracks meet. (Kalugala, Karambaketiya, Na Ela and Kaikawala via Hunuketadegalaha)

We took the left leading to Na Ela and soon as we turned there was this small house and a girl was making Jaggery out of toddy on the specially designed stove. Having refilled our water bottle and getting a much needed break we decided to take the track towards Nitro Cave. Passing a bunt we came to the Na Ela which goes downhill till she merges with Heen Ganga between Kaikawala and Meemure. This is where I felt like kicking myself for not taking anything, even some biscuits coz we were ravenous after a tiring walk but only the refreshing water of Na Ela was there.

Tony and I gave a water therapy for our battered legs while Dimuthu went in search of fish and prawns in the waterway without success. The wind was so comforting and there was this tiny waterfall about 15ft and you know the drill by now. She is now “Nitro Falls”, named by us. I felt like sleeping on the rock surface but we had a deadline to meet and we couldn’t waste anytime cooking our Roti here. So motivated by ever-growing hunger, we hit the last bit of our journey climbing up though the dense forest about 2-3km to the destination, Nitro Cave. The path hadn’t been used lately but still visible and Nava mama had more senses we could imagine so there was no fear of getting lost.

Finally, Eureka, the Cave was visible and we stepped on the gas. It was a huge cave jutting out of a rocky mountain and now occupied by many thousands of bats who got very angry by our intrusion. You can climb up and see the inside of the cave even though there’s nothing much other than hundreds of tons of bat excrement but the place looked lived on. There were a couple of sticks to help you get on to the rock slab from where you can see the mountains far away, especially my beloved Lakegala showing herself beautifully.

We came down and along the rocky path went a bit up and came across a huge wasp nest full of wasps and had to be careful not to arouse them. Finally we settled about 100m away where there was this tiny stream of water and got busy with our Roti making. Dimuthu and Nava mama got busy making a hearth with rocks while Tony got all the stuff out and started washing onions, tomatoes and chilies. If you wonder then what I was doing, just picturing all this was my duty and they were better at what they did and didn’t wanna be a nuisance.

We found some dry twigs and got the fire going and on top went the flat iron roti maker and Nava mama was busy breaking small balls out of the dough and spreading it evenly on the surface and putting it this side and the other nicely burning both sides and I was getting mighty hungry. Tony and Dimuthu started making our Salad with freshly cut onions, chilies and tomatoes and Nava mama had brought an orange to supplement lime and we were good to go. The lunch was superb and we tucked in like a pack of wolves and what a feast it turned out to be.

I managed to record a short video and uploaded it to YouTube and it’s here for you to check.

The tasty water made our thirst and tiredness vanish into thin air and we were ready to get back after about 10min break. It was one helluva hike and we were looking forward to the return journey when Nava mama surprised us by asking if we wanna take a different route to the village. I’d never dream of saying no, so was Tony and Dimuthu and we were soon on our way towards Na Ela where we were supposed to get along the Na Ela till we came up to Heen Ganga about 8km downhill.

You know who these are. In the middle is not a cowboy but our Nava mama

An aggressive water buffalo won’t let us pass. See the pinkish ears, but don’t think you can see the steam rising through the nostrils

Right across the road…

Katuwel Batu Hanging beauty

About 100m away… now lightened free of charge by Meemure Society

Nava mama showing us the man-made canal that takes water to the Hydro power plant… it needs restoration too as the bunt is fractured in many places leaking precious water

Mountains beyond Kaikawala

Gorgeous view

Kaikawala Falls

Base pool

Ma Oya going down…

The stuntman is back

Sliding down captured simultaneously recording

“How was it?”

The mountains in the horizon

Side view glance at Kaikawala Falls

Endless mountains with lush greenery

Heading towards Ma Oya crossing point

Here we are, water levels were low so crossing was no prob…. You can see pillars down which are the remains of a bridge yet to be built

Hunuketadegalaha Falls

Cool water helped us replenish our stocks

There she’s jumping in the middle

She’s small but gorgeous

A friendly person we met on the river bank

Endless mountains

What a contrast in colors

Gombani in the middle and towards her right slope is the Belum Gala

More majestic views

Na Ela Junction (Tony-Kalugala footpath through the forest// Nava Mama-Karambaketiya//Dimuthu-Na Ela//Me-Kaikawala)

Single-horned beast found at Na Ela

What a simple house; This is where we met that girl making Jaggery

I’m sure you recognize this…. the fella wearing this decided to abandon it

Jaggery stove made out of a barrel

Jaggery getting thicken ever so slowly

I suppose you can’t call this a Skeleton of a Butterfly

The bunt doesn’t have enough water to retain

There can’t be a beautiful mountain than her

Committing suicide… I removed the fella but he went back to the water… must’ve been let down by his wife…. (Tony, the animal specialist, confirmed this)

Na Ela crossing point

There’s the Nitro Ella, about 15ft

Not much water but enough to look nice

4-man reconnaissance team

Commander is checking the path ahead

Birdie nest

Hard climbing

A much relieved Tony looking flabbergasted at the cave

Nava mama, not a bit tired, carrying onto the cave

We made a Toy Red Indian with a feather and a mushroomy stick

The cave is jutting out of the rock

Wasps busy at work….

Climbed up Nava mama and Tony in the background busily picturing

Nava Mama’s skills helping to explore the unreachable

The ground is covered with sand mixed bat excrement with worms

Looking out of the gloom

The walls are all rocks

Getting down was yet another fiasco

Finally some breathing space

The rock carves in further

Met a similar fella at Morning Side too

Going further up looking for a place to make lunch

Finally all set up

The tiny water stream where we collected ours….

The fire is on fire and our dough is resting and onions and other stuff ready for chopping

Tony playing the chef….

Busy at work…. Nava mama very good at it

Can’t wait anymore….

All three busily doing the final touches….

Eat…..

United black ants carrying their share

Good bye…. got a long way back

Trekking along the Na Ela from Nitro Cave

I practically ran climbed hill and was back at Na Ela crossing point (near Nitro Falls) in record breaking time and gave my feet another cold water therapy. Couldn’t feel like taking them out, just wanted to lie down on the rock and let the nature envelope me with her arms. The rest of the crew came about 20mins later very sluggishly coz the tiredness has by now set in big time.

They too wanted a piece of that calmness and lied down heavily sighing deeply. We had by then done nearly 20km or more most of it hiking and felt dog tired. Nava mama said that we now have to walk downwards along the Na Ela and I felt happy but it was one of the hardest things to do as we had to keep on constant alert jumping from rock to rock and avoid boulders and obstacles and getting back in thorny jungle.

The walk reminded me of Grand Canyons in the US as the either side of the river rose huge rock boulders in various shades of brown. The water levels were pretty low but it was so hard to walk, we had to jump and we soon arrived at a massive earth slip along the Nitro Cave mountain right down to the river itself. It had carried a huge tree all the way and dumped on the river bed. All these had been due to the heavy rains in last January which moved the massive concrete bridge at Kaikawala by 6 inches.

Suddenly Nava mama spotted something in a shallow rock pool and was trying to take it out of the water when we saw what it was. That horrible looking white skin covered bag like thing had belonged to a wild boar mother. We then saw blood had trickled down a flat rock where apparently she was butchered by the poachers or hunters. They had erected a cross bar where they had made a fire supposedly roasting the fellow. They had removed those fetuses (we counted 6 in all sticking out like balloons out of it) and dumped in the water.

Nava mama and Tony with the help of Dimuthu took it out of the water using a stick and left it on the cross bar as it would’ve spoiled the water. That was such a horrible thing to look at but I took some pics and was pondering whether to put it on the report or not. I decided to put it anyway and hopefully admin will decide if it should be censored or not. Just after that was the Sri Lankan Grand Canyons as we called it and was a magnificent thing to look. It made it all the more difficult for us to move to the other side but we managed it with a great difficulty.

Passing that we came to a somewhat larger waterfall and the name given to her was “Na Ella”, even though Tony suggested “Samanala Ella” coz there were plenty of them but I wouldn’t have any of it. She was about 50ft in height and unreachable via a path. Only option is to walk up or climb down along the Na Ela. There were flocks of butterflies on the ground and was wondering if they were feeding something from the earth.

We then had to abandon the river as the going was very hard and Nava mama led us through the forest full of thorny plants. We had to be very careful so as not to slip into the river about 100ft below. It was pretty dark inside the forest as sun had no way of penetrating that tree cover. We then saw another waterfall about 20ft but couldn’t get up close. The name came effortlessly (now I’m very good at it) as “Katu Ella”. If you wonder why Katu Ella, we usually say “Maara Kattak” for something very difficult. It was something similar getting to her so the name stuck really well.

Another waterfall was round the corner, would you believe it? I was fast running out of names and had to come up with something fast. It was in two parts totaling about 8ft in height and “Galpoththa Ella” seemed a better name. Tony said if we continue for some more, we’re bound to run out of names pretty soon. Afterwards, to our relief, we got onto a nearby paddy field running parallel to the river and the going got easier. However when we entered the abandoned paddy field, we barely saw another huge falls, around 40ft around the river bend but couldn’t see her properly and no name was required.

We joined the Heen Ganga crossed over to the next side where people of Kaikawala busily working on their lush paddy fields. I noticed that the greenery of these fields is not so lush as much as Meemure. I can’t think of why but it was very noticeable.

The earth slip from Nitro Cave mountain

Massive tree taken for a ride

Strenuous hike downhill

Rocks in various sizes

There’s the ugly one we got out of water. Dried blood marks are still visible

We just left it there. This is where they had apparently roasted the fellow

SL Grand Canyon

These rocks might have come crawling with the flood waters in Jan

Top of Na Ella….

Here she is…. not full flow

The reason why we thought of calling her Samanala Ella

Pretty high even without high heels

Inviting base pool

The Trio

Leaving her behind

Nava mama looking for something

Plenty of tiny cascades

Katu Ella

Up close barred by those branches

Top part zoomed in from far away

Time to move on

Galpoththa Ella

Both parts in view…. tiny one

This had once been an Anicut

Below the Anicut, we took to the paddy fields from the corner left

Snake’s

We missed that big waterfall just

Ready to cross over Heen Ganga

Lush green

Overhead view of far fields

Simply awesome

Found it a bit less grandeur than Meemure

Re-awakening Meemure – Re-stored Hydro Power Project

Walking along the lush paddy fields revived our sapped energy. The sun was going down below Andirigala and Appala Pathana mountains and I wanted to hurry and go see the power plant as I had strict instructions to take pics of the renovation work and do a short video from Ana. I didn’t wanna disappoint them at any rate.

We reached the point where the used water coming out of the power house via a tunnel and there was plenty of water gushing out in a mad rush. I was very happy to see the state of the power house and Nava mana in a humorous gesture switched off the main switch joking now they don’t have power and switched on again saying now they do.

It showed how relieved that person was. It was running smoothly and we didn’t feel any vibration in the plant and they had used more screws and bolts to strengthen the whole machine. Meemure society has got hold of a boy (Jayasinghe Banda) who’s willing to do the night shift at the power house for Rs. 4000/-. It’s surprising how small that amount is but that boy had volunteered saying he doesn’t need much as it’s something he’s doing for the village. He lives about 1km uphill where the path to the power plant starts.

I took pics of the plant and did the short video too which you can see here:

Afterwards, it was time to go back to Nava mama’s place for the night. We still had to climb the hill to get to the foot path where the main tank of the power house is built. It’s about 50ft in length and over 10ft in width and a height of another 10+ft. It retains the water and sends to the power house via a pipeline about 28cm in diameter. Unlike in all the other plants I’ve seen, this is a half inch PVC pipeline whereas most of the power houses use iron pipelines. The path the pipeline is laid is supported by concrete pillars but we saw at certain places there a lose points which might endanger the pipeline.

We then walked up the path towards the main road and met the boy, Jayasinghe Banda and the person who stays for that night, Ukkubanda mama. Nava mana and the society have done a roster so that every night along with Jayasinghe Banda, someone from Meemure who’s using electricity must come and stay at the plant. If they can’t come, they have to pay Rs. 500/- to the society. I found this to be a very good option given the fact that they need to protect this very badly.

Along with them I met Mr. W. G. Samarakoon who’s the postman. I’m sure he has to walk many a miles every day delivering letters to the remote parts of those villages.

From the Meemure society, they give free electricity to the following places:

1. Post Office
2. Dispensary
3. Kaikawala and Meemure Schools
4. Samurdhi Bank and the Office
5. Grama Niladhari Office
6. Meemure Temple
7. Agricultural Office

There’s been lot of charity work going on as well and it was so nice to see these people enjoy their lives. The Dendro plant is about 50m towards the village but I decided to take some pics on our way back to Hunnasgiriya as it was very dark. We got into the main road passing the post office and walked the last few kilometers thanks to my torch.

We found Lasantha (my other friend who missed out two days of fun) was waiting all fresh and ready to hit the road but we were exhausted. I remembered sending replacement soldiers to replace the battered ones in the battlefields. The legs needed so much rest and after a quick wash and dinner it was time to hit the pillow hard. We had a very long day the following day with a night in Narangamuwa. We had walked more than 35km throughout the day.

The water gushing out the power plant

Part of the plant

Newly installed part with more screws

So much to capture

Trying to get as much as possible in one go

No vibration detected

Any idea what these say?

The meter board but I couldn’t make head nor tail of this

Power house

The PVC pipeline laid amid the forest supported by concrete pillars at intervals

This hike was more challenging

The tank that holds water

From left: Nava Mama, Jayasinghe Banda, Ukkubanda and Samarakoon the postman

Free electricity at work

Closed for the day…

Day 03

Meemure – Reassa Trail

Morning arrived and brought with it authentic fragrances of the trees, earth and the wind. I jumped out of the mattress and went in search of Nava mama who’d done the ritual with toddy tapping. Got washed and packed our bags as we had to stay overnight at Narangamuwa. We tried to take as few items as possible since climbing with a huge backpack gonna test your spine and knees.

After a breakfast of tasty rice and curry we were good to go. Nenda gave us our own packs of lunch to have on the way but Nava mama packed some onions, tomatoes and chilies as usual. We were not hoping to cook a meal but I knew he was up to something.

We walked towards the famous Mee Tree in the center of Meemure village near the primary school. We met Athula (hope you can remember him, he was the one who took us in our previous visit to Meemure) helping do a stone wall around a neighbor’s land. They don’t use cement; just keep one rock on top the other balancing it nicely. This reminded me of Delft Island where they’d done the same with corals. Nava mama had got a call the previous night confirming the arrival of some French tourists but he couldn’t go meet them as we had fully booked him.

Instead, he asked Athula to go to Narangamuwa and pick them and bring via the circular trail to Meemure the following day and the same thing we were gonna do. Lady Lakegala was waiting for us patiently having cleared all the clouds around her so that she looks very appealing. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her no matter how much I look at her. Nobody was gonna take me away anytime soon coz I was busy with my camera picturing her in every angle possible.

After sometime, we crossed the bridge and started our journey towards Reassa which is a part of Lakegala but can’t be seen from Meemure. That’s where Ravana’s palace was built and below his tank. Apparently Rama had attacked it with a special weapon (Possibly a nuclear attack in modern day descriptions. Otherwise there could’ve been no way a conventional weapon done so much damage to that gigantic rock. Even a 2000lb Joint Direct Attack Munition wouldn’t have inflicted so much damage) and that arrow had gone clean through that part of Lakegala like a knife through butter completely demolishing it sending tons of rocks to the tank and the nearby Narangamuwa.

— Reassa means maze in English which is a place full of obstacles and difficult to find your path and can easily get lost. As many believe Reassa is not what you call the broken side of the Lakegala, but the area where those chunks of rocks fell covering the Tank and the nearby lands of Narangamuwa. If you ever venture into the path towards Narangamuwa from the broken part of Lakegala, you’ll know what it really means as it’s very difficult to find your way to the village through the forest and endless rock boulders. —

We bypassed the “Akula Ella” which you came across in my previous report and the name was suggested by Nava mama. She was just a trickle going down the rock surface now. Then it was familiar territory right up to the Lakegala base. We did it last time with Athula and had a nice cool dip in the artistic rock pool at the base and was hoping to do the same this time around too.

However, when finally arrived at the place, I was so disappointed to see the rock pool has turned into a junkyard full of leaves as the water levels were too low to send them away. We rested our feet and munched on rice crackers. I couldn’t afford to take the risk of not taking any snacks to munch throughout the journey so stocked as much as we could carry. Meanwhile Nava mama was busy around a rock plucking some plants to find they are Gotukola.

This is the reason he packed all those orange, tomatoes, onions and chilies in the first place. Now we were gonna make some delicious Gotukola salad. However, we had no container to make it but I just left it at that. Then we were onto new territory taking the left turn around Lakegala and soon stopped at the tiny waterway to fill our waterbottles.

Suddenly, Nava mama warned us of a tree called “Maassa” which makes your skin itch and swell if you come into contact with it. Should you wash the area with water, you’re bound to get high fever according to folklore. We had to stay alert for about 1km until the danger had passed.

The treatment for this is to apply Kurahan flour mixed with coconut milk having scraped the infected area with a knife. (I hope you remember applying coconut oil when touched by a caterpillar after scraping with a knife. Kahambiliya tree is a similar one that we very well know of). There was this funny treatment of applying just coconut milk on the infected area and let a cat lick the area with its rough tongue.

Nava mama then showed us Meadiya Creepers which they used to tie the poles and sticks when building mud huts as real ropes are hard to come by. If you saw Toddy tapping pics, those poles were also tied to the tree with these creepers.

We then reached the Komala Pathana and started having our lunch when Nava mama brought a flat rock about 2 square feet. He then washed all the Gotukola and cut them with his knife and put them on the washed out rock surface and mixed it with chopped onions, chilies and tomatoes. Squeezed out orange added that wonderful flavor and we tucked in hungrily. The flavors started exploding in our mouths with those crunchy onions and fresh Gotukola.

We suddenly started a steep climb and Nava mama kept looking for any danger such as Wild animals, wasps or any traps in the jungle. Attempting these trails without a guide will put you in endless troubles and dangers. Nava mama showed us Black Monkey about a km away and I tried to see the fellow with my own eyes with a great difficulty. Then I used my tiny point and shoot and got a decent enough pic which made Nava mama very keen on it.

He was asking all about cameras and said that he’s gonna get one soon as he comes across many interesting things that go without a record since he hasn’t got a camera. “I’ll get one when the peppers are sold” he kept telling me. Imagine the things he gets to see in those un-ventured areas. We haven’t seen even one hundredth of what he’s seen. Soon the forest disappeared paving the way to small plants then and there. We were nearing the top and the surrounding looked fabulous even though the scorching sun kept pounding on us.

Suddenly it was right in front of us and I felt mesmerized of what we saw. The Narangamuwa side of Lakegala has been cleanly cut away as if a slice of a loaf of bread and the height is so much we couldn’t gauge it. However, Nava mama threw a stone to the bottom and it took 11 seconds for us to hear the boom. Must be a long way down and I suspect it to be around 600-800ft.

We were very little below the top of Lakegala but couldn’t climb up from that side as the mountain is divided in the middle. Only way up is to take the right trail up at the base of Lakegala where we rested. We took many pics and could see Narangamuwa faraway specially the Temple and Stupa along with those beautiful paddy fields. There was a huge rocky mountain towards left of Narangamuwa and on it two openings showing that they were caves dug into the rock.

Nava mama explained that those were said to be the storage of King Ravana for grains, especially paddy. He’d been inside of them and said the length is about 70ft and height and width around 20ft each. The shape is like a cone overall. Apparently there are remains of those grains still in those caves. They are called “Kapuwatugala Caves”.

We stayed there about 40mins and decided to head towards Narangamuwa as it was another long hike through the maze (Reassa). On the way we were to pass the foot of that rock where the caves are dug in.

Lasantha fresh looking but we are no worse

Doing the wall with just putting rocks on top of each other

Rice mill

My Love…

Going towards the bridge through sawed paddy fields

Crossing the bridge the crew in single file

No matter whether you’re young or old, you have to work as much as others

Gigantic

The scenery along is worth the whole journey

Getting a rest and Lasantha kept looking for signal

Collecting firewood…

You could see the Maediya Creepers. Just below is the Akula Falls

Differently shaped Lakegala when you go around her

Familiar Territory. Tony’s with his two sticks that helped him right throughout

Hurrahhh… finally the base of Lakegala

Nava mama washing the freshly plucked Gotukola to be kept for later

Can you see the dark base pool? This was the artistic pool where we had a cool dip. But not this time

Mountians far away. If you wanna climb the Lakegala, the trail is slightly to the left of the pic

Maaussa – The poisonous tree…

Nice doorway created by those smashed rocks from Lakegala

Nice Pus Wela

Another skull of a buffalo

This is another piece of bone but looked like a head of its own with eyes and the mouth

The faraway black monkey which made Nava mama wanna get a camera ASAP

This is not wasps, but ants

Another massive landslide

Funny shaped in the middle

This is good to have as a plant in your garden. Name is “Baludan”

Komala Pathana…. ready to lunch

The water was getting very scarce to find

Nava mama the explorer

The all-rounder: Guide, Host, Cook and so much more

I know this makes your mouth water….

They can’t wait anymore

Tony on crutches?

Destination is close by…. we finally arrived in this open area along the climb

So much to cover….

This is called “Kahata” and they cook a nice curry with those fruits

The top of Lakegala and we were heading to the left. It’s separate in the middle as a result you can’t cross from this side to the top

Tired but happy bunch

Here it is. The straight line on the left is where the rock is cleanly shaved by that arrow

I’ll let you get the pic

Imagine the height

This place used to have Ravana’s tank but got all covered up with those chunks of rocks… Narangamuwa is far away

Can see a glimpse of Narangamuwa from here

This is not the summit, it’s on the other side

The models were back

I’m like the Atlas who carries the world

We had no idea the following day we’d walk along these paddy fields

From Narangamuwa to Meemure, the path is beyond those rocks

See the Stupa at Narangamuwa Temple

Nava mama throwing a stone and Tony measuring the time

Such depth

Reassa – Narangamuwa Trail

On our way to Narangamuwa, Tony’s shoe broke and fortunately he’d bought a pair of rubber slippers. It was climbing down time and we soon entered into a nearly dried up river on a rocky bed. There was still a bit of water stubbornly flowing in the middle but we had no such difficulty in tackling the path. On and off Tony had to resort to foul wheel bringing back his childhood abilities.

Afterwards we were soon enveloped by the jungle and it was pretty dark but Nava mama wasn’t gonna miss the trail. He did it after a very long time still managed to guide us through the correct path using his own abilities and some land marks such as trees and rocks.

We came across a funny shaped tree which had a kind of archway that we could walk through. Soon Nava mama identified the Jack tree where we can go to the Kapuwatugala Cave. It was getting close to 6pm and Nava mama still wanted to climb up about 60ft and get us some pics. I knew it wasn’t a good idea even for an experience person like him so asked not to do it. I said we could always come back later and explore it and he very reluctantly gave in.

There was another cave at the bottom about 30ft long and 6-10ft in depth. There were trees grown at the mouth of the caves covering it from prying eyes. Looking back we saw a differently shaped Lakegala mainly due to the broken piece of her. Lakegala is the separating point of Meemure and Narangamuwa.

Then we entered the village and walked passing paddy fields till we reached the Narangamuwa town Centre. It’s powered by the main line and had no problem with electricity like Meemure. Nava mama’s relative (one of his nephews) was there waiting for us. We were to stay at his place more to the irritation of Nava mama’s younger brother. He said that Nava mama came to Narangamuwa after a long time and wanted him to stay at his place.

We had cream soda to pamper our parched mouths and it felt like the best in the world. Nava mama in the meantime bought the rations for our dinner and breakfast. It was very dark and we had our torches thankfully along with theirs. Another 2km walk brought us to one edge of the village and beyond that was the Knuckles protected area. They said to our horror that the Elephants come to the village and even to the garden but no damage so far being done. I guess either the villagers and elephants live in harmony or the worst is yet to happen.

We were so tired but were warmly welcomed by them. Immediately the house became like a bees’ nest everyone trying to see to our needs and Nava mama kept boasting that we were the ones who initiated the restoration work of the power plant so VIP treatment was around the corner. After a very cold bath, we had a delicious dinner and juicy home grown papaya. What more could a man ask for other than a cozy bed which was exactly what we got in the end.

However, Nava mama’s brother kept telling us some of the folklore and it was very interesting to hear they talk about all these things. It was time to grab the pillow and dream about my Lakegala so we turned in for the night.

The Baby Tony learning to walk

The dried up river on the rocky bed

Looks like a Wadi

Odd rock pool or the other

Another pic of the team….

This is a river nearly dried up

The tree archway

It really was a Maze

The cave at the base

Another one just above

With the flash on…. not so big

The trees are masking the entrance of Kapuwatugala Cave

Differently shaped Lakegala

Up close

This is where they keep the calves…

Getting to the town was very tiring

Day 04

Narangamuwa – Meemure Circular Trail

We slept without a hitch and no fear whatsoever for elephants trampling on us. We got up to another fantastic day and the sky was crystal clear and everything was looking as best as anything can look. We saw Kumara’s (our host) son was already dressed up and remember it’s Mon and the schools are still functioning. Very good to see him in pristine white shirt and royal blue shorts which came sweet memories flooding back to me.

The kitchen was very busy and Kumara’s wife was multitasking while preparing our breakfast and getting her son and daughter ready for school and Montessori. We had wash and came to a sumptuous breakfast and wolfed it down like no tomorrow. We were planning on coming back to Colombo the same day and had to hurry and get back to Meemure. Still a journey of 16+km. I was already tired and wished we could stay that day as well but my office was not forgiving any more.

We had breakfast and managed to get a pic of Kumara’s little girl who looked like an angel with her uniform up. She shyly posed for a pic and I got the whole family to pose too even though Kumara’s wife was very reluctant. We bid our thanks and farewell to those wonderful people and got back on the road. On the way we stopped by at Nava Mama’s brother’s place for a glass of water.

We walked through the paddy field which we saw from the top of the broken bit and it was simply amazing. We saw an old lady working on a grain field (Mun Eta) and the lush greenery of the plants were very adorable. We came across and got into the road to find Athula coming to Narangamuwa to collect those French foreigners.

Everybody seems to know everybody else as both the villagers are relatives in one way or the other due to marriages between them. We met a person who had collected his daily ration of Toddy and Nava mama and Tony who were creeping behind us had managed to help themselves to a cup or two. We soon entered the jungle and saw a some holy tree with tree branches hanging. Nava mama did the rituals asking for protection along the journey by hanging a branch of our own.

The god they worshipped was called Wanniya Bandara. He has many other names such as “Kele Bandara, Aluth Bandara, Biso Bandara, Gale Bandara, Devatha Bandara and Dedimunda Bandara”. Different areas used different names, according to Nava mama but the same god.

—It was a walk through the “Donduru Weddha Mala Thenna” (Where the Donduru Weddha was killed). Nava mama said the story. There had been a Weddha called Donduru who lived there and no villages nearby not even Meemure or Narangamuwa. One day he met this hunter and they got very friendly. The hunter went and told his brother about the Weddha and the area where he roamed and suggested it was ideal to start a new village. However, Weddha wouldn’t hear of it and one day they took him hunting and killed the fellow. Afterwards they started the villages Meemure and Narangamuwa. —

This is just one of many stories how the Meemure and Narangamuwa were found. Then he told us another story how the Meemure and Lakegala were named.

—The great rock called “Maha Pabbatha” became Lakegala and many other names had been used where it ended up Lakegala.

1. Lankagala
2. Ilakkagala – Where the rock was targeted.
3.  Lanka Pabbatha
4. Yakgala – Where the devils (Yakun) stayed

—Meemure was initially called “Maha Pabbatha Gramaya” and descended from “Maha Mure” and became “Meemure”. —

We soon came to a flat rock where we stopped for a quick biscuit and some water. To our amazement, we saw Athula and the gang of French girls coming round the corner. It had been pretty fast. However while I was taking some pics we heard a big thud to find one of the girls were on her all four having tripped over a rock.

Tony rushed to help talking in rapid English with an Arctic accent but those French understood very little of it. Tony was wishing he could speak French and we had to pacify him all the way. We left them to have their own picnic and hurried on. Nava mama showed us a place where a massive tree had fallen and claimed three lives long time ago. Apparently one villager had grown sweet potatoes nearby and burnt the base of the tree to remove it. But that tree hadn’t gone without taking his revenge.

Yet another place, like a quarry some villages about 50 years ago had seen a Female Devil (Yakinna) while trying to dig a treasure. They had run all the way to the Meemure. One of them is still alive and he had confided in Nava mama the incident. Most terrifying moment came when we had to pass a wasp nest about 5ft away from it. We crept like a bunch of thieves after some treasure when the household is asleep. Fortunately they were busy at work and not bothered with us.

Finally we reached the outskirts of the Meemure and felt very glad coz of never ending exhaustion. Panic was setting in too as we were running out of time. Nava mama once joked that Sri is going around Lakegala in an effort to protect her. Tony too had his piece of news up his sleeve. He kept pestering Nava mama to find me a girl from Meemure. He willingly agreed to come speak to the girl’s family (if there’s such a girl) on my behalf and get the things settled. Not a bad idea, what do you guys think?

I got a close look at a Madu Tree and it’s seeds still not ready to harvest. Those people make a delicious curry using Madu leaves (Dalu) and Pittu using those seeds. Finally we crossed the bridge and sat beside a rock offering our remaining biscuits to the farmers. We could waste no time and started walking between the paddy fields when two water buffalos started to chase each other. At first, I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to record the event when one turned towards us. Horror-stricken, we ran like headless chickens forgetting all the tiredness and I still wonder how our legs managed that much strength.

Nava mama and the farmers were laughing their heads off at the incident and we hurried onto the house.

The garden looked fabulous

Duck shaped flower

Here’s the little angel

Kumara and his wife…. great hosts

Saying good-bye

Lakegala and the surrounding mountains

Early morning, she’s already busy

Mun Eta

Getting richer

Lakegala up close

What a wonderful experience to walk in a paddy field early morning

Nothing can replicate what you actually see

They couldn’t keep their eyes off Lakegala

Just a funny capture

Nava mama and Tony having had some Toddy coming like crabs

Deep into the jungle

Doing the rituals in their own way

Those are rock hard

I have no idea who this is

unny to have come across something like this, could be one of the toddy tapper’s

Tony was pretty excited to see the lady bird

Tony’s scared that the elephants will come

I have no idea where this leads to

Artistic but blocking the path

Do you see what I see? It’s almost like an Elephant

Where we stopped for a biccie break

Having regained some energy thanks to biscuits

The third girl in a white top is the one who fell. I missed the action by seconds. Seeing her trying to balance didn’t surprise me that she fell

Not edible

Can you see the art carved on this? I suspect this could be one of the pieces from the Palace on top of Lakegala

Had to wait a long time to take this

Like a beard

The scary bit

Busy at work to care about us

Dunno who this fella is

The stuntman is back

The batman was there too

Outskirts of the village. Do you see the cables? They’ve laid them from a long distance away so that these people at the edge can enjoy a bit of luxury too

This is the hay house and under that the bull or cow is tied. This will allow it to eat whenever hungry and the roof above gives him shade and cover from rain.

Kept turning back to see her

This is not a vase

Madu seeds

Madu flower

Mission accomplished and they are dragging themselves back to base

Mountains looming at large

The farmer taking a much needed break. The dog followed us from the edge of the village…

After the Buffolo attck. The one on the left was the aggressive one.

Final glance at Lakegala… time to leave lady

A very rare pic and I simply can’t guess how old she is

Two brothers

Alternative Energy – Dendro Power Plant

We arrived at the house like old CTB buses belching smoke and thundering under their own weights. Nava mama’s wife had prepared the lunch. We quickly had a wash and eat hungrily. While Nava mama was telling more stories we tried to relax.

Upali came around 3.00pm to pick us and along with Nava mama’s tuk-tuk we left for Kaikawala Dendro Power Plant. This has been started as a compliment of the hydro plant generating electricity when the water levels are not enough.

I wanted to take a pic of Nava mama and his wife together but she was very shy. In the end, after all our pestering she agreed to pose very reluctantly. Nava mama even dragged a wooden seat for but in the end he had to sit on it.

We reached the dendro plant which is passing the Meemure post office. The place looked used before but not in the recent past. They use firewood such as Giniseeriya (Albeesiya in other words – Gliricidia Sepium scientifically) for burning to generate power. It’s a fast growing plant and the environmental impact is minimal. It’s said if we grow 400,000 hectares of these, we can generate 1000 megawatts of electricity.

I’m sure Ana and Wije have their eyes on this as well and they are planning to visit Meemure very soon to check on the hydro plant. It was time for us to go and Nava mama was very sad too. It was all dry and plenty of sunshine right throughout but all of a sudden out of nowhere black clouds formed threatening to rain. We could feel the droplets of water in the air and I felt it’s Lakegala crying over our departure. She must be very sad like me but what to do we had to say good-bye.

It was a marathon journey right along and I do hope I’ve not made you tired having to read and go through hundreds of pages of my fairy tale. It took me ages to compile all these and I’m sure it must’ve taken up a huge chunk of your precious time. All I can hope is the time you spent on this is worth your while.

Please read my previous report “Jaunting off the Most Beautiful Village on Earth – Meemure”for a different viewpoint. That was when I got fascinated with Meemure and fell in love with Lakegala. This time it turned out to be a more strenuous but a stretched stay. I’ve already planned what I’m gonna do next time. Hopefully will have something similar in a few months’ times, rather few weeks’ even.

Again, big thank-you should go to Ana, Wije and everybody else who showed their interested and offered to help these people.

Here ends my fairy tale and hope you enjoyed it as much as me.

Take care…

Here’s the couple… Like on their wedding photo

Dendro plant

Getting inside

Very complicated for my understanding

UNIDO had their hands on this as well

These meters don’t mean a thing to me. A joint venture by Austria, India, GoSL and UNIDO

Hopper is where you put the wood for burning

I’m getting up for a closer look

Inside the HOPPER

The rest of the room with machinery

They need to get this going again

Good bye Meemure and my Lakegala…. Coming to see you soon