| Year and Month | April, 2013 (16th and 17th) |
| Number of Days | Two Day Trip |
| Crew | 3 |
| Accommodation | Camping at meemure |
| Transport | SUV |
| Activities | Waterfalls, driving through one of the most scenic areas of the country & Camping |
| Weather | Excellent |
| Route |
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| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
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| Author | Lahiru |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
Another one of those trips hastily arranged after seeing we have an extra couple of days off after the sinhala & tamil new year festivities.
This time our plan was to go on a camping trip to meemure, thereby making use of the tent I bought about 1 ½ years ago but has never been used.
So on the 16th 2 of us left Delgoda at 4am picking up the 3rd member on our way from Dambadeniya. By about 6.30am we were at kurunegala and proceeded towards ibbagamuwa as we intended to take the dodangaslanda – yatawatta road to matale.
The 38km distance from ibbagamuwa to matale was a gradual ascend. The scenery as we gained elevation was breathtaking.
 Sun rise on the yatawatta-matale road |
 scenery along yatawatta-matale road |
 scenery along yatawatta-matale road |
After having breakfast at matale and buying some rations required for our stay we headed along the kandy road where we took a left turn towards the kandenuwara –kabaragala –madulkelle road. The journey was a continuous uphill climb along one of the most scenic roads I’ve travelled. The drive up to Rangala along carpeted tea estates and the views were simply breathtaking.
 View towards elkaduwa/kandy from kandenuwara road |
 Views along matale-kandenuwara road |
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 Waterfall with little water |
 Taking a break to enjoy the stunning scenery |
 Matale town(360m above msl) from a 1000m above msl |
 Posing for a picture |
 More views |
 World’s best tea |
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 Lunch was from jothi hot pack |
 Unknown waterfall @ madulkelle |
 Huluganga Falls |
 Top part of the falls |
 Bottom part |
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 Distant view of jodu ella/ twin falls |
 A close up |
 More scenery along the way close to rangala |
 Raiding a mynah nest |
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 A waterfall seen close to rangala |
 Badly wanted to have dip but time wasn’t on our side.. |
 On the way to rangala |
From rangala our intended route was through Thangappuwa to Loolwatte but due to conflicting information (some said the thangappuwa – loolwatte road was damaged by earthslips and was not motorable) given to us by locals we decided against it and turned back towards teldeniya to take the hunnasgiriya – loolwatte road to meemure.
 Topmost part of a waterfall seen on the left of the main road @ hunnasgiriya |
 Middle part |
 Bottom part |
 Heading towards loolwatte from hunnasgiriya |
 @ loolwatte |
Waterfall seen at loolwatte..this can be seen from udu dumbara as well..
Panoramic view from loolwatte
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 @ corbett’s gap |
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 Waterfall seen on the way to meemure |
It was around 5.30pm when we reached meemure and contacted ‘navarathne mama’ as he had promised us to help find a place for us to set up camp when I contacted him for the first time two days earlier and for the second time a day before. But when we contacted him upon our arrival at meemure he was less willing to come by and told us to ask someone who is around to help us to which we found none. The excitement of our first camping trip was suddenly gone when we felt we were helpless and was in a state of despair. After asking numerous people one person directed us to the road where the famed ‘suriya arana’ film shooting places was located. So finally we headed in that direction with a glimmer of a hope in finding a place to camp. While heading on that road we were relieved to finally find a person to help us. This person showed us the numerous places where the film was shot and also a place to set up camp on top of a rockbed beside the river.
It was already dark when we finished setting up camp. After having a dip in the river for about an hour we prepared our dinner and by about 10.30pm we were off for the night.
 Right after setting up tent and a fire.. |
 Preparing dinner |
With the not so fond memories of the previous evening still weighing on our minds we decided to cut short on our trip and leave meemure after breakfast.
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 Lakegala bathed in morning sunshine |
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 A morning dip |
 Carrying our stuff back |
 Carrying our stuff back |
 Leaving meemure |
On our way back we took the time to visit rathna falls at hasalaka.
 First glimpse of rathna falls |
 Rathna Falls |
 Rathna Falls |
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 Sunset over yahangala |
We were back home around midnight a bit sad that we had to cut short on our trip. This will be etched in our memories forever as our first camping trip but mostly because of the breathtaking sceneries that we experienced while driving through the knuckles mountain range.