A century of travel journals glorified by Cascading angels!

It has been a long journey since I joined Lakdasun in 2009, actually it added some spice in to my life and enforced my passion for traveling. Now it’s almost four years since I have transformed in to an ideal traveler. The knowledge the experience I gained from Lakdasun is immense and that per se was enough for me to do 100 write-ups voluntarily for the betterment of future travelers of our pearl island. I still remember the day Mithila asked me to write a trip report on Adams peak which was the second trip report on this forum and since then I have been writing continuously(except 2011 latter half) on Lakdasun. I know some of you guys may be thinking I’m crazy to write so many reports and it might be boring to read all of those which are published within few days apart. Please forgive me for spamming the trip report archives of this wonderful forum . I have met plenty of friends from Lakdasun and that is a great achievement which I cherish in. By the way Mithila I would like to salute you for everything you have done for Lakdasun and Travelers of Sri Lanka by forming such a wonderful online data base.

Map 1 – Click to enlarge

Map 2 – Click to enlarge

Ok my greatest passion is waterfalls and there was no other way I was going to celebrate this special mile stone without seen any gorgeous cascades. Also World waterfall day was around the corner (November 26^th) giving this adventure extra significance. Deraniyagala area is one location where it rains most of the time and there are plenty of known and unknown waterfalls close to the peak wilderness. I have been to Deraniyagala and explored Uda maliboda area waterfalls long ago (check out this trip report) but there were few more cascades close to Nooriya which I intended to further explore.

Straight from Monaragala I arrived at Avissawella where I had some breakfast before catching the first bus to Deraniyagala. After reaching Deraniyagala I Took a trishaw to Panakura to reach Kekuna falls

Deraniyagala Kekuna falls (6°54’48.07″N, 80°22’59.02″E)

Passing Deraniyagala and the 3 way junction where the Maliboda road branches out one would meet another road branching out of Noori road towards the right. Continue for 2 more Km’s (Panakura) and few houses could be seen clamped together on the right. I took the road to the right from that point which ran through an open land bordering the river. Just after meeting a fence there was a overgrown foot path to the river and it would take one to the top of Kekuna falls.

The 3m fall, situated in Kegalle District Deraniyagala PS in the Panakura village. A trek through the footpath down the Panakura School leads to the fall. Borne out of a ramose of Sitawakaganga River. Another pluvial fall, which cascades glamorously in rains can be found. Dwellers of the village had used Kekuna for coconuts thus giving rise to its name.

Adams peak was the first pic of the day

misty peak wilderness — in Deraniyagala.

Magal ganga

top of Kekuna ella

Kekuna falls

beautiful rock formations

Watawala Falls (6°56’10.75″N, 80°23’7.51″E)

After that I came back to Nooriya road and continued until I reached a road branching of to the left. And after few hundred meters I approached a bridge plus few houses of Keeriyana. There is a foot path upstream along the left bank which would take one towards this beautiful cascade of Watawala. For me this was the best location I came across for the day and this must be beautiful when it is raining. If you stop by at 22Km post on Nooriya road you could view it through the rubber plantations too.

Bowitiya

lovely violet

The widest I have seen , Deraniyagala watawala falls

part of Watawala falls

the other part

must visit this while raining

Hathdinnath Falls (6°55’22.39″N, 80°23’55.45″E)

From Watawala I took a bus towards Mudagalla and on the way Hathdinnath falls was seen cascading down a slope on the right hand side. It should be lovely when it’s raining cats and dogs.

glimpse of Hathdinnath falls

wider view

Hathdinnath falls

morning rays

Minuwan Falls (6°55’37.97″N, 80°24’20.90″E)

Just after seen Hathdinnath falls I came to a junction with a downhill concrete road to the right. Continuing on this road brought me to a three way junction from where I took a right turn. After walking for about 1Km I reached a plateau like area where the road ran through a tea patch. There was a foot path to the left close to a young Mahogany tree which ran through a hut in a tea estate and ended at the river. Going down stream along the river would lead towards the top of Minuwan falls and getting down to the base where the mini hydro project would be an extra challenge. One could easily get to the place by a 4Wd jeep by taking the road towards the Minuwan ella power house. This must have been a beautiful cascade once but unfortunately it has sacrificed its beauty to a mini hydro project. If one walks about 25meters along the road from the hydro project another small cascade could be seen plunging through the bushes on the right hand side. Getting back to the main road was very exhausting to me and felt almost dehydrated.

towards minuwan ella

have to walk down stream to reach minuwan falls

upper part of minuwan ella

note the colours of the rocks

the drop

Minuwan falls

plunging down

cascading downhill

lovely isnt it

cascade close to minuwan ella hydro project

blissful

they were enjoying swimming along this

Budamaloka Falls (6°57’33.10″N, 80°23’46.80″E)

Exhausted but yet determined I continued towards Basnagala and took the carpet road to the left and reached Budamaloka Bridge where a small kade could be found. I was advised that if I take the path on the left bank I could reach the top of the fall and the right bank path will lead me to the base. I took the right bank to reach a privet land and continued along a foot path which took me to a rock on the right bank where I had a clear view of this spooky beauty cascading in to an abyss. This place is not safe at all to get down and have a swim.

Route from Deraniyagala 15km along the Nuriya Road is the at Punchimadavala estate. From here a short distance walk to the fall. However, this route is difficult. Another way is to come Deraniyagala Town and then take a bus from Palledage. 

Cascading between two rocky ledges is treacherous and fraught with risks. The rushing waters cascades between two rocky ledges, resembling a white cloud.

Legend says the fall got its name from a deaf mute called Buddy, who lived in as nearly village. He was in the habit of diving in the pool. In the course of his dives he happened to see a golden bed and Jewels in the bottom. But when he came up but the treasure then is said to have disappeared. 

the right path will take you to the bottom and the left to the top

Budamaloka fall

close up

the narrowed river

Minimaru Falls / Killer Falls (6°57’40.15″N, 80°24’7.73″E )

After returning back to the road we continued further for about 2Km’s and took a road to the right which was in terrible condition. After haltering the trishaw we proceeded through a tea patch and found a path which ran through few rubber trees that ended at the river. About 50 meters upstream Minimaru falls could be found cascading in two steps. This stream is the same one which forms Budamaloka falls at a lower level.

hidden beauty

Minimaru ella

upper part of killer fall

Dodawatta Falls (6°56’44.40″N, 80°24’39.81″E)

It was starting to drizzle, the sky was getting gloomy and that was not going to help my cause in any way. I had been attacked by plenty of leeches by now and if it rained it would be a disaster. Getting back to Basnagala we proceeded towards Dodawatta and noted a cascade crawling down a slope on the left hand side of the road. This could be actually seen far away and to have a close view one needs to crawl along the slippery rocky slopes upstream. The drizzle made it very tough especially the descent along the slippery rocky slope was a nightmare.

Dodawatta fall

side view

Rakka Falls (6°55’26.93″N, 80°25’57.68″E), Kaluwala Falls (6°55’24.27″N, 80°25’55.39″E) & Wee kotana Falls (6°55’22.53″N, 80°25’56.88″E)

It was raining and I was forced to abandon my quest but despite staying in a bus halt for one hour there were no buses to reach Deraniyagala and by that time the rain also had settled. Suddenly changed my mind and hired a trishaw towards Polgaswatta mini hydro plant project site. This site is currently under construction and they are damming Kadiran oya just above three beautiful cascades. It’s a very unfortunate situation because we are going to sacrifice three more cascades to another mini hydro project. The guys at the site discouraged me a lot because they didn’t like the presence of a guy with a camera wondering around. Probably they must be doing this without proper permits and the aid of the long hand of politicians. There is a path along the right bank downstream following a concrete canal and on the way one could easily see Rakka falls falling in a step wise manner just like Nanu oya falls justifying its name. The path became narrowed and was extremely slippery but it ended at a place where Wee kotana falls could be seen through the bushes. To get a clear view I had to crawl through few muddy bushes which was totally worth it. Kaluwala falls is about 50meters upstream and if one deviate from this path which I took at a upper level there is a concrete canal built across the river which could be used as an observation deck to enjoy a clear shot of Kaluwala falls (ofcource that is with caution). Please do mind viewing these two falls is extremely dangerous and one should always be mindful about the safety factor. After leaving the site my trishaw guy got plenty of phone calls asking him about myself. The guys who were building the mini hydro project seemed very worried about my visit.

Rakka falls of Kadiran oya

wider view of wee kotana falls

Wee kotana ella of Kadiran oya

and it flows

Kaluwala falls of Kadiran oya

i was right on top of the river and having a balcony view

Ella uda Falls (6°55’49.60″N, 80°25’36.73″E)

From Polgaswatta there is a road connecting Minuwan ella road which I took previously and we proceeded along this to cut off few extra kilometers. On the way I saw a beauty plunging down on the right side and decided to explore it too. After getting down to the stream and going upstream I reached Ella uda falls which was a gorgeous beauty.

Kahanawita Falls (6°57’46.28″N, 80°17’15.74″E)

Since it was getting dark and I had one more waterfall in my list so I asked the trishaw guy to drop me at Deraniyagala where I took a bus to Avissawella and got down passing Kahanawita bridge at the hospital junction. It was pouring down heavily for almost one hour and I was by now soaked wet and covered with mud and blood. From the bus halt I proceeded towards Avissawella side where a bend with an iron bar fence could be found. There is a foot path at this point which will lead one towards Kahanawita falls. The waterfall was in full flow and chocolate coloured, the sound of it was bit scary too. Saying good bye to the last waterfall of the day I returned to Avissawlla to catch a double decker bus to Maharagama. I hope you guys enjoyed all 100 write-ups until now and there would be more to come.

less water yet beautiful Ella uda fall

step wise drop

Ella uda ella Polgaswatta

flooded

Vicious Kahanawita Falls

plunging down

Thanks for Reading!