Alagalla

Hiking our way to Alagala

Arrived in kandy at Midnight and I walked my way to my grandparents’ house where I tucked myself in bed only to be woken up to the loud tune of “Mr Saxso Beat” (my alarm) early the same morning. Soon I hurried myself in getting dressed and tying   my shoe laces and packing up all the water bottles and food to be taken on the hike, I was in one pretty bad state for hiking , as I had a terrible cough and also was grasping for breath, so just to be on the safe side I swallowed a pill which easers the breathing, and off I went to the station to be met by Joash, later   pramith and Nilesh , and soon having grouped ourselves off we bounded a train heading to Colombo.

The train ride was quite a small ride as we were only going up to ihala kotte, during which we treated ourselves with some yummy wadeys which could have been the cause for all that “padeys” which later filled the air lol .

The train stopped as to what I believed was ihala kotte but I wasn’t exactly sure as I saw no board but I trusted my instincts and we all got off, yes we were at the right station!!soon we followed the foot  path which Broaden itself to some jeep tracks and suddenly I saw a green snake a “ahata ulla” it was funny the way Joash reacted he totally got freaked out even though he proved himself to be a good hiker J.

On top of Alagala

Along the way Nilesh was quick to spot yohan, I meant to say a Bison or at least a look alike ;) since we were missing yohan we all thought it was a good idea to take a picture with the bison, and as we approached it we soon found ourselves getting caught up in the mud nilesh was the smartest who quickly droped the quest while me and pramith went forth and there by getting our feet all wet and covered with Mud. I like muddy shoes any way so it wasn’t a bad choice either, as we climed a bit further on our left lay the Mighty Mountain “alagalla” , It was so tall and indeed it looked to be a steep climb I was soon reminded by what my father spoke of alagalla which he climbed in his young days,  and I was happy and proud to be doing it myself along with my friends. As we gazed into the rock even more pramith found a interesting image which surly looked to be a bit like a butt, with funny little jokes popping quit often we marched our way up in through a tea estate and into the border of the alagalla reservation we came.

As we entered we surly noticed the change in vegetation and much to our surprise the undergrowth became even more nasty the slope of the climb didn’t help either, We soon stopped to take a water break but we just realized that we were running out of water nothing seemed to be going right as we soon realized there were dozens of leaches attacking us, leaches later proved to be real bloody and naughty as one even crept up to my groin and was sucking away blood luckily I had tight underpants!! Hehe any way none of these stopped us from pushing ourselves to the top, as of the previous experiences I knew all of this will pay off once you know that you have done it. And if you’re lucky enough to have a clear day you will be overwhelmed by the beauty all around you.

We were Blessed with a clear day that day, the sky was spotless it was a clear blue sky , and as we soon hiked our way through some tough bush- waking  we were amazed at the beauty around us, it’s just unexplainable, I’m quite sure even the best of writers will find it hard to write how they feel.
At that moment you are Tired, bruised, beaten up But when you look beyond ,everything just flows off and Joy fills the air , I know that every hike will not be a clear  and bright, so I made it a point to enjoy God’s creation on a bright sunny day.

 We hadn’t reached the summit yet but we were just a few meters below it,  the last phase is a bit tricky as you got to do a bit of rock climbing I was once reminded of what My seeya said “be care full the last part is really dangerous” , so I knew I got to be careful and not just me the whole bunch especially the younger one out of the lot(joash) , Both me and pramith went in for the climb first but as usual I was getting all nerves, I mean indeed this was real tough, what’s tough is never the climb what’s tough is knowing what’s below you, to be precise there is nothing below you for a good kilometre or so, I have gotten over the fear of heights to a great extent but still rock climbing isn’t my thing, any way pramith bravely went before me and he soon reached the summit, we could hear him bellowing  in Joy!!  Up in the distance, the blood  started pumping In I really wanted to dash up as well but I kept my nervous down as we had to help our little joash up the rocks, He did really well for his maiden hike actually he did brilliant!! And with a very very awkward leap he lost his virginity!! Lol.

On top of Alagala

On our way to alagala

The scenery was Spectacular We were awed by what we saw, I was soon to spot Bible rock, Uthuwankanda, Ambuluwawa , Hanthane , Knuckles , and hunasgiriya(this I’m not sure), and the little mountains made it such a  wonderful master piece of the Creator.

With hunger setting in we opened the Tin sardine and made the “choristers’ salmon paste”( a secret recipe ;)),which we ate, but soon we realized that what we were actually looking for was for some liquid. The baking hot sun didn’t help the cause either, weary we were to head straight back down, So we opted to hide ourselves from the baking hot sun by going into a cave like structure where we took refuge from the sun. There we engaged in singing songs and making harmony, as singing was a common trait among the four of us.

After a one final visit to the summit, we started our hike back the mountain, this was the funniest and the craziest descends I’ve done thus far, cause slipping down was quite frequent and we all did slip not just once or twice but 101 times, I think I started it off by taking every one off trail in through a slippery trail, The funnier it was when one falls down(walking down) and everyone starts laughing and at the same time the other one laughing falling down while not even walking down, It was so funny but we soon hiked our way back to civilization as water was the number one priority at that very moment.

We were pricked, scraped, sweaty, scratchy, tired, and with bloody legs after all the leach bites , But looking over the shoulder we saw alagalla and it was so great to know that we all did it and we all made it back safe through God’s grace.

Alagalla Hike
08,12,11 with Pramith nilesh and Joash J

Bible Rock- "chasing the sun-Av"

Nilesh the Master planner approached one of his amateur guides he knew of to take Rebbbeca and Anthony, his wonderful Guest on a hike, this so happened to be Me. And as Usual I was up for it. Rallying a band of three which included Niru and osanda we headed our way up to kandy in the hopes of uniting with the rest of the hikers the next morning.

We went up to kandy by train Winding its way through mountains passing  paddy fields and in through Long tunnels, we soon reached Kandy and having refresh ourselves I had to leave Niru and Osanda to go for Choir Practices during that they went on a small trek in the Jungle of Udawatha kale. They later informed that they were able to see a few birds, wild bores and quite a many insects which also included a scorpion which was apparently going to have a taste of Niru’s foot, Having spent the night at my Grandparents house we woke up early the next morning  in order to unite with the rest of the Hikers, we soon met each other and started our Journey in the hopes of conquering bible rock, having climbed bible rock couple of times before I knew this was an easy hike, knowing  that many of us had quite a bit of experience  down our belt it was easier for me to lead the way.

Sun Rise on top of  Bible Rock

Ah yes this hike I was in charge! Lol but I was under a little bit of pressure as I knew I could not disappoint Rebecca and Anthony, after driving our way through the dark windy roads we came to what I believed the starting point, before we began I called out every one’s attention and asked them whether they are all ready to go up the more challenging route, Wow what a response I got everyone was quite happy to go up the more challenging route, it was even more challenging when we realized that we had to do our hike in the dark I  totally forgot to bring a torch or to tell others to bring one, but Luckily Anthony and Rebecca had two fairly powerful torches with that and a couple of more torches from phones we started our hike up The Bible Rock.



Yes I was in charge!! And my dearly loved friends followed each of my footsteps which included both the wrong way and the right way up hehe. Since I this was only my second time up this particular trail I found it difficult to find it in the dark but we soon managed ourselves to fall in the right trail after which I let osanda lead the way through the somewhat thick Jungle area, I have to say everyone did well very specially JD who hiked up with ease, and the two ladies being no different from the rest, Nilesh and yohan constantly kept an eye on the pack and made sure no one is left behind. And after some hiking up the dense Jungle we managed to see the dawn of a new day through the canopy, this made me really excited but I forced myself not to sprint up to the mountain to get a clear view instead managed convince JD to Run up to in the hopes that he won’t miss the sun rise, Luckily No one missed the sun rise we were all fit to climb up to the top of Bible rock Just as the Sun rose up from tip of Ambuluwawa.

Sun Rise on top of  Bible rock

The sun slowly creeping up while the fog filled mountains below us were patiently waiting till the hot sun beat on them so that the fog would fade up into the thin air bringing in light to the village down below this was a Magnificent site J. Little by little the  orange coloured sun sneaking its way through clouds soon found it’s usual form,a bright sphere of light which gave Anthony and rebbeca a chance to get a tan.

Sun Rise on top of  Bible Rock

While the two were sunbathing with much eagerness the rest had no option but get a tan for themselves as well, during this time we managed to dig into the yummy sandwiches prepared for us by Nilesh’s mom and also sipping out our way through some drinks. We all found different spots where we managed to sit comfortably and to just gaze at the wonderful creation of God.

We walked through the sharp edged grass which managed to leave quite a many scrapes on our legs especially on Niru’s leg. Soon we were on the other end of the rock, But only Niru, Myself, osanda and nilesh dared to get down to the rocks so that we would managed to walk right to the edge of the rock. With that we decided it’s time to head back and soon, Yes quite faster than we hiked up as many of us choose to slide down rather than walk down ;) we soon came to the starting point.

Yes we all did it, I must tell that being a tracker/guide is fun J

Third Hike up bible Rock having done the first with Nisanka,his dad,lakitha and my dad, the second with sashin and the Thrid time with Nilesh,yohan,Niru,osanda,JD,rebbeka,antony and kalana.

04/11/11