Some things are better kept as secrets

I dont want to write my experiences on this particular hike so i thought of posting a poem i wrote after coming back home :)

You’ll simply not know

Some grow tall while the others stay short,

I will never understand what stands them apart,

To me it’s a mystery that I’ll sure be a part,

But until that day you’ll be in my Heart.

When I look back down into the depths,

I wonder why I grow so tall,

You will laugh cuz you know I’m not tall,

But I will simply smile cuz you don’t know it all.

Bambi J 

Hiking in the mountains of babarakanda,with Not two hands less but with 10 hands more(Dinuk,Osanda,Pathum,Nevaan and Aloker). And with the prayers of So many.

Aug 2011

A story of a kayaking Trip

Nissanka, my friend from childhood arrived in the the Island for Christmas. So I together with my father thought it would be nice to spend a couple of days with Nissanka and Arinda. And thus a story of a kayaking trip begins.

Miracle valley was our destination, even though I’ve seen a couple of pictures which were not so impressive I’ve heard of so many happy groups who totally enjoyed their stay over at miracle valley. Ari sadly could not make it with us due to his busy schedule, So we set off from nissa’s house at around ten in the morning, after driving for some time we were picked up by Priyanka from the top of the road, Priyanka was such a nice host, the hospitality shown by him was the “icing of the cake” of our whole trip.

So we walked along a footpath which ran in parallel with a stream, I at once knew this would be such a nice experience, the clean white water finding itself around the rocky stream the green canopy above you and the smell of forest set the tone of our whole trip. We soon arrived at miracle valley I was really excited nissa was too, Priyanka has built the place in such a way that it blends into the environment. The veranda all around the house made the stay such a relaxing stay over, even though it was action packed. Priyanka soon showed us around even the kitchen this made me feel at home.

Kayaking in Randenigala Sri lanka

After a few minutes of relaxing over a nice cup of coffee, we decided to go kayaking, so we started to stack up the kayaks on top of priyanka’s hand held tractors, it was a tough piece of metal and looked a hard one to master it’s manures, but priyanka did it fineJ, as we walked in hand with the tractor to the waters priyanaka explained to us all the technical details of the tractor which only nissa and my father understood hehe.

Soon afterwards we were ready to paddle our way on the reservoir, with a few instructions we were off to the very beginning of randenigala reservoir, paddling along the lake was breath taking experience the colour of the water was like the green feathers on the peacocks which were along the banks walking around, I was so happy to look around and not see one single roof of a house, after a bit of paddling we pulled up the kayaks into the banks and walked on foot jumping from one rock to the other  just like free runners(form of urban acrobatics), the rocks were all carved by the mighty force of water into different uniquely shaped rocks even though it was all similar, after a bit of jumping around rocks we walked our way back to the kayaks. Where we set out to the cliff priyanka promised me that I could jump off into the water, I was highly excited but nervous at the same time. And Nissanka opted not to jump off as he has developed a back ack after attempting such a jump, with this at the back of the head I just couldn’t afford a bad jump, this made me worry but not enough to keep me from jumping, so I went like a brave soldier but decided to jump off a tiny cliff first just to get a feeling, after a couple of jumps on the tiny cliff I climbed my self up on to the tall cliff. My heart was pumping in more blood, this was definitely a “first” for me, as I looked below to the waters it looked as if it was miles below, with a big breath and a small prayer I lept out and into the water I hit, it took a age for me to hit the water but after I came up I was screaming in joy, WOW that was so awesome.

lol this is not the cliff i jumped from ok? :P

Just one jump didn’t fill my thirst so I had couple of more jumps before calling It a day, and after all that we paddled our way back, I was cold and needed to have a shower so I thought a hot shower would be perfect but then the little stream made both nissanka and I to have a outdoor bath instead, Trust me the water felt so clean and fresh, with that we cleaned ourselves and went for dinner, It was thosey and it was really yummy, I ate quite a lot as I was really hungry, both tiered we called it a day and went to sleep,

Nissanka apparently woke even before the rooster and yea he took the place of the rooster by waking me up early the next morning, we had rotte for breakfast, the food tasted really good as all the meals did. Ahead of us lied another day of kayaking this time a lot of kayaking, so we packed in bits of food and off we set out in our kayaks, The lush greenery around me made me feel so blessed to having able to come on this trip, Nissa from the back of the kayak too enjoyed the view all around he too was taken in awe of the scenic beauty just like the rest of us, we kayaked our way forward as we went pass wildlife, My thathi and Priyanka even managed to spot a deer family we were a little late for that, but we could see schools of tiny fish swimming below the green waters. We soon entered into a magical land it was such a “storybook” moment, I have never experienced nature in this form before. This magical land had a river running into the reservoir and both Nissanka and I went into the white water on our kayaks just for the fun of it, and indeed it was fun and I’m longing for that day when I get to ride on white water. So there again we pulled in our kayaks on to the banks and set off on foot, bare foot rather along the river, I was reminded of the day when myself thathi and ammi walked along the mahawalie when the river was a bit dry this was back in the day, so with that memory in the back of my head we kept on walking both in water and out on the banks, the river was full of white water i almost wanted jump off into the water with my life jacket on so that it would wobble me down stream.

We took rest on top of flat rock where we had our snacks and we were off to our kayaks once again, we decided to pull in once more but this time it was to fish, Priyanka hooked the first fish and this proved to be good fishing ground, and soon the fishing lines started to hook fish one after the other, both nissanka and I managed to hook a few fish as well, The feeling of hooking a fish is sensational there again I was reminded of my first ever fishing trip with thathi along the banks of mahawali, I will never forget that! So with fish packed up on the kayak we head off to Miracle vally, the story of a kayaking trip ended here, It ended here but will always have a place in my mind where it will tie in hand with nissanka,

Miracle Valley with Thathi, Nissanka And Bambi (me) lol
December 2011

Adam's Peak

Adam's Peak Sri lanka

Adams Peak is Climbed by most Sri Lankans, Partly as it is a Pilgrimage mainly for Budhist, how ever i later learned that it is not just budhist, but all four major religions claim some thing or another of the mountain. This is a good thing at least then we sri lankans get to experience the impeccable beauty of the creation,from the mountain tops.
Our Journey started off at around 2000hours from kandy, Myself(bambi),Nissanka and Tehani being the once in  urge of adventure accompanied by Saman and his nephew for whom it was a pilgrimage, We arrived at the foot of the mountain driven by Bernard in his van on the way we managed to spot a lone sambar, this made my blood pump in even harder. As soon as we started climbing i felt such a relief so did the others as to the fact that we were finally climbing Adam's peak. it was more of a climbing up steps this didnt help me as my stride was constrained to a tiny half a foot of a step, but slowly we climbed our selves up.

On top of Adam's peak

Sun rise, Adam's peak

Pilgrims both young and old have a great way to forget about the toughness of the terain, this is something i do as well even though i am aware that it takes even more energy, once in a way hum a tune or two when i climb just like that, the Pilgrims sing songs this is more of self motivational songs(kavi), with all that we pressed on forward both Nissanka and Tehani doing really well,

I cant exatcly remember the time, but we reached almost to the top having a good 2 hours to spare(i think), so there we oppened Nissanka's (pitty(floor)-full))aggalla and to make it even better Tehani's (suger free)coffee, Didnt we have the biggest of laughs in that cold night? gosh we did!

and soon we decided to go to the top of adams peak, there were so many to witness the sunrise, And with people from all over the world we watched the Sun rise, through the mountain tops I loved every bit of it!! words cannot tell how much you feel up there!

Adams peak with Nissanka, Tehani, Saman, Saman's nephew and Myself
January 4th 2012

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 

Hanthana

It was 0700 hours when we got on to the kandy-colombo intercity express train, headed to Kandy, picked up by Lalith who took us to the starting point,with heavy bags we started to hike up to the mountain,5minites of climbing and I was panting the most it was quite a steep climb,but every pause we took to glance over the mountain ranges, the clear blue sky with a few patches of clouds gave us enough reasons and strength to hike on for ever.

A few minutes into the hike we reached the top of Hanthane,only to be stopped by the angry voice of a police man, I presume, his message was clear, “this is a high security zone and you are not to enter, please leave immediately unless you want to end up at the police station”

We were Thoroughly disappointed, and I was getting really mad over the “hadisi neethiya” and the Sri lankan defence,how ever though Sri lankan govt passes laws and regulations at their will, this was Sri lanka after all and we were Sri lankans,

So we obeyed and hiked back down(kuko wage),HAHA but only to walk a few more km in order to to be out of sight of that cruel man and to start climbing up hantane again.

Hanthana Cliffs

We climbed up thorough a gap, and we started to have our lunch, our dining area was the best you can have, fresh wind blowing at you and the warm sun making the best combination. We spent a few min giving a rest to our feet, while we gave no rest to our eyes which was glued to the splendid creation of God, knee high grass all around you with rocks placed like a flock of sheep, the green filed mountain range, the clear blue sky this was truly spectacular. This was truly a site which will remain in my heart.

Ok it was the cruel policeman which made our hike more adventurous, as we couldn't go towards him we had to hike the other way which was thick forest, and to make it cooler it didn't have a trail. We all decided to enter, half way through the bush waking we felt we needed to start marking as we need to come back we made a few marks going in was easy as we only had to walk without any guidance, however after some long hard hiking up the forest the sun hide it self-leaving us with a misty air, we could hardly see 10feet away from us. After we came to a clearing we took a small break afterwards we decided it was time to head back.

Only 2min after turning back we realized that we are not on track ,the mist made it very difficult, as I knew some where around us is the cliff so I did not want any one blindly walk and fall off the cliff,how ever after long min of searching we found the trail we came on and actually for real we had to trace back our own foot prints, this was totally cool I must say, every one putting together all in there memory such as “hey I remember this tree” or “i think this is the fungi tree we stopped to take a picture” Helped us to stay on track at least for quite a long time.

How ever we soon realized we were lost,yes we were lost for real, I always wanted to get lost but have to say I was really worried,but I knew the Lord will take us out from this small yet thick jungle,and rightly so we got out,it was victory moment every one cheered and clapped in joy,by this time the mist cleared it self away so we were able to spot mahawali river which told us the direction we needed to walk. It was 4 45 and we had about 1 ½ hours of daylight and we needed to get down,with the victorious exist we were all pumped up so we decided to take a route which we did not know where it will lead us to but we knew it will lead somewhere.

With heavy walking at super fast pace, and some times even jogging,we climbed down this was because we had to race with daylight ,we ended up at sarasavi gama around 6 30 about 15km away from kandy,getting on to a three wheeler we headed home,

YES WE DID IT, thank you Jesus for being our guide and keeping us safe :)

2011

The Rock of saradeyel ( Sir Diel)

The main reason Uthuwankanda was on my list was that, the last time I climbed as a scout with my troupe (sadly the one and only time), I was never able to reach the pinnacle of the mountain, as for any beginner, this was a tough bit of rock climbing, even though the climb itself is not the toughest of hikes.

Together with my two friends, Yohan and Nilesh, we started from Kandy early in the morning (having stayed the night at Yohan’s, and with Nilesh around I’m sure I laughed even in my sleep), and got on to a Negombo bus. In a flash, we reached Uthuwankanda town, walked our way through Uthuwana mawatha, and Nilesh soon found himself at home when he spotted a rhino (later to be realised as being a buffalo), and we managed to film a bit of that creature  as we continued trotting  our way through the village, and on to the hiking trail.

Our dream of being on Nat Geo somewhat came true when we heard what we thought was the sound of a hyena. We soon started to roll our camera and began filming them. However, again to our dismay we learnt that they were just some wild dogs with high pitched voices. All these jolly moments kept our spirits high and with the unending set of chuckles back and forth we soon reached  the top of Uthuwankanda, even though we were yet to reach the very top which meant we had to do a bit of rock climbing; but we were almost there!

Even before we were able to catch a breath, we soon found the breathtaking endless set of mountains all around us. This was truly magnificent, and I was so thankful that Yohan, who with all his might, made us get up early in the morning to come on this hike.

Cloud-covered mountains and the misty mountain range below us really made our day. This also made me think what an awesome God we have, who put this all together.

One question Nilesh asked me during the hike was, “Are you doing this for the photographs or for the thrill?”  If it was for the photographs I’m sure I would have still stayed back at home watching Nat Geo, and I don’t know if it is for the thrill, but something within me makes me want to climb up and see the world from a top a mountain, and I believe this trait of my life was placed by God. I know not many have it, but the ones who have it know what I am talking about!

But I definitely love taking pictures, even though I do not have the best camera; but I still enjoy taking them. And although I put them up, it only captures half of what you see; the other half is a little tough to explain, as you got to see it to believe it. Hehe...

Soon after all these thoughts, reality hit us – we still had a 20-foot vertical climb of sheer rock face. We prepared ourselves to conquer, leaning to the rock face, building steps from each other’s  shoulder, and soon managed to climb at least 3 phases of the climb (out of about 5), where we took a break. I was shivering, but Yohan and Nilesh was quite cool about it. I kept telling myself, “Bambi, you need to chill.” Hehe… Soon Nilesh found a crack in the rocks and used it as a foot hole, and on he conquered the mountain of Uthuwankanda – Saradiel’s hideout (SL version of Robin hood); and within a few minutes, we were up on the top of Saradiel’s hideout as well!

It was a superb experience. A full 360 degree view of what was all around us, even though it was a scary fact that two steps on to any side meant a very fast way to get down (not alive though)!

uthuwankanda

Uthuwankanda

After hanging up there for awhile, with a little bit of difficulty, we climbed back down the rock, for our hikers’ meal. This was the usual salmon and bread, but with the original recipe handed over to us by tradition. We did not forget to film “How to prepare a hikers meal”. Hehe… Having enjoyed our meal, we then slowly headed back down into civilization.

It was truly another hike I will not forget. Thank you Nilesh and Yohan. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you two! J

Hiking Uthuwankanda – 14^th November 2011 (Yohan, Nilesh and I)