From Misty Monsters to Off-road Races - Part 3

Contd. from - From Misty Monsters to Off-road Races - Part 2
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It's been ages since I last updated about our trip to Wasgamuwa in June 14, 2011, so thought of wrapping up the story with this post.

After our heart-racing adventure at Pitawala Pathana we headed to the place where we were supposed to pick up our lunch. It was past 1pm so naturally we were tired and starving too, since the breakfast and snacks have disappeared long ago. But to our dismay by the time we go there, the place was closed and our lunch packs have already been sold off! So when the time was little past noon our bus took off once again combing through the countryside backdrops looking for a good eatery by the roadside.

But we only found one after 1.30pm, a place tucked away in a rural town. It wasn't anything sophisticated, a small space with a few tables and chairs, barely suffice to fit in our starving crew. Since it was past the eatery's usual lunch time, they said it'd take about half an hour to ready our meals. And directed us to a nearby stream, flowing under a bridge we just passed, to get a cool dip before the lunch.

* The pics were taken from my old mobile cam, CTRL + Click on them to zoom in.
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The view from under the bridge

 We got off the bus and strolled along the road until we reached the bridge. A foot path next to it led us down to the stream below. It was a beautiful stream meandering its way wrapping around smooth rocky terrain. The guys went on further up and started their own water games, making a big ruckus and splashing water in all directions. We girls simply relaxed right beneath the bridge on a smooth flat rock and freshened up with the chilled water. After chatting heartily and a round of snaps we started collecting smooth pebbles. We saw time to time the village folks gathering around the stream to wash clothes or bathe.

 

A village folk washing clothes

After getting back to the countryside eatery we were starving once more, but was soon drawn by the tempting aroma of food coming from the cinder shaded kitchen. We savored the delicious rice and curry still puffing steam off the plate. And it was complemented with sweet yogurt for dessert. After the hearty meal we got back into the bus which was parked near a lush paddyfield.

Paddy field by the roadside

And this time our bus headed towards the much desired destination - The Wasgamuwa National Park! And so let me fast forward the time to 4.30pm. We reached the place a couple of kilometers away from the park and boarded two safari cabs. After zooming past a rural hamlet we finally arrived at the park's entrance.

Our safari ride was nearly two hours long, and ended right about the park's closing time. We were first greeted by a pack of spotted deer and later we spotted a variety of birds including peacocks, peahens, cormorants, egrets and even eagles (or hawks). We also encountered mysterious sightings like crop circles and twisted grass, and got to know they were created by foraging elephants who twirled the grass to pull them out.

Well.. if I go on about it, I'll need another post or two to finish so now I'll let the photos do the talking along with their captions.

 Abundance of water

 Mesmerizing skies

Grazing wild buffaloes

Serene backdrops

 Solitary giant

Sturdy guards of a herd

Golden savannah

Track through the jungle

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And that winds up the story of our Wasgamuwa trip. By the way if you wondered what was this title going on about some off-road races, well it was actually the safari ride itself. Cause there were times we felt like we were flying instead of driving through the jungle, as the cab went up and down speedily zooming past the tricky terrains and winding tracks. So this made most of my pics to come out with motion blur, and only a handful turned out clear.

There were couple of times we felt shivers down the spine. One was when we came face to face with a solitary elephant and our guide was explaining us to be very very quiet in their presence when observing. But that advice didn't get through to the four year old twin girls of my colleague who was also with us. And one little girl went on in a loud voice, "ammi... aliyaaaa... aliyaaaaa" (mom eleeeephant, eleephaaaant!) and the other too chorused with her, but was soon muffled by their terrified mother. We were lucky since the elephant gave only a glare and continued grazing.

The second time was when we came face to face with a herd of female elephants who were guarding one or two young elephants. The young were almost covered in tall grass and we were only a few meters away from them. The guide told us to be motionless and silent and got off the cab to remind the other cab. Just then one elephant guard became restless and blew a big puff of dust into the air and trumpeted, as if to warn us to retreat. We were totally frozen, as we expected one of them to come charging at us any moment. But all they did was give a good glare and leave the site in a hurry. It was a sight to behold seeing all the adult elephants surrounding the little ones and rushing further into the jungle.

We left the park past 6.30pm and I think I got back home past 1am! We made tons of memories and had loads of fun, but the most unforgettable are those encounters with nature, which I'm sure can be relived even after decades have passed.

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See the rest of the pics of our Wasgamuwa safari over here.

From Misty Monsters to Off-road Races - Part 2

Contd. from Part 1...

After the misty adventure at Riverstone reserve our bus whizzed through some winding narrow roads... towards our next stop.

ranges of hills captured en route

Many years back with my fellow classmates, juniors and seniors I recall coming to this special spot. But the visuals I recall are all hazy from that time. But I can't forget how much fun we had, hand in hand.. about 50+  girls.. dashing uphill against the warnings of the teachers. This was a nostalgic place for me.. the renowned Pitawala Pathana.. it's much more than a sloping rocky hill carpeted with a thin layer of parched grass.

rocky outcrop and parched grass, and in the distant is our bus.

We thought we were taking the correct route. We passed a hamlet with little huts almost invisible from the road. And after sometime we realized that we had driven long past the Pathana and was heading the wrong way. When we had to turn around, we were at a very narrow path. The bus as you see in the picture was slim but long. On one side was a slope, on the other side was a precipice. The bus moved foot by foot and then inch by inch forward and backward and finally faced the right direction. That was quite an adventure itself, watching while seated inside the very bus trying to turn 180 degrees.. at an almost impossible narrow path.

Surrounding mountain ranges

Soon we arrived at the spot and our bus parked at the parking area, at the foot of the Pitawala Pathana. One went to get tickets while we breathed a good dose of oxygen. It was quite windy, that we almost lost our caps! After a round of posing for pics, we started our ascend.. slow but steady.. is what I'd like to say but.. gosh.. the wind didn't let us move an inch!!!

The shrubs at the top of Pitawala Pathana

In all my life I've faced such gale-like winds just a handful of times. Once at Tantirimale the same happened, and again at Illukkumbura hike. But this wind, this particular wind at Pitawala Pathana is a one you should seriously watch out for! It's nothing ordinary nor terrestrial. With each step we took, the wind pushed us back with its greatest force. It felt something similar to walking in water, submerged to the neck. We had to hold on to each other, wondering any moment the wind might carry one of us like Dorothy and Toto to the Land of Oz (as in Wizard of Oz).

I'm not sure how far we headed uphill, maybe it was a kilometer or less or more. While we girls climbed up straight fighting against the wind with all we've got, the guys went off at a tangent and climbed up the other hill which was quite far from us.. and we watched them turn into tiny dots!

These shrubs led us to the spectacle - the Mini World's End!

 

At the top we sighed, thinking we conquered the battle with the wind... but no soon a colleague shouted at us to sit down and hold firm. We obeyed at once or else we could have tumbled like tumbleweed and gotten tossed off the hill, from the other end! The shrubs you see up in the 4th image was right before us. And then we got to know that it was hiding something intimidating - The Mini World's End!

We thought we might have to crawl the rest of the way. But our colleagues found some pockets void of our adversary - The Wind.. and led us through a foot path. After few meters we came up to the shrubs in the 5th image. And then they pointed.. the spectacle.

The Mini World's End.. unfurling before your eyes!

 Take out the shrub and there you go!

Two of our colleagues, guys of course, dared enough to climb down to the rocky slabs beneath the shrub and even invited us to climb down. None of the girls moved. But few guys challenged their fear of heights and not just here, even climbed down from the other side of the shrub and took photos, facing their backs to the Mini World's End! Yes, we had a bunch of daredevils with us. :D

I climbed up to the shrub above and took these photos while hanging on it. It was funny when my friends started shouting at me, to step back at once! I think a little thrill won't do any harm, if you can get to witness something this good. But of course you need to maintain a firm footing and something strong to lock on your arms. And I put my life in the hands of the very shrub.. who daringly grew at the edge of a steep cliff... watching over this endless micro world!

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Got some good news! I've updated My Albums so now you can see all the photos of Pitawala Pathana, Riverstone Gap and some scenes captured on the way. They're all marked as *NEW* for your ease.

From misty monsters to offroad races - Part I

It's time for an epic! This is all about the trip to Wasgamuwa I had with my former colleagues.. and all the wonderful moments we shared, hopefully I remember half of it least, and the enchanting places we visited en route and of course the many surprising encounters we had.

We passed some tea estates on our way to Riverstone

I'll fast forward the months of dreaming and weeks of planning and days of finalizing and come to the 14th of June 2011.. the day of the excursion.

Me and one colleague, waited at the bus halt in the Matale junction. I arrived half an hour before her, and we both waited for another 1 + hour for the bus to pick us up! The time was before 8 am so there were lots of school kids and office workers commuting to and fro passing us. Time to time whenever a bus or a school van stopped, people stared at us in a funny way. You see.. early in the morning seeing 2 strange folks dressed up for a safari and standing in the middle of a town.. is indeed is amusing.  ^__^

Exquisitely designed plush carpet exclusively made of pure Ceylon Tea!

So the hours long chat ended when our bus finally arrived to pick us. Many rounds of songs and a fun quiz round added music, laughter and fun to our trip. And so were the beautiful lush sceneries all around. Felt so blessed to be living in a country full of greenery. We had a quick breakfast while the bus was still speeding through misty winding roads. And then we came to the Riverstone Gap, where we first stopped.

 The welcome board at Riverstone Gap in Knuckles Conservation Forest

Now.. brace yourself.. for what you're about to see.. is the birth of a new phenomenon - the existence of 'The Misty Monster and The Vanishing Point'.

Ever believed in broad daylight UFO abductions? or the phenomenon behind Bermuda Triangle? Well.. this beats the rest as it happened right in front of our eyes.. and within few seconds of time to boot.

 9.53 am

 9.53 am

Yeah, as you see.. they simply vanished.. and I have no idea why the path before us seemed a bit warped too! O__O (Un)Luckily they were more mischievous than our Misty Monster so they had pulverized the poor fellow and had escaped from the vanishing point.

This shrub covered rocky wall ran alongside our path

After climbing 2-3km uphill we heard there would be another 10 km or so to reach the target = Illukkumbura Transmission Tower! The nature's pristine beauty, 100% oxygen dose, cool fresh breeze, rolling blue hills, mystical misty monsters or calorie burning workout no longer seemed worth dying for! So instantly we turned about and raced to the bus.

Contd. in Part II... await more encounters and delectable tidbits.

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I'll add the links once I finish uploading all the photos. ^__^