Must try 7 waterfalls in the Knuckles region of Sri Lanka- Recreating our moments 12.0 !!
We went to see more waterfalls !! (05th-06th March 2022)
Out of all, this would have been one of the least planned getaways for us!! But I have been bugging Sachin to go to Knuckles for some time and we had to postpone this a couple of times due to various reasons; both of us were quite occupied with office stuff and family engagements these days, on top of that Sachin had an outing the previous night. So didn’t have enough time to plan anyway.
We started our day at around 5 am and I tried my best to stay up so that Sachin won’t feel sleepy. Unusually I was very hungry early today; to a level that I couldn’t hold on to. So I was actively looking out for any restaurant that was open at that time. Finally, found a Perera & Sons in Pasyala and I jumped at it. First, we were planning to only grab a quick snack but later we decided to have breakfast itself. Obviously coz they served Sri Lankan. And I ate like a pig. Sachin had his favourite bacon and egg pastry too.
We took the newly opened Central Expressway and I wanted to have a check around since it was our first time taking that, but I knew I was too sleepy to hang on. So there goes me catching up on all arrears and dozing off for at least 1–2 hours. I vaguely remember Sachin asking to play some fast numbers to keep him alive which I did, but later he took control and added his very loud playlist.
The road was patchy when I woke up, from there onwards I decided to stay up.
1st fall- Huluganga Waterfall
We first stopped at the “Huluganga Waterfall”. At first, we were wondering where to get down to go see it, but in a matter of a few seconds, we found a small stairway leading to the viewpoint. We quickly reached the viewpoint and there were few people there as well. It doesn’t lead up to the bottom of the fall, possibly coz the water here is very strong. So to avoid people bathing, stairs end after a while.
2nd fall- Thaliya Watuna Ella via Alakola Estate
Next up, we wanted to go see the waterfall, “Thaliya Watuna Ella” The road leading to that passed the Alakola Estate which was a beauty. I remember Sachin scolding me to leave the phone aside and look around, it was that pretty. We didn’t stop on the way thinking that will do on our way back, but we missed it.
We had to go back and forth a couple of times to find the road to go see the waterfall, and villagers were giving different directions as well. Finally found the board which said the name. Why we have missed it in the 1st place was coz the name board had been covered with food for cows.
We took a small trek to the fall, even though it’s not a hard hike, to a fussy being like me, wasn’t the easiest; I complained throughout. There were a couple of places where we had to cross over muddy patches/very narrow places where I stop and say I can’t go from here. Sachin helped me whenever I almost stopped. Hats off to my favourite pair of sandals for coping with all the off-roading that we do now.
Sachin decided to publicize my funny walk to his IG community by posting how I got here. To date I scold him for doing that coz, it is that ugly to a level that I can’t even complete watching the video.
Finally, we reached the waterfall and it won’t take even 2 seconds to realize that it was worth all the effort to get here. Let the photos speak for themselves.
Sachin so badly wanted to take a dip in the water here, but I didn’t let him purely coz I was too scared. Since we didn’t risk bathing there, we decided to feel the water at least. And this is one that went up on my IG.
Then we followed the Google maps and found our way to the lodge we were planning to stay at. Roads were getting narrower as we went and we managed to go right up to the entrance of the place. Now, now, we do quite a lot of off-roading with our mini car !! Hats off to our Benz too :P:P.
Prasanna, the resident owner of the lodge treated us to a delicious fruit juice and we dozed off soon because we were hacked after the day. We woke up at around 5 pm and decided to quickly go and see the final waterfall for the day. As usual with Anupa, she is never happy until she gets to do all that she has in her mind.
3rd fall- Saree Ella
We went to “Saree Ella”, again a beautiful wonder of Sri Lanka.
There was a cow eating when we got down here but he was missing when we came back. It was quite dark when we came back to the car, and this was the view we were treated with !!
Even though we planned to take an early start next day, as usual, the lazy duo woke up a little later than we planned to. We quickly had the Sri Lankan breaky we requested, settled the bill and said goodbye to Prasanna. Such a nice humble guy managing this decent place for anyone who wants to lodge near Knuckles. This place was recommended by my boss who travels almost every other week around Sri Lanka. (I had curd for the first time with Kithul Treacle here. There is always a 1st time)
knuckles-mansala.business.site
We saw “Lebanon 2 waterfall” from the lodge itself, and it was Prasanna who suggested that we go see Lebanon 1 as well. Still wonder why it is named after a country in another country like Sri Lanka.
4th fall- Lebanon 1 waterfall
1st task on our agenda was to go and see the “Lebanon 1 waterfall”. The road leading to this was getting narrower as we go, and wasn’t the easiest with our supercar which is ideal for off-roading. Nevertheless, we had a quite fun ride trying to go there. We parked our vehicle 1st on the road where we thought would be a safe spot, but a lady came running asking us to park elsewhere and she helped us to find a place. She said, had she known earlier that we were going to see the waterfall, she would have arranged her son’s place to park. Such nice people.
1st we had to cross a water bunt. And as usual, I took double the time to cross this; (I try, then take my step back, then trying again) * a million times. And after Sachin’s firm order to convince me that I won’t fall, I almost jumped and moved on as if I didn’t have any trouble at all in the first place.
Sachin was relying on Google Maps to make the trek to the fall. So, as we lost network signal here and there, we let our guts drive us forward. We met a few villagers on the way, they even didn’t know about this waterfall. Then to see, they refer to as “Viyangala” fall or something of that sort. Trek up was difficult for me mainly because it was climbing up. If not for that, it is not that difficult coz roads were properly paved. You have to walk through jungle bushes as well. Like I said it was fun.
As we went along, we started hearing the sounds of the water stream, and the moment we saw the waterfall, we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. I guess so far this is the best I have seen. Such a secretive waterfall with a superb view. Killing two birds at once of course (A beautiful view +a breathtaking waterfall at the same place). We took a few seconds to digest this and it was really difficult for us to come back from here even after about an hour. So badly want to go there again.
This waterfall continues down, where people can climb through the rocks as well. Apparently, my boss had done this.
5th fall- Lebanon 2 Waterfall
Our next stop was to see Lebanon 2, but we couldn’t find a proper path to go near, so we had a look at it from the road and we decided to move on.
6th fall- Jodu Ella
Finally, we came to one of the mainstream falls in this area; “Jodu Ella” which has got its name because of the two parallel water streams of the waterfall. Again road was not the easiest and I remember Sachin scolding me asking me to help him to manoeuvre the vehicle without meddling with the phone. This waterfall road adjoins a Buddhist Monastery and we went through the small trees to find our way. We didn’t spend a lot of time here as we had to head back home soon.
7th fall- Rangala Natural Pool
Our last stop of the trip was at “Rangala Natural Pool” which is again one of the common attractions located on this route. We got down to the pool but didn’t get into the water. One of the drivers stopped and asked us not to get into the water too saying it is dangerous here. We didn’t have a plan anyway. There were few groups who came at the same time, not sure if they decided to bathe, but I didn’t want to witness anything bad, so we came up soon.
We had pizza on our way from Katugastota and we were in Colombo by 5.30 pm. We met Sachin’s family and came home after one of the favourite trips of our life.
This was a very relaxing getaway for us because ;
Roads were not that busy
We managed to cover everything we had in minds (7 waterfalls/natural pools) and 4 were dedicated to ourselves
We went to see beautiful waterfalls that both of us hadn’t seen before
Next time would definitely try the Knuckles mountain hike !! Wish me luck !!
