Thought of getting the full advantage of the long vacation after a long time, we thought to get the 5:30 train from Badulla. My brother also joined after a long time, and with him we had five members in our team. Our plan was to spend a camp night while reaching to Devil’s staircase.
After reaching to Ohiya railway station at about 8:30 in the morning, we began the hike. There is a training center situated on the right side of the road after walking about 1.5 km, which also gives accommodations as far as we know.
So, now we can feel the cold which is inherent to Ohiya. There is a strange beauty in the both sides of the road and we can hear the water lapping from the small streams along the road. The road lays along a beautiful ‘pinus forest’.
The power of the morning tea has now diminished. So, we decided to fill our bellies with two of our lunch packets.
Walking further along the road, it divides into two, the right side of the road is leading to Hortain place while the left side is leading to Udaweriya estate. We should take the Udaweriya estate road.
The road is in a bad condition. The journey is difficult than I thought. Fortunately, a lorry which leads to the estate gave our leg a rest for 2 kilometers.
However, the first aim of reaching to Udaweriya estate is now achieved because it is the first landmark of the way to Devil’s staircase. We fulfilled the needs that we forgot earlier from a small kiosk on the side of the road and continued the hike.
However, still we couldn’t find a suitable place to camp. We had already covered 11km. It was still not a big problem as we had two alternative options. (Near the Bambarakanda waterfalls or Wangedigala.)
But, unfortunately, camping near the Bambarakanda falls have been restricted. Lanka falls also had the same issue. Therefore, our only opportunity was to reach the mountain.
We have now covered about 22km. The only strength that kept us walking is the passion for camping. The weight of the back packs was making a mess out of our shoulders. However, we managed to come to Pinus forest in the beginning of the Wangedigala mountain.
We didn’t have any strength left anymore as we walked about 30km now. It was a great thing that we could experience the unexpected and could leave our memories behind
