| Year and Month | September, 2014 |
| Number of Days | One Day Trip |
| Crew | Two (Lahiru & Myself) |
| Accommodation | N/A |
| Transport | Train & bus |
| Activities | Rail hike & Photography |
| Weather | Sunny & Rainy |
| Route | Colombo -> Haputale by train. Hapitale -> Ohiya on foot. Ohiya -> Nanuoya by train. Nanuoya -> Colombo by bus. |
| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
** Special Thanks** to all “Lakdasun” members who did rail hikes. |
| Author | Chamara_Jaya |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
Lahiru joined me at Fort railway station around 7.15 p.m. on Friday evening and waited till Badulla bound night mail train arrives to the flat foam. Soon after the train came around 7.30 p.m. we got in and were able to grab 2 seats. Being at the railway station in advance allowed us not to experience the difficulty of going standing specially in the night for long time. The train left Colombo at 8.15 p.m. and reached Haputale around 6.00 in the morning. After having a rest for a few minutes, we headed towards Ohiya.
Favorable weather condition prevailed in the morning enabled us to enjoy the mesmerizing scenery of the hill country. After walking through the Thangamale sactuary, we came across tunnel no. 36 just before Idalgashinna station.
 Sky in the morning |
 Ready to start from here |
 Namunukula |
 No idea of this peak |
 Hunnasgiriya range |
 Beauty in the morning |
 The bend |
 Leafless |
 Colorful rail track |
 Hard life |
 Wow |
 Scenery |
 The drop in the right side |
 Colombo bound train |
 ඩක්කුව |
 Red & Green |
 Turpentine patch |
 Fines patch |
 Its tunnel no.36 |
 Tunnel no.36 |
 Manhole |
 Inside the tunnel |
 Looking back @ T 36 |
 Happy hikers |
By walking a few meters towards Ohiya from tunnel no.36, we noticed a foot path that lead to the uphill of the tea estate on our left side. We took that foot path and climbed up to top of the tea estate within 15 minutes. Though it was a better place to view the southern area of the country, the view was not much clear due to the mist. We stayed there for few minutes and continued our hike till we reach Idalgashinna.
 Foot path to the uphill |
 View towards T 36 |
 Covered by mist |
 View from the top |
 Idalgashinna |
 Petals |
 More petals |
 Dark & light green |
 Towards katharagama |
 Towards balangoda |
 Tamil School @ Idalgashinna |
 Sub post office |
We bought some food items from the shop nearby Idalgashinna station and started the rest of the hike. Then all of a sudden weather condition changed from sunny to rainy allowing us not to continue for about half an hour. So, we had to stay at a workers’ hut. Once the weather condition became normal we were back on the track. From there we walked 8.8 km through 19 tunnels passing tea and turpentine plantations. In most of the tunnels we could see “wehilihini nests” and had to feel the bad smell of wehilihini dung.
 Before the weather change |
 After the weather change |
 Owner |
 Well maintained |
 What’s that light? |
 Get out of my way |
 A tunnel through a tunnel |
 Tunnel no.27 |
 Wehilihini nest |
 Wehilihini nest |
Just before we reach Ohiya, lahiru got a phone call from his mom saying that his grandpa was dead. Though our original plan was to do the rail hike up to Pattipola, we had to give up that idea and returned to Colombo. After having lunch from a shop in front of the station, we cought podimenike train to reach Nanuoya. From there we had to come by bus via Nuwaraeliya as it was the easiest way to come home at that time.
 At the end |
 Another view of Ohiya |
 It’s me |
 Lahiru |
Thanks for reading…