| Year and Month | 2016 February 14th |
| Number of Days | one day |
| Crew | 03-Indranatha, Nuwan and My self |
| Accommodation | Not applicable |
| Transport | Bus, Train and Climbing |
| Activities | Mountain climbing, Sightseeing and photography |
| Weather | Excellent |
| Route | Polonnaruwa->Kandy->Poththapitiya (පොත්තපිටිය)->Alagalla (අලගල්ල) ->Gangoda (ගoගොඩ) ->Ihala Kotte (ඉහළ කෝට්ටේ)-> Kandy->Polonnaruwa |
| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
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| Related Resources |
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| Author | Niroshan |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
“If you have fallen love with mountains, you have to celebrate valentine day by climbing a mountain”
Where Alagalla is situated
 Red circle shows Alagalla peak and black circle shows Pooja Gala (it is mentioned as Ingurugala in the map. Green star shows the Poththapitiya junction where we started the climbing. Yellow arrow shows Ihala Kotte station. Note both Ihala Kotte and Poththapitiya are closer to Alagalla peak not to Pooja Gala. Red star shows the approximate place of Gangoda substation. (As it is a substation, it is not shown in the map). Pooja Gala is closer to Gangoda station. click image to enlarge |
Different phases of Alagalla
 View of Alagalla from Balana fort |
 View of Alagalla from Kandy railway line |
 View of Alagalla from Kandy railway line |
 View of Alagalla from Kadigamuwa railway station |
We got Poththapitiya bus from Kandy Good shed bus stand and reached Poththapitiya around 8.15 am. There was a well paved concrete road starting from Poththapitiya junction towards Alagalla tea factory. We got right hand side road at Alagalla tea factory which winds through Alagalla tea estate and line houses. The left hand side foot pathway at Alagalla tea factory is towards Ihala Kotte.
As it was a Sunday, numbers of locals were starting to climb Alagalla. They mainly targeted the Pooja Gala. It was nice to see even old ladies and small kids. The road got narrow and became a foot pathway which goes through the forest patch initially.
Then we came to a Mana patch which was half burned by a fire made by someone’s careless work.
When we were climbing the mana patch, the peak of Alagalla was noticed with it’s waving flag. There was a foot pathway to Pooja gall with bypassing the peak.
At the end of the mana patch rock climbing part was started and it ended at the highest point of Alagalla. It was time around 10.15 am.
 Well paved concrete road towards Alagalla tea factory |
 Alagalla tea factory. Locals called it as “store” ස්ටෝරුව |
 පුළුන් |
 Walking along estate road |
 The last drinkable water source |
 Estate road in a brighten day |
 Kind of a junction, turn to left hand side |
 The crowd…. |
 Through Alagalla tea estate |
 Road becomes foot pathway and entering to the forest patch |
 It was a continuous ascend  Starting of Mana patch |
 Climbing through mana patch. Foot pathway was well clear after mass hike on independent day |
 The view when we looked down |
 Surrounding view… |
 Surrounding view… |
 Half burned mana patch |
 Majestic view of the peak |
 Alagalla peak |
 Alagalla peak |
 This boy was carrying his sister all the way to the peak |
 Smile of young hiker |
 Starting of minor rock climbing part |
 This is the way…. |
 Window view |
 Summit of Alagalla with the flag |
 Majority bypasses the peak and going to Pooja Gala |
 Railway line and road |
 Standing Buddha statue with temple which come across along the way from Mawanella to Rambukkana |
 Garbage disposal area at Alagalla |
 Alagalla tea factory |
 Hatharaliyadda-හතරලියද්ද town |
 Another nearby temple at Gangoda |
 Vandalism |
 Macro view… |
 I am at the peak…. |
 The team on top of Alagalla |
Alagalla peak provides a good view towards Poththapitiya, Mawanella, Rambukkana, Hatharaliyadda and Ihala Kotte. Then we continued towards
Pooja Gala. The drop between Alagalla and Pooja Gala was connected by the slippery rock. After getting down along slippery rock, we entered another forest patch where we found two or three camp sites.
 Rest of Alagalla range |
 Other part of Alagalla range where Pooja Gala is situated |
 Reaching slippery rock |
 Iron road embedded in the rock |
 Getting down along slippery rock. It was around 10-15m long |
 Getting down along slippery rock |
 Getting down along slippery rock |
 Entering to the forest patch |
 First camp site we noticed |
 Going through forest patch |
 Going through forest patch |
 Pooja Gala with pagoda |
Pooja Gala is situated at other end of Alagalla range. There is a newly built Stupa, small pond and sacred foot print. This is the main attraction of Alagalla these days. Pooja Gala was crowded and we spend a little time there. Then we started to get down towards Gangoda side. Unfortunately we missed foot print and pond.
The pathway was slippery due to dust and sand. We reached Gangoda station by 12.45 pm and got into Kandy train to reach Ihala Kotte.
 Have to remove shoes before enter |
 Starting of the foot path way to Gangoda |
 The pagoda |
 Buddha statue was inside the pagoda |
 . |
 Getting down towards Gangoda side |
 Getting down towards Gangoda side |
 The view |
 Intermittent concrete steps |
 The view when we were coming down |
 They requested to have a snap |
 View of Pooja Gala |
 Uthuwan Kanda-උතුවන්කන්ද |
 Fainted view of Bathalegala -බතලේගල and Ura Kanda -ඌරා කන්ද |
 The train |
 The pathway closer to the rock |
 It was recently built |
 Better to keep in mind |
 The shrine |
 Reaching Gangoda station |
Our next objective is to visit Dekinda Falls (දෙකිද ඇල්ල) which is situated closer to Ihala Kotte station. There are two ways to reach Dekinda Falls. One is follow the foot pathway towards Poththapitiya and reach the top of the fall. According to the person who described it is bit long.
There is a separate pathway to reach the base of the fall. We followed that and had a quick dip from the fall. Dekinda fall was fairly dry these days.
It ended up a good day of travelling.
 White arrow shows the foot pathway to Alagalla. You can reach the top of Dekinda Falls by that. Red arrow shows the pathway to base of the fall. |
Dekinda Falls
This 30m tall waterfall situated closer to Ihala Kotte, inside Alagalla forest reserve. It has upper part and lower part.
 Dekinda Falls |
 Dekinda Falls-lower part |
 Dekinda Falls-lower part |
Thanks for reading