| Year and Month | 22nd February, 2016 |
| Number of Days | One |
| Crew | 4 (between 25-30 years of age) |
| Accommodation | N/A |
| Transport | Motor Bikes |
| Activities | Scenery, Photography, Hiking |
| Weather | Sunny |
| Route | Peradeniya -> Galaha -> Delthota -> Loolkandura -> Kondagala -> Back to Galaha -> Nilamba -> Kalugamuwa -> Gelioya |
| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
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| Related Resources | Trip report : Romantic ride from nilambe to udupussellawa |
| Author | Ramzy |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
The Loolkandura estate was the first tea plantation estate in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) started in 1867 by Englishman James Taylor, it is situated in Kandy District.
The James Taylor Story
The James Taylor Story
Attractions;
- Ruins of James Taylors’ Cottage
- Hike to Kondagala
- James Taylors Well
- James Taylors Seat
- Field No 7 – The First tea field
We started the journey around 7:30 am and reached Delthota at 9 am. Riding through the Scenic road of Hanthana range was a nice experience.
 Scenic roads |
 Hanthana Range seen from Galaha |
 More scenarios |
 Kondagala seen from Delthota road |
 on the way |
 . |
Loolkandura is located in 7 km from Delthota town on the Hewaheta road. This goes through tea estates and can enjoy the beauty of the valley.
 The Valley |
 The Piduruthalagala range – Upper Pussellawa |
 Zoomed |
 At the Entrance |
 The Tickets |
 Rock – The Land mark of Loolkandura |
 Rock – The Land mark of Loolkandura |
 A Summer hut |
 Beautiful tea fields |
 . |
 Greeny |
 . |
 The Ruins of JT Cottage |
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 Ode to James Taylor – click to enlarge |
Kondagala is the rock located just behind the JT cottage. The foot path to the rock starts at the Right corner of the JT cottage. There is a 300 meters hike to reach the top.
 At the forest patch |
 The rock |
 Looks scary |
 A cave – A camping spot |
 Final stretch. |
 On top |
 To have a better view |
 Hanthana |
 Views |
 The Rock bed |
 Views |
 The range |
 An abandoned place |
 . |
 . |
 Taking some rest |
 in Full |
 The summit |
 Opposite side |
 Opposite side |
 Need extreme care. |
 Crazy guy |
 . |
 . |
 JT cottage view |
 . |
.Well used by James Taylor
The James taylors seat is located little away from the JT cottage. It’s the place used by James taylor to plan the tea plantation across the the Loolkandura valley.
 The Story behind the seat |
 The Valley |
 . |
 Are they to plan some thing? |
A hut near the seat.
After spending some time there we decided to return loolkandura to see field no 7. On our way back to loolkandura we saw a nice pond on the way.
 The Pond |
 . |
.
The Field no 7 is the first tea field of srilanka
The First tea field
There is a good place to have a bath at Loolkandura.
Taken from Google Street view
It was a wonderful trip and We returned our home by 4:30 pm. We used the Nillamba route to reach our home which is the shortest route to Gelioya.
Thanks for Reading!