| Year and Month | April 2018 |
| Number of Days | 1/2 day |
| Crew | Sampath & My self |
| Accommodation | N/A |
| Transport | Public transport |
| Activities | Hiking & Photography |
| Weather | Excellent but, little showers at the end |
| Route | Colombo –> Monaragala –> Siyabalanduwa -> 9th mile post (Ampara road) -> Govindahela |
| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
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| Author | Chamara123 |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
I was waiting for a long holiday to travel around Siyabalanduwa as there are so many places in the list of mine to be visited & it is not worthy to travel Siyabalanduwa for a one day hike & return back on the same day. Sinhala Hindu new year holiday was the high time to plan this so, Govindahela was one destination that we visited during this journey.
We (Sampath & Myself) were lucky enough to grab two seats of Ampara private bus which was left at 10.00 pm from pettah bus stand with big crowd. It was around 6.00 am when we got down at 9th mile post of Siyabalanduwa – Ampara road, only one tea shop was available to fill our packs. After the breakfast we walked another 100 m towards Ampara to reach Buddhist temple called “Buwanekaba Viharaya” at the right side of the road & giant Govindahela was standing behind it. Only a samanera thero was there at that moment who came with us till the Bo tree & showed us the path to the left side of the Bo tree. We continued our hike along that path through the silent forest passing few land marks. As we knew villagers used to hike this mountain frequently hence, we could notice steel bridges, cemented steps & ladders made by them to make the hike easier. We came across four steel ladders until the summit. Though these ladders were not in a good condition we could manage to ascend otherwise we had to turn back if these ladders were not there. Just before the summit we reached the view point called “Hulang Kapolla” which provided a clear view towards eastern part of the country.
After 2 hours hike we started to enjoy & explore the beauty of the nature from the top of Govindahela. We moved from one viewpoint to another & witnessed Degalhela mountain, Maragala mountain, Muthukandiya lake, Wadinagala mountain, Jayanthi lake, A25 main road, Walasgala mountain, Pallanhela mountain, Inginiyagala mountain, Senanayake reservoir, Konduruhela mountain, Pannelgama lake & many more.
 Our target |
 Forest path |
 Steel bridge |
 a cave |
 a hiking partner |
 Steel ladder |
 Still in good condition |
 Thanks to the villagers |
 Difficult but manageable |
 @ Hulan kapolla, Konduru hela seen |
 View from Hulan kapolla |
 Reached the summit |
 . |
 . |
 Ruins |
 Ruins |
 Pond No.01 |
 2 man team |
 Greenish |
 Muthukandiya lake & Maragala |
 Degalhela is far in middle |
 Muthukandiya lake & Maragala |
 Pond No.02 |
 Treasure hunters were there |
 Treasure hunters’ work |
 Wadinagala, Jayanthi lake, Senanayake reservoir & Walasgala |
 Towards Ampara |
 Pannelgama reservoir seen |
 Pannelgama reservoir |
 Konduru Hela |
 Sugala devi lake |
 Pannelgama reservoir & Konduru hela |
 Jayanthi lake, Walasgala & Inginiyagala |
 Jayanthi lake, Walasgala, Inginiyagala (zoomed) |
 Towards Monaragala |
 the drop |
 Degalhela seen |
 beauty |
 Wadinagala & Jayanthi lake |
 Ampara side. |
 towards Gal oya national park |
 Raining around Degalhela |
 Sampath – my hiking partner |
 with Shanthasiri thero |
We wanted to get down to the temple before the rain but, it was started raining during the return journey which took nearly one hour. After reaching the temple we had a friendly chat with samanera thero then headed towards Inginiyagala for our next adventure.
Thanks for reading…