Extreme caving : Exploring “Nil Diya Pokuna”, the underground lake in kingdom of Ravana.

This was an adventure I always wanted to do, from the moment I saw the documentary in youtube back in 2012. However, due to the lack of experience in outdoor activities, I had to drop the idea.

Then in February, I got to know that Thinuwan had been there. I suddenly got an adrenaline rush and determined to explore the underground lake. By this time, I’ve already done several hikes, and was confident about my fitness level.

So I called my friend, who is also a travel junkie, and assessed our capabilities. Then, carefully picked two others for the journey. The planning went on for about two weeks. Crew members were dropped, picked, again and again. And ended up with 3 of us who were initially there + 4 new members (whom were strangers at that time)

Myself, Sachintha, Kasun, Dulmini and Somang left Pettah around 11pm in Colombo-Badulla bus (Superline Travels – 0777382186) and arrived Bandrawela around 4am.

4.30am at Bandarawela. Arrived ahead of the anticipated time and guess what? We’ve found the perfect place to rest

To our confusion, people were telling different times of bus departure to Wellawaya. Hint- Stay at Bandarawela town. Buses will leave around 5.15-5.30am. We were resting on the roadside on a different path and managed to catch the bus at the last minute.

You have to pass Ella and go on several Kms to get to Karandagolla. We were asked to get down at “10th mile post” by Meththa. This is roughly around 23km RDA sign. Tell the conductor to drop you where the school bus stops at 10th mile post as it’s a popular landmark. Just before the stop, there’s a modern looking lodge on the left side, made primarily with glass. On the opposite side of the bus stop, there’s another lodge. Meththa’s house is few meters ahead. We weren’t keeping a track of the time, but I guess it took more than an hour to reach Karandagolla.

Veronique and Jolien were staying at Ella after a tour around the country on a scooter, and joined us within 15 mins.

To our dismay, Meththa seemed to delay the start. It is already 9am when we left Meththa’s place towards the cave in tuk-tuks.

Sanity prevailed! Meththa was not in our tuk-tuks, and he got down with another bunch! Some of us were outraged, as we clearly told him at the point of reserving few weeks ago, not to bring any other party. We had no option but to live with it.

Hiking towards the cave and finding our way through the Mana bushes

Hiking towards the cave and finding our way through the Mana bushes

So here we are! The entrance is rather small and deceiving. Meththa was advising us to watch the steps as there was a snake who used to live close to the entrance. After few meters, we faced the 1st descend. The guides were requesting us to remove shoes, and I was reluctant as I bought them especially for this journey. Some of us decided to keep on wearing.

The entrance…….

Sachintha performing a treacherous descend

After completing the 1st hurdle, it was time for some action with the rope. A point to note here is that, the ground gets slippery and it is recommended to go on barefoot. We had to leave most of the backpacks and pick only energy drink/water/cameras that could fit into two small backpacks.

The descend took more time due to the high number of people involved. The 2nd group was behind us. They were anxious and tried to rush though, which resulted a stone assault on us

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The path towards Nil Diya Pokuna is a mixture of narrow tunnels and open spaces. The terrain just before the Pond is slippery and sandy. Best method to descend is to slide down slowly (Meththa would say otherwise )

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Now we could hear the water stream and all were on toes! But it never really strike us as to how a sound could generate from stagnant water.

Bliss!

Sachintha on the other side of the lake

The pond is actually big, and would like to call it a “lake” instead. Water is crystal clear and you could actually see the bottom. With proper lighting, you could even see the edge on the other side. We took a dip and enjoyed the shallow waters and suddenly, Sachintha and Dulmini said “enough is enough, we are going to swim to the other side”. These two never failed to amuse me and off they go!

Clarity of the water makes you think that the lake is shallow (probably the reason it ended up being called as a pond). But don’t get fooled. If you are not a good swimmer, please refrain from swimming. In fact, Sachintha tried to dive and touch the bottom of the lake and it was impossible. Villagers say that it’s about 80ft deep. There’s high possibility of having a tunnel underwater.

We’ve spent a good 20 mins there and decided to explore the “room”. The route is on the right side of the lake with a heavy ascend through a narrow tunnel. Soil gets slippery so please watch your step. Once you overcome that, you will come to a huge open space. All of us were thinking that this should be the “room” but it wasn’t. The second group decided to stay as they were already exhausted.

The hardest part is between the huge open space after Nil Diya Pokuna and the “room”. It is not recommended to attempt this even with climbing equipment. This is a fatality zone.

Most of the time, you are compelled to traverse on a narrow ledge, and sometimes you won’t find a place to keep your sole or a rock to cling. We were stuck at the same place for about 15-20mins, trying to figure out our next step. Jolien, having an injured rib (probably when squeezing through holes), decided to turn back towards the open space along with Veronique and Somang. Rest of us were determined to complete the journey and kept on going.

Right after, there is another fatal descend. Though it’s a few meters, a slip would be deadly as a deep abyss is right next to it. Sachintha somehow overcame, so was Kasun, with the help of Meththa. Dulmini was half way through and used Meththa’s back to keep foot.

Finally, it was my turn. I too managed half way through, where I got stuck as I could not find a way to move forward (The traverse and descend is about 85 degrees). Meththa offered his palm to keep my sole. When trying to keep the other sole, I lost my grip! :O Meththa too, got unbalanced with my weight, and both of us slipped/slide about two feet. All of this happened within a fracture of a second and our minds were completely blank. Meththa, being a seasoned campaigner, always gave the weight to the walls from his back, and probably is the reason why we didn’t slip further.

After squeezing through a narrow hole, we came to our destination The “room” is more or less another open space, except for one vertical beam like creation (which doesn’t look natural).

Pics from the “room”

Pics from the “room”

Pics from the “room”

Pics from the “room”

This area is full of bats and flies. The flies are attracted to light, so it will be useful to cover your nose and mouth (did I mention bat poop?). From here, you can further descend. But again, it is not recommended (we didn’t either).

After all what we went through, it was bizarre to think about going back using the same route. Now we are back again at the fatality zone. I was hugging a huge rock and trying to move across when Dulmini suddenly yelled “the rock is lose!”. For a second, I too felt it. But the rock was too big to come off in a second. But knowing that I do not have much time in hand, I quickly moved to another rock.

On our way back, it seemed like we took a different route in some areas. There was a place where we had to perform a military crawl, which we couldn’t remember when coming down.

The journey took us around 6-8 hours. Again, we failed to keep a track of the time.

We were all covered with mud. As soon as we got out, we went for a dip in one of the waterfalls close-by. It was refreshing

It started raining heavily, as soon as we got to Ella,. We finally left towards Haputale around 9.30pm after the farewell of Veronique and Jolien, whom would travel to Nuwara Eliya and Adam’s Peak on next few days to come.

It was surely a life changing experience, where I felt my potential.

The “A” Team

SPECIAL NOTE –

The expedition should not be done individually as it is definitely a life threatening activity where a single wrong move / slip will take a toll on your very own life, as well as the others involved. Should you wish to explore this cave, please make sure that you are accompanied by those who are experienced and knows their way in and out of the cave as well as with proper climbing gear only. (Using coir rope as a climbing aid is NOT recommended at all) – Quote from Thinuwan.