Kadugannawa to Rambukkana the last leg of my rail hikes

Year and Month	February 2014
Number of Days	One Day Trip
Crew	One
Accommodation	Kandy Waishyakadana building
Transport	Public transport & Train
Activities	Rail hike (21.5Km)
Weather	Clear sky
Route	Kandy -> Kadugannawa(5.4Km) -> Balana(3.8Km) -> Ihala kotte(2Km) -> Gangoda(3Km) -> Yatwaldeniya(0.8Km) -> Kadigamuwa(6.5Km) -> Rabukkana -> Polgahawela -> Gampaha -> Colombo
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Take a bottle of water Do not carry Plastic items (Minimize), Make sure you bring back everything you took. Don’t disturb wild life There are leeches here and there Shoes are recommended Beware of grease Not recommended for people with vision and hearing impairment. Avoid long stays in tunnels Need a torch per person Do not panic in Tunnels Try and walk always on the side walk Get information about the train schedule from the stations Talk with locals do not ignore them During the rail hike keep your eyes and ears fully open Off your phone if possible Walking along the railways is prohibited by law and it seems like they are going to implement it SPECIAL THANKS to Tony & Ananda
Related Resources	Blog post: Railway hike Rabhukkana to Kadugannawa
Author	Ashan
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Kadugannawa to Rambukkana the last leg of my rail hikes

The map – Click to enlarge

After a tiring hike to Hunnasgiriya peak with my friend Niroshan, we reached Kandy where I decided to stay the night at and complete a long awaited rail hike from Kadugannawa to Rambukkana. So next day early morning I took a bus and proceeded towards Kadugannawa where I had some breakfast before stepping on to the railway track. After snapping a Udarata menike train which was halted at Kadugannawa I started marching downwards towards Balana. The first landmark I came across was 64 ¾ mile post which is the highest point of Kandy – Colombo railway line which most of the people are not aware about. From here onwards the rail line deviates away from the main road. Tunnel 11 is the first tunnel one would come across after Galboda station where tunnel 12 could be found (when coming from Badulla side). After passing this small tunnel the sight of mighty Bible’s rock and the endless view towards Aranayake side would please any hiker on any given day. Other major landmarks seen were Kabaragala of Nawalapitiya, Ura kanda, Devanagala, Uthuwan kanda & Gampola kanda. Not so far from Tunnel 10 there is a semi arched rocky part just like an opened mouth of a lion and the Englishman have named it “Lions mouth”. Passing lions mouth one would reach tunnel 10 which resembles a back of an Elephant so it was called “Elephants back”. For more interesting facts about this stretch please refer this link. Next tunnel I came across is Tunnel 9A which had an interesting piece of history. There wasn’t a tunnel at this location during the early periods of the Kandy Railway line but the continuous dripping of water along the rock caused maintenance difficulties for the railway staff and the Englishman were forced to drill the rock and build a tunnel to overcome this problem, there are remains of the old railway line at this location which I missed out during my visit. This interesting stretch of the railway ended at Weralugolla station.

Starting point

a fan on the top of 782

special box

Dawson tower at kadugannawa

a morning chat

looking back through tunnel 11

Bibles rock

Devanagala

Kabaragala peak

towards Dolosbage

Lions mouth

looking back through the lions mouth

Elephants back

Tunnel no 10

two in one pic

Ambuluwawa

Bibles rock and Ura kanda

Uthuwankanda

Entering tunnel 9A

Tunnel 9A which was built on a later day

the silent death machine

Weralugolla

While at Weralugolla I inquired from the locals if it was possible to reach Balana fort from there and they said one needs to walk for 45 minutes to get to that site and I decided to proceed to Balana and get a trishaw to save my valuable time. Passing Weralugolla and while continuing towards Balana one would come across tunnel 9 and once you exit it you could enjoy the majestic view of Alagalla peak all the way long. After reaching Balana I hired a tuk tuk and went towards Balana fort which was about 4Km’s from the station. To reach the fort site one needs to walk along a tea estate for 10 minutes. The historical Balana fort is a superb view point towards Mawanella and Aranayake areas. Unfortunately only the foundation of the rampart and few steps remain on this current day.

Tunnel 9

Majestic Alagalla

Signal post

a mile stone

reached balana

Balana fort

view from the fort

what remains

steps to the fort

the path to balana fort

After returning back to Balana and enjoying a soft drink I started to march along until tunnel 8 was reached. The heat was getting worse and the thirst also was getting on to me but seen how an elderly lady was walking along the railway with a pole in her hand kept me motivated. Just before reaching Ihala kotte one would reach a beautiful scenic stretch which is boarded by the rocky hill on one side and a steep drop on the other. This panoramic stretch is known as the Sensation rock / Hakura wetunu gala. The panoramic view towards Mawanella and the paddyfileds at the foothill were a memorable sighting for me. Before reaching Ihala kotte I passed tunnel no 7, 6 and a mini station called Mahakehelwela.

part of history now

13 tons

tunnel 8

they walk along the railway coz they have no option

lovely surrounding of the railway

Mawanella town

view from sensation point

Ihala kotte

pano from sensation point

Uthuwankanda close up

had to pass a huge pack of them while they were stairing on me

any guesses

Alagalla range

tunnel 7

tunnel no 6

Narrowed path

bare footed

towards ihala kotte

Endless scenery

leafless

stay away

another guy who was in a hurry

Ihala kotte station

Passing Ihala kotte one would reach a scenic point just before entering tunnel no 5A which is supposed to be the second longest railway tunnel after Singimale of Hatton and my mobile phone torch assisted me on this walkthrough because I forgot to bring a head lamp. Next station was Gangoda though it’s a small station it was neat and lovely. The walk from here to Yatiwaldeniya was a long one and in that process I only passed tunnel no 5 (Yatiwaldeniya seems to be an abandoned station).

Next station was Kadigamuwa which was about 1Km from Yatiwaldeniya and at Kadigamuwa I was forced to fill my water bottle and refresh my self. Passing Kadigamuwa I came to the overhead bridge of Rambukkana – Mawaneela road and watched how vehicles passed below me for a while before starting to march towards my end destination. Tunnels 4, 3 & 2 were the only interesting locations I came across before reaching ground zero and the railway track for the first time started to go parallel to paddy fields indicating me that Rambukkana has been reached. This stretch along paddy fields without a shade was very difficult but it was the end which I seeked for many months. I have done most of the scenic stretches of Badulla line and gone through all the tunnels except tunnel no 1 at Mirigama. So until I do that small part I said Audios to the Rail tracks by taking a train to Colombo and reached home at around 5.30pm (not bad ha??).