We woke up at around 06:00hrs & enjoyed the sunrise for a while. That was an unforgettable and the first ever morning I woke up on a droughty river. As in day 2, we received our morning tea from the neighboring family who shared their dinner with us on the previous day. We offered them back some food as a thanks giving.
07:00hrs – We started to come back to the track & half of the campers were already left the site at that time. We have to walk along the river and it was well shaded. We walked as much as we can quickly, even without drinking water. We took our first halt at 08:20 hrs. While walking towards Warahana we didn’t forget to enjoy the serene beauty of Manik river.
08:55hrs – Reached Warahana camping site and until that we didn’t find out any water refilling point. There was a long queue & we decided to move forward & continue until next water refilling point.
09:27hrs – We reached Warahana Wala & that was the first water drop we enjoyed for the day. We spent over 30 minutes there sharing our experience with a soldier we met. Even it was difficult to find a shelter there. We left around 10.00hrs & the rising sun beat us well.
11:40hrs – We manage to reach Yala block 3 entrance after 1hr & 40 minutes. Even the water couldn’t provide us a refreshment. We continued our walk along the gravel road through Katagamuwa sanctuary on Sithulpauwa road towards Kochchipatana (7 km from Katagamuwa entrance).
12:10hrs – The sun was on top of our heads and it was very difficult to walk through. So we decided to lay down for a while and rest another 30 minutes nearby a lake to escape the sun.
12:50hrs – We left there & reached Katagamuwa entrance by 13.30hrs. There was another dansela (free food offering place) there but we didn’t stop to take our lunch. But the 60LKR ice-cream helped us to forget our hunger for a while & we continued the journey because we had to walk another 12kms to reach Kataragama town (Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya)
14:00hrs – We filled our bellies with watermelon after trekking another few kilometres. To be frank that was a massive boost for us. After that the roads are laid through the villages & there were lots of places to rest and have a decent meal.
14:20hrs – The biggest 24/7 dansela (free food) along the road to Kataragama Pada Yatra was the next. We had our lunch there and dessert too. This one is held for over 3weeks continuously by a private company. We filled our hungry bellies there & began the journey after 30 minutes. On our way back from there we found another two dansals, cool drinks and tea.
16:45hrs – We proudly reached Kataragama around two hours of walking after getting lunch. I couldn’t feel my legs at that time & it still vibrates when I flashback that moment until today.
17:00hrs – We jumped into the fully crowded Manik ganga to cool down ourselves. It was a perahera day & all the pilgrimages were busy to capture a perfect location to see the perahera.
18:00hrs – We worshiped the Kataragama Maha Devalaya & came out from there before the perahera began. We had to catch a Colombo bus to make our way back home. After taking a quick snack we got into a bus. We call it a day by stretching our legs & close the eyes with a pocket full of unforgettable memories.
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