Roads are meant for travel and create memories

Roads are built for travels. Out of those random travels that are not given much planning are the best. You select a route and invite a couple of friends, get into a vehicle and start the journey without any special place in mind but some random stops.

This is what happened, it was a long weekend, but we decided to start our Journey on Saturday night with the intention of returning on Sunday. We started from Kaduwela, there were 4 of us Namal, Kasun, Akila and me. Akila drove us in his car and the journey extended for about 1010km.

The route was from Bandaragama along the highway. We exit from Matara stopping for some time at the service area for a cup of coffee began our journey again. We had a late-night dinner of parata and hoppers from a night Kade and headed towards Kataragama as we had the plan of visiting Yala on the following day.

As there were no place to stay, we decided to camp by Tissa lake. We parked the vehicle and set up the tent and started to settle down when a police vehicle stopped and asked what we were doing. We said, we wanted to camp, and they allowed us warning us against the robbers that might be in the region.

We had a sleep only for few hours, three of us in the tents and Akila sleeping in the vehicle for safety. Namal was the first to get up and that morning view by the lake was pleasing to the eyes. We quickly dismantled the tents and started heading towards Yala as we wanted to enter the park as early as possible to see some animals. We met a safari guy on the way and off we went taking some buns for breakfast from a nearby shop and getting a small wash to take our tiredness away.

The climate was bit gloomy. After we travelled for some time, it began to rain. But we managed to see many species of birds, a lot of elephants, some mongoose, crocodiles, deer, stag, buffaloes and monkeys. We wanted to see tiger and bear but was not fortunate enough to see one. We saw Gamunu near the camping site much tamed and with a broken tusk.

After spending half a day there, we left Yala hoping to reach Panama to camp in the night. All of us were dirty and tired from last night and wanted to have a bath. Finally, we found a spot and had a bath though it was not the best place. Then some of us wanted to have ‘Waw Malu’ freshwater fish but by the time we came from the wash it was to late. Late we found a place and had a hearty meal as the breakfast was just a snack for us and we all were craving to fill our tummies.

Through many beautiful landscapes and passing through roads such as Lahugala we finally reached Panama. It was almost late evening but the best time to have a good look at the sea with beautiful colours. This was my second time at Panama and other three also loved it. As there was an elephant that used to come, they have fixed an electric fence this time. Me and Akila both got an electric shock when we tried to remove the barrier to go out. But somehow Akila and Kasun made a friend and with his help they went out to get us some dinner. They brought bread and a kottu with the hope of having a fresh shrimp curry. But except for some fried shrimps, it was not possible for us to make a curry to eat the bread.

While Akila and Kasun was out me and Namal set up the tents. I wanted Namal to capture some good night photographs. We were able to see the milky way and some constellations in the sky but by the time the other two came back the sky was covered again with clouds and we couldn’t get a good capture. We set up a campfire had our dinner and went off to sleep inside the tent.

Unfortunately, towards the night it began to rain. The tent that me and Namal was in started to get water inside. So we had to quickly move into another tent luckily there was one as Akila was sleeping in the car.

After a good night sleep, we woke up to another beautiful morning. We started exploring the beach and were able to capture some good photos before we hit the road back to Colombo.

Since we did not have a good dinner the previous night, we were nit hungry. But it was not until we travelled for almost two hours, we were able to get a shop to get a decent breakfast. We were targeting Namal’s home for lunch and was deciding on a route that we have not taken before.

During the journey to Namal’s home we passed many beautiful landscapes including Paddy fields of different shades, forests, beaches, mountains, misty hills, reservoirs. We passed through Bandarawela, Haputale and reached Belihul Oya where Namals hometown was and had the best meal we had for the past two days. It was already late and cold. Therefore, although we planned to have a bath at Surathlai falls, it was too cold, and we were tired.

We left Namal’s place and took the Rathnapura – Panadura road and reached the highway and exit from Bandaragama where Kasun said goodbye. Then Akila and Namal went dropping me at Malabe and that ended our road trip.

It was indeed a short trip. We couldn’t visit many places. But road trips are not about visiting places but rather spending time on the road admiring many landscapes and stopping when you feel like stopping and just sleeping and eating when we feel like doing. The trip gave time for the 4 of us to get to know each other. We had many intelligent conversations and all of us contributed with our own experience and expertise.

It was a time for all 4 of us to relax and just wander around admiring the beauty of the country most of the time through the windows of the car and feel grateful that we were able to make it trip although it was a short notice. We had the ideal number of participants and a compatible and flexible team.

My advice on a road trip is to make sure that the people that are going are of similar mindset. People should be ready to expect the worse and should be flexible enough to changes in the plans. Road trips are one of the best journeys that anyone can do. The cost is less, the diversity is more. A good vehicle is also a mandatory requirement.

I always wanted to do a random road trip and I am glad that I did. I am certain that this would not be the end but the beginning of many more road trips to come. Let me know if anyone wants to have me as a companion, but always as a passenger not the driver.

Till I meet you again with another travelogue. Cheers. Thank you Namal, Kasun and Akila for wonderful memories we shared.