Also known as the Ayagama view
point, Thoranakotha remains hidden from most travelers and is still survive
with much damage or destruction. Ayagama is situated in Idangoda Kalawa road
and Thoranakotha is the highest point in the region having a height of 860m.
Chamara dropped me a message
saying that they are planning to do Thoranakotha and since I was alone at home
during the weekend and was nothing for me to do, I decided to join them.
We started early, although it was
planned to meet around 4 a.m. we finally ended up starting the jouney almost an
hour late. But as it was a Sunday and the day was still young as originally
planned we were able to reach the Ayagama town by 7 a.m.
The gang consisted of 10 guys and
two girls. Some of them were known to me but the others It was the first time.
As usually we had breakfast at the town which consisted of food ranging from
Noddles, Dosai, Parata and Kade akka was giving all open handedly asking us to
bring some Dothalu from the mountain that she can use as offerings to Buddha.
There was a police uncle also who would said that he would join us if he hadn’t
duty on that day. Later we were thankful that he didn’t join the gang as it
would have led to a disaster.
So after a heavy meal, releasing
our basic needs and getting some snacks we began our journey to the place where
the van dropped us. None of us had been there before except for Chamath who had
done it about 10 years back by the time which he would have been a little one.
Except some flashes he also didn’t remember the complete route. But Chamara led
the way with some help from the villages we started our journey going up from
the Community Center.
We first had to pass through a
tea estate. The route was lined by many fruit trees of guava, rose apples,
local olives (Weralu), mango which we do not usually encounter in hikes. So
there were plenty to fill our tummies. From the tea estate there was not a
clear path, but there were signs of human travel which helped us to make a
route.
As none of us had a knife, we had
to make our way through bushes, Mana, trees sometimes even with thrones that
made the journey difficult together with the leech attack from the ground. But
the entire crew was fit and were seasoned hikers, so the journey was not that
challenging. Helping each other we moved forward.
The path lead us through some
rocks which made the climb on our own scary and bit difficult. So we had to
make use of ropes, to climb those parts. As there was intermittent rain, most
of us were wet and this made the paths slippery as well. Kakilla was very
common. There were various mosses, ferns, some orchids which gave enough
evidence for the rich floral diversity.
At some points along the track we
almost had to crawl as the trees had grown creating a kind of tunnel like
appearance. Amidst all these we were able to reach the summit. Even at the
places where we stopped to rest the view below was spectacular.
We were lucky as the rain and the
mist did not hinder the view and when we reached the top the sky was clear. We
could see the roads, the village below. There was a white flag that was fixed
and we put a Sri Lankan flag to the pole but as it was too heavy we removed it.
The peak offered a 180-degree
view. Although we saw some Doothalu trees, there were no flowers. But Pitcher
plants were there giving a kind of a tropical forest atmosphere.
The rain added a bit of
excitement and it took away our weariness. Therefore, we were able to enjoy the
view from the top. We had enough to eat, bread, wade, marmite, biscuits which was
a good treat to our tummies. We were blessed by a vision of a rainbow that marked the climax of the experience.
We knew the way down would be
difficult. But we managed. Except from bruises, scratches, leech bites and some
pain in the butts due to falling, all of us reach the bottom safely.
It was indeed another memorable
hike. I got to meet some new friends and at the same time was able to revive
the friendship with some I already knew. Thus the trip ended with a fresh bath from Mini Ella waterfall and super hot spicy kottu that everyone would remember whenever they eat Kottu again.
Thorankotha is yet a place that
is undisturbed. You should go and get the experience, but make sure that you
keep the place in tact, so the beauty is preserved for many more to come.
Remember only the untouched, create the authentic experience.
