Tour of Sri Lanka 2025 | Day 7 | Yala – Yala | 46.5 kms

I wake around 6:15am and begin my morning routine. After brushing my teeth, I go downstairs for a cup of tea. The sun is up, its rays filtering through the trees onto the lush green surroundings and the river flowing behind them. Birdsong fills the air as I sit, soaking in the warmth and completing my diary. Afterward, I shower and prepare to leave.

I leave around 9am towards Situlpawwa pilgrimage sit. It’s 17 kms from the hostel. The roads are good for 7-8kms after which the roads become unpaved and sandy. The road passes through jungle. I make my entry into register at a checkpoint. Traveling along on a motorcycle in a jungle is a bit scary. I get to the see Deer, Peacocks, Water monitor lizard etc. along the way. The entrance to the Situlpawwa has a great facade. I click a photo before moving further.

I park at the parking lot and get myself some local breakfast. There are 2 elephants there and people are feeding bananas to them. After the breakfast, I climb up to the temple over rock cut steps. The view all around are great. The temple being built over a large rock. Many other people are also there. I reach the top in 5 mins, click some pictures and then proceed to move downwards to climb yet another mountain over which a 2nd temple is located. There are various old caved and demolished buildings used by the monks in the early age.

The site is historic and dates back to 3rd-4th century BC. There is also a huge statue of sleeping Buddha inside the cave of the 1st mountain on which a temple sits. Many people can be seen offering something. I pass by a lake and start climbing the other mountain. It takes time for the 2nd one as the route is little longer and you need to hike up a little bit. Along the way, I see many statues of Buddha in sitting pose and also big boulders. The last climb to the temple is over a rock cut steps with steel railings to hold on. Again, the views are great from up here and you can see the 1st temple in much grandeur now.

The cooling breeze is a relief from the scorching heat. After spending some time, I get down and head towards the Kataragama city to visit another temple called ‘Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Dewalaya’.

This temple has a very large complex and many people can be seen coming and going. The crowd is intense. People in groups are coming up to the temple with a big sized fruit plate in hand. I enter after parking my bike .There is some kind of ceremony going on as I enter. A group of people are dancing to the tunes with some object in their hand. I stop and see for a while afterwards which I enter the main temple and pay my respects. It’s almost 1:30pm now and my scheduled safari time. I head back to the hostel to quickly get ready for the iconic journey.

The car is ready as I enter. I quickly get ready and hop on the car with my DSLR. We then move towards our destination. We pick few people along the way and also get some snacks. On our way to the national park entrance, we get to see many wild elephants standing besides the road and eating the foliage. Seeing those big giants is really intimidating. One such elephant even tries to push our car as we move past by. It’s a close call and really a hair raising experience. We soon reach the gates of the park, take our tickers and go inside. I am sitting besides the driver and we get to see many birds and animals.

Elephant herds, Deer, Tortoise, Sri Lankan national bird, Crocodile etc. We are in very much lookout for the leopard but couldn’t find one. we try very hard exploring all the possible places of their areas but seems like lick is not on our side today. After close to 3 hrs of safari and seeing the above animals repeatedly but not the leopard we return back to base by 7pm.

I wash off all the dirt and sweat with a cold bath. Following which, I head to the city for an evening walk and to have my dinner. Tomorrow, I leave for Ella and so after coming back book my stay, write some diary before going for a sleep.