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Mudungala

Even though the August school holidays were brought forward without adequate notice, with the SAG games in full swing and the security situation most tight, some of us managed to sneak into the holiday environs of Sri Lanka.

Nuwara Eliya in August, is a much more peaceful destination than Nuwara Eliya in April, where the festivities taking place in that little town make it more of a carnival than a salubrious holiday destination.

View of Nuwara Eliya town

August 2006 blessed us with perfect weather. Sunshine in the mornings, rain in the afternoon and once again dry weather in the evenings. Being weekdays, the town was peaceful, plenty of parking space and the park – the centre of all holiday makers to Nuwara Eliya with plenty of walking space.

My grievance with Nuwara Eliya is that it is woefully lacking in places of adventure and interest. Piduruthalagala, once a heaven for nature trails being out of bounds due to security reasons, it seems that only Horton Planes remain for the adventurer. Determined to find more places of interest and exhilaration, one sunny morning we decided to take a trip to the Shantipura colony some 1,692 metres above sea level.

The settlement was established by Mr. T. William Fernando, former member of parliament representing Nuwara Eliya in the 1960s. In 1980 Mr. R. Premadasa the then prime minister provided better infrastructure facilities and renamed the locality Mudungala.

A short drive out of Nuwara Eliya on the Kandy road and a turn off near the Bambarakele temple along the Oliphant Estate road, will take you right up the mountain to the Shantipura colony, a village situated in the Kikiliyamana range of mountains and said to be the village at the highest elevation in Sri Lanka.

As you reach the top the air is much colder, even on a bright sunny day. Once on top you have an excellent view over looking the Nuwara Eliya town and its vicinities. We were told that the mountain at most times gets covered with mist, but that morning rewarded us with a clear picture. On top of the mountain is a small building; a superb look-out-spot. All around you is spread the splendour of Nuwara Eliya. The town in a cluttered heap of buildings with lake Gregory in the back ground, a shimmering mass of water.

On another side spreads tea country with its lush green gold carpets, a smart white tea factory, estate bungalows and line-rooms of its workers. On yet another side, a village with a milky white dagoba rising into the skies, vegetable plantations and other buildings of the suburbs of Nuwara Eliya.

It is a picture worth the ride. An outstanding birds eye view.

by Kishanie S. Fernando
Daily Mirror, August 28, 2006

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