I’ll be heading east out of Kandy towards the ancient city of Polonnaruwa via Mahiyangana and Wasgamuwa National Park. Hoping a friend or two will be free to join me for this section. If I have time I’ll stop to meet a Vedda community, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka, who are believed to have arrived from India around 15000BC.

Polonnaruwa

This will be my longest leg so far – a dog leg on the map! I’ll travel east along the A26 towards Mahiyangana and then north alongside the Mahaweli Ganga towards Polonnaruwa. This is an ancient city which was once Sri Lanka’s capital. The 12th century was its heyday until a wave of Indians invaded and Polonnarawa was abandoned to the jungle for the next seven centuries. It wasn’t rediscovered until the mid 20th century.

Wasgamuwa National Park

I’ll have to divert if I want to visit the Wasgamuwa National Park by going over the Japan Bridge and onto Hettipola, which is at the foot of the park entrance.

This is in Sri Lanka’s dry zone where elephants, spotted deer, buffalo, leopards and bears roam freely, and are protected within this refuge for displaced wild animals.

The Wild East

On the map there doesn’t appear to be many points of interest between Kandy and Mahiyangana, or between Mahiyangana and the turn off towards Hettipola. However, the first turn is a long and well trodden route towards the east coast. The stretch north is supposed to be stunningly beautiful in its remoteness. When looking west I should be able to see the Knuckles mountain range which lies north-east of Kandy. I walked through here back in 2018 and it was stunning and a taste for what this trip planned might hold. What is odd, is that despite having visited Sri Lanka seven times, the only place names I’ve heard of on this leg is my destination point of Polonnaruwa.

The route I’m plotting is way off the beaten track and not where tourists tend to venture. This is the east of the Island where R.L Spittel, Ceylonese physician and author, in his book ‘Wild Ceylon’ (1924), writes about ‘inhospitable forests’, the most wild and arid on the island, and where ‘the Vedda is king.’ Even the Victorians didn’t map much of this region as it was too densely junglefied. Initially, I had thought this leg would be a ‘must go to’ adventure; now though I’m beginning to wonder! Should I instead take the more straightforward option and travel from Kandy to Matale and then onto Polonnaruwa – straight up the middle of Sri Lanka? Those who know me well though will know I seldom take the road most travelled!

John Gimlette, in his recent travel book, ‘Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka’ (2015), has a chapter dedicated to what he calls the ‘wild east’. He writes about it feeling ‘unvisited’, and being the land of Sri Lanka’s original hunter-gatherers who still live in ‘villages made out of branches’.  More than this though, the east of the island is known for being the main battleground between the Tamil Tigers and the Sinhalese during their particularly bloody 25 year war, which only ended in 2009. And that’s far too complex and political for me to even think about discussing here.

More research needed

Just writing this blog has made me realise I must do more research on this leg, and especially that I need to secure overnight accommodation in strategic places before setting off. This may be even more significant as I update this piece with our new knowledge of the hotels/guest houses on the Covid ‘safe & secure’ Sri Lankan government green list. For much of this section I’ll need a native guide to help me navigate the more inhospitable parts, especially those north of Mahiyangana.

After visiting the Wasgamuwa Park to see the gorgeous wildlife and especially the elephants, I need to choose one of two routes: either travel up the east side of the reserve towards Polonnaruwa, or the west side via Girandurukotte. I suspect I’ll then need a day or two’s rest in and around this ancient city.

Who’s tempted to travel this wild eastern leg with me? I have two friends trekking the first three legs but none yet for this one. I’d love to hear your comments below about how this leg sounds to you, especially from my Sri Lankan friends who may know something of this area.

Next up: Spotlight on Polonnaruwa, the city gobbled up by the jungle, and other ancient sites

Recap on previous legs