After receiving a blessing in the hilltop temple complex, we met our friends from Lanka Sportreizen Adventure Company who handed each of us a mountain bike. This was to be our eco-friendly transport for the day.
We cycled to the beautiful estate of the well-respected Mapitigama family, who kindly invited us for breakfast. We then planted trees in the local area, before hopping back on our bikes to begin our epic journey.
We rode through rural countryside, lush rainforest and endless paddy fields, raising awareness amongst friendly locals along the way.
By mid-afternoon we had reached our destination at the renowned Ayurvedic (traditional Eastern medicine) town of Vedehagama, where we were welcomed with a much needed cup of tea!
After a quick tour of the town we continued further into the valley, to the fascinating home of Bandu, a lifelong archaeologist and naturalist. Bandu lives a simple life, using ancient, eco-friendly practices that are harmonious with nature. His garden contains only rare, endemic plants, many with important Ayurvedic properties. My personal highlight was a ‘living plant’ that detects your presence and moves away from you! INCREDIBLE!! Bandu built his house himself using traditional methods, and locally-sourced organic materials, incorporating thousands of fascinating artefacts collected over his lifetime, may of which are replicas that we has created himself!
We then travelled onwards to the Colombo-district, Salawa Scout Camp, on the banks of the Kelani River, where we sang into the night.... a glorious way to spend our second last night in the field!
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