Diary Page 01 - Trip to Nonpareil Falls

Hey!, I'm Uvindu. Welcome to my blog. I like to travel in my free time. So I started this blog because I like to share my traveling experience with you. Hope you like and enjoy my blog. Today I'm going to tell you about the trip we went on last month to Nonpareil Falls.

Let's start the journey. I and my friends talked about going on a trip a few days ago. We talked about a few places and finally, we decided to go Nonpareil Falls. We started our journey from Ratnapura town. My friends started from Ratnapura and I joined from Balangoda town. There were 5 of us (Duvindu,Sadeepa,Hirantha,Charith & me). We got our lunch from Balangoda and started the journey at nearly about 11.30 am. Oh, I forgot something. We went by our motorbikes. About half an hour after starting the journey from Balangoda we reached Nonpareil Junction.

I'll tell you some information about Nonpareil. Nonpareil is a private estate that belongs to Balangoda Plantation PLC. It's situated in Belihuloya. There are quite a few natural resources such as waterfalls, rivers, fountains in this route. Nonpareil is a popular tourist attraction due to its amazing natural beauty. It's located at an estimated terrain elevation of 1597m above sea level. Let me tell you, how you can reach this location. If you come from the Colombo area take A4 road and come to Balangoda town then nearly after 16km you will reach Nonpareil Junction (There are many signboards at the turning point. So it's easy to find) then turn left. If you come from the Badulla area you will reach Nonpareil Junction after a few kilometers from Pambahinna town then turn right. (I will attach the google map location below.) You can go to Horton Plains through the Nonpareil estate and also you can go to Bakers Bend & Nagrak Bungalow.

https://goo.gl/maps/jt75uAk2Bn7X46XAA

Let's get back to the journey. We stayed about 5minutes at the Nonpareil junction and started the journey again. We thought the road is good at the junction but after a few kilometers, we realized that the road was very muddy and a little bit hard to drive (If you come too, come on bikes or vehicles with more ground distance 4x4 vehicles are the best for this journey). There are around 14 bends in this route. After a short distance, we arrived at a beautiful location. We rested there for a while, took some photos, and started the journey again. Then when going a little further we can see a small school and after passing the school we come across a beautiful waterfall.

Bend No.5

Finally, we arrived at our destination. That is Nonpareil Falls. Nonpareil Falls is situated in the Ratnapura district. It is about 30 – 40 meters high and flows in three steps from a tributary flowing to Hirikatu Oya. The Hirikatu Oya is a relatively unknown stream that originates from the Nonpareil Estate. This Oya creates several mostly unnamed cascades but one bigger cascade known as Nonpareil Falls. This waterfall cascades in 3 segments.

Nonpareil Falls

We got our lunch near Nonpareil Falls and rested a bit. Then we started our main mission called "photoshoot". After taking photos for about 2 hours we tried to go to Bakers Bend, but with the current situation, strangers are not allowed to go. So we said goodbye to the gorgeous Nonpareil falls and came back. On the way back we came to Balangoda town around 5.30 pm. So at the end of another successful journey, my friends left for Ratnapura again and I came home.

Traveling Partners

So It's time to end this episode.There may be many mistakes as this is my first blog. Let's meet with a better blog next time. See you soon with the second blog. Good Bye.

 - Uvindu Apsara-