aware siripa (sripadha off season ) ep : 01🙏🍁

                       🙏🍁Aware siripa 🍁🙏

We did the Awara Siripa pilgrimage once last year and twice this year.  We intend to bring you all three of those trips by journey of jemcity. Today I bring to you my first trip of aware  Siripa. 

 We went on this trip in October last year.  Four people were ready for the trip but two did not have to come due to emergencies.  my friend Kavindu Aiya and I were the only ones left for the  journey.  It is a challenge for the two of us to walk alone in the midst of wildlife such as elephants and leopards.   We both set out on our journey to face that challenge successfully.  We used the journey via Kurawita Erathna. 

 At about noon we entered the forest.  It was still raining heavily.  Water flows to the level of our knees along the footpath.   We crossed the most difficult part of the road in about two hours and reached the Seethagagula river.  Luckily for us the river had not overflowed then.  We crossed the river safely.

                    seetha gangula

  The road ahead is crowded with elephants and leopards.  We proceeded very carefully.   The heavy rain had washed away the elephant's footprints and feces.   In the Sri Pada forest, a plant called Nelu blooms once in seven years.   Fortunately, the time we go is the time when the tree blossoms.   The whole bag environment is covered with purple "Nelu" flowers.  The road was full of blue-yellow-red flowering shrubs.   It was a beautiful sight. 

                                 nelu flowers 

  We arrived at our lodge around 5pm. We used firewood to light a fire.  We used the oil we had brought to light the lamps.  We are the only two people alone in the jungle.  We ate the bread we brought and sat by the fire. 

      Thats  not us  photo  copied from  facebook 🥴 

 At any moment we thought a leopard could enter the shed where we were.  So when one of us fell asleep the other was awake .   It was my turn to wake up in the middle of the night.  Kavindu Aiya was fast asleep.  Suddenly a cat-like animal appeared on the wall of our shed.  I spoke to Kavidu Aiya but he was not awake.  The shadow of that beast shone brightly in the light of our bottle lamps.  I was still scared.  I lit the torch on the floor and aimed it at it. 

 As the article gets longer, the rest will be brought up in the next article. Stay tuned with Journey of Gemcity.

 "Matu sambandayi"😁

                        elephant 💩                   

               elephant footprints