Green Mountain is popularly known as Haritakanda or Bopaththalawa. This is a beautiful place that many people in Sri Lanka know and popular for camping. Located in Nuwara Eliya District in Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands, the Bogawantalawa Valley remains largely as it has existed for centuries. The reason for naming as Harithakanda is that the whole mountain range is covered with a small grassland. It is a key access point for Horton Plains, one of the country’s best parks. Visitors can hike and bike through verdant tea estates and stay in colonial bungalows once home to British overseers, but updated and restored for modern travelers.
If you start the journey from Kandy you can follow the guidelines below. The Badulla train will leave Kandy at 9.10 am. The railway line is Peradeniya, Gampola, Ulapane, Thambiligala, Nawalapitiya, Igurumbaya, Galboda, Watawala, and finally Hatton. If you go to 3rd class from Kandy, you will be charged a small fee of Rs.85 per person to Hatton. If you go to the 2nd class it will cost around Rs.160. Whatever you say, you can see the most beautiful scenery after Nawalapitiya. Don’t forget to bring a camera as you will find some scenes that are worth taking photos of.
Get off at Hatton and go to the Bogawantalawa bus stand. From there take the Bogawantalawa bus to Bogawantalawa Town. From there it is about 7Km to where the hike starts. It costs around Rs.300 to get 7km from town with three-wheels. There is another road on the other side of the hill that can be approached by motorists coming from that road. No need to get your foods and other things from far away. You can get everything from Bogawantalawa Town. So you have to go up the hill for about 4 km from where the hike starts. Not a difficult hike for those who are used to climbing mountains. Whatever others say, get ready to get cold. It is very cold in the mountains. It’s hard to stay in the winter. Even a little harder on days when there is no rain.
Most importantly, there may be jungle tigers in the forest. If you are going to camp, go with at least five or six. Take care of yourself. If a large number of people do not go, it is best if they do not go far at night. If it doesn’t rain, you can capture a beautiful sunrise in the morning. No one has ever destroyed this environment. Bring everything you carry. If you can just leave footprints, it’s worth it.
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