That Elusive Viewpoint

Following our failure to get to the viewpoint two days previously, we set out from the low-lying town of Deniyaya at 6:30am to make sure we'd get there before the midday heat. A 6km bike ride followed by a 3km scramble up a waterfall we were told.. Of course, it being us, we somehow managed to turn this into a 30km mission!

Cycling uphill through tea plantations we took in several new species of birds, including nesting parakeets and several hawk eagles, before eventually reaching a noisy patch of high-altitude forest, where we encountered purple faced langurs and macaques. Around 3pm we finally reached what we thought must have been the waterfall we were told about, exhausted but overjoyed, we scrambled up it to find a lake! Evidently we'd gone wrong somewhere along the way as there was no discernible viewpoint there, but by this point we weren't complaining!

Heading back down we stopped to explore a tiny Buddhist temple perched on the hillside, and discovered that it was full to brimming with a plethora of incredible moth species. The afternoon monsoon had set in though, so we powered back to Deniyaya as fast as our bikes would take us, and wasted no time getting a curry!