Colours of Mullaitivu

Year and Month	September, 2015
Number of Days	First day of a two day trip
Crew	2 (Me and my better half)
Accommodation	Chundikulam nature park
Transport	Pajero
Activities	Bird watching, culture, Road trip, Photography
Weather	Clear sky
Route	Chilaw -> Anuradhapura -> Vavuniya -> Puliyankulam -> Nedunkeni -> Oddusudan -> Mullaittivu -> Alampil -> Nayaru -> Kokkilai -> Mullaittivu -> Vellamullivaikal -> Puthukkudyiruppu -> Visuvamadu -> Paranthan -> Elephant pass -> Chundikulam
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Take a bottle of water Do not carry Plastic items (Minimize), Make sure you bring back everything you took Some places require 4WD Bit of Tamil would help alot Ask directions from locals SPECIAL THANKS TO Amila for helping in bookings and guidance
Author	Ashan
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Colours of Mullaitivu

The map – click to enlarge

Ok there was a huge gap in my traveling history and I needed to cover it up ASAP. Yes Mullaitivu needed to be explored but in a unique way. Both of us decided before hand not to focus on any remains that glorify the past of Terrorism other than few road side monuments. So this was more of a road trip and exploring beautiful and giant reservoirs in this virgin forest district. First of all I should thank the government for the superb road conditions which was a great relief for us and it speeded up the journey too. Though Mullaitivu is the main town of the district it still shows signs of non-development. One wouldn’t feel like you are in a major town (even Kilinochchi is bigger than Mullaitivu) if not for few large government buildings. There is lot to catch up for this war battered city.

We left Chilaw early to reach Puliyankulam in the morning where we decided to head towards Oddusudan from there. I must warn you it’s difficult to give directions because we used Google maps most of the time because of the language barrier. From Oddusudan we took a road which led us towards Muttiyankaddu reservoir. This was a lovely tank which produced some stunning scenery for us. On the way to the dam we came across an archeology site (we were looking for this) which is now a kovil.

sun rise at Medawachchiya

road side bicycle at Nedunkerny

livelihood

heat is a major problem

Muttiyankaddu kulam tank gates

lovely

Muttiyankaddu kulam tank

lovely colours

using sand from the tank

couldnt stop clicking

lonely hut

Muttiyankaddu ancient temple now a kovil

note the ancient rock stones

ancient drainage system

Paddyfield Pipit having a mud bath

palmyrah roof

the school building with coconut leave walls

Next stop was at Mullaitivu and from there we headed southwards to reach Kokilai. On the way we had few stops at Nayaru lagoon and drove on the dried out muddy lagoon like free birds. Where the lagoon meats the ocean there is an army camp (19^th Gemunu) and on the opposite side of the road is an ancient temple called Gurukanda Rmv. This land belongs to archaeology department and there are some ruins which were found here, kept on display in the Army camp (we got permission to visit these stuff).

Nandikadal lagoon

Purple coot

the lagoon

flock of ducks

whistling ducks

fishing stall

calm and quiet lagoon of nanthi kadal

dried out Nayaru lagoon

lovely scenery

at nayaru lagoon

lagoon ride

halted

fishing at the lagoon

where the nayaru lagoon meets the ocean

north east of SL

fishing harbour

fishing huts

another road side lagoon

Spot-billed Pelicans

paradise for birds

Indian darter or Oriental darter

beach near 19th gemunu camp

Ruins found at Gurukanda RMV

Next stop was Kokilai. Though we have been to Kokilai from Pulmude side we couldn’t reach the point where the lagoon meets the ocean but this time we didn’t skip that out. It’s really a nice place to have a bath because the water is so calm at this junction. After having a long walk under the sun we returned back to Mullaitivu to have some lunch at a beach side restaurant.

shores of Kokilai

Kokilai lagoon

gulls

bird life at Kokilai lagoon sanctuary

mini island at kokilai

patterns

where the lagoon water meets the ocean

clean beaches

nice place to have a bath

shells

miniature mountain cliffs

Cost of Mullativu

Next we reached Vadduvakal Bridge which passes over Nanthi kadal lagoon. At the starting point of the bridge there was a road leading towards Samudragiri RMV where an old sthupa could be seen. From here we headed towards the Puthukkudyiruppu war memorial and museum.

view from Wadduvakal bridge

daytime fishing

trying to sell some fish to me

the catch

use of a kumbuk tree

tough life

Ruined pagoda at Sri samudra giri viharaya

new pagoda

fishing at nandikadal

victory monument at Puthukuduiruppu

Next on list were four tanks (we visited all four tanks during our two days). Just before Vishnu madu we took a left turn to reach Udayarkattukulam tank.

At Vishuvamadu we took a right turn to visit Piramanthanaru tank and a left turn to visit Visuamadu kulam tank.

new tar mac

Udayarkattu kulam lake bund

Udayarkattu kulam

ah i plucked this one!

bicycles with number plates

road leading to Piramanthanaru tank

Piramanthanaru tank

dried out

Visuamadu kulam tank

the tank of vishnu madu

small but lovely

Our next target was a huge reservoir called Kalmadu kulam tank and it was also located in Vishnu madu area. Google maps were our only aid in this venture. After visiting the tanks we headed towards Chundikulam Nature park resort via Iyakachchi junction. It was a difficult 18km ride but totally worth it. Please stay in touch until I publish the details of magical Chundikulam stay.