Sri Lanka’s hill country or mountain harbours a large number of hiking and trekking trails. Hiking in the hill country of Sri Lanka gives you a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the pristine forest cover with a wide range of topographical characteristics in Sri Lanka. The topography of the hill country varied largely, where you encounter mountains, flat lands, rivers, waterfalls and mountain valleys. However, these pristine hiking trails are still underutilized and you will not encounter many tourists on the hill country hiking trails. Hantana – Galaha hiking trail is included in a few Sri Lanka tour packages such as Sri Lanka adventure, Sri Lanka nature tour and Sri Lanka trekking tour.
The start and ends of the hiking trail from Hantana To Galaha
Hantana – Galaha hiking trail starts at the Tea museum of hantana. Tea museum is a popular tourist attraction in Kandy a large number of travellers visit it every day. The museum showcases some of the very important machines that have been used at the initial stage of Sri Lanka’s tea industry. An abundant tea factory has been converted into a museum and the building itself dates back to the British colonial era. The travellers can conveniently park their vehicles at the museum.
The first part of the hike after starting at the tea museum goes in an upward direction and takes you to the pass from the lowland areas. Kandy is surrounded by a mountains range and the city is situated in a valley. The valley where Kandy city is situated is connected to the next valley, which is the tea plantation of hantana by the pass. Hantana is popular as a place for hiking, trekking and nature tours in Sri Lanka. It commands breathtaking views over the surrounding area including the other mountain ranges in the Sri Lanka hill country.
Hantana featured in the Indiana Jones film
The panoramic region with mountains in the backdrop is featured in the popular Indian jones film “The Temple of Doom”. Harrison ford played the main role in the film as an eccentric archaeologist in a popular Hollywood adventure. The director Steven Spielberg had chosen Hntana and the surrounding areas for the film due to its vast forest cover. In the film, as a part of a plot, a group of villagers in a remote village has requested Harrison ford to retrieve a mysterious stone. The entire episode that was filmed in hantana revolved around this scene. The film crew had spent several weeks in Hantana during filming.
Some noteworthy sceneries on the way
As you walk towards the higher elevated areas onto your right side you can witness the Sugarcane Quarantine Station, the stupa of the Buddhist temple, the Hill Country Sport Shooting Club and a circuit bungalow owned by the Hantana tea estate. If the sky is clear you can cover a vast area of the region from the passing mountain and you may be even able to see the Victoria Reservoir and the entire Knuckles Range, both are onto yours right side. The magical view is highly praised by most travellers. You will climb up to 1008 meters above sea level on this hike and the actual gain of the elevation from the starting point is 383 meters.
Nature of Galaha-Hantana hiking trail
The hike is not difficult but should be careful on the hike due to the slippery surface in some areas. After about 6 km on the trail, you reach the highest point of the route, where the forward journey starts. The hikers on the downward trek until they reach the river which is about 1 km away from the destination of the hiking trail. One can see Buddha statues belonging to a Buddhist temple on the downward journey to Galaha. The Buddha statue is built on top of the rock. Once you reach the 10th-kilometre point, you will be walking through the forest with huge trees.
Towards the tail end of the hiking trek, the travellers can see a populated area. The travellers pass a few villages with shops and houses. The travellers reach the bridge that was built across the river, which is 10.8 kilometres from the starting point. At the bridge, the revelation is 754 meters above sea level. once the travellers pass the bridge they come to a thick forest of pinus trees. The travellers need to continue on the same path to reach the endpoint of the hiking trail in Galaha.