TRIP TO CHE ADVENTURE PARK (HANWELLA)

August 03, 2018

TRIP TO CHE ADVENTURE PARK (HANWELLA) - Mehtab Kaur Chahal

For our second trip as a group, we went to CHE Adventure Park which is located on the banks of the Kelani River. The park is close to the city of Hanwella which was a part of the ancient Seethawaka kingdom. This area was a battlefield for the Portuguese and the Sinhalese soldiers for a long period of time. Some of the sites are still preserved. The town can easily be reached from Colombo by car in an hour and a half. Once we arrived at the site, we were offered a refreshing Welcome Drink which was much needed since the humidity was picking up. Our instructor Meuranga Muditha introduced himself to the group and gave us a quick tour of the site.

We started off with a few team building warm up games and then proceeded to the target shooting and archery area. We split up into two teams and got started after we received specific instructions. Shortly after these activities, we were on our way up the mountain not knowing that we would see the most spectacular and breathtaking view. The minute we reached the peak, we were astounded and needed a few minutes to just sit and watch. We participated in many other activities such as cable balancing, flat water rafting (4.5 km), mountaineering and zip-lining. The zip-lining experience was amazing because we started on one end of the river and had to go to the other side. We crossed back to the site by catching a ride on a boat. The day was jam-packed and full of fun! We received a few breaks during the day for a local food buffet style lunch and evening tea with snacks. Overall, our group had a fantastic time and would definitely recommend this experience!

We unexpectedly arranged this trip on a Poya Day (full moon day) which meant that it was a national holiday. On this day, we witnessed many people visiting the temple to offer their prayers as each Poya day is named after a key event in Buddhism. In celebration of this day, many Sri Lankans offered free food to others. We were given popsicles during our ride to the rafting location.