To call the route connecting Kalupahana to Ohiya a road is quite generous. What it is, is an adventure. Whether you are tough enough to walk its length or mad enough to drive it, this is a journey every adventurer should take.”
As the afternoon sky descends across the Ohiya Gap, villagers in Udaweriya struggle with a lorry stuck on what was once the Kalupahana-Ohiya Road. Little more than a track for most of its length, its surface has deteriorated so badly that the RDA has shored up some of the steeper parts with concrete sections, creating what seems like literal steps. These remote hamlets, in the Central Highlands, are some of the highest continuously occupied settlements in Sri Lanka, and depend on battered little lorries like this one to get their farm produce to market. There’s no public transport, and the nearest bus stop or train station is a 10km hike. Shot on assignment for Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines. My photo story, ‘The Devil’s Staircase‘, ran in the March 2017 issue.
The view north, across the Ohiya Gap, to the steepest part of the Devil’s Staircase, in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. This is the final bit of the Stairs, the 300m climb up the near-vertical Haputale Ridge, and is tough going both on foot or in a 4×4 vehicle, the latter requiring skill, patience, and nerves. Shot on assignment for ‘Serendib’, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines. My cover story, ‘The Devil’s Staircase‘, ran in the March 2017 issue.
“The route connecting Kalupahana to Ohiya cannot be really called a road. What it is, is an adventure. Whether you are tough enough to walk its length or mad enough to drive it, this is a journey every adventurer should take.”
A small boy from the village of Udaweriya walks the family cow along the edge of the Ohiya Gap. In the distance is the famous Kuragala escarpment, and beyond that, the Udawalawe Plains. Shot on assignment for Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines. My photo story, “The Devil’s Staircase”, ran in the March 2017 issue.Continue reading “Pedestrians on the Devil’s Staircase”→
Our 4X4 truck negotiates the pass from the Kuda Oya Valley into the Ohiya Gap. The old Kalupahana-Ohiya Road, aka the Devil’s Staircase, should be on every hiker’s or offroader’s bucket list. Shot on assignment for Serendib magazine, as part of my piece, ‘The Devil’s Staircase‘, which ran in the March 2017 issue.
Son of the Morning Light 