The British surveyors who named this range thought its folded peaks looked like the knuckles of a clenched fist. Sri Lankans call it Dumbara Kanduvetiya – the mist-laden mountains. It covers a tiny fraction of the island yet holds more than a third of its endemic trees, shrubs and herbs, and in 2010 it was inscribed as part of the Central Highlands World Heritage Site. This day crosses the eastern side of the range. A 4×4 climbs to Corbet’s Gap for the widest single view of the peaks, then drops down a rough mountain road into Meemure, one of the most remote villages in Sri Lanka, set beneath the spike of Lakegala. The walking follows paddy bunds, forest paths and river crossings, with a swim in a natural rock pool and a lunch cooked by a village family.
