Just go travel – Shameel Amanulla

While most people would be afraid of travelling alone, Shameel Amanulla, is completely comfortable and takes pride in his ability to do it. Owner of the Instapage: @lone_traveller__ Shameel is mostly into hiking and waterfall hunting, and he loves going on low budget trips that don’t involve too much planning. We caught up with him to find out more.

Q: Why the name ‘Lone Traveller?
One December, I was planning on going on a trip with my friends and as usual, with most outings planned with friends, it got cancelled, as everyone came up with their excuses. I was determined not to let anyone spoil my fun and I had had enough of cancelled outings, so I went by myself. From that point onwards, I thought to open an Instagram page called ‘Lone Traveller’.

Q: What do you love about travelling?
I’ve always loved it. Most people think of ‘niwadu’, Nuwara Eliya or resorts when they think of travelling, but that’s not actually what travelling is. The feeling you get after a tough hike, when you see the view on top and breathe that pure, untouched air, that’s the real happiness of life. It’s remarkable and indescribable. Right now, I love hunting waterfalls. Did you know that they use ‘she’ or ‘her’ for waterfalls? Yeah they do, because each one is unique and beautiful just like women are. I will be travelling next to Wattegama in Kandy to visit seven waterfalls.

Q: What is the best trip you’ve ever had?
The best: I love travelling to places which are very rare and hard to find, that are untouched by people. My absolute favourite trip was visiting Mini Ella in Ayagama. The place is called Mini Ella, because several dead bodies were found there. We waited three months for a rainy day to visit, because you can only see the beauty in a rainy climate. It’s not on Google and most people don’t know there is such a place. It’s so unknown that when we actually went to the village and asked the villagers there, most of them even didn’t know. It’s that hard to find and was the best trip I had been to in a long time.

Q: Must dos in Sri Lanka?
When you go to Dambulla, there are two rocks, Sigiriya and Pidurangala. Most people go to Sigiriya, but the best one is Pidurangala, which has an incredible, other worldly view.

Q: Advice for other young travellers like you?
Stop planning, just go travel.
Instagram: @lone_traveller__