SRI LANKA: A SIMPLE ABODE

High on a 1000 metre plateau in the little - explored Knuckles Range, in central Sri Lanka, lies the remote mountain village of Walpolamulla. Three hundred years old, the once thriving village has now shrunk to a population of just six. Accessible only via a three-hour uphill hike through dense, leech-infested forest, and surrounded by a ring of misty mountains, the village is believed to be one of the smallest and most isolated in Sri Lanka.

Three years ago, local guide Sidantha Ananda Elikewela, concerned by the challenges faced by locals in the more remote reaches of the Knuckles - ageing subsistence farmers in dwindling village communities with little access to hard cash - decided to set up a small scale eco-tourism venture to sustain and preserve traditional village life, without impacting on the natural environment of the inhabitants.

Shot on assignment for Geographical Magazine, Magazine of the Royal Geographical Society