It’s a mere 2 hour drive on the Colombo-Nuwara Eliya road. Kitulgala is a Rain Forest patch which attracts many resident and foreign tourists for its natural beauty. The Academy Award-winning movie The Bridge on the River Kwai was filmed on the Kelani River near Kitulgala, although nothing remains now except the concrete foundations of the bridge. Kitulgala is the base for white-water rafting in Sri Lanka.