Various posts suggesting places to visit in Sri Lanka during ongoing holidays have started appearing on Facebook. Out of which, some are regarding virgin places, which travelers rarely visited.
Below given is an example of such posts, which was first posted on August and since then has been shared and claimed on multiple occasions to be Limestone Pond “හුණුගල්පොකුණ” in Belihuloya, Sri Lanka
| Facebook Link | Archived Link |
However, a number of users had expressed doubts regarding the authenticity of this claim. Many a people expressed doubt regarding the existence of this particular pond in Sri Lanka and hence we decided to verify the post.
Fact Check
To collect more information of the image we did a simple Google Reverse Image and we were surprised to see that all of the top search results for the image actually came from posts related to Sri Lanka, implying how widely this image has been used in online platforms including Instagram Posts and YouTube videos as shown below.
Google Reverse Image Search Link
However, we also found certain links suggesting that the place shown in the picture is actually from Laos. Hence, to ascertain whether this location is from Laos we did Reverse Image Search using keyword “Laos” and found multiple number of posts, articles and videos of a world famous tourist destination called Kuang Si Falls in Laos.
Google Reverse Image Search Link with Laos
Below is one of the top posts from the search results, which clearly mentioned this place as nestled “in the forest gems of Laos”
| Facebook Post | Archived Link |
Below are some of the posts and videos of the amazing Kuang Si Falls in Laos
| Instagram Tagged Photos | KUANG SI FALLS LAOS – A COMPLETE GUIDE |
However, to check if there is actually a place called Limestone Pond “හුණුගල් පොකුණ” in Sri Lanka we did a simple Google search and found large number of content which described a Limestone Pond in Balangoda but with different images than those appeared in the claimed image.
Google Search for “Limestone Pond හුණුගල් පොකුණ in Sri Lanka”
Most of these links showed images similar to the one shown below of a Limestone Pond in Balangoda area
Video Blog of a visit to Balangoda Limestone Pond
From various news articles published recently, we came to know that the Forest Conservation Department has temporarily banned public entry to the area. The reason being, the delicate ecosystem of the Balagonda Limestone Pond and its periphery was inundated with visitors causing harm to it. This unprecedented flow of visitors to this area was due to the large number of videos about the area on social media that appeared recently. Hence, as long as there is no proper mechanism put in place for the visitors, the Forest Conservation Department decided to impose a temporary ban.
| Lankadeepa Article | Ada Article |
Conclusion
From our investigation, it is evident the that all the claimed images of Limestone Pond “හුණුගල් පොකුණ” in Sri Lanka are false and the images are actually of Kuang Si Falls in Laos.
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