We’ve emerged from a WiFi vacuum and are now in Galle on
the south coast at the Beach Haven Guest House for a couple of days. On Friday (January 27) we climbed Sri Pada,
also known as Adam’s Peak, in the hill country of Sri Lanka. This is a triangular shaped mountain that
rises sharply out of hills covered in tea plantations, and has been of
religious significance for over 2000 years.
At the top there is a depression which Buddhists have long claimed to be
a footprint of Buddha. Muslims later
claimed that this was the footprint of Adam when he had been cast out of heaven,
and while the name “Adam’s Peak” has stuck in English due to the British
colonial influence, it’s definitely a very special place for Buddhist pilgrims
especially between December and March.
As a result, the small village (Dalhousie, pronounced Del-house) at the
base of the mountain teems with pilgrims.
There were plenty of tourists too, but we were outnumbered by Sri Lankan
families, many dressed in white—the women in white saris or white blouses and
gathered skirts, and the men in white shirts and sarongs. There were people of all ages, from the very
elderly being helped along the path to babes in arms and kids on shoulders.
The most auspicious time to be at the summit is at
sunrise. This means leaving the village
around 2 AM for the 7 km hike to the summit.
Talking to other tourists at the guest house we discovered that some
were planning an earlier departure so as to take their time, and others figured
they would be moving more quickly so were planning a 3 AM start. We decided to split the difference, and set
the alarm for 2. Meanwhile, this being a place of pilgrimage, drumming and
chanting started over a PA system at 7:30 PM.
It was still going on while we were settling into bed at 8:30 (yes,
Lloyd too!) so in went the ear plugs.
After a somewhat fitful sleep (Would we hear the alarm? What were we thinking!) we were on the path
by 2:20, and were surprised that it seemed to be only tourists at that hour—where
were all the pilgrims? As we walked, we
realized that the pilgrims were coming towards us—did they walk up there once
the evening service was over?? We’ll
never know.
The path was well lit the entire way. In fact, the path at the beginning is lined
with stalls selling all manner of goods—fake and real flowers, sweets, tea,
food, fleece jackets and hats.
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| The path lined with stalls |
There were lots of Sri Lankans bundled up in towels or
sheets and wearing thick fleece hats but still either barefoot or in flip-flops. It was certainly cool to start, and we were
also wearing a couple of layers (it actually felt wonderful to be in the cool
mountain air) but as we climbed, we shed the top layer. The temperature was about 15 degrees Celsius which
our driver says is cold. (If you’re used
to 30 – 40 degrees, then yes that’s cold.)
The path is quite lovely at the beginning—gently undulating pavement and
occasional steps down. The stairs up
start in earnest within a couple of kilometres, and of course they’re not
even. There are tea and food stalls
along the path, probably about 500 metres or so apart, and we stopped at one
just as the path was getting steep. We
enjoyed a cup of black sweetened tea.
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| The tea vendor, all bundled up, and Lloyd. |
As we climbed, we greeted the people coming down, “Good
Morning!” and they responded in kind.
One delightful encounter was with an elderly woman, very petite and
dressed in a white sari who grasped my hands, and said “Happy?”, and I said
“Yes!” and she laughed, “Good!”
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| Happy Janet and Lloyd, about half way up. |
Just as the stairs were becoming VERY steep, we stopped
for tea again to get ready for the final push, and the price was four times as
much as the first—understandably because all of the vendor’s supplies have to
be carted up the mountain. Indeed when
we were nearing the village at the end of our hike, we encountered barefoot men
of all ages with bundles on their heads starting up the path. The final set of
steep stairs (with handrails that I used to pull myself up) was GRUELING.
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| Looking up, up, up... |
We arrived at the top at 6 AM, but the clouds had rolled
in. So not much sunrise…oh well… The “footprint” itself is covered by a
pavilion and surrounded by concrete—we didn’t bother to take our shoes off and
climb this final set of stairs to see it because by all accounts it’s
disappointingly unimpressive for the non-believer. We did arrive in time for a ceremony that
started at dawn, a procession of men drumming and chanting. A couple of them were carrying special
containers and entered the shrine. We
couldn’t see what they were doing, possibly washing the footprint?? There were lots of pilgrims at the top—they
must have climbed up the night before and had slept in one of two shelters. The devotion of these people was touching.
Once we realized that the clouds were not going to lift,
we set off back down those awful steep stairs.
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| Looking down, down, down...in the daylight. |
The handrails proved useful once again, and I
side-stepped a lot of the way to save my knees.
It took us much less time of course (2 ½ hours) but our legs were like
jelly by the end. Those stairs seemed to
go on for ever… The only saving grace
was that it was now daylight and we could see the surrounding countryside. We stopped again at the first tea stall to be
treated like old friends.
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| Returning to the village through a tea plantation--looks like a nice stroll doesn't it! |
Back at the guest house, after a welcome breakfast of
toast, eggs and tea, we climbed up to our room (which was a bungalow set up on
the hillside above the guest house, so about another 40 very unwelcome steps!)
to shower, rest and pack before moving on.
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| The view of Sri Pada from the veranda of our bungalow--that's where we were just a few hours before! |
Even today (Sunday) we’re still feeling the effects of the
climb—sore calves, glutes and quads.
We left Dalhousie around noon Friday and drove on
twisting roads through the hill country. The steep hillsides are covered with
tea bushes.
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| Pickers on the hillside. Only the bud and top two leaves are plucked. |
We stayed a couple of nights in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka’s
highest town established by the British in the 19th C. The colonial influences are still present—our
hotel was The Grosvener which has an English country house feel. Saturday we had a lazy day. We visited a tea factory and had the best cup
of tea ever, so I bought a couple of boxes.
Unfortunately being a Saturday, there were no workers in the factory so
it was very quiet. The guide did a good
job of explaining the process however.
And then we visited the Hakgala Botanical gardens, again established by
the British in the 19th C. and very different from the one at Kandy. Today (Sunday) we drove to Galle on the south coast where we will stay for a few
days before venturing north towards Colombo and then on to India February 3rd. We
will be on our own—we said farewell to our driver this afternoon. He’s provided us with an excellent
introduction to Sri Lanka—we have only just skimmed the surface.
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| Our driver, Mr. Bandara, and me in front of his Nissan |
As for my knitting, I’m now casting off the shawl with a
picot edging. I started to knit a leaf
edging, but realized I don’t have enough yarn left. This will have to do for the moment! Maybe I’ll do something different to the edge
once I get home.
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| Just about done. |
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