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Published: January 2nd 2009
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As you all are aware, I haven’t blogged for a while. This is down to many, many reasons but can be summed up by the old adage “if you’ve got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all”! I’m not going into the reasons here, but feel free to ask me upon my return and I will endeavour to enlighten you!
I do however now have something nice to write, so here goes!
On Christmas Eve morning I was sat at the top of Adam’s Peak (or Sri Pada, as it is also known) a very large mountain, watching the sunrise. It was magic.
We set off at 4pm from Hikkaduwa in a car. Our original car had crashed on the way to pick us up, so we had to get another one at the last minute. We all hoped it wasn’t an omen…
We eventually arrived at 1.30am! Admittedly we stopped for about an hour for food, but still, that’s a very long time in a car!! Our driver was falling asleep at the wheel. It was pretty disturbing driving up windy mountain roads and nearly going over the edge on numerous occasions due to the
driver’s inability to stay awake! We had to stop for a while so he could have a fag and wake up!
So we started to climb a 2243 metre mountain, at 1.30 in the morning, with no sleep! Brilliant idea. Everyone climbs Adams Peak through the night, in order to reach the summit for sunrise. But normal people sleep before they attempt it. I guess we’re hardcore!
The ascent was a LOT harder than I thought it was going to be. I go mountain walking and scrambling quite frequently at home, but nothing could prepare me for Adams Peak! I didn’t think I would struggle as much as I did. It was a killer! 5,200 steps up to the top, then you have the same back down. The fact it is stairs is what makes it so difficult. If you could scramble up I reckon that would have been easier on the legs, but the repetitiveness of climbing up and down stairs for 6 hours eventually starts to ache!
It was a really great experience though. There are lots of little teashops and stalls all the way up the mountain side, and it’s all lit up with lanterns and the
lights from the shops, it’s very pretty.
The final climb is the hardest, the steps get very steep and it winds round the mountain, we thought it was never going to end! An endless mountain! But then the top appears, and your there! At the top is a temple and various shrines as it is a religious pilgrim site for, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians. Maybe Jedi’s too, but I’ll have to check that.
There’s a huge covered area which housed various people sleeping under towels and blankets. It was freezing at the top! I climbed the whole way in just a vest and shorts, but art the top I had a hat, jacket, sarong, as many layers as possible! It was freezing! We reached the top at about 4.45am and huddled together like penguins for warmth.
Then we waited for the sun to rise. It was pretty cloudy, but not too much. We didn’t actually see the sunrise because of the clouds, but we saw it get light. The sky was all pinks and oranges; it was really special; sat at the top of a mountain, above the clouds, watching a beautiful sunrise on Christmas Eve morning.
After watching
it get light we went to see the Buddha’s footprint. It’s huge! Was Buddha a giant?? As far as I’m aware he was a regular human being, but his footprint is massive! (Some) Christians and Muslims believe its Adams footprint, and Hindu’s believe it is Shiva’s. Either way they were all men (except Shiva who is a god!), so something does not add up!
The “footprint” is in a shelter, and has been covered over with gold, so it’s a huge gold footprint. It’s quite tacky! I’m sure Buddha/Adam/Shiva is very proud!
We decided to start the descent before everyone else did. On the way up it was really quiet, just bumping into the same couple of groups all the way up, but at the top there were loads of people and more arrived after us so we wanted to start descending before it got too busy. I think everyone else had the same idea so it was 100 times busier on the way down than on the way up! The first bit was quite jammed, but after a while it thinned out and we were pretty much alone, just a few other groups with us. Everyone else must have
stopped off to rest at the teashops. We set off back down at 6.30am and eventually reached the taxi at 9am. Going up hurt a bit, but coming back down was torture! My legs were like jelly, but we had to keep going, I was certain if I stopped my legs would have given way!
All I had to endure then was another 8 hour car ride!
It was hard going, but so worth it! My legs weren’t right for 6 days afterward, walking around like John Wayne and everyone stopping me to ask what was wrong with my legs! “What happened madam?” “Adams Peak happened!!”
It was a fantastic experience though, with absolutely fantastic views; something I will remember my whole life.
On Christmas Day I wasn’t fit for anything, so I just had to lie on the beach all day and drink copious amounts of alcohol in the evening (to numb the pain obviously!). It’s a hard life in Sri Lanka!!
Happy New Year to you all!
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