Conquering Adam's Peak!

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After a quick 1 night stop in Colombo, we boarded the early 5:50am train from Colombo Fort station to Badulla, with the intention of jumping off at Hatton (literally jumping). The train journey was amazing, even though it is meant to be a 'less beautiful' part of the line. We booked a 1st class seat, but this was not needed - 2nd class is just the same but has no aircon. A nice local man informed us we were coming into Hatton, we would have missed it otherwise, so we grabbed our stuff and jumped the 1metre down to the platform whilst the train was still edging along.



It is still a 1 hour ride from Hatton to our final destination; Dalhousie or Delhouse as we saw it spelt locally. You can wait around for a bus that takes double the time but we hopped on a tuk tuk and had a great journey through various tea plantations and over a number of peaks, stopping off at beauty spots for pictures! Great start! It was a wonderfully clear day, which we were assured was unusual for this time of year, and we could see Adam's Peak in all it's glory rising above the surrounding peaks - little did we know this was the last we would see of it!!!



We stayed at the first place you come to when arriving in Delhouse - the Wathsala Inn and were welcomed into their restaurant with a panoramic view of the river and Adam's peak in the distance. It was absolutely stunning and I could not stop staring at the view! There is a single road that runs through the town until you get to the start of the Adam's peak trail. It is a very quiet town with a lot of building going on!! It seems that the place is trying to catch up with demand. There is a local settlement, a number of guest houses, a police station, a few local shops and roadside restaurants and that's it. Great place to spend a couple of days.



Living in Malaysia, we welcomed the cool air and the slightly colder temperatures. After a bit of an explore and a rotti lunch we relaxed in Wathsala Inn and got an early night ready for an early rise for the pilgrimage to the top of Sri Pada (as the locals call it).



2am our alarms went off and we left at 2:30 for the trail. It is well marked and easy to find so we had no problem finding the start. The first hour is quite gradual and the steps are a nice elevation but the final hour is brutal. You feel every one of the 5,800 steps by the end but the experience is quite spiritual. Because you are concentrating so hard on your foot placement and you cannot see anything around you as it is pitch black, you find yourself silently walking In a daze - I understand why the Buddhists and Hindus use this as a pilgrimage route.



We did not see the sunrise unfortunately - we spent the morning in a cloud and it was still a magical experience. There is a family serving sweet tea at the top, which was amazing!! I decided to use the moment to ask my girlfriend to marry me, and fortunately she said yes :-)



We returned at a slow pace and enjoyed the views coming out of the clouds. Spent the day recovering and eating lots of local food before getting an early night. Most people arrived, did the walk and then left straight away. We decided to stay for another day and it was well worth it. We organised for a local to take us to a local beauty spot where we saw 2 of the most amazing waterfalls and had some amazing walks around the tea plantations. I would recommend staying for an extra day if you have the time.





A lovely place to spend a few days and a brilliant experience climbing the peak. We may not of had the views but we will forever remember this little hill country town. Now off to Ella!

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Comments

[Jeremyaroundtheworld]

Congrats on the engagement!
Wishing you all the best!