Seek the Peak

When we were researching places to visit in Sri Lanka during the planning phase of this adventure, we came across many references to Adam's Peak, a sacred mountain which is the object of pilgrimages of several different faiths in Sri Lanka. No doubt it would be a difficult climb, made more challenging by the fact that the ascent begins in the middle of the night and we have two young children with us, but maybe we're just crazy enough to give it a shot.

The expedition is really a two-day affair, as there is plenty of travel involved. Not distance - just time. The towns in Sri Lanka are well connected with a reliable and cheap bus system, but the roads can be windy and steep, so it can easily take 2 hours to travel distances less than 50 km. 

You can see I am wearing my usual confused 'Sri Lanka Bus Station" expression this morning as we left Kandy for the three-bus journey via Hatton, Maskeliya, and finally Dalhousie. The stations here are hectic and chaotic.

But we found our bus and and got ready for the long journey.

Snacks are an important part of the long road journeys here, and today our tasty sugar buns were wrapped in somebody's old homework assignment. Always recycle. 

Within a couple of hours we were cruising (actually it was more like careening, tottering, and lurching) through the stunning southern hill country, and caught our first glimpses of the famous tea plantations. Almost impossible to hold the camera still on the chattering bus, but I managed to get one shot.

By afternoon, we had arrived in Dalhousie. We were slightly exhausted, so being slightly chilled would be fine by us.

Our first view of our objective for the next day. The 2,243 meter mountain, variously known as Adam's Peak (the place where Adam first set foot on earth after being cast out of heaven), Sri Pada (Sacred Footprint left by the Buddha as he headed toward paradise) or Samanalakande (Butterfly Mountain, where butterflies go to die), has been a pilgrimage destination for Christians, Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka for more than 1,000 years. It was even visited by Marco Polo. Now it's our turn.

It's not only the sacred footprint that pilgrims seek. As the sun rises and the first rays of dawn light up this holy mountain you can be treated (provided it's not cloudy) to a gorgeous view of the Hill Country rising to the east and the land sloping away to the sea on the west. But to enjoy this spectacle you need to get up early. At 2:10 am this morning I am not a popular guy. 

But nothing that a jolt of sugar and caffeine won't fix.

The route to the top is lined with plenty of vendors who stay open all night to provide sustenance to the hundreds, sometimes thousands, who climb each day and at all hours.

And here we go. The guidebooks suggest about 3 hours for the ascent, but we had no idea how the kids would handle the climb, so we were cautiously optimistic we would be able to catch the sunrise.

After all, there are nearly 6,000 steps and it's 3 o'clock in the morning. Anything could happen.

Uh-oh, we're about to lose Owen.

But in fact the kids did unbelievably well - we made it to the top in under 2 hours, and joined the hundreds of others trickling in before sunrise.

We heard it could be chilly on the top and so we brought our entire inventory of warm clothes (admittedly rather sparse) to the summit and we were still freezing. Arriving with so much time to spare made it even worse - we huddled together as best we could in hope that the sunrise would provide some warmth. 

Worth every step, every drop of sweat and every shiver. A spectacular way to greet the day!

Eyes moist with tears of exhaustion, joy and wonder. I'm not an expert in pilgrimages, but I'm not sure there are too many which are sacred to three major religions. There was a steady stream of Sri Lankans of all faiths up the slope of the mountain, some of whom were elderly or infirm and most definitely in physical distress, so witnessing their efforts was indeed a remarkable experience.

What goes up must come down, so the inevitable knee-jarring descent began, but we had the addition of sunlight to make it a much more scenic endeavor than the climb up.

Almost at the bottom.

Mission accomplished. 

Very proud of our gang today. The kids were phenomenal, not only waking up at an ungodly hour, but then pushing themselves up a cold, dark and steep mountain not even sure what the purpose was. But they're game for anything, and their positive attitudes and good nature has made this trip so much fun for us.