Climbing Adam's Peak, to see Buddha's Footprint!

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  Adam's Peak, Sri Lanka
Saturday, February 2, 2008

the day before the climb

 it was funny this afternoon. after lunch we each prepared our packs and ourselves for the assault on adam's peak. departure time 2am. it was like the night before big match day, we didn't really talk to each other, lost in our own thoughts, as we packed our back packs based on personal preferences and experience, and prepared ourselves mentally for the challenge ahead. wasantha, our guide in sri lanka, had been telling us how hard the climb was and tried to give us some indication of what to expect. the packing done we each did our own activities to occupy our time. Amber read the lonely planet guide for india, to prepare the next part of our journey, while i read the camera manual for our Nikon D80, and tried to put into practice what i had read. took some good photos and read and learnt about ISO levels which would prove invaluable tomorrow.  

Adam's Peak.  

so after all the preparation yeasterday, we headed out, on time at 2am,  to conquer adam's peak and the 4800 steps that lay ahead of us. we were kept awake most of the night by a solitary dog barking in the distance, and a rowdy group of revellers singing til about 1am. very considerate really.  

this was ambers first attempt at climbing a mountain or doing any sort of hiking or trekking, so she was a bit apprehensive about the whole experience, but looking forward to it none the less. it was pitch black at 2am when we set off, and amber was a bit disappointed there wasn't much fanfare as we started out, as she believed the revellers heard through the night might have been other pilgrims about to climb adam's peak.  

it starts off easy, as you walk the gauntlet of teashops amd stalls dotted along the side of the road as you begin the ascent. many ressembling stalls at fun fairs, selling cuddly toys and blow up icons, a bit out of place really. and the impromptu game of cricket by the stall holders at 2am added to the less than religious feel of the walk.   

the first person we speak to is a buddhist monk who beckons us towards a bell which we toll to formally start the climb. he then motions for us to follow him further into a temple area, where he wraps a white string around our right wrists and ties with a doulble knot, says a blessing then sticks out his hand for a donation. money or a tip, whatever even the monks are at it here!  

so as we pass the time with idle conversation, we come across few people, and the ones we do are the locals coming down the mountain. the sri lankans generally climb during the night, pray, then come back down before day breaks. the ascent really started to get difficult once we hit the continuos stairs. all you can see above and below you are steps. the walk is illuminated the whole way by common electric street lights, so no torch is required. no hiking boots either, you could easily do it in trainers. the locals climb in sandals.

the people we passed were very interesting, ranging fromthe very young to the very old, we even saw one guy carrying his sleeping toddler!   we stopped once or twice, but amber didn't complain once, even when it started to get very cold and windy nearer the summit. it took us two and half hours from the guest house to the top. once atop we changed into our warm clothes, walked around the temple and seated ourselves down on the concrete grandstand facing east waiting for the sun.   i checked out the temple, saw the 'footprint', i don't think amber even looked. she was there to see the sunrise and the shadow and that's it. we bunkered down, huddled in each other's arms as the temperature plummeted and waited for the warming sun to rise. it was fairly cloudy in the distance, this fortuitously provided good conditions for landscape photography. we got some great shots of the first light of day, low flying clouds, etc.  

the light show lasted about 45 mins, and then we headed back down and met our first Australians of this trip. it had to happen. we're everywhere. at least we didn't hear "fuck me, that's beautiful, just fucken beautiful"(in a very strong aussie accent) like i did at the top of sinai, when the sun broke through.

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