Sri Pada

For my final weekend in Sri Lanka I planned a trip to one of Sri Lanka's most interesting places, Adam's Peak (also known as Sri Pada). It is the fifth highest peak in Sri Lanka and home to a mountain of religious myths. On the top of the mountain sits a bizarre impression which resembles a foot print. Depending on which religion you ask, the story behind the foot print changes.

Buddhism - Buddha left the print
Islam - After Adam was cast out of Eden, he landed upon this mountain and stood on one foot until his sins were forgiven.
Catholism - St. Thomas left the print
Hinduism - Siva left the print

Although the peak has sparked the interest of many religions, the mountain is predominantly a Buddhist pilgrimage site. This is apparent from the numerous Buddha statues and pagodas at the base of the trek. The "best" season for hiking to the top is between December and May when the weather is drier. During full moons which fall in these months, it is not uncommon for thousands of pilgrims to ascend in one day. Besides the weather, the benefits of climbing in the right season include lights the entire way up the mountain and tea shops along the trail open all night.

Unfortunately for Jack and myself, we climbed the peak in August... right smack in the off season. I had had countless warnings about heavy rainfall and "jungle animals" preventing adventurous westerners from climbing off season, but I was determined to do it anyway.

Getting to the base of the mountain was an adventure in itself. I first has to take a bus from Galle (in the south) to the capital of Colombo (on the west coast). From there, Jack and I hopped on a train. We had the intention of purchasing 1st class tickets as recommended by Lonely Planet and Rough Guide, but these were sold out due to school holidays. We settled for second class tickets (third class does exist and it resembles a cattle car). The tickets for second class do not guarantee you a seat (news to us) and we ended up spending the entire journey in the passageway between two cars... hanging out the train from time to time. The railway system is INCREDIBLY rickety. The trains literally bounce along the track and it feels asthough they are going to fly off at any moment. We traveled through some of the poorest neighborhoods of the country and saw some incredible views along the way.

We arrved in Hatton, a small town in the hill country and took a bus to Maskeliya... a smaller town in the hill country. From here we had to catch another bus to Dalhousie... the smallest town in the hill country (not really, but it seemed like it). Dalhousie is home to many tea pickers and due to its proximity to Sri Pada, has a handful of hotels and guesthouses. We stayed at a lovely place called River View Inn for much less than the advertised price (the perks of traveling in the off season).

I had left my house at 5am to begin the journey to Galle and we arrived in Dalhousie at 8pm (ahh the efficiency of third world public transportation). At the time we arrived, it was raining quite heavily. We were planning on starting the hike at 2am in order to see the sunrise from the summit... rain or shine.