Our train ride from Ella took us to Hatton, where we caught a crowded local bus to Dalhousie. Though only about 30 kilometers in distance, the up-and-down, winding road took over two hours to navigate and left few of the locals sick to their stomachs. Dalhousie is a tiny town that mostly exists to support pilgrims and tourists attempting to climb Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada).
Buddhists believe that an imprint on the rock at the summit is the footprint of Buddha, and they have been making pilgrimages here for over a thousand years. Other religions, however, have also laid claim to this mountain. Some Hindus claim it’s the footprint of Shiva, and some Muslims believe it is Adam’s first footprint after being cast out of Eden. Adam’s Peak is a very popular pilgrimage for Sri Lankan Buddhists (some return every year), but believers of all faiths make the trek up to the summit to view the “footprint” and admire the amazing sunrise view.
The peak, though not that high at 2,243m (7,359 ft), is a daunting sight from town. We started out at 2:30 a.m. with two other travelers we befriended, Carole from Switzerland (who we met on the railroad tracks in Ella) and Mark from Ireland, in order to reach the top by sunrise. The trail begins fairly easily, passing a mind-numbing number of shops open at this early hour to sell snacks, tea, and all kinds of unnecessary knick-knacks to pilgrims. Soon, however, the trail becomes stairs that head, more or less, directly up the mountain. Because it was a Saturday night (technically Sunday morning) the trail was packed with locals making the pilgrimage. We saw newborns being carried up in their parents’ arms and great-grandmothers being supported up by sons and grandchildren. Some people stopped along the way to sleep on the stairs, often creating a backlog along the trail. About two and a half hours into the hike, with what we thought was about a half-hour left to climb, we came to a near standstill because there were so many people on the trail that no one could go up any further. For the next two hours we moved at a snail’s pace, moving only if others ahead of us began descending. Despite giving ourselves four hours to complete the seven kilometer hike, we didn’t reach the top in time for sunrise, but did have a wonderful view from the steps just below. It may have been for the best, though, since the summit was insanely crowded and actually had more obstructions of the view.
As soon as the sun had completely risen, there was a mass exodus down the mountain and the summit cleared enough to do a quick tour to get the 360-degree view. Within twenty minutes the crowd had almost totally dispersed, but we skipped the footprint, which had a very long line, and headed back down. We flew down, passing many of the older Sri Lankans who struggled down the often very steep stairs. Breakfast was waiting for us at our hotel, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing on our porch listening to the sound of the passing creek and admiring the lush green garden, happy to have some respite from those early morning crowds. That evening we had a nice dinner and too many Lion beers with Carol and Mark. It was a fun way to say goodbye to our new friends.
Click on the photo below for our Adam's Peak photo album.
Buddhists believe that an imprint on the rock at the summit is the footprint of Buddha, and they have been making pilgrimages here for over a thousand years. Other religions, however, have also laid claim to this mountain. Some Hindus claim it’s the footprint of Shiva, and some Muslims believe it is Adam’s first footprint after being cast out of Eden. Adam’s Peak is a very popular pilgrimage for Sri Lankan Buddhists (some return every year), but believers of all faiths make the trek up to the summit to view the “footprint” and admire the amazing sunrise view.
The peak, though not that high at 2,243m (7,359 ft), is a daunting sight from town. We started out at 2:30 a.m. with two other travelers we befriended, Carole from Switzerland (who we met on the railroad tracks in Ella) and Mark from Ireland, in order to reach the top by sunrise. The trail begins fairly easily, passing a mind-numbing number of shops open at this early hour to sell snacks, tea, and all kinds of unnecessary knick-knacks to pilgrims. Soon, however, the trail becomes stairs that head, more or less, directly up the mountain. Because it was a Saturday night (technically Sunday morning) the trail was packed with locals making the pilgrimage. We saw newborns being carried up in their parents’ arms and great-grandmothers being supported up by sons and grandchildren. Some people stopped along the way to sleep on the stairs, often creating a backlog along the trail. About two and a half hours into the hike, with what we thought was about a half-hour left to climb, we came to a near standstill because there were so many people on the trail that no one could go up any further. For the next two hours we moved at a snail’s pace, moving only if others ahead of us began descending. Despite giving ourselves four hours to complete the seven kilometer hike, we didn’t reach the top in time for sunrise, but did have a wonderful view from the steps just below. It may have been for the best, though, since the summit was insanely crowded and actually had more obstructions of the view.
As soon as the sun had completely risen, there was a mass exodus down the mountain and the summit cleared enough to do a quick tour to get the 360-degree view. Within twenty minutes the crowd had almost totally dispersed, but we skipped the footprint, which had a very long line, and headed back down. We flew down, passing many of the older Sri Lankans who struggled down the often very steep stairs. Breakfast was waiting for us at our hotel, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing on our porch listening to the sound of the passing creek and admiring the lush green garden, happy to have some respite from those early morning crowds. That evening we had a nice dinner and too many Lion beers with Carol and Mark. It was a fun way to say goodbye to our new friends.
Click on the photo below for our Adam's Peak photo album.
No comments:
Post a Comment