Adam's Peak - as one with the heavens

Adam's Peak - from our hotel

Imagine climbing a flight of stairs.Now imagine doing it 425 times in succession.  Just to make it a bit harder, now think about doing it at night poorly lit.  The steps are steeper than at home, they are stone, some are crumbling, some are narrow, some are broad, but they go on and on, without let up, and there are 5,500 of them.  The temperature is 18degrees c, falling to 13 degrees c, as you gain height, and people keep getting in your way. Could you do it? We did! And we came back down again.

At two o'clock in the morning, after just 3 hours sleep, we left our hotel room to climb the 7,359ft high mountain that is known as Adam's Peak or Sri Pada. At the top of the mountain is a Buddhist temple, a spiritual place where Buddhists believe Buddha left his footprint.  Sri Pada means beautiful footprint.  Hindus believe this to be the place where Lord Shiva left his footprint, whilst some Christians believe the footprint to be the first left by Adam after he had been exiled from the Garden of Eden. Three religions as one with the heavens.

Feeling very hot!

Unknown to us the day was also a poya day or religious holiday so we were in the company of around 4,000 pilgrims, from mothers carrying babies, to fathers holding the hands of children, to sons and daughters helping their aged parents and grandparents to reach the summit.  Many carried offerings of fruit or flowers, and many walked in bare feet.  Groups ascended together, chanting and responding as they climbed.  Young and old, it felt like all Sri Lanka was there, and we were sharing in a deeply religious ritual.

A long way still to go!

It was tough. Very tough. And the higher we went, the steeper the ascent became.  Our goal was to reach the top before sunrise and we had allowed four-and-a-half hours to do so. We had made a new friend, Roo, and together we spurred each other on, Roo being a great time-keeper, and monitor of our increasingly frequent stops. After four hours we had the summit in site, only 250 metres to go.......and then we stopped! Ahead of us, packed shoulder to shoulder

on each of the remaining steps, countless pilgrims patiently waited their turn to file past Buddha's footprint and leave their offering.  We moved to the side and from our vantage point watched the dawn as one by one the stars faded and the black of the night sky lifted to a palette of deep purples, mauves and pinks. Then as daybreak approached the distant horizon began to take on an orange glow, radiating outwards until finally the sun climbed above the far peaks and began to throw its rays across the mountain ranges picking out the highest peaks and slowly casting golden rays of light into the valleys picking them out one by one. It was a wonderful sight and we too felt we were as one with the heavens.

We did complete the climb.  It took us another 2 hours from joining the queue of pilgrims to reach the shrine, and the

Queueing to enter the temple at 7am

best part of three hours to descend the steps the way we had come.  The descent was perhaps the hardest part, taking a toll on our knees and ankles, and challenging us as tiredness overcame us.  In all the hike took us 9 hours.  We were exhausted but elated.  It was the hardest walk we had ever achieved. Would we do it again?.......... NO, NO, NO!