Call us the Pilgrims

The feeling in the air has changed. I actually remember the exact moment when the entire atmosphere around me felt different. There was a sudden heaviness with each breathe and equally as noticeable was the change in my mood. It became heavy as well. Well, wait a minute, there's a seemingly scientific reason for that. While my entire body felt much heavier- the air around me was actually thinner. I was at the top of Adam's Peak - also know as Sri Pada for the place Adam (from the bible) first stepped foot on earth. It is 2400m high and a noticeable change from my regular existence at sea level. The heaviness was the burning in my lungs and the lactic acid build-up in my legs. It all makes perfect sense now.

Tom and I had it in our minds that because Easter weekend wasn't really celebrated here- and we are both Catholic- we would embark on a spiritual pilgrimage of our own up the five thousand plus steps of Sri Pada. It seemed like a great idea at the time, almost inspirational in fact, don't you agree? So, following a busy Saturday spent working at the UN's Sport 4 Peace workshop we headed off with Camy- our local driver to Delhousie- the town at the base of Adam's Peak. We quickly gobbled down a plate of traditional Sri Lankan rice and curry and by 9:30pm were sound asleep under our pink mosquito net in a small shared bed. We figured for the sake of a few hours sleep one room would suffice- and it actually did.

So, as you can imagine 1:15am arrived quite quickly and in a daze (and in total darkness because the power had gone out- from the rain storm outside) we gathered our things and varnished ourselves with the highly endorsed anti-leech balm. Freaky I know. But it really was quite necessary. After negotiating our way down the guesthouse stairs guided by the light of Tom's cell phone (remember the power was conveniently out)we found ourselves stopped before we even started. The guesthouse front door was locked with no way out. So we scouted around looking for another exit with no avail- the rain was picking up and the sky was completely black- and at this point the lure of bed was still upon us. But then out of the shawdows came one of the staff members- opening the door and wishing us luck on our journey.

So, we were on our way. Now most people have their drivers drop them off at the trailhead but Camy, our seasoned tour guide of a driver- confidently told us that the entrance was only a 6-7 minute walk away- well, I think he wanted some extra shut-eye because 6-7 minutes into it we were nowhere near the entrance. In fact, at around the 6-7 minute mark as we scurried down this completely vacant, horrifically dark mountain road- we were suddenly met by this huge,totally unknown to either of us animal running out of the bushes and across the road just ahead of us. it scared the crap out of both of us and I guess on the positive side of things- woke us up more quickly than a case of redbull. Turned out to be an oversized wild boar. yikes. So needless to say I had a few words with Camy later that day.

After a good 30 minutes of wandering up shallow stairs and passing by half-open snack and hat stands we found ourselves at the official entrance of Adam's Peak. Now keep in mind it is around 2:00am, pouring with rain, and in our newly fragile bodies- quite cold (even though it was probably 15 degrees). But hey we've been sweating for the last two months straight so we have a good excuse. So, here we take a quick photo to mark the moment and begin with step 1 of over 5200 steps in total. The area was really quite vacant minus a few random locals hanging around- doing god knows what. we did come across a very frightening Buddhist Monk- with the craziest teeth I've ever seen- some of the people here chew this tobacco type of stuff that makes their teeth black with this oozing red stuff dripping out the sides- somewhat resembles that of a vampire. So being suddenly greeted by a monk of this description who grabbed my wrist and quickly tied a pryaer bracelet around my wrist- added to my feelings of apprehension. I still shutter a little thinking of him.

The next 3 hours involved one rudimentary activity- walking up very very steep stairs (save stopping to grab a drink- eat a banana- and allow the late night pilgrims to make their way down the same steps we were headed up). After hour one, we were trying to decide whose idea this was, and where the heck the peak was. Again still complete darkness. At times the stairs were illuminated by white flouresecent lights and every 20 minutes or so there was a rest hut serving tea, biscuits and playing loud Sri Lankan music. The whole experience was capped by our small companion- this little lonely dog that followed us all of the way up. We named him skippy. No real reason why. As we ascended and the peak became visible, the wind and rain became stronger and I went from sweating to shivering within a few minutes. The steps seemed to be getting steeper and the number of pilgrims heading down greatly increased. We were finally greeted by a number of local Sri Lankans slowly making their way up the stairs as well- men carrying babies on their shoulders, old ladies in their 80's forcing each step to come one after another as they sang what I'd guess was traditional buddhist psalms. While my legs were burning, it was in fact as inspirational as I had imagined. The staris were lined with white prayer string carried along by hundred of pilgrims. At some points prayers ribbons could also be found. And then, suddenly we reached the top. At the peak there were at least a hundred people braving the rain and cold to visit the temple and watch the eery sunrise. We arrived at just after 5am and the wind and rain was almost unbearable- that the the mammoth sized moths that would come out of nowhere and hit you straight in the forehead. We eventually found a small room on the lower level- that was filled with a large swarm of people- trying to escape the cold wind and rest after the long journey. We huddled in this room- the only white people to be seen and waited. Many of the locals made the trip is their barefeet- as they usuyally do over here- and so you could see dried blood dotting feet and ankles that had failed to ward off the small white leeches- that balm was a life-saver. Now, I'd like to say we were rewarded by the most magnificent sunrise we'd ever seen- or that we caught a glimpse of the mysterious shadow of Adam's peak that finds itself relfected on the clouds just after sunrise. But it was raining and overcast- and so we saw neither. But on the trek down the views were still incredible and we felt proudly exhausted to have conquered our first Buddhist Pilgrimage. We'll just have to go back on a sunny day! Any takers?