A place considered holy by Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims because of a rock formation at the summit which is either the footprint of Buddha, Shiva or Adam. Attracting thousands of people each year between December and May, the main pilgrimage season.
On a clear day the mountain stands proud against the blue sky, the temple on the summit clearly visible even from a distance – a truly magnificent sight!
I shoot bolt upright, clamber out of bed and begin to get dressed. I go over to my bag and start checking the contents. Suddenly my brain wakes up and I look for the time – midnight. Damn it! Off come the clothes and I get back into bed to try and make the most of the 30 minutes more sleep I might manage. I gently dozed then the alarm went off and I automatically leapt out of bed to turn it off – I’m sure I must have woken up half the other guests.
This time my brain was fully engaged as I got dressed and checked all the bits and pieces. Torch, hat, SAS survival guide, a little money for drinks and snacks, some chocolate bars. All thrown into my shoulder bag.
Not being sure about the temperature I had both a light fleece (packed in my bag) and also a thin but warm jacket which I wore over my “lucky” travelling t-shirt. Stories of shivering travellers had me slightly worried but when they say it’s cold in Sri Lanka the temperature is usually still in double figures!
My other half obviously awake at this point helped out making sure I had got everything before sending me off into the night with a hug and a kiss – we would hopefully be meeting for breakfast in the morning.
The activities of yesterday seem a distant memory as I walk out for my night of adventure.
I had agreed to meet the guide (who was also one of the waiters at the guest-house) by the reception area at 01:00. I never like to be late so I was of course there 15 minutes early. The place was eerily quiet. A couple of foreigners with backpacks headed past me and out of the door, no doubt headed for the mountain. A couple were making themselves comfortable under a sheet on one of the chairs near reception – I carefully ignored them.
I poked my nose out of the door and breathed a huge sigh of relief, the road was dry.
Eventually, the guide turned up and offered me a tea – I politely refused. I was unsure of how my body would take to the mountain and I really didn't want to miss the sunrise, I was keen to get under way.
We set off along the faintly lit road towards the mountain that we can only see in the distance as lights winding their way into the night’s sky – the path to the top is lit by electric lamps during the main pilgrimage season.
Anyone who has walked with me knows I walk at fair pace. I was told to slow down – good advice considering the journey ahead.
We pass the area we had walked the previous evening. We cross the river and start heading up. Around us still are lots of shops and cafés, some of them still open. I imagine during the pilgrimage season there is plenty of business at all hours.
The guide stops me and asks for my camera to take a picture of me – one of the few shots during the night (it was dark after all) but one that marks the symbolic start of my journey (some people might argue the start is the temple at the bottom).
The climb begins. Intervals of steps (like the pic above) and flat areas to begin with, nothing too taxing. “Was this what all the fuss was about?” I thought to myself. We continued on with much of the same. The path was quite wide up to this point and we had not really seen that many people and I began to wonder if this was really busy. We keep up a good pace and overtake the other people who seem to be ambling along (I was determined not to be overtaken by some octogenarian with white hair, sandals and a walking stick!)
Lacking an appropriately good camera, and the skill to use one, I will cheat and mostly show pics of the route from the way down, during the daylight – enjoy the view but imagine darkness.
We continue along on the flat and pass through the monument commemorating the electric lighting of the path up the mountain.
As we progress the path gets narrower and there are more and steeper ups and less flat areas (note the lamp posts along the path). At various intervals we see flags, sometimes shrines and always shops and cafés. No fear of starving or dying of thirst on this trek!
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We reach a point near where we have to cross the river and stop for a rest – I crack open my stash of chocolate bars and we fuel up (I of course share my chocolate with my guide). My legs at this point were beginning to ache, just behind the knees.
The guide points to where the water is flowing and says that older people and most people a long time past used to cleanse themselves in the water before continuing. As we look on, everyone is just crossing the river, as we would be doing.
We just cross the river and start to turn a corner when my guide comments “This is where the climb really starts!”.
My legs winced.
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It was pretty much like this from now on. The steps varying in height and depth, interspersed with small flat areas and sometimes larger flat areas where, as you can guess, there were shops and cafés. In some places the steps are really crowded and you have to be careful as you navigated around the people sitting down resting, and those climbing down. The mantra for the climb was most definitely – slow and steady.
At this point I take my jacket off and stow it in my bag – I am drenched in sweat.
With each step we climb, the muscles behind my knees throb with an ache that is not quite painful but still worrying. We were not even half way!
Thankfully we were taking it very slowly, more slowly than I had ever climbed steps before, it was like we were moving in slow-motion.
Despite the slow pace we seemed to be making good time so we stopped for a cup of tea. Prepared for the worst I asked for the damage (well, the guide asked). Rs30 for the two teas. Bargain!
“The half way mark” the guide cheerfully told me.
My legs groaned.
Further up we go until we see the a shrine where people are lighting incense sticks.
All this was much clearer on the way down – I had an incense stick and thread etc. but we whizzed past distracted by the hustle and bustle of the crowds and our search for the alternative route.
Then a little further up round the corner up more steps where people are leaving needles and thread (yes, that is what can be seen in the pics). The guide said this was where the monks would repair their garments – or a least that is what I thought he was telling me (we were both speaking English yet consistently failed to understand one another).
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My guide had previously mentioned travelling a different route to avoid the crowds but I had thought he had changed his mind. I was wrong.
Just a little further away from the shrine we pulled off from the main path along a smaller path sign posted in a language that was not English. It was dark – no street lamps here. I wrestled the torch from my bag and switched it on. The jungle ahead was now illuminated along the beam of the thankfully powerful torch I had been leant.
Yes, the circle of light is the beam of the torch – it was pitch black and I had been warned there would most likely be leeches. We stopped once or twice to check our shoes and ankles! Thankfully no one mentioned the wild animals until we had reached the bottom!
It was a rough path worn through the jungle with the odd damp rock to scramble over. Through the darkness we could hear singing and I was a little worried at this point as to what or who we would be meeting along the trail.
We only passed one small group of people before we emerged safely on to a lit pathway that had very few people on it.
There are many ways up the mountain – we had started on the Hatton trail and we had now switched to the Ratnapura trail. The Hatton trail is about 5km shorter than the Ratnapura one so is more popular. We had cut across relatively close to the top so there was not much difference except the Ratnapura trail was much quieter – apart from the singing. Apparently they were religious songs being used to overcome the fatigue people were feeling as they climbed – like a marching song.
To my relief the trail started off quite flat but soon began to get steeper and steeper which was thankfully accompanied by getting handrails to grip onto for dear life!
Here you see it in day light (my guide, left facing up, unwittingly posing for the shot) . It does not look bad from here but some of the steps were so narrow and the climb so steep – I advised myself “Don’t look down!”, but I also chose not to look up either.
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I had learned by this point to ignore the aching under my knees. It was not feeling better but neither was it feeling worse. I was though feeling a little fatigued at this point but thankfully we were moments away from a sit down and another cup of tea.
We had made pretty good time, even at our snails pace up the steps. The sun would be rising around 05:30-06:30 and here we were sipping a nice warm tea and it was only 04:00.
The air was a little cooler now so I donned my fleece top.
The plan was we would wait sipping tea until 04:30 then we would slowly make our way to the top. We did not want to be there too early because when it is busy they will encourage you to leave to make room for the other people constantly arriving.
We make it to the top while it is still dark, after a few more white knuckle stretches of steps. Looking back we see the lit path snaking down the mountain – breath taking. The picture really does not do it justice!
The top is very busy. The people there at this time are there for the sunrise so there are bodies lying around waiting wrapped in fleece blankets with hats and gloves.
My guide guards my shoes while I head up and look around the temple at the top (bare foot it was actually a little nippy) which included seeing the “footprint”, however briefly.
All this was a bit of a blur. The crowds were heaving and there were few photo ops – clearly I’ll have to go up again!
One thing you must do at the top is ring the bell – I rang the bell (you ring the bell the number of times you’ve been up – my guide said he had been up over 800 times – he decided not to ring the bell).
Reunited with my shoes we headed to get a good spot to catch the sunrise.
On the way up at various times we had looked up and the sky was clear and full of more stars than I had ever seen in a night’s sky - it was truly amazing to see.
This gave me hope that the sun would be rising into a clear sky. Unfortunately this was not the case.
I secured myself a perch almost at the top of some steps and waited along with lots of other people (imagine the crowds in the pic on all sides on two levels!). As the sunrise grew closer so did the people around me, some whom I got rather more intimate with than they would have preferred. There is not a great deal you can do though when you’re pinned in position trying not to fall off a staircase.
As the horizon began to become illuminated it became evident that there were clouds, but still the sun battled through to put on a little display for us.
The sun rises fully into the sky and we walk around the top and take in the views. Again, the pictures do not do the views justice, capturing the calm serenity of standing there breathing the cool mountain air and sighing with sheer relaxation.
But what comes up must come down. We aim to start down the Hatton trail but after queuing at the top for a good 10 minutes (see pic) we decide to head back down the way we had come up.
As you would expect, going down was much quicker than coming up. I had been warned about going down the steps too quickly so I took it steady but still we headed down at quite a pace. A couple of times I stumbled through pure fatigue but nearly falling down a mountain certainly focuses your attention!
We took the cut through the jungle again but this time we could see where we were going which of course meant I nearly came a cropper negotiating some slippery rocks!
No stopping for tea on the way down! We were on a mission to get to the bottom in record time!
Of course, there was always time for a quick snap of me trying to look intrepid against the mountainous backdrop.
We stopped briefly at the Japanese Buddhist temple.
Then some more “Wow! Have I really just walked down from that mountain?!” photos.
The aches under my knees have taken a back-seat and now as we head down my feet are taking the brunt of it and my calves are giving a few small cries of complaint. Still, we press on.
There is so much to see on the way down that we missed in the darkness on the way up. The river, the rocks and the mountains. The guide asks me if we need to call someone to pick us up from the bottom. I look at him confused and offended! We would be walking all the way back to the guest-house!
Then we’re on the home straight!
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And back to where it all began all those hours ago.
We look at the time and see that if we shift it we can make it back to the guest-house before 09:00. This would, it seems, be respectable.
One final shot of the mountain before my camera battery dies.
We march through the door at 08:55. As I head for the table where the gang are waiting for their breakfast I have a broad grin on my face and I am soaked to the skin.
Refreshed by a shower I return, and after I receive a welcoming hug from my better half, I feast on a string hopper and curry breakfast!
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